Committee on the Rights of the Child, session 47 (2008)
Recommendations/observations on corporal punishment in the Committee on the Rights of the Child's concluding observations to states examined in the 47th session
Dominican Republic
(11 February 2008, CRC/C/DOM/CO/2, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 45 and 46)
"The Committee notes the clear definition of physical abuse established in Law No. 136-03 and welcomes that corporal punishment has been made unlawful in schools and abolished as a sentence in the justice system. The Committee is concerned that no explicit prohibition for corporal punishment exists for all other settings, including in the educational setting, in institutions of alternative care and in the family environment.
"The Committee recommends that the State party explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings by law as a matter of priority and provide training for parents and all professionals involved with children on alternative forms of discipline, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment (CRC/C/GC/8)."
Timor-Leste
(14 February 2008, CRC/C/TLS/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 40, 41, 42 and 43)
"The Committee welcomes the State party’s accession to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment, but is concerned at allegations concerning cases of degrading treatment of children by the police and in the prison system.
"The Committee urges the State party to strictly observe the minimum standards prescribed by the above Convention and to ensure that no child is subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment of any kind.
"The Committee is concerned at reports that corporal punishment is a common phenomenon at home and is frequently used to discipline children at school and in other educational settings.
"In light of the Committee’s general comment No. 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment, the Committee recommends that the State party explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including through awareness-raising campaigns aimed at families, the school system and other educational settings."