African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, session 28 (2016)
RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE AFRICAN COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD'S CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS TO STATES EXAMINED IN THE 28TH SESSION
Eritrea
([January 2017], Concluding observations on initial report, para. 10)
“The Committee notes the prohibition of acts of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the recognition on children’s need for special protection. However, it was brought to the attention of the Committee that children at the Sawa Military Training Camp are still subjected to acts amounting to torture, inhuman, degrading treatment and to corporal punishment. The Committee is also concerned over the application of Proclamation No 4/1991 to children over 15 years. The Committee therefore recommends that the State Party;
- Strictly enforce the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment to children and ensure perpetrators of such acts are prosecuted and punished accordingly;
- Enforce the legal prohibition of all forms of violence including corporal punishment in all settings, including in military training camps, and ensure that it is no more used as a sentence for crime and devise positive alternatives punishment;
- Conduct awareness - raising campaigns to popularise positive alternative punishments and on the dangers of corporal punishment;
- Remove measures that may prevent children and their families from reporting such cases and provide psychological support to child victims of abuse and torture…”
Ghana
([December 2016], Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 16 and 26)
“The Committee commends the State Party for its efforts to protect children from abuse and torture by including child protection measures in the Constitution, The Children’s Act, Domestic Violence Act and Human Trafficking Act along with efforts made to tackle abuse of children through the internet. However the Committee observes with concern that children continue to suffer from the worst forms of abuse… The Committee is further concerned that such children rarely report instances of abuse and the State Party currently has insufficient measures to address this. The Committee therefore recommends that the State Party: …
- Laws prohibiting corporal punishment are applied strictly and positive alternatives of punishment should be developed together with campaigns on them for parents and teachers.”
“The Committee therefore calls on the State Party: …
- To ensure the completion and implementation of the manual on positive forms of discipline for teachers with a view to eventually enacting a legislation prohibiting the use of corporal punishment in school.”