http://pebbles.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/469117
'Children are like that one beautiful woman who men pursue in order to deface' and that is why i am here. Since 1997, I have looked into the nature and extent of commercial sexualization of children, in other words, child pornography and child trafficking. On a positive note; it is great to have met such good people around the world that have offered encouraging words that have kept the fire burning. The goals of my project are: 1) find and seek information that the public and victims need in order to combat child porn more effectively. 2) find and seek present attitudes about the commercial sexual exploitation of children 3) find others to work with, as well as victims to interview, that want to work on this issue 4) discover the differences of how each country combats child porn, in their NGO work and legal codes, for future change and collaboration.

Yes, I write, and quite often most often in books that I keep on my shelf. Mr. John Flanagan, your title does not appeal to me. You call yourself a judge, but you are nothing to me, nothing but another animal on this planet, after his own selfish intentions. You ask me lists and lists of questions which I answer for you, honestly. I traveled quite a distance to talk openly about a subject which is very important to me, which deserves attention and that is child pornography.

You work for yourself and my opinion I think you do not like what I have to say. You may think that because you are a judge, you are somehow better that everyone else, that you can slide documents under the rug. You are mistaken. LIght shines upon everything that is hid, eventually. Even if you try to hide something, it will be revealed.

I am glad that you asked me to come and speak with you, and that you came and talked with me. Your purposes are still unclear, even though I believe that it is only to keep me from speaking, only when a person like you tells me no, it only makes me do the opposite. So keep saying no. I am sitting here smiling. As a child victim and a witness, wouldn't my words be of interest to you?

Do you know what Social Anthropology is? You say I have abandoned the topic of archaeology. Clearly you have read nothing that I have sent you. I want to see what how people handle this subject in the courts today, in countries today, yes in the past, in the arts, and in the arts now, but how are we handling things now, how do we protect our children now? You are a unfair judge and no matter what you say, I will write about child pornography as long as possible, and tell the only story I know.

Goodday, judge...professor...whatever you are.]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:54:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/469117 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/215841 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:58:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/215841 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/86321
The purpose of this account is to make available the realities of child exploitation using real life examples, and to draw attention to the economy of child pornography in the US.



Related Resources05/01/2007 - L'ONU annonce avoir rapatrié quatre casques bleus pour des abus sexuels commis au Soudan
05/01/2007 - Soudan: Le Sud Soudan ouvre une enquête suite à des accusations d’abus sexuels
04/01/2007 - Four peacekeepers accused of sex abuse already repatriated – UN mission in Sudan


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http://www.nordicom.gu.se/


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"Dewdrops in the Garden" is also a senior thesis submitted to the faculty of Northland College, a Liberal Arts faculty in Ashland, Wisconsin. This autobiographical story details the author's experience as a victim of child pornography in the United States. The purpose of this account is to make available the realities of child exploitation using real life examples, and to draw attention to the economy of child pornography in the US.

This story was also accepted as documentation for researchers and students at the the International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media. The Clearinghouse collects and documents research and other information on children, youth and media across the world. By means such as yearbooks, newsletters, survey articles, the Clearinghouse aims at broadening and contextualising this knowledge, thereby increasing awareness and media literacy. A global network is fundamental to the work of the Clearinghouse, which is carried out in co-operation with UNESCO.

Author: Melanie Thoreen

To obtain a copy of "Dewdrops in the Garden", email the author at: bluefish.swim@yahoo.com
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5007
]]> Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:03:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/86321 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/42985 Date:
01/06/2006

Organisation:
BBC

Resource type:
News release



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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5038682.stm


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A political party with a paedophile agenda has been registered in The Netherlands, prompting outrage among many parts of society.

The party plans to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and for legalisation of child pornography and sex with animals.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party says it promotes freedom of speech and will stand in May elections.

MPs say they will ask the government to do something to stop the new party.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity Party says it intends to "shake The Hague awake".



Taboos

The party says its aim is to break taboos and fight intolerance. Its members say they want paedophilia to be freely discussed, arguing that a ban just makes children curious.

They claim the subject has been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in Belgium.

They also want to break the "negative" stigma surrounding paedophilia by getting into parliament.

But the NVD says it is not just a one-issue party. It also wants children from the age of 12 to be able to vote; it promotes the legalisation of hard and soft drugs and free train travel for all.





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Organisation Contact Details:

BBC
]]> Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:43:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/42985 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/37280 Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?
'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,
Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won.
So I took what was mine by eternal right,
Took your soul out into the night,
It may be over but it won't stop there,
I am here for you if you'd only care,
You touched my heart you touched my soul
You changed my life and all my goals
And love is blind and that I knew when
My heart was blinded by you.
I've kissed your lips and held your head
Shared your dreams and shared your bed
I know you well, I know your smell
I've been addicted to you.

Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one
You have been the one for me.

I am a dreamer but when I wake,
You can't break my spirit -it's my dreams you take.
And as you move on, remember me,
Remember us and all we used to be.
I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile.
I've watched you sleeping for awhile.
I'd be the father of your child.
I'd spend a lifetime with you.
I know your fears and you know mine.
We've had our doubts but now we're fine,
And I love you, I swear that's true.
I cannot live without you.

...

And I still hold your hand in mine.
In mine when I'm asleep.
And I will bear my soul in time,
When I am kneeling at your feet.
Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.

i am so hollow... james blunt]]> Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:24:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/37280 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/32051
2) How do you feel this matter is handled in the educational system? In the justice system?

3) Do you believe that the sexual slavery of children occurs in your country, and if so, do you think it is a problem?

4) Do you think, in your own country, that a rapist, child pornographer, or child molester is given enough jail time?
Do you think that most of them can be caught?

5)What do you think of a law where the public has to know where and when a pedophile gets out of prison? Do you know if your country enforces this?

6) Should pedophiles have a human right to have sex (or take pornographic images) with children (that is a person under the age of 18)?



The goals of the project are:

1) find and seek information that the public and victims need in order to combat child porn more effectively.
2) find and seek present attitudes about the commercial sexual exploitation of children
3) find others to work with, as well as victims to interview, that want to work on this issue
4) discover the differences of how each country combats child porn, in their NGO work and legal codes, for future change and collaboration.
]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:40:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/32051 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/31487 Fri, 04 Nov 2005 12:52:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/31487 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/22553 Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:42:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/22553 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/21955 Mon, 24 Jan 2005 16:07:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/21955 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/19603
According to two researchers, employees are just as likely to speak to a co-worker working on the same floor via email as they would counterparts working in different time zones, says Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. Speaking of the effect email can have on social skills, David Crystal, a professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, says: "simultaneous feedback is a fundamental feature of conversation," and email does not allow for this because of the time lag between recieving and responding to a message. Moreover, an email writer can monopolize (i have experienced this!) the conversation without being interrupted. "The ability to take turns in a conversation," states the Globe, " is an essential social skill."]]> Thu, 23 Sep 2004 14:35:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/19603 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/19150 cause it aint no use to pretend your wrong
i call you out, you can't hide anymore
you have no disguise i can't see through
you say its bad luck to have fallen for me
what can i do? make it good for you?
you wore me out like an old winter coat
trying to be safe from the cold
but its my time
to throw the next stone
i'll call you beautiful
i'll call it loud
you tell me i'm low cuz i slept on the floor
i didn't watch you with the banshee moaning in the wall
you threw me out cuz i was begging for a bone
i came home with a hand full of coal
but its my time to call your bluff
i'll call you beautiful
i'll call it out
oh leave it alone
you call me a dog, well thats wearing out
it doesn't bother me as long as you know
but bad luck with follow you
if you leave me at least
you could throw me a line

-temple of the dog]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2004 13:27:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/19150 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/18650

Robert Frost



]]> Sat, 07 Aug 2004 14:35:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/18650 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/18359 or if you don't
If you believe
or if you doubt
There's a
universal justice
and the eyes of truth
Are always watching
You.

~Enigma]]> Tue, 27 Jul 2004 15:06:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/18359 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/17717
tears are misting my eyes.............



]]> Mon, 28 Jun 2004 14:16:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/17717 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/13620 Mon, 19 Jan 2004 14:43:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/13620 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/12178
Date: 24 October 2003
Location: Brussels, Belgium

Every year 1,2 million children, girls and boys, become the victims of trafficking. Far away from their homes they are used as cheap labour forces and are physically abused. The trade in children for labour, prostitution and adoption exists also in Belgium.

The struggle against this extreme violation of children's rights is slowly developing. Yet adequate data is hard to come by. Solutions are differing and the public opinion underestimates the role it can play in the combat against child trafficking.

Is the problem worsening or has the situation improved? What information can be gained from field experiences? How can the specific needs of girls and boys who are the victims of trafficking be addressed ?

The conference, which is organised by UNICEF Belgium, the "Nederlandse Vrouwenraad" (NVR) and the Commission for Women and Development, will try to bring elements of an answer to these questions.

For more information, contact:
UNICEF Belgium, Karen Kets
Tel: 00 32 2 230 5970 ; Fax : 00 32 2 230 3462
Email: kkets@unicef.be ; Website: www.unicef.be/childtrafficking/

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3703
]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:19:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/12178 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11866 speed of light is constant theory of relativity can be falsifiable, mass bends space, time (goes into orbit)

string theory doesn't have many predictions

Refract > Reflect > Contstruct > add to make bigger > Destruct > add to make smaller (laser or ripple tank)

accurate theory tells you where things might be, quantum mechanics tells you everything about particles

you never get exact ansers but probability (electrons don't go in orbits, this was something they taught me in high school) "God doesn't play dice with the universe." Anti-matter is real (PET) Einstein, that bas**ard, said, "Quantum mechanics is wrong because my relativity theory doesn't say it exists"

this guy makes no sense.........the spin is opposite. I am getting dizzy, but you probably can't tell (he is actually saying this in class!)

Gedanken-when you propose an experiment, someone might pick up on your theory, if your name happens to be Einstein (what the Hell?)He apparantly does not like Einstein.

What are YOUR HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS? Is it possible to have both waves and particles of light? Your dark adjusted eye can detect one photon. WHOOOHOO One photon can interfere with itself. A spherical wave has three dimensions, think of a circular wave made from throwing a pebble in water. THIS GUY RAMBLES ON! This is the way the world works, just because you don't like it. Wrapp your mind around ideas using words. Semantics, what is it?

Oh here's Q.E. quantum entanglement. Here he goes with his damn confusion again. Here a special kind of crystal!! Oh god, I am actually paying for this man to teach me nothing?!
wave functions use imaginary numbers/ Woah I am bored, this guy is stealing my money, I have to sit here and listen to alien pseudoscience and the babble of this madman. I have to actually make my own pseudoscience?

OH! Lets talk about Killing Cats! (Schrodingers's Cat) Collapseable wave function is behind this > place a radioactive element and a counter and a vile of nerve gas and a cat in a box. You don't know if the radioactive element has decayed until you open the box. inside cat is alive, inside cat is dead.

SICK

this guy rambles "or here" "or here"

the cat is not alive or dead until you open the box

WHAT?

Does this make perfect sense to anyone?

Anyone?

OK, I am getting a B in this class. Drawing pics on the side of my notebook and pretending to take notes really does work!]]> Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:22:00 EST http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11866 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11607 hanging in branches of a lone tree
fragile cornea, eyes seeing truth
world atlas in my mind,
where to go,
where to escape?
disheveled and stinky,
yellow sunflowers sleeping next to me.
My iron clad mesh heart.
crackle of wood, tongues of fire,
flowing through the glass
the smudge of sage and tobacco
cleared my mind.
all my layers of limitations,
leaving me crying.]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2003 19:31:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11607 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11411
A Cajun named Jean Paul moved to Texas and bought a
donkey from a old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to
deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer rove up and said, "Sorry, but I got some bad news. The donkey died."

"Well then, just give me my money back."

"Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

"OK then, just unload the donkey."

"What ya gonna do with em."

"I'm gonna raffle him off."

"Ya cain't raffle off a dead donkey!"

"Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anyone he's
dead."

A month later the farmer met up with the Cajun and
asked, "What happened with the dead donkey?"

"I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at $2.00 apiece
and made a profit of $898.00."

"Didn't no one complain?"

"Just the guy who won. So I gave him his $2.00 back."

hahaha : )
]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2003 14:17:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11411 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11305
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse
without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie,surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap,only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil,this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. "Oh, Jason, take me!"; she panted, her breasts heaving like a college freshman on $1-a-beer night.

23. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either,but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

24. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

25. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

26. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

27. She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.

28. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.

29. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.

30. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.






]]> Thu, 02 Oct 2003 14:16:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11305 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11173 Thu, 25 Sep 2003 14:38:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/11173 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10896 We met him the next day. At first, he told us that he wanted to give us one of his cars to use (we had no money and walked everywhere). I thought this was creepy; saying nothing, I let my friend do the talking. She insisted that she do all the talking. The conversation grew more and more suspicious, as the night, and my pack of cigarettes, dwindled. He offered us ten thousand dollars to do three months of work for him (not at his club), but in Chicago. Blake had drugs to sell and there was money in it for us, if, we used sex to sell them. WHAT! So, in other words, we would be his whores? Bailey seemed thrilled at the attention and even reassured him that she could sell his drugs in Detroit. She loved bragging, that was just her personality. I said nothing. The entire scenario was sinister, but my naïve, young mind was not experienced in the matters of drugs, criminality, or sex.
Time went by, and Blake called Bailey every day. She did work at the Blue Room a couple nights. Soon he appeared at our apartment, we would see him drive past us when we were on our daily walks downtown, frequently driving a different car. I felt as though he was stalking us, watching our every move. We found out that his partner Frank, was the owner of our apartment building. So in other words he could get our keys? I could not talk to my parents because there were some troubling family problems. Bailey was going through a rough time with her folks, and she was the only friend I had. I could not think of anyone to call that would help us. If she wanted to work for Blake, it was her decision. She made all of the decisions anyway. I just kept my eye on her, hoping she would be okay, trying to be nonchalant.
Blake did not agree with my stance. He wanted both of us, not just one or the other. He picked up on my unwillingness of his offer, and mentioned “breaking me in.” In the beginning he had told us of his gang connections in New York and Chicago, and as time went by he acted as if he had possession of me because I knew so much about him. We were also told he had guns and would use them. We knew that he could not get into any trouble with the law because he had with a lawyer that could get him out of anything, and if we worked for him we would have the same “protection”. I was in constant fear of my life and Bailey’s, but . . . she loved all the attention. She was in control.
After about a month of pressure from him, he demanded that I “change my attitude about sex,” giving me two weeks to rethink his “generous” offer. He told us to come over to his house because he had some clothing for us to try on, because our clothes weren’t sexy enough. Now that I think back, Bailey was not given this ultimatum, only I was. He could see she was “ready.” I was stuck in a battle of a no win situation... I should have never talked to the man in the first place... It was too late. Whatever Bailey did, I did… so I followed her to his house like a little, obedient puppy dog. His living room was in disarray with clothes piled on chairs and hanging from hangers--it appeared as if he raided his wife’s panty drawer. I remember he held up a g-string nightie and demanded that I take off my clothes. With repulsion, I ran out of his house shaking and crying, begging Bailey to come with me. She angrily refused and insisted that I stay.
It was shocking. At that moment in time, I lost my best friend.
That summer was the summer of hell for me. Bailey eventually returned to our apartment two hours later. She wouldn’t talk. Then after a night she confessed that he raped her, at gunpoint, while telling her he was going to kill me for not cooperating. After we took him to court, life went like this. RING! RING! “Hello?” I would ask answering the phone. “YOU’RE GONNA DIE!” was the reply. She dropped the lawsuit and ran back to Michigan…
Some of my friends at the time were into the drug scene and wanted to know why the biggest dope dealer in town was in trouble. Some did not believe that he could have done such a terrible deed. Others asked me why we didn’t just work for him and make a little extra “summer money.” The question I have for you is . . . would you have taken his ten grand?



]]> Wed, 10 Sep 2003 19:21:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10896 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10853
Date: November 3 - 21, 2003;
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

SIDA, in co-operation with The Office of the Children's Ombudsman in Sweden, arranges the International Training Programme on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the rights of the Child.

The general aim of the programme is to promote Children's Rights using the Swedish experience and having the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a starting point. The objectives of the programme are, among others, to exemplify how the CRC can be implemented at national,
regional, and local levels; to present the work of the Children's Ombudsman and other organisations such as state agencies and NGO's working for Children's Rights in Sweden; and to give the participants the opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas on Children's Rights.

The target group comprises parliamentarians, politicians, civil servants, NGO's, lecturers, and people working for Children's Rights at a high level in the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Closing date for application is September 12, 2003. Please observe that it is not possible to apply for the programme neither on line nor by e-mail.

For more information see:
http://www.bo.se/barnkanalen/adfinity.aspx?pageid=3636

Source: South East European Child Rights Action Network, SEECRANews 22(III)
]]> Mon, 08 Sep 2003 13:55:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10853 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10803
Date: 17 - 18 September 2003
Location: Brussels, Belgium

This seminar on "Human Dignity-Trafficking in Children in Europe" will take place at the Katholieke Universiteit in Belgium. It is organised by the Socrates Thematic Network una filosofia per l'Europa and the International Federation Terre des Hommes.

On the basis of article 1 on Human Dignity and article 5, para 3 on Trafficking in Human Beings of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, European academics will discuss the concept of Human Dignity through a historical, philosophical and legal European perspective.

The issue of child trafficking in Europe will be raised in the framework of the International Campaign against Child Trafficking run by Terre des Hommes. Anti-child trafficking project managers, law enforcement experts and representatives of the European Institutions will reflect on
ways to combat child trafficking in Europe.

For more information, contact :
Salvatore Parata, EU Liaison Officer
The International Federation Terre des Hommes
31 chemin Frank-Thomas - CH-1208 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: 00 41 22 736 33 72; Fax 00 41 22 736 15 10
Email: brussels@iftdh.org; Website : www.terredeshommes.org
]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2003 11:21:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10803 http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10414
[Geneva, 26 June 2003] - To mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June), The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has published 18 country reports on the rights of the child in Ethiopia,
Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Turkey, Guatemala, Paraguay, Cameroon, Kenya, Bahrain, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Argentina, Sudan,the Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Haiti and Italy.

Since 2001, in partnership with local NGOs and members of the OMCT network, and supported by the European Commission Democracy Programme, Misereor, and the Fondation de France, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has produced 18 alternative country reports presented to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, now available to the public in English, French and Spanish.

The goal of these reports is to highlight the deficiencies or the improvements of national legislation regarding the international commitments made by governments in protecting the rights of the child, as well as to denounce practices contrary to these commitments. These reports were presented orally before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and widely circulated.

Several of these reports showed that the practice of torture and other ill treatment against children, often in police stations or detention centres, remains all too frequent. OMCT denounced practices such as sexual abuse, blows to sensitive parts of the body, cigarette burns,
keeping children standing in the hot sun, food and sleep deprivation, as well as placing them in solitary confinement. Moreover, OMCT also denounced the inhuman conditions of detention in which many children are held. They are often detained with adults and are kept in overcrowded establishments where sanitary conditions are often disastrous, access to basic care very limited or non-existent, and education, protection and rehabilitation opportunities rarely provided.

These reports are now available in English, French and/or Spanish on OMCT's website at www.omct.org or can be ordered by phone or fax to OMCT.

For further information, contact:

Séverine Jacomy sj@omct.org or Sylvain Vité sv@omct.org
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard, Case postale 21,CH-1211 Geneve 8, Switzerland
Tel: 00 41 22 809 49 39; Fax: 0041 22 809 49 29; E-mail: omct@omct.org
Website: www.omct.org]]> Sat, 09 Aug 2003 13:17:00 EDT http://pebbles.tigblog.org/post/10414