Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Iraq (Ratification: 2001)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. All forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery. Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and penalties. The Committee previously noted that the penalties for the offences related to the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for armed conflict as laid down under section 97 of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Order No. 89 of 2004, were very low. It also noted that according to the report of the United Nations Secretary-General of 26 April 2012 on Children and Armed Conflict in Iraq, armed groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) continued to recruit, train and use children, including girls to take part in hostilities, and that many children were killed and a number of children were abducted.

The Committee notes that the CPA Order No. 89 of 2004 has been repealed by the Labour Code of 2015. In this regard, it notes the Government’s indication that it is endeavouring to promulgate a law which will bring to court any person who enlists children under 18 years of age in armed conflict. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that the country is experiencing some difficulties due to the entry of ISIS in several of its governorates. The Government indicates that the ISIS is using children as human shields, as spies and in explosions.

The Committee further notes from the report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict of 5 June 2015 (A/69/926-S/2015/409) (report of the Secretary-General) that the United Nations verified the recruitment of at least 67 boys by ISIS and an unknown number of children were recruited by the pro-Government Popular Mobilization Forces in conflict areas. Boys as young as 10 years old were recruited and used by self-defence groups supporting Iraqi security forces and girls were also reportedly associated with Yezidi self-defence groups. According to this report, the United Nations recorded the killing of 679 children and injury to 505 others of which at least 87 children were killed and 211 injured in improvised explosive device and suicide attacks. Moreover, the Committee notes from the report of the Secretary-General that the lack of clear recruitment procedures, including age verification and disciplinary measures by Iraqi authorities, remains a cause of grave concern. The Committee deeply deplores the current situation of children affected by armed conflict in Iraq, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take measures as a matter of urgency to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. It also urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons, including members in the regular armed forces, who recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict, are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. The Committee finally urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the adoption of the law prohibiting the recruitment of children under 18 years for use in armed conflict and expresses the firm hope that this new law will establish sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that it has finalized a project with UNESCO entitled “Teach a child” which aims to provide institutional and technical support to improve the quality and capacity of informal education. This project also aims to provide alternative education to more than 180,000 out-of-school children, including girls and children from rural areas and to integrate them into formal education through expedited education. In this regard, UNESCO, with the help of labour inspectors, has registered a number of children, including street children, for expedited education. Moreover, the Ministry of Education has implemented several awareness-raising measures targeting children at primary schools in the most deprived regions and with the highest drop-out rates in the governorate of Baghdad.

However, the Committee notes from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2011, that 38 per cent of children among the age group of 12–17 years are out of school with a situation much worse for girls than boys. This report also indicates that according to the UNICEF supported Out-of-School Children’s Study of 2013, the drop-out rate of girls from primary school stood at 19.4 per cent. The Committee further notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of March 2015, expressed concern that only half of secondary school-age children are attending school, as a consequence of schools being attacked and school children kidnapped on their way to school, and that a number of internally displaced and refugee children have no access to school (CRC/C/IRQ/CO/2-4, paragraph 72). The Committee expresses its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. Considering that education contributes to preventing children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to improve access to free basic education of all children, particularly girls, children in rural areas and in areas affected by war. It strongly encourages the Government to redouble its measures to increase the enrolment, attendance and completion rates at primary and secondary level and to reduce school drop-out rates so as to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the number of out-of-school children who have benefited and who continue to benefit from the “Teach a child” project.

Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. 1. Children in armed conflict. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information in relation to its previous comments concerning the measures taken to remove children from armed groups and ensure their rehabilitation and reintegration.

The Committee notes from the report of the Secretary-General that at least 391 children, including 16 girls, held in detention facilities were indicted or convicted of terrorism-related charges for their alleged association with armed groups. The Committee expresses concern at the practice of the detention and conviction of children for their alleged association with armed forces or groups. In this regard, the Committee must emphasize that children under the age of 18 years associated with armed groups should be treated as victims rather than offenders (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 502). The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that children removed from armed forces or groups are treated as victims rather than offenders. It also urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children from armed forces and groups and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children removed from armed forces and groups and reintegrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations of March 2015, abhorred the continuing sexual enslavement of children since the emergence of ISIS. The CRC noted with utmost concern the “markets” set up by ISIS in which they sell abducted girls after attaching price tags to them, and the sexual enslavement of children detained in makeshift prisons of ISIS (paragraph 44). The Committee also notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations of March 2015 to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC), also expressed deep concern at the high number of children remaining under the control of ISIS and the existence of “markets” where abducted children are sold among members of ISIS to serve as sexual slaves (CRC/C/OPSC/IRQ/CO/1, paragraph 18). The Committee further notes from the report of the Secretary-General that at least 1,297 children were abducted, including girls as young as 12 years, who were sold in ISIS-controlled areas for sexual slavery. The Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children under 18 years of age from sexual exploitation and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard as well as the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

The Committee is also raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.