نوجوانان را اعدام نکنید SCE News and Updates

1 - No one will want to hear this, but we should multiply the number of children on death row by an unknown variable, some suggesting a multiplier in the thousands, if we want to know the number non-judically sanction executions of children that have occurred in Iran since 1977. If we include the thousands of children who were sent into war against Iraq with "dummy" guns which were either nonfunctional or lacking amunition, solely as a show of force, the number of such children may reach the hundreds of thousands. According to some sources, thousands of children were sent to the front lines in the war against Iraq without functioning weapons and were required to run into the open fire of artillery. If they tried to retreat they were shot by the Iranian military officers. The rationale was the same as the rationale that permeates Palestine. "There is nothing sweeter than Sheehad with the 72 virgins one acquires after death by Sheehad." (I am not sure what a seven year old boy needs with 72 virgins but somehow they manage to sell this propoganda to the kids.)

One has to wonder why one would oppose any treaty concerning the rights of children. The first text addressing the rights of children in international law was in 1924 when the League of Nations passed a resolution endorsing the Declaration of the Rights of the Child that was first promoted in 1923 as the NGO "Save the Children" campaign. This became known as the "Declaration of Geneva." In 1948 it formed the basis for the Declaration adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations and in 1959 became the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The by-product of this agenda to protect the rights of children ultimately became the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Widely heralded as an extraordinary product of human rights enthusiasts, the Declaration received only a likewarm reception in the United States. The UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly on November 20, 1989. As of January 1, 2000 it had been ratified by 191 nations. Only Somalia and the United States refused to ratify this Declaration.

Part of the reason the Declaration was opposed in the US was a massive propoganda campaign launched by those who were convinced that the Declaration, if it were deemed "self executing," would ultimately take away the rights of parents to raise their children in a moral environment. For example, it was alleged that Article 13 of the Declaration would prevent parents from prohibiting their children from watching pornography or engaging in sexual relations with other children regardless of the age. This of course, is today seen as nonesense by legal scholars, but it prevented ratification by the United States. Now the United States has finally stepped up to the plate with other nations to adopt the "Convention on the Rights of the Child." This Convention is being used to address every concern of child abuse.

An argument can be made that "The Convention on the Rights of the Child" will provide a basis for criminal prosecution of governmental employees who violate the rights of children if those children are in the lawful custody of that government. Thus, an employee of the government of Iran for example could conceivably be prosecuted civilly and criminally for child abuse by allowing the execution or mistreatment of a child. It is another potential tool of human rights enforement. It will be in full force and effect in the United States shortly.

For further discussion see Nigel Cantwell, "The Origins, Development and significance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" in S. Detrick ed., The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A Guide to the Travaux Preparatoires' (1992), at 19.

See also, Vanessa Pupavac, "The Infantizilation of the South and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child." Universithy of Nottingham Centre for the Human Rights Law, Human Rights Law Review, March 1998, at 3. (Comment this)

2 - For clarification to my last post, although the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" was signed by the US the ratification process is not complete. Ratification is opposed by the Bush administration but it is anticipated that the Al Gore (president elect LOL) administration will promote the ratification and this will occur as early as 2009. (The long and short of it is this should be ratified soon if all goes well.) Although the CRC has not yet been ratified by the US the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions has been ratified and currently federal regulations are being implemented concerning this issue. (Compliance for adption agencies is extremely difficult and the approval process is a rigorous challenge.) The Hague is not as broad as the CRC but it addresses much of the same concerns, namely laws designed to prevent child selling and prostitution.

Sidebar Comment:
One of the problems in underdeveloped countries where poverty is rampant, is "child selling." This is now reported to be a serious problem in "regressive Iran" where an overwhelming majority of people live well below the poverty line. It is difficult for us in developed nations to grasp this concept but it is prevelant in many foreign nations. In some countries where I conduct business women actually get pregnant for the purpose of selling their children into slavery. An attractive female who gives birth to a female can fetch several thousand dollars from a buyer. Here is why. A prostitute in many parts of the world can earn several thousand dollars in a night. These children are taught the sex trade since they are old enough to walk and they never kwow anything else. Thus, by the time they are teen agers they are well entrenched with a client base generating thousands of dollars per day. They don't think of escape because they don't know anything different. An "owner" of several thousand of these "slaves" can earn millions of dollars in a single day. We all know that where money can be earned people will be there. Thus, there are millions of children in the sex slave trade who will have 30 to 40 years of productivity before being turned over to some other form of "labor." It is big business. Some of these children are actually acquired by legal adoptions then moved into the sex trade industry. A government official in a country where I have business relations, was recently sent to prison for selling several hundred girls into the sex trade industry through legal adptions. This issue is addressed in the Optional Protocals to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions is designed, in part, to prevent such activities. (Comment this)

3 - Great information D.W. !!
Thank you for sharing it (Comment this)