Magister Legum - LLM / After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America, there has been a shift in the policies of many countries to combat terrorism. Terrorism has had a devastating effect on many citizens of the world. These include 'the enjoyment of the right to life, liberty and physical integrity of victims. In addition to these individual costs, terrorism can destabilise Governments, undermine civil society, jeopardise peace and security, and threaten social and economic development. All of these also had a real impact on the enjoyment of human rights. Therefore the fight to curb further terrorist attacks is paramount. States are charged with the responsibility of curbing terrorism by their citizens. But with responsibility comes obligations to the citizenry.2 States should therefore not engage in policies or actions that further deprive others of their enjoyment of human rights. This is well put by Hoffman when he says history shows that when societies trade human rights for security, most often they get neither. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / Armed conflict impacts negatively on the child's right to education as the targeted attacks on schools, school children, teachers and school facilities can cause a drop in school enrolment and attendance as well as longer term effects on the standard of education provided. This study assesses the impact of armed conflict on the child's right to basic education in the context of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Also, considering that the child's right to education protected in international and regional human rights instruments is not suspended during armed conflict, the study also assesses how well the Nigerian government in line with its international and regional human rights obligations has responded to the educational needs of children affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

This dissertation addresses the developments of child justice in Botswana. The first ever child justice that was established is discussed with the aim to understand the influence it had on Botswana with regard to the nature of the proceedings and the founding principles of child justice and its application in the courts. International Conventions that have a bearing on the rights of children in Botswana, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child are discussed. The measures that are currently in place for the protection of children who are in conflict with the law are examined with particular emphasis on those children that are arrested and detained. A comparison is drawn between the Children’s Act CAP [28:04] OF 1981, the Children’s Act 8 of 2009 and the South African Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 and the differences between the systems are highlighted. The provisions of the 2009 Act pertaining to children in conflict with the law are discussed in depth and shortfalls of the 2009 Children’s Act are identified. Diversion, as a form of correctional action, is discussed in light of international conventions. The provisions regarding the diversion of child offenders in the Child Justice Act are interrogated. Trial procedures under the 2009 Children’s Act are discussed and compared to those in South Africa including measures in place for the sentencing child offenders in both Botswana and South Africa. After an analysis of the international conventions, legislation and case law, the conclusion is reached that there is a commitment in Botswana towards the protectionand realization of children’s rights especially those who are in conflict with the law. It is recommended in the conclusions that Botswana import some provisions of the Child Justice Act into domestic legislation in order to comprehensively address the plight of children in trouble with the law so as to strive towards maximum compliance with conventions that Botswana has signed.

The recruitment, enlistment and forceful conscription of children as soldiers is a cause for grave concern all over the world and most especially in Africa, where years of factional fighting, civil wars and cross border conflicts have raged, children and youth have been pulled into violence not only as victims, but also as perpetrators. The involvement of children in war posses a severe challenge to prevailing moral and legal norms of the conduct of modern warfare. A major problem and most controversial issue, among others, is on the age at which children should be eligible to become combatants. Children, who may be viewed as a valuable resource due to their often inherent malleability, wish to avenge family member(s) killed in war, sense of immunity to danger, and or feeling of power in participating in the violence. Can the use of children as soldiers be effectively regulated in Africa? All efforts to assist child soldiers in recovering from the devastating effects of wars often unwillingly helped promote the growing number of child soldiers. This is in part because wars are now more fought internally among rebel armies and factions vying for power with the government and thus enlist children into their various armies. The study comes to a conclusion that drastic steps need to be taken to ameliorate this unfortunate situation. This formed the basis of the recommendations offered in the thesis to assist the African continent.

"At present, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that approximately 300,000 children in over 40 countries worldwide are engaged in armed conflict. Of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world, 120,000 can be found in Africa alone. Apart from making them direct combatants, both governments and armed groups use children as messengers, lookouts, porters, spies able to entre small spaces, and even use them as suicide bombers and human mine detectors. In the due course of such use and abuse, children are forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually assaulted, raped, forced to become wives of the commanders, exposed to drugs and forced labour, showing the cross cutting nature and magnitude of the problem of child soldiers. There are a variety of international legal standards which, at first glance, seem to give some direction and guidance in the protection of child soldiers. In spite of these legal instruments for the protection of child soldiers in Africa, however, much remains to be done as the problem is continuing at a larger scale every day and new challenges keep cropping up. This study will look into ways of addressing these problems in the context of Africa. Therefore, in order to address the issue to the best possible level, the normative framework in place may need to be strengthened. Moreover, in an attempt to be comprehensive in addressing the problem, ways of dealing with child soldiers who have allegedly committed atrocities during armed conflict should be included. This piece explores how these issues could possibly be addressed to provide for protection to the child soldier in Africa. ... The study consists of five chapters. Chapter one will set out the content in which the study is set. It highlights the basis and structure of the study. The second chapter will look into the magniture of child soldiers both at the international and the regional level. The third chapter, which will use the second one as a background, will critically reflect on the gaps and opportunities created by the normative framework protecting child soldiers in Africa. A comprehensive approach in addressing the problem of child soldiers calls for setting out possible mechanisms in treating child soldiers both as victims and 'perpetrators'. Speaking of child soldiers as perpetrators, the fourth chapter will set out the ways and means to be adopted in calling child soldiers to account for atrocities committed during armed conflict. Under the final chapter, which is chapter five, a conclusion is drawn and the way forward is indicated through recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Julia Sloth-Nielsen at the Faculty of Law, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Doctor Legum - LLD / The prevalence of corporal punishment and life imprisonment sentences for children in Africa is tied to their legal history. Colonialism had an extensive impact on the criminal law of most African States, including the handling of children in conflict with the law. African States adopted models of juvenile justice which were a result of social, economic and political circumstances occurring in Europe at that time. However, these circumstances were not necessarily similar to the circumstances prevalent in African States at the same time, neither was the image of the colonial country’s child similar to that of the African child. The coming into force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by all nations, except the United States, created a uniform platform for all State Parties to create separate justice systems for dealing with children in conflict with the law and abolish inhuman sentences such as life imprisonment and corporal punishment. In light of the obligation to abolish inhuman sentences and create separate systems for dealing with children in conflict with the law, this thesis discusses Zimbabwe and Botswana’s compliance with these obligations. The thesis proposes a sentencing guideline for children in conflict with the law in Zimbabwe and Botswana. The study also proposes an alignment of the national laws of these two countries on sentencing children to reflect their international obligations.

This master's thesis is about how the primary school handles the Corona pandemic in school situations in Sweden, viewed from a children's perspective and child perspective. The empirical data is composed of observations and fifteen semi-structured interviews, with eight students and seven educators. Concepts that form the basis of the study are: being and becoming, children's perspective and the child perspective, children's participation, trust, risk and danger. Previous research shows that children have the right to participate in decisions that affect them. Some researchers advocate for children's right to participate in decision making, while others are critical of the claim. Whether children can participate in decision-making or not, is decisive for which perspectives are practiced, the children's perspective or the child perspective. The results show that children can participate in decision-making on smaller issues, such as when changing hand soap. Moreover, in larger issues, it is adults who make decisions based on what they consider to be children's best interests.

No description available.

Although Canada has observed a drastic decrease in the use of secure custody for justice-involved children since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002), thousands of children are still imprisoned each year. Children in these carceral spaces tend to be the unwanted children of children's rights movements, and, as such, their rights-related experiences are often left unexamined (Abramson, 2006). To this end, by drawing on interview-based accounts and an examination of related policies and training curriculum, this thesis focuses on children's rights awareness, rights-informed practices and child-friendly justice in one provincial secure custody facility in Canada by centring the experiences of eight imprisoned children within a broader context provided by seven facility staff and two members of the provincial Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. Further, conceptualizing the secure custody facility as a porous institution (Ellis, 2021) illuminates the carceral space's dissonance between acknowledging the unique status of children (Hollingsworth, 2008) and working within a system designed for the adult prisoner. The findings indicate that imprisoned children are not made aware of the rights granted to them in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) upon admission to secure custody, nor do children's rights inform decision-making at this facility. However, promisingly, the findings do demonstrate the potential to move towards a child-friendly justice space predicated upon children's rights. Building upon this potentiality, this thesis contributes to the theoretical understanding of children's rights awareness in carceral spaces while also identifying a path toward the integration of children's rights aspects and practices.

Thesis advisor: Hosffman Ospino / There is a pressing need to re-awaken in teaching the prophetic call to serve the liberation of children, whose complex humanity remains systemically marginalized. This proposal is grounded in a study of the Lasallian tradition of education, which originates from John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719), founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in seventeenth century France and the patron saint for Christian teachers of the young. From a Lasallian perspective, the prophetic call to teach for children’s liberation is rooted contemplatively in a Christian mysticism of faith, which energizes an incarnational mission of education in zeal, shaped by a preferential option for children as the poor and marginalized. This preferential option for children is a hermeneutical key that reads the Lasallian mission of education forward into the twenty-first century. I develop this idea of a preferential option for children, locating it in an interpretive study that critically synthesizes a Lasallian theology of child with literature in childhood studies, spirituality, critical pedagogy and participatory action research. Building on the Lasallian imagination, this study contributes to a Christian spirituality of education as it examines how contemporary theological perspectives on children and childhood serve as a lens that deepens the interconnection between Christian mysticism, liberation, and child in teaching as a prophetic vocation. To teach for children’s liberation is to promote their flourishing as full human beings created in the image and likeness of God. It attends to conditions that protect children in their social marginalization while engaging and developing their social participation as responsible agents in our common belonging to God as God’s children and siblings-in-Christ. It demands just presence in teaching, which begins with listening as receptivity to the mystery of the child as graced irruption. The prophetic call to teach for children’s liberation is mystically rooted in contemplative wonder at the Incarnation. Such wonder must also open the teacher to being disturbed by the scandalizing action of God, who steps out of God-self not only to be with the poor, but also in the least as a human child in Jesus Christ. It is this recognition of God’s presence in each child and with children that calls forth the responsibility of teachers, making an ethical claim on them to be courageously present in ways that prioritize the human dignity of children in education. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.