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IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Welcomes Entry into Force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure
February 3, 2014
Washington, D.C. — The Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the fact that on January 14, 2014, Costa Rica became the 10th country to ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, which means that the legal instrument will take effect in three months. Costa Rica’s ratification follows that of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, among the countries of the Americas.
The implementation of the Optional Protocol expands the possibilities for international protection of children’s rights, as it allows children and/or their representatives to lodge complaints with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning possible violations of their rights when they have been unable to obtain justice and reparations in their own countries. The Committee on the Rights of the Child will be the body that examines any complaints submitted by children, to determine whether there has been a violation of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or its two additional Optional Protocols, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography. The Committee will also be able to ask the States to take interim measures to protect children.
The Optional Protocol also contemplates the possibility that the Committee on the Rights of the Child can take the initiative, without necessarily having received a complaint, to open an inquiry procedure to investigate allegations of serious or systematic violations by a State party of the rights established under the Convention and its Optional Protocols.
This international instrument takes into special consideration the importance of adapting procedures for accessing international protection to children, so as to ensure their effective involvement in the defense of their rights.
The IACHR Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child is pleased to note that two countries in the region have ratified the Optional Protocol, and calls on the rest of the States to strengthen the protection of the rights of children and adolescents in the region, both domestically and internationally, by ratifying this instrument. Along these lines, the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have indicated the protection of children’s rights is strengthened by the body of law that incorporates standards from various bodies that afford protection to children’s rights, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the pronouncements of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The ratification of this protocol reinforces the degree to which the various systems for the protection of children complement each other, and encourages children’s involvement in the promotion and protection of their rights.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this matter. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in a personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 8/14