Child commission steps up fight against abuse of children’s rights

The National Commission for Children is working on a strategy that will put in place nation-wide structures to help enhance child rights down to the village level.This was disclosed by the Commission’s chairperson, Zaina Nyiramatama, while reacting to recent reports of child abuse highlighted in the latest national human rights report. The report indicates that between July 2012 and June 2013, the National Human Rights Commission received 246 cases related to violation of children’s rights.The same issues have been highlighted in the previous five reports, with the commission receiving 250 cases on average annually. Defilement, assault, underage marriage, child labour, violation of the right to study, right to property and right to paternity are among the common offences. Parents, teachers, neighbours and housemaids are cited as the perpetrators of the said vices.“Like community health workers, we want to put in place an awareness committee that will help us collect information on child abuse from the grassroots. We shall train them because we realised that most of the time; people abuse child rights due to ignorance,” Nyiramatama said.The strategy is expected to be rolled out in February next year.Rwanda is among the top 10 countries in Africa that are ‘most child-friendly,’ according to this week’s flagship report by the African Child Policy Forum. Members of the civil society blame the community for child rights abuses and for providing safe haven to the offenders. They say there is an urgent need for rights awareness campaigns targeting both children and adults to enlighten them on child rights and enforcing punishments stipulated under the Rwandan laws. According to Edouard Munyamariza, the president of Rwanda Civil Society Platform, there are laws to protect children but some people are yet to understand the essence of these laws.“Parents believe they can batter their children with impunity,” he said.Munyamariza believes it is a matter of mindset and awareness.Haguruka, a non-governmental organisation that advocates for women and child rights, says cases of property wrangles and domestic violence need to be handled seriously because they directly affect children.“Recently, we received a case where a neighbour poured liquid gum in a child’s private parts. The child’s mother had gone to dig in a neighbour’s garden for a living since her husband abandoned the family,” said François Ndikubwabo, the head of legal aid at Haguruka.He noted that family break-ups affect children’s education and expose them to abuse which, in most cases, go unreported.The organisation called for collective responsibility to protect child rights.Dative Mujawamariya, a member of an umbrella of lawyers based in Kigali, Lawyers of Hope, also attributes child abuse to ignorance.She cited a recent case in which a mother burnt his child and the neighbours heard the child crying but ignored it, reasoning that it is a parents right to punish a child.The body is currently training over 200 children in child rights in Kirehe District, Eastern Province. While presenting her report to parliament recently, Madeleine Nirere, the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, said some local authorities are reluctant to deal with reported cases.In its report, the Commission appealed to authorities and the general public to give due attention to cases of child rights violation.