Child Human Rights Defenders

1. Introduction

Children are human rights holders, human rights claimants and human rights defenders (HRDs); children in every country and in every region are standing up for children’s rights and human rights in general. Children who act as HRDs are shaping understanding of human rights across the world. Recognizing this contribution and the unique challenges that children may encounter, the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s (the Committee) Day of General Discussion in 2018 (DGD2018) was focused on protecting the rights of child human rights defenders (CHRDs). ² DGD2018, and the global consultation with children which informed it³, provided insights into the many ways in which children are acting in the defence of human rights right across the world, challenging existing norms and  It also identified many of the distinctive barriers that children encounter when acting as HRDs. A picture emerged of an array of challenges that include: not having access to information, including about their rights; not being taken seriously by adults; receiving physical and verbal abuse and threats online and offline; being prevented from acting by their families, elders, schools or the police; and not having access to or information about effective supports or remedies. While some of these issues are encountered by adult HRDs, children have a distinctive set of human rights entitlements, most notably within the  Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) ⁴and its Optional Protocols⁵,  many of which are relevant or directly engaged when they act as HRDs.

The United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – frequently abbreviated to Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (the Declaration or DHRD)⁶ – and its associated commentary⁷apply to ‘everyone’ including children. The Declaration does not create new rights but instead articulates existing rights in international law in a way that makes it easier to apply them to the practical role and situation of HRDs. The CRC, along with bespoke provisions for children in other instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of Per-sons with Disabilities (CRPD),⁸ are therefore essential for the translation of the Declaration into national laws, policies and practices that are appropriate and effective for children. Similarly, the Declaration and the legal framework that it brings about is a unique tool that can enhance the implementation of the CRC at the national level, particularly in relation to CHRDs’ right to be heard and civil and political rights. While there have been preliminary attempts to include children’s rights in legal frameworks for the protection and empowerment of HRDs at the national level, major gaps persist within HRDs’ frameworks and beyond.  

This Implementation Guide aims to complement the existing commentary and advice on HRDs by articulating the rights of CHRDs and identifying what is distinctive about children’s rights. It provides guidance as to what States and others should do to ensure that children who exercise their right to defend human rights are not only allowed but empowered to do so and can do it without encountering breaches of their own rights and without unnecessary or disproportionate restrictions. It does so by drawing on the recommendations of DGD2018⁹ and children’s own experiences and views of what enables them to act as HRDs (which are represented in the quotations from children).¹⁰.The Guide has been informed throughout by the input of an international experts’ advisory group.¹¹

A child-friendly version of this Guide is currently being developed by the Children’s Advisory Team of Child Rights Connect. 

What is different about CHRDs?

Children, as human beings, enjoy the human rights, including the civil and political rights that adults do. Moreover, the CRC creates a bespoke version of these that recognizes the distinct challenges and opportunities that children may encounter in the enjoyment of their human rights and the distinct context in which they exercise their rights. 

These are as follows:

Thus, while children, on the face of it, enjoy the same or bespoke expansions of the human rights enjoyed by other HRDs, these rights are exercised within a distinctive social context. One of the consequences of this is that States and others (including parents and schools) may overlook the fact that children are HRDs or restrict their engagement as a result of prevailing social norms. Moreover, children themselves may not see themselves as HRDs or may grow up in social contexts where they do not know that acting as HRDs is an option, never mind an entitlement, for them. This is particularly true for girls, children with disabilities and children in vulnerable situations.

The Declaration must be read, understood and implemented in the light of:

1. a bespoke set of children’s human rights;
2. a unique context for the exercise of those rights (i.e. within the context of their on-going development, their relationship with their families and their position in their schools and their communities) and;
3. a recognition of the distinctive challenges around implementation of a human rights-based framework for children.

It also needs to be understood in the light of the lived experiences of, and with input from, CHRDs.

This implementation guide:

• Clarifies the definition of ‘child human rights defenders’.
• Analyses the Articles of the CRC that are most relevant to CHRDs with reference to the Declaration, drawing on the lived experiences of CHRDs.
• Provides guidance on how a human rights framework for CHRDs should be implemented.

At the outset, it must be noted that the CRC is an articulation of established human rights protections for children, such as those in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other international human rights treaties, and does not and cannot detract from these or enhanced protections in domestic law. Article 41 of the CRC states that ‘nothing in the present Convention shall affect any provisions which are more conducive to the realization of the rights of the child and which may be contained in domestic law or international law in force for that State.’