3. State Party ReportsBurkina Faso[Parts of State party report relating specifically to relevant minimum legal ages, and articles 37 and 40](...) II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD 7. Under article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is "every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier". In Burkina Faso, article 554 of the Code on the Individual and the Family sets the age of majority at 20. The Penal Code sets majority age at 17. 8. In Burkina Faso, parents are bound to discharge the obligation of compulsory schooling for their children. However, constraints such as the lack of school infrastructures, low incomes and poor understanding among some parents are serious obstacles to the fulfilment of this obligation. Thus, the rate of school enrolment in Burkina Faso is quite low. (...) D. Criminal liability 13. Act No. 19 AN of 9 May 1961, concerning young offenders, establishes a special criminal regime for young delinquents or offenders which is quite different from that of adults. The age of majority for criminal matters being 18, this concerns all young people under that age, with the exception of minors under 13, who cannot be held legally responsible in any way. The opening of an inquiry is mandatory, even for ordinary offences. However, if the child is being prosecuted together with adults, the procedure for adults can be applied to him. (...) IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (...) H. Right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 32. Article 2 of the Constitution contains provisions prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Under article 7 of Act 19-61, AN of 9 May 1961, relating to any parent or guardian guilty of ill-treatment or negligence of their children is prosecuted. 33. However, sexual mutilation, in particular female circumcision, does persist. This form of violence is on the decrease, even though there are structural resistances, linked to attitudes, which make it difficult to combat. With a view to abolishing this practice, Burkina Faso has established a National Committee to Combat Female Circumcision, made up as follows:
The Committee's basic purpose is to prepare, implement, coordinate and evaluate all strategies aimed at the gradual abolition of this and any other practices affecting the health and development of women and children. 34. There are no courts specializing in the treatment of juvenile offenders in Burkina Faso. Conditions of detention are deplorable: insufficient and poor food, along with overcrowding, which makes sanitary conditions appalling. The lack of infrastructures forces the prison administration to hold children in the same cells as adults, which accustoms the children to crime and delinquency. Quite recently, a juveniles wing was opened at the Ouagadougou Prison. Such efforts are insufficient, however, to meet the situation as it stands. For 1990, the number of children between 13 and 18 years of age in prison was estimated at 270. However, NAP provides for the establishment of screening centres for children under arrest. 35. In view of the limited means available and the insufficient institutions for the care, training and rehabilitation institutions for children Burkina Faso is focusing on action for "street children". Reformatories have been found to present problems of a human, material and financial nature. Therefore, the Education in an Open Environment Campaign (AEMO), begun in 1989, provides support for the work of the rehabilitation institutions as regards both infrastructure and methods of operation. As a flexible arrangement, the AEMO makes it possible to provide supervision for a larger number of children. 36. Burkina Faso has also devised strategies to combat soliciting and prevent children from frequenting bars and dance halls. This is to protect minors, and especially girls, against the scourge of prostitution and crime. (...) VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES (...) B. Children in conflict with the law 1. Administration of juvenile justice 74. Minors are presumed to have no responsibility under criminal law. Act No. 19-61 AN of 9 May 1961 divides minors into two categories: those over 13 years of age and those under 13. Minors under 13 years of age are covered by absolute immunity from criminal responsibility, and those over 13 by relative immunity. However, immunity does not mean that educational measures cannot be applied. 2. Treatment of children deprived of their liberty 75. When a juvenile is sentenced to deprivation of liberty, the sentence is served in a reformatory. Children should be separated from adults, but in actual fact, because of the lack of specialized detention facilities, convicted minors are held under the same conditions as adults. It should also be noted that there is a very small number of centres for reception, rehabilitation and social reintegration and a lack of screening centres so that appropriate measures can be taken to avoid all children being held under the same conditions. 3. Sentencing of juveniles 76. Juveniles aged 13 and under cannot be sentenced. Juveniles over 13 years of age are liable to half the sentences applicable to adults. In cases carrying the death penalty or life imprisonment, the death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment and life imprisonment to 20 years' imprisonment. 4. Physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration 77. According to a survey conducted in 1990 by the Office for Social Reintegration in the two main cities (Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso), there were 110 "street children" and 2,967 "children in the street". A non-exhaustive census conducted in 1986 by the same office resulted in the figure of 1,500 for child beggars. Because of this situation, policy on supervision of children in difficulty was oriented towards education in an open environment. The establishment of screening centres in the framework of the implementation of the NAP would improve the conditions of child ex-prisoners. Source: Initial reports of States parties due in 1992: Burkina Faso, UN Doc. CRC/C/3/Add.19, paras. 7-8, 13, 32-36, 74-77 (15 July 1993) |