Special Rapporteur on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography
Background to the mandate
On 20 November 1989, the United Nations General
Assembly in New York adopted the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. This international instrument recognizes "that in all
countries in the world, there are children living in exceptionally
difficult conditions, and that such children need special
consideration". By 2000, over ten years after its adoption, almost
every country in the world has signed and agreed to be bound by the
provisions of the Convention.
By 1990, international awareness of the commercial
sexual exploitation and the sale of children had grown to such a
level that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights created the
mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography. The mandate-holder is required
to investigate the exploitation of children around the world and to
submit reports on the findings to the General Assembly and the
Commission on Human Rights, making recommendations for the
protection of the rights of the children concerned. These
recommendations are targeted primarily at Governments, other United
Nations bodies and non-governmental organizations.
In its resolution 1990/68 entitled "Rights of
the child", the Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint
for a period of one year a Special Rapporteur to consider matters
relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography. The appointment has been regularly renewed, most
recently in 2001, when the Commission on Human Rights in its
resolution 2001/75 on the "Rights of the child" decided to renew the
Special Rapporteur's mandate for a further three years. Mr. Juan
Miguel Petit (Uruguay) was appointed Special Rapporteur in July
2001.
There are now over 40 thematic mandates of the
Commission on Human Rights. In pursuance of these mandates, each
special rapporteur, special representative and independent expert,
deal with major problems related to human rights violations (such
as, violence against women, torture, extra-judicial executions,
racism, and failure to respect several rights and freedoms). There
are also approximately 15 special rapporteurs who investigate a
whole range of human rights issues within a single country. All
these experts are unpaid and generally employed in the legal
profession, the academic world or or other related fields. (For full
details of their role, see Fact Sheet on Special Rapporteurs).
Mr. Petit, a graduate in law and social sciences,
has worked for many years as a journalist and social scientist. He
was a member of the Board of the National Child Institute of Uruguay
(1985-1990) and has been involved in a variety of NGO programmes for
children, including assistance to street children and fostering
conditions that encourage children to continue living at home. Mr.
Petit also participated in the preparatory process for submission of
a new national law on children's rights to the Uruguayan Parliament.
During the military dictatorship in Uruguay (1973-1985), he
worked as a journalist and editor of opposition publications. More
recently he edited a monthly news magazine. Mr. Petit currently
works as technical coordinator of the National Rehabilitation
Centre, a recent initiative aimed at the education and social
reintegration of young detainees, which gives them access to study
or work opportunities outside of prison while they are serving their
sentences.
He also writes about social issues for the
Uruguayan newspaper El País.
Previous mandate-holders include Ms. Ofelia
Calcetas-Santos (1994-2001) and Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn
(1991-1994).
Issues in focus
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