CHILD RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONTINUES EXAMINATION OF PORTUGAL'S REPORT
Press Release
HR/4218
CHILD RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONTINUES EXAMINATION OF PORTUGAL'S REPORT
19951110 GENEVA, 10 November (UN Information Service) -- Aliens and stateless persons residing in Portugal enjoyed the same rights and were subjected to the same duties as Portuguese citizens except in the matter of political rights, the Portuguese delegation told the Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning as it continued to examine that country's initial report on its 1implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.The delegation of Portugal stated that gender equality and non- discrimination against children regardless of citizenship had been institutionalized through legislative and societal changes. Discrimination and xenophobia were not particular problems to the society as was the case in some other European countries, it said.
Children of illegal immigrants and Portuguese children received equal treatment, and there was no restriction regarding entitlements to education or health services, the delegation said. However, any illegal situation had to be reported to the authorities in order to regularize the status of the immigrants. The best interest of the child was affirmed in Portuguese law under the Child Protection Act, which set up juvenile courts to which it gave broad powers, in relation not only to children at risk but to socially maladjusted or even delinquent children.
The delegation of Portugal said further that the criminal code prohibited the maltreatment of any child, either within or outside the family. The Constitution protected the child from such acts. People had the right to intervene in favour of the child whenever a situation of ill-treatment arose. They could call the public authorities either anonymously or by identifying themselves. Physicians and medical personnel also had the duty to report to the commission dealing with such cases. The victims of violence received special treatment and their perpetrators were pursued by the law.
Portuguese children were protected from sexual abuses and any other violence, the delegation said. In case of pregnancy, a minor could consult a doctor without the consent of the parents. However, parents had to agree to any medical intervention of abortion in connection with a minor child. Sex education was given to children under the general programme of family planning.
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