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The Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly in Resolution 44/25 on 20 November 1989 and entered into
force on 2 September 1990. It incorporates Article 27 of the Covenant
for Civil and Political Rights.
Article 2
1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth
in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without
discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's
or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability,
birth or other status.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that
the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment
on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs
of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.
Article 14
1. States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion.
2. States Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents
and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child
in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving
capacities of the child.
3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only
to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect
public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms
of others.
Article 20
1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her
family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to
remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and
assistance provided by the State.
2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure
alternative care for such a child.
3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, kafalah of
Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions
for the care of children. When considering solutions, due regard shall
be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to
the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.
Article 29
1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall
be directed to:
(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society,
in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and
friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and
persons of indigenous origin; (...)
Article 30
In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities
or persons of indigenous origins exist, a child belonging to such a minority
or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other
members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess
and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.
Source: A full
text version of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
can be found on the Homepage of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
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