Article 8: Right to preservation of identity

Overview of Article 8

Article 8 provides for preservation of the identity of the child in general, in particular preservation of their nationality, of their name and of their family relations in relation to enforced disappearances, abductions and missing children within the country.

Children of parents who are subjected to enforced disappearance themselves are at a greater risk of being discriminated against. It is related to cases where nationality of a child as a part of their identity cannot be preserved due to gender-based discrimination (denial of passing parental identity from mothers), civil status-based discrimination (children born out of wedlock), and migration-based discrimination (children of migrant parents, born or lived in a country for most of their life) [1, 2].

Enforced disappearances of children or related cases of irregular adoptions may directly violate the right to preservation of identity by concealing the identity of the children and preventing re-establishment of the bond between the disappeared children and their families, their heritage, culture, their identity [3].

Core attributes of Article 8

The core attributes of Article 8 are:

• Establishment of criminal and procedural preventive measures
• Establishment of protective legal and administrative procedures

Each of these attributes can be measured in terms of structural or process implementation or in terms of outcomes achieved through implementation as outlined in the table below. Some indicators, for instance the structural ones, may be common to all attributes. An attempt has been made to balance the use of objective and subjective data indicators as well as qualitative and quantitative ones.

What did children say?

These are some ideas that children from around the world shared with us during the Global Child Rights Dialogue (GCRD) project:

Relevant provisions within the SDGs

1. Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
   • Target 6.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.
     • SDG indicator 16.10.1 Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months.

Potential sources of data for users of the indicators sets

• Court case statistics
• Household surveys
• Human rights violations reports of CSOs   
• National vital registration systems
• Primary research by National Human Rights Institutions for Children
• UN treaty body country concluding observations
• UN special procedures reports

References used for the overview

1. United Nations General Assembly. (2015). Report of the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances (WGEID) (A/HRC/30/38). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session30/Documents/A_HRC_30_38_ENG.docx
2. United Nations General Assembly. (2013). General comment on children and enforced disappearances adopted by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances at its ninety-eighth session (General Comment No.12 (A/HRC/WGEID/98/1)), (para. 8). Retrieved from the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights website: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/GeneralComments.aspx
3. Pais, M.S. (1997). The Convention on the Rights of the Child. In Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, International Labour Organization, and United Nations Staff College Project Turin Centre, Manual on Human Rights Reporting (pp. 433-434). Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Publication.

References used to create indicators

• Doek, J. E. (2006). A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 8-9: the Right to Preservation of Identity and the Right Not to Be Separated from His or Her Parents. Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL.
• UNESCO. (1986). Travaux Préparatoires, Report of the Working Group on a Draft Convention on the Rights of the Child (E/CN.4/1986/39). Retrieved from the University of Virginia School of Law website: http://hr-travaux.law.virginia.edu/document/crc/ecn4198639/nid-147
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2007). Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Fully Revised 3^rd Ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: UNICEF.
• United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESCO). (1985). Travaux Préparatoires, Summary record of the 54th meeting, held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Wednesday, 13 March 1985: Commission on Human Rights, 41st session (E/CN.4/1985/SR.54). Retrieved from the University of Virginia School of Law website: http://hr-travaux.law.virginia.edu/document/crc/ecn41985sr54/nid-415
• United Nations General Assembly. (2013). General comment on children and enforced disappearances adopted by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances at its ninety-eighth session, General Comment No.12 (A/HRC/WGEID/98/1), (para. 8). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/GeneralComments.aspx
• United Nations General Assembly. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR). (2006). International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/disappearance-convention.pdf

Glossary/key words

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Article 8 Indicator Tables

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