A TOTAL of 170 complaints were filed to Child Commissioner Leda Koursoumba in 2009, with her annual report showing that children’s rights in Cyprus were being violated by teachers, policemen, parents and others in authority.
Presenting her 2009 report to President Demetris Christofias, Koursoumba underlined a series of problems, involving indecent and violent assaults against children as well as serious insufficiencies in domestic legislation.
The majority of complaints, according to the report were made against the Ministries of Labour and Social Insurance, Health, Education and Interior.
One of the most serious cases involved accusations made by a boy that was under the care of the Welfare Services and had been placed at a youth hostel. The minor said the hostel was also home to adults, who had been placed there when they were younger. The boy claimed he had often fallen victim to sexual abuse by these adults, as did other children in the hostel, while the adults’ friends would also sometimes join in.
One complaint involved a public school’s failure to offer special education to a dyslexic English-speaking primary school pupil, who moved permanently to Cyprus with his mother.
Koursoumba said the lack of support for this child with learning difficulties was discriminatory and a violation of his right to access qualitative education. She intervened with a letter to the Education Ministry, seeking clearer regulations for foreign children with learning difficulties.
The Commissioner also received a number of complaints against school bus drivers, by pupils and parents, with one claiming a bus driver expressed aggressive behaviour against a private school pupil. Koursoumba informed the school’s management and Police Chief, who informed her that a criminal record had been opened on the specific driver.
In another case, the mother of a six-year-old pre-school pupil reported that her daughter had been hit by her teacher after refusing to take punishment.
In one incident, the parents of underage girls who had been sexually abused by another minor said the police didn’t take the necessary action, thus failing to ensure their children’s safety.
Other complaints involved, among others, the lack of organisation and substructure for children with special needs, as well as excessive used by police against teenagers during a music event in Nicosia.
