Right to respect for private and family life

(Article 8, ECHR)
A young man called Graham Gaskin was very badly treated in care for many years.
He wanted to read his social services files, which were kept by Liverpool City
Council. The Council refused to let him see all his files. Graham Gaskin went through
the courts in the UK to try and force the Council to let him see his files, but the courts
agreed with the Council. So he took his complaint to the European Court of Human
Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights said the Council had breached Graham
Gaskin’s rights. The Court agreed he needed to see his social services files in order
to try and make sense of his childhood and his treatment in care. As a result of
Graham Gaskin’s complaint, which was decided by the European Court in 1989, it is
now much easier for people in care or in contact with social services to see
information that is written about them. Councils must now keep files concerning
children in care for 75 years.

Freedom of thought, conscience and

religion (Article 9, ECHR)
In 2004, a 16 year-old girl called Shabina Begum complained to the UK courts about
her school’s uniform rules. Her older brother helped her work with a lawyer to bring
her case. Shabina’s lawyer said that her human rights had been breached because
the school would not let her wear a jilbab, which she considered necessary to wear
because of her religion. The UK Court of Appeal agreed Shabina’s rights had been
breached, but then the case went to the House of Lords, which disagreed and said
that her rights had not been breached.

Even though Shabina lost her final court case, there was a lot of discussion about
school uniforms in the newspapers and on TV. The Government wrote new rules for
schools emphasising that students and parents must be asked their views when
uniform rules are being made.

Right to a fair trial (Article 6, ECHR)

In 1999, two boys complained to the European Court of Human Rights that their
rights under the ECHR had been breached. They had been put on trial in court for
killing a two year-old, and were just 10 years old when they committed the murder.
The boys' lawyers said that they had not had a fair trial because their case was dealt
with in an adult court. There were a number of journalists present, which made the
boys confused and frightened.

Judges in the European Court of Human Rights agreed that the boys' right to a fair
trial had been breached. The judgment said the UK Government should make
changes to protect the rights of other children and young people appearing in court
in future. A lot of changes were made, though many human rights organisations and
campaigners are still concerned about how children who commit crimes in the UK
are treated.

Prohibition of torture (Article 3,

European Convention on Human Rights)
In 2007, the families of two boys who had died in custody, during or after being
restrained, complained to the UK courts about a new law which allowed staff to use
physical force a lot more often on children in some prisons (called Secure Training
Centres). The lawyers said that the new law breached the boys right to prohibition of
torture. The UK Court of Appeal agreed and said that the new law was in direct
conflict with human rights law. This meant that the new law was revoked.

Right to respect for private and family life

(Article 8, European Convention on
Human Rights)
Two children and an adult got help from lawyers to complain about the police. They
had been stopped and searched by the police while at a protest in Kent about
protecting the environment. The children were told that they were being searched for
items because they were going to the protest. They were frightened by the
experience. They complained to the UK courts, but before the case finished the
police agreed they had breached the children’s rights. A settlement was agreed and
each child received compensation of £1,125 and a personal apology from the police.
A letter was also sent to every UK police force explaining why 'stop and searches'
that are carried out disproportionately are against the law and what should be done
differently in future.

A garden by children changing the face of the

village
Baliaghati of West Medinipur is a tribal village inhabited by people belonging to very
low income group with lack of basic facilities like health and nutrition. NPMS, a local
organization has been fighting for long to change the scenario. Since 2006,
DRCSC started working with NPMS involving children in the age group of 12~15 on
Ecology and Natural Resource related learning and experimentation activities.
Baliaghati is an area, where flood and drought, the two most destructive and
atrocious forms of nature, are a common factor and the poorest of people living here
have no option but to accept these vagaries of nature as part and parcel of their
lives. Vegetables have never been a part of their staple diet. In June 2008 about 200
packets of vegetable seeds were distributed among 30 children. 18 of them could
raise garden within their homestead.

Initiatives of others in the group were washed out by the flood waters. The packets
contained the seeds of swamp cabbage, snake gourd, ridged gourd, bottle gourd,
sweet potato, cowpea, yam bean, soybean, cucumber, bitter gourd, okra, Indian
spinach, tarukala etc. They were reluctant to eat some of these vegetables as they
had never seen them before. Later, NPMS took the initiative to cook and serve these
less known vegetables in a bid to popularize them. Compost and vermicompost
prepared by the children themselves were used for enriching the soil. On an average
each of them received about 150 kg of vegetable within 3~4 months. The children
kept a detailed record of the activities undertaken, changes observed, processes
undergone, incidence and nature of pest attack, lifecycle of the plants, rate of
germination and the quantity & quality of produce. These records gave the children
an idea of the science behind it. Parents also showed considerable interest in the
entire activity.
Apart from the eco-group children and their parents, now the other villagers are also
getting an opportunity to eat these vegetables as the children have shared the
surplus with them as a part of their awareness campaign so that all villagers could
know the benefits of raising a garden in their backyards.