Bolivia will analyze the elimination of child marriage for children under 18 years of age from its legislature, in addition to revising Law 348, a law created to fight against all types of violence, among other recommendations arising from the evaluation of the Fourth Country Report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“The recommendations focused on prohibiting and eliminating child marriage, of persons under 18 years of age. Undoubtedly this will force us to review this measure and I will raise it in the 98 Commission that we have relaunched with the justice sector”, said the Minister of Justice, Cesar Siles, in an interview with Bolivia TV.
“A new analysis of Law 348 was also recommended, which will surely be released in a couple of months through the recommendations for the country,” Siles added in conference.
Other recommendations refer to access to justice, judicial independence, child labor and environmental issues, among others, said Siles, who added that the conclusion of the UN UPR evaluation will be known at a later date.
Positive progress
The Plurinational State recently submitted its Fourth Country Report to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) during the 48th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Minister of Justice described this evaluation as “positive” for the country because it highlighted several advances made in recent years in the area of human rights.
One of the main achievements in the area of human rights was the creation and consolidation of the Commission for State Reporting and Enforced Disappearances (CPIE), through Supreme Decree No. 4816, in October 2022, he said.
There is also the ratification and adoption of important international treaties, including the 2014 Protocol of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Convention 29 and Convention 169, ensuring their incorporation into the constitutional block.
The country complied with all reports to Treaty Bodies: Second to Fourth Reports to the CRPD, as well as follow-up reports on recommendations to the CED, CAT, CESCR and CEDAW. “To date, there are no pending reports,” states a note from the Ministry of Justice on the document submitted.
Siles emphasized that Bolivia complied with the 36 recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for Bolivia (GIEI-Bolivia), including the unprecedented and historically unprecedented approval of the Plurinational Policy for the Comprehensive Reparation of Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations.