CRINmail 198:
In this issue:
View this CRINmail in your browser.
A new UN report on the situation of children in Iraq between January 2011 and June 2015 documents rights violations against children in the country. While most of the violations were committed by the so-called Islamic State (IS), the report highlights many violations perpetrated by pro-Government militias and the US-led international coalition. In 2014 alone, as counter-IS operations were initiated and intensified, 1,190 children were killed, according to the report. While more than half of the total number of documented child casualties resulted from attacks allegedly perpetrated by Al-Qaida and IS, air strikes by national and international air forces operating in Iraq have killed hundreds of children.
The report also details cases of recruitment and use of children, in combat as well as in support roles, by armed groups including IS, Al-Qaida and Yazidi self-defence groups and by pro-government militias.
Furthermore, as of September 2015, 486 children were being held in detention facilities, most of whom have been indicted or convicted on security charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Earlier in December, the US-led coalition was accused of killing at least 26 civilians, including at least 7 children in Syria.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict in Iraq and its impact on children.
Civilians bear the brunt of human rights violations and abuses committed by armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to a new UN report. These include killings, hostage-taking, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, sexual and gender-based violence, or restrictions of freedom of movement. The report, issued by the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR and the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) analysis the human rights situation in the country, revealing that the new wave of inter-communal violence has killed 785 people, including 88 women and 43 children between September and May.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict and its impact on children.
Four children and 21 adults have been killed in explosions in the Donetsk region in Ukraine so far this year, according to a report released this week by Ukraine Under Attack. In a conflict that has claimed more than 9,000 lives, the last few months have seen a significant reduction of hostilities in certain parts of eastern Ukraine, according to a UN report. Serious human rights concerns persist, however, including continuing impunity, torture and an absence of the rule of law in the east, as well as a difficult humanitarian situation for those living in the affected areas and for those internally displaced.
On 8 December, Taliban fighters attacked the Kandahar airport in Afghanistan, killing 39 civilians, including four children and injured at least 23 civilians. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) the fighting lasted over 24 hours, during which time they intentionally targeted civilian areas.
At least 87 people have been killed in Burundi last Friday in the worst outbreak of political violence since an attempted coup in April. The latest victims seem to have been shot execution-style and no gun battles took place in the neighborhood where most of the bodies were found, multiple witnesses said. According to residents, security services conducted door-to-door searches and dragged away dozens of young men suspected of working with the rebels — many of whom were later found with bullets in their heads.
The latest round of violence has its roots in widespread discontent over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term in office. According to UNICEF, the crisis has already left 17 children dead and many more injured. Since the crisis began in April, child rights violations have multiplied, with children being caught up in violent clashes and raids, schools being hit by grenade blasts and more than 100 children being arbitrarily detained, at times for long periods alongside adults.
The Human Rights Council will hold a special session on preventing further deterioration of the human rights situation in Burundi on Thursday 17 December.
UNICEF estimates that 16,000 children may have been used by armed forces and groups in South Sudan since the start of the civil war two years ago. The conflict began in December 2013, when soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, now the rebel leader, fought in Juba, the capital. As the fighting spread, both sides targeted and killed civilians, including in gruesome massacres, often based on their ethnicity. Nearly 1,500 children have been killed, around 900,000 have been internally displaced and 650,000 have fled to neighbouring countries.
A new report by Human Rights Watch names more than 15 commanders and officials from both the government and opposition groups who have used children as soldiers, based on interviews with 101 children who were either forcibly recruited or joined forces to protect themselves and their communities.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict and its impact on children.
After a summer marked by renewed clashes in northern Mali, a surprising easing of hostilities began taking shape in October 2015 following a series of talks between leaders of the main rebel coalition, and those of the pro-government coalition.
An armed rebellion launched in January 2012 expelled the army from the north of the country while a military coup overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré in March. These two episodes ushered Mali into an unprecedented crisis. The violence continued and there have been renewed clashes with the army in the north. Thousands have fled the violence, and now live across the south and in camps in Burkina Faso and Niger. The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for children and armed conflict reported cases of child recruitment and children detained under security charges. In 2013, the UN reported that the crisis led to serious human rights violations, emphasising that women and girls in particular have suffered degrading treatment by hard-line Islamist groups based on "an extreme interpretation of Sharia law”.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict and its impact on children.
“The image of the child soldier as a young boy carrying a gun bigger than himself is so deeply ingrained in our minds that many still forget that girls are also victims of recruitment.” says Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
The report Invisible Survivors: Girls in Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo [(DRC)] from 2009 to 2015, published by the UN Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) on the recruitment of girls by armed groups in the country highlights the violence girls are confronted with as well as the difficulty in providing them with adequate assistance. Since 2009, 7,646 children, including 600 girls were documented as recruited by armed groups in DRC. Almost half of them were under the age of 15 when they were recruited.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict and its impact on children.
More inmates are in US military prisons for sex crimes against children than for any other offence, an Associated Press investigation has found. But an opaque justice system prevents the public from knowing the full scope of the crimes or how much time the prisoners spend behind bars. Of the 1,233 inmates confined in the military prisons, 61 percent were convicted of sex crimes, according to the latest available data, obtained through the federal open records law. Children were the victims in over half of those cases.
Four French soldiers were questioned in relation to accusations of sexual abuse in the Central African Republic (CAR) earlier this month in Paris. They are the first members of the French military to be questioned in the investigation, which started last year. Investigators took statements from 11 children and several NGO workers in CAR in July. The French UN employee who wrote the report that brought the accusations to light is to be interviewed later this month after the UN lifted diplomatic immunity, sources say.
The UN’s failure to protect child victims of sexual abuse has been under scrutiny since April this year, following disturbing accounts of sexual abuse of young boys by French, Chadian, and Equatorial Guinean peacekeepers at a displaced persons camp in CAR. In June, the UN Secretary-General appointed a panel to investigate the response of the UN to the allegations of sexual abuse. The panel is reviewing both the allegations and the UN response and any shortcomings in existing procedures covering serious crimes by the organisation and related personnel, host State forces and non-State actors that it may become aware of during its review.
Read the whole story behind the sexual abuse revelations in CAR.
Refugees and asylum seekers
Jordan is preventing entry to 12,000 Syrian asylum seekers at its northeastern border region in deplorable conditions, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). The vast majority of them are women and children who urgently need food, water, and medical assistance. The number of people arriving to these locations has risen sharply since the start of November, from 4,000 to 12,000 following the recent intensification of conflict in Syria.
The UN Secretary-General warned Balkan States that border restrictions based on a refugee’s or migrant’s nationality infringe human rights, with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reporting that 1,000 people are already stranded, 60 of them on hunger strike and 11 reportedly stitching their mouths in protest.
UNHCR, UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned of the dangers to blocked refugees and migrants as the bite of winter takes hold. “This is becoming increasingly untenable from every point of view – humanitarian, legal, and also safety related, not least in light of falling temperatures and the risks for children and others with specific needs,” according to UNHCR spokesperson.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 8,875 reports of human rights violations – an average of 43 violations every day - were verified since March in Yemen.
In a report that investigates five air strikes on schools between August and October 2015, Amnesty found that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces have targeted schools that were still in use, in violation of international humanitarian law, and hampering access to education for thousands of Yemen’s children. The coalition forces are armed by States including the US and the UK. The five airstrikes investigated have killed five civilians and injured at least 14, including four children. According to Amnesty, the schools were being used for educational – not for military – purposes, making the strikes against them, a flagrant violation of the laws of war.
Read CRIN’s summary of the conflict and its impact on children.
Some Muslim children have been facing discrimination following the terrorist attacks in Paris. "When I arrived at school last Monday, some friends treated me like a terrorist," says nine-year-old Ayman, following the terrorist attacks in Paris. "I spoke to my teacher. She explained to my classmates that being a Muslim does not make you a terrorist."
Many parents find it hard to talk to their children about terrorist attacks - but it has been particularly difficult for Muslim families. With that in mind, a French daily children's newspaper, Le Petit Quotidien and Mon Quotidien, dedicated four days to explaining what had happened and answering readers' questions.
Back to top
Closing
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on youth, peace and security that urges greater representation by young men and women in the prevention and resolution of conflict amid “the rise of radicalisation to violence and violent extremism amongst youth, which can be conducive to terrorism.”
The resolution requests Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to carry out a “progress study” on youth’s positive contribution to peace processes and conflict resolution, in order to recommend effective responses at local, national, regional and international levels.
Back to top
| 
