CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 105

2 March 2007 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 105

 

___________________________________________________________

- SUDAN: International Criminal Court names first Darfur war crimes suspects [news]

- CRIN NEWSLETTER 20: Child Rights and Emergencies [publication]

- NEPAL: The Maoists’ Use of Child Soldiers [publication]

- PARIS: Commitments made to end unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts [news]

- NORTHERN IRELAND: The impact of conflict on children - healing the past and securing the future [speech]

- RESOURCES: Recent publications on children and armed conflict

___________________________________________________________

Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at [email protected]. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.

___________________________________________________________


SUDAN: International Criminal Court names first Darfur war crimes suspects [news]

[27 February 2007] - This week, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence showing that Ahmad Muhammad Harun, former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of the Sudan, and Ali Kushayb, a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed, jointly committed crimes against the civilian population in Darfur.

Based on evidence collected during the last 20 months, the Prosecution has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, (also known as Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman) bear criminal responsibility in relation to 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. The evidence shows they acted together, and with others, with the common purpose of carrying out attacks against the civilian populations.

The crimes were allegedly committed during attacks on the villages and towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, and Arawala in West Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004. The Prosecution has focused on some of the most serious incidents and the individuals who, according to the evidence, bear the greatest responsibility for those incidents.

In early 2003, Ahmad Harun was appointed as head of the “Darfur Security desk”. The most prominent of his coordination tasks was his management of, and personal participation in, the recruitment, funding and arming of Militia/Janjaweed – forces that would ultimately number in the tens of thousands. During a public meeting, Ahmad Harun said that as the head of the “Darfur Security desk”, he had been given “all the power and authority to kill or forgive whoever in Darfur for the sake of peace and security.”

The conflict involved rebel attacks on Sudanese Government installations in Darfur and a counterinsurgency campaign by the Sudanese Government against the rebels. The attacks carried out on towns and villages in Darfur did not target any rebel presence. Rather, they targeted civilian residents based on the rationale that they were supporters of the rebel forces.

The evidence shows that on several occasions Ahmad Harun incited the Militia/Janjaweed to carry out such attacks. For example, in early August 2003, prior to an attack on Mukjar, Ahmad Harun gave a speech where he stated that “since the children of the Fur had become rebels, all the Fur and what they had, had become booty” of the Militia/Janjaweed.

Ali Kushayb, an “Aqid al Oqada” (“colonel of colonels”) in West Darfur, was commanding thousands of Militia/Janjaweed by mid-2003. The evidence shows that Ali Kushayb issued orders to Militia/Janjaweed and armed forces to victimise the civilian populations through mass rape and other sexual offences, killings, torture, inhumane acts, pillaging and looting of residences and marketplaces, the displacement of the resident community and other alleged criminal acts.

The Prosecution has devoted considerable resources to assessing the admissibility of this case. Although investigations in the Sudan do involve Ali Kushayb, they are not in respect of the same incidents or conduct that are the subject of the case now before the Court. Therefore, the case is admissible.

The Pre-Trial Chamber I will review the evidence. If the judges determine that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the named individuals committed the alleged crimes, they will decide on the best manner to ensure their appearance in court.

A live web-cast of the press briefing is available through the ICC’s web site, www.icc-cpi.int.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12629

Further information

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRIN NEWSLETTER 20: Child Rights and Emergencies [publication]

[LONDON, 23 February 2007] - The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) has just published its new thematic Newsletter on Child Rights and Emergencies. This edition draws together some lessons learned, creative ways of working, as well as practical tools and case studies for overcoming the challenges of working in a rights-based way and helping children to better prepare for and recover from humanitarian crises.

In recent years the humanitarian community has seen an active debate about the place of human rights in emergency settings. This reflected considerable concerns about departing from a tried-and-tested set of humanitarian principles that were seen as having enabled agencies to deliver aid to those most in need. The introduction of human rights perspectives was seen as threatening some of these traditional approaches e.g. by jeopardising access to areas and people in extreme need.

For similar reasons rights-based approaches to work have, until recently, taken something of a back seat in emergency relief operations and in work in chronic emergencies. In part this arose because of perceptions that such approaches could not work in an emergency setting where, for example, there is a strong imperative to prioritise immediate survival needs and where the participation of beneficiaries was perceived as something of a luxury.

However, the last few years have been a time of reflection and learning. Some of the toughest challenges the humanitarian community has ever faced have brought a new will to alter the way it works: the failure to protect disaster-affected populations in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 (and the current situation in Darfur) and then the unprecedented experience of the tsunami in 2004, which affected many countries in South and South East Asia and beyond and tested the humanitarian infrastructure to the maximum. It is in this context that this edition of CRIN’s newsletter aims to reflect on some of the challenges of working within a child rights framework in emergency situations.

In his introduction, Hugo Slim, Chief Scholar at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, spells out some of the reasons, in terms of political risks in particular, why humanitarian professionals have been slower off the mark than their development colleagues to adopt a rights-based approach to their work.

Christine Knudsen, IDP Protection Adviser at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, explains what the current humanitarian reform process means for children’s rights and what opportunities it raises for strengthening the accountability of humanitarian agencies for the protection of child rights.

Heidi Peugeot and Fred Spielberg from UNICEF look at how new ideas in risk education can empower and protect children in disaster situations. In a case study, Orestes Valdés Valdés, from the Cuban Ministry of Education, and Pedro Ferradas Manucci, a Programme Manager for Practical Action, describe how, through the inclusion of risk education in the school curriculum, children play a vital part in Cuba’s emergency response programme – a model, which they say, is ripe for adaptation elsewhere.

Erin Patrick, a consultant at the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, describes the dangers that displaced women and girls face in carrying out daily household chores – such as collecting water and firewood for cooking – in conflict ravaged countries where rape and assault are used as ‘weapons of war’. She underscores the international community’s responsibility to protect the rights to physical and sexual integrity of refugee and internally displaced women and girls, and explains what must be done to protect these rights in the case of Darfur.

The chances of children falling into the hands of sexual predators increase dramatically in times of emergencies. Anthony Burnett and Stephanie Delaney, from ECPAT, outline some simple strategies that can be used by communities and children themselves to guard against sexual abuse and violence in all phases of an emergency. Harendra de Silva, a Professor of Paediatrics in Sri Lanka, describes how drawing parallels between sexual abuse and the conscription of child soldiers in Sri Lanka has become an effective tool for child rights advocates.

A recent earthquake in Indonesia devastated the education system across a large region of the country. Deborah Haines, Emergencies Education Adviser at Save the Children UK, explains how a joint effort has prioritised getting the education system back on track and enhancing it to help children prepare and recover from emergencies.

Alex Crawford, a Sky News TV Asia correspondent, gives some pointers for NGO media officers and the media on working together during an emergency to put children’s best interests first. Colin McCallum (Plan International) reveals how listening to children’s own priorities for relief and recovery is helping them to overcome memories of the tsunami and describes some tools which have been developed from this experience to give children a say in wider community activities.

Telecommunications suppliers are teaming up with relief agencies to improve emergency responses. Dag Nielsen, Director of Ericsson Response, explains what makes these partnerships successful and explains how new technology is being developed to save lives in the future.

Finally, Emma Roberts, Save the Children UK’s Humanitarian Affairs Adviser, tells us about her vision of child-led evaluations of emergency responses and programmes. She outlines a way of ensuring that children – as key stakeholders – can hold agencies to greater account for their work and impact.

Hard copies of the Newsletter will be sent to all CRIN members in the next few weeks. The newsletter will soon be available in Spanish and French. Those interested in receiving extra copies are invited to contact CRIN by email at [email protected] or download it at: http://www.crin.org/docs/CRIN_News_20_website.pdf

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12614

For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7012 6866; Fax: + 44 (0)20 7012 6899
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.crin.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEPAL: The Maoists’ Use of Child Soldiers [publication]

[NEW YORK, 1 February 2007] – Nepal’s Maoist armed forces should immediately begin releasing the thousands of child soldiers in their ranks and cease recruiting more children, Human Rights Watch said in a report released in February.

The new 72-page report, Children in the Ranks: The Maoists’ use of child soldiers in Nepal, describes how the Maoists have continued using child soldiers, and even recruited more children, despite signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Nepali government on November 21. The peace agreement commits both sides to stop recruiting child soldiers.

The report, which is based on interviews with former child soldiers and Nepali and international monitors, documents how children as young as 14 served on the front lines, received weapons training, and carried out crucial military and logistical support duties for the Maoists.

“The Maoists should let the children go,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director at Human Rights Watch. “The peace agreement explicitly forbids the use of child soldiers, and complying with this will be a key test of the Maoists’ good faith to uphold the accord.”

Nepali and international observers believe that up to 4,500 Maoist soldiers were under 18 when they were recruited to fight in a decade-long civil war that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

The Maoists, however, have consistently denied recruiting or using child soldiers. When questioned directly by Human Rights Watch on November 18, the Maoist leader Prachanda responded by repeating the Maoists’ official line: “We have never taken the policy to recruit children into our army. But in our military, they feed some children whose parents were martyred.”

Maoist commanders at the local level have responded identically, or blamed the use of child soldiers in the ranks on lack of discipline among local militias.

“Only when the Maoists, from the top leadership down to cadres on the ground, admit how many children are in their ranks and begin releasing them, can Nepalis be confident that their children will no longer be recruited for combat,” said Zarifi.

Human Rights Watch’s report documents how the Maoists have used a variety of techniques for recruiting children. Maoists have kidnapped individual children, have abducted large groups of children from school, and have used propaganda campaigns to attract children as “volunteers.” These practices were systematically implemented over several years and throughout areas under Maoist control.

The Maoists’ practice of recruiting child soldiers, often forcibly, has caused widespread fear among Nepalis and caused many families to flee their homes.

In areas of the country under their firm control, the Maoists instituted a “one family, one child” policy that forced at least one child from each family to join the Maoists. When boys ran away or were sent away from home, young girls were recruited.

“The Maoists’ use of child soldiers violates international law,” said Jo Becker, child rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “Children under 18 should not be allowed in the ranks, regardless of whether they were recruited by force or through a propaganda campaign.”

Since the ceasefire that came into effect on May 3, no children have been involved in combat. But the Maoists continued recruiting children up to the signing of the peace agreement and, with less frequency, have continued to recruit children even afterwards.

The report also documents the failure of the Nepali government to attend to the needs of child soldiers. Until the recent ceasefire, Nepali security forces treated children accused of cooperating with the Maoists with the same brutality that they used against adults suspected of Maoist ties. The government has not yet created a system to assist child soldiers who leave Maoist forces.

Human Rights Watch called on Nepal’s major international donors – such as the United States, the European Union, India and the United Nations – to provide technical and financial assistance necessary for reintegrating former child soldiers into normal life.

“Release from the Maoists’ ranks is only the first step for thousands of children who have missed out on their education or learning how to earn a living,” Becker said. “The Nepali government and international supporters have a responsibility to help these children.”

Since 2002, the Maoists have been named in three consecutive reports by the UN secretary-general to the Security Council as violating international standards prohibiting the use and recruitment of child soldiers. On February 9, a UN Security Council working group on children and armed conflict, is scheduled to consider reported violations against children by all parties to Nepal’s armed conflict. The working group will make recommendations for Security Council action.

“The Security Council should make it clear to the Maoists that they must immediately end their practice of using child soldiers,” Becker said. “This would remove a source of agony for thousands of Nepali families and boost the likelihood of a lasting peace in Nepal.”

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12406&flag=report

For more information, contact:
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor, New York, NY 10118-3299, USA 
Tel: + 1 212 216 1837
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hrw.org

Further information

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PARIS: Commitments made to end unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts [news]

[PARIS/GENEVA, 6  February 2007] - Representatives of 58 countries meeting in Paris in February committed themselves to putting an end to the unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts.

The Paris conference, hosted by the Government of France and UNICEF, brought together both countries affected by the use of child soldiers as well as donor nations to tackle the recruitment of children and to harness the political will to confront it.

“What this conference has shown is that there is a great deal of political commitment to ending the unlawful recruitment of children,” said Rima Salah, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director. “What needs to be done now is to harness this commitment and turn it into concrete action on the ground that protects children from recruitment and supports those already recruited to overcome their experiences and reenter their communities.”

Among the commitments endorsed during the conference was for governments to spare no effort to end the unlawful recruitment and use of children by armed forces or groups in all regions of the world, and to ensure that conscription and enlistment procedures for recruitment into armed forces comply with applicable international law.

However, political and legal efforts are not enough on their own to end recruitment. They also need to be accompanied by effective social programmes that tackle the root causes of recruitment.

To address this, the Paris Principles were also unveiled at the conference. The Principles are a detailed set of guidelines for protecting children from recruitment and for providing effective assistance to those already involved with armed groups or forces.

“What we have learned in our years of experience, and what was discussed here in Paris, is that while it is critical to address global legal responses to the issue of child soldiers, these actions must be accompanied by social support for affected children,” Salah said. “Because you will never end recruitment if you do not address the social factors that lead to their recruitment in the first place.”

Governments at the conference also committed themselves to make every effort to uphold and apply the Paris Principles wherever possible in their political, diplomatic, humanitarian and funding roles.

“We are very excited to see so much political commitment to tackling this issue. We know it is a long road ahead of us and it will require long-term commitment and support. But we truly hope this marks the beginning of the end for the use of children in warfare,” Salah said.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12471&flag=news

Further information

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NORTHERN IRELAND: The impact of conflict on children - healing the past and securing the future [speech]

[9 February 2007] - The presentation below was given by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe, at the Children's Law Centre Annual Lecture:

"I have had a poster on my wall for eleven years. It announces a conference here in Belfast about the impact of armed conflict on children – it was a consultation for a special United Nations study. We analysed experiences from Central America, South Africa, Palestine and, of course, Northern Ireland and tried to draw conclusions.

The picture on the poster shows a girl staring at what seems to be a military watch tower - one can see the threatening silhouette of it reflected in her big glasses. And on top of the poster there is the message: “We all fall down”.

Yes, we do. The question is if we manage to stand up again. The conference was about how children could be healed and secured for the future.

What was said then and has been proven over and over again in these and other trouble areas is that violent conflicts always hurt children badly. They are the most vulnerable and tend to be the least protected. The psychological scars could run deep into their minds.

Some of them may never recover; some of them may be easy recruits for the next generation of violent groups.

Children in these “troubles” experience in many respects the same agony as those in full scale war. During such conflicts that we had here in Northern Ireland or now in Gaza, for instance, children can never feel fully secure - the violence is penetrating their daily lives. They may lose adults they love and depend on. Or they may see relatives injured, physically or mentally. They may one day be targeted themselves.

The atmosphere of violence and the tension tend to affect children deeply. To be stopped in the street and body searched by a soldier can leave an imprint for years. Younger human beings have less ability to see the context and understand why people behave as they do and, certainly, their time perspective is different. All this makes them so much more vulnerable.

Some lessons were drawn at the Belfast conference in February 1996 and in the report from the UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. One was the importance of bringing as much stability as possible to the child’s every day life. When families begin to be dysfunctional it becomes particularly important that the schools and day care centres function well. This may require additional political and budgetary decisions.

The need for “stability” includes also getting honest answers on what is going on. It is not helpful for children that they are “protected” from talks about the acute issues. This is true also long after the violent crisis. The school has an enormously important role in giving children a chance to discuss their own history.

Another lesson which was drawn in the UN Study was the need to protect children as much as possible from direct contact with violence. We used the phrase of children being a “zone of peace”. This is of course more complicated when militias, insurgent groups and terrorists are active – they are seldom caring for child rights. However, also official counter-insurgency measures have sometimes violated the principle that children should be spared.

Teenagers do take part in protest actions and sometimes confront the army or the police. Again, this has to be handled in a manner which protects their basic rights, including their right to life. We discussed rubber bullets at the conference 1996 and said that such ammunition should not be used because of the risk for severe damage.

I am aware that new variations of plastic bullets or “baton rounds” have been designed but I am still concerned that the use of such riot control measures may be harmful, even lethal in the worst of cases. The burden of proof is here on those who approve the use of such bullets – can they guarantee for sure that they may never have a harmful effect on child? If that cannot be shown, such ammunition should be withdrawn. The same argument would go for the use of tasers (“stun” guns with high voltage).

The third lesson relates to the need for genuine support to children who have been traumatized. It is true that children normally have an astonishing capacity to heal and that they often can take bad experiences, if they have some support. But there is a limit, especially if the family situation is damaged. The more violent society has been or still is, the more one needs to invest in mental health services for children and adolescents.

A sad relationship has been shown in several countries – within communities struck by violent conflict there is a higher risk of domestic violence. What happens in the streets tends to have chain effects in the homes.

Domestic violence is always negative for the children even if they are not the direct target. To see one’s mother beaten up is painful for every child. We also know that corporal punishment of children still is a problem in spite of all efforts to make reality of the rights of the child.

We are taking an absolute stand against corporal punishment of children. We do not accept the idea of “reasonable chastisement”. Why should a child have to suffer being beaten up while the same treatment of adults is seen as intolerable?

International and European standards are clear on this. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights, clearly prohibits the use of corporal punishment in schools, community as well as at home.

Further international documents such as declarations, recommendations or the recent UN study on violence insist on the necessity to make the world free of any kind of violence against children. The Council of Europe aims at establishing by 2009 Europe as an area free of violence as it previously did with death penalty.

The objective of a ban is not to put a police officer or a social worker behind every adult. The intention is to alter public attitudes towards violence against children and establish a clear framework for parent education and support. This would also facilitate earlier and less intrusive interventions in cases where children are at risk.

The adoption of a law clearly banning corporal punishment is a first step to prove the willingness of society to stop violence against children. A law sends an important signal but should be supplemented by educational and other means to secure a safe upbringing.

Parenting should be supported - in the best interest of the child. It is significant that the Convention on the Rights of the Child has replaced the concept of parents’ rights with parental responsibilities. The perspective of assisting parents with problems is a key one. Unfortunately, those parents who are most in need of support tend to be the ones who never ask for help. This requires a spirit within social, health and school authorities which defend the rights of children at risk in a sensitive but effective manner.

Using violence against children only leads to an escalation of violence. Non-violent conflict resolution, tolerance and respect for others should be taught through setting good examples. How can we expect children to take human rights seriously and to help build a culture of human rights, while we adults not only persist in slapping, spanking, smacking and beating them, but actually defend doing so as being ‘for their own good’? Smacking children is not just a lesson in bad behaviour; it is a potent demonstration of contempt for the human rights of smaller, weaker people.

Read the full presentation at: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12530&flag=report

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESOURCES: Recent publications on children and armed conflict

Jenny Kuper/ Crisis States Programme at LSE: Military Training for Officers on Children in Armed Conflict (February 2007)
This website summarises the key rules for the protection of children in situations of armed conflict which should guide the actions of officers of national armed forces and the soldiers under their command.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12632&flag=report

Jo Boyden: Children, War and World Disorder in the 21st Century: A review of the theories and the literature on children's contributions to armed violence (December 2006)
The notion that young people, specifically young males, are inherently more inclined towards aggression and unrest has led some to claim that armed conflict is more likely in a society with a high proportion of young people. This paper evaluates this claim through a review of different literatures concerning young people, aggression and conflict, particularly focusing on findings from Africa.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12574&flag=report

UNIFEM: Gender-aware Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR): A Checklist (February 2007)
This checklist provides practical guidance on how to design demobilisation packages for men so that the women and their families and broader communities also benefit. The toolkit includes a particular focus on education and retraining, including sections on education in the encampment phase, resettlement, medical, health and psychological needs, economic concerns and gender-awareness in demobilisation and reintegration. The encampment phase includes a particular focus on HIV and AIDS education, while resettlement contains a safety net ensuring assistance to resettled women in getting their children, especially girls to school. Medical, health and psychological needs additionally encompass a focus on education in HIV and AIDS prevention and care for those infected.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12572&flag=report

___________________________________________________________

The CRINMAIL is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to the CRINMAIL. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.

To subscribe, unsubscribe or view list archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.

___________________________________________________________