24 April 2009 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 130
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**NEWS IN BRIEF**
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UN SECURITY COUNCIL: Working Group meeting on children and armed conflict [event]
Read a letter to Security Council members prepared by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in advance of the meeting
The Council will discuss children and armed conflict in an open debate on 29 April. The foreign minister of Mexico, Patricia Espinoza, is expected to preside.
Members will focus on the Secretary-General’s progress report on the implementation of resolution 1612, which in 2005 established the monitoring and reporting mechanism and set up the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.
A presidential statement is a likely outcome of the debate with possibly a commitment to start work on a new resolution for later in the year.
Security Council Report will publish its second Cross-Cutting Report on Children and Armed Conflict in April in preparation for the debate.
Key recent developments
The Secretary-General’s report is now available with the latest list of parties that recruit or use children in armed conflict in the two annexes. Annex I is made up of situations on the Council’s formal agenda and Annex II are those situations that are not on the Council’s agenda. Possible recommendations include:
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Expanding the criteria for inclusion of parties in the two annexes to include parties committing rape and other grave sexual violence, with the possibility for further expansion in the future. There are six violations considered grievous for children in situations of armed conflict (recruiting and use of child soldiers, killing and maiming of children, rape and other grave sexual violence against children, illicit exploitation of natural resources, abduction of children and denial of humanitarian access to children). However, only recruitment of children is used in assessing if a group should be placed on the Secretary-General’s annexes.
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Giving more attention to situations in the Secretary-General’s report which are not in his annexes (i.e. situations of conflict where there are violations against children but no child recruitment. In the 2007 report, this included Iraq, Haiti, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel).
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Suggesting that all relevant peacekeeping mission mandates include child protection provisions and child protection advisers.
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Reinforcing the need for parties listed in the annexes to respond to demands for concrete time-bound action plans.
Resolution 1612, adopted in July 2005, established a monitoring and reporting mechanism to collect, organise and verify information on violations against children in armed conflict and on progress made by parties in the Secretary-General’s annexes in complying with international norms on children and armed conflict. The monitoring and reporting mechanism has now been established in all conflicts listed in Annex I: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, and southern Sudan and Darfur (considered together); and the five Annex II situations (those not on the Council’s agenda): Chad, Colombia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
The Working Group also set up by resolution 1612 has, since its establishment in November 2005, considered 24 reports and adopted 21 conclusions. However, there is an increasing time lag between considering reports and issuing conclusions.
The trial of Thomas Lubanga, leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (Union des patriots congolais, or UPC) from DRC and the first individual to be charged solely for the conscription and use of children under the age of 15, began on 26 January. This trial is seen by many observers as significant in demonstrating that the use of children in armed conflict is a war crime that can be prosecuted at the international level.
On 17 July 2008, the Council held an open debate initiated by Vietnam. The presidential statement of February 2008, following the debate reiterated the need for a stronger focus on the long-term effects of armed conflict on children and encouraged the Working Group to further improve transparency and efficiency. Unlike the previous presidential statement of February 2008, there was no reference to persistent violators, the need for time-bound action plans or reviewing provisions of its resolutions.
In January Mexico became the new chair of the Working Group when France, which had been instrumental in setting up the Working Group, stepped down after three years.
Options
The most likely option in April is a presidential statement reaffirming the Council’s commitment to addressing the impact of armed conflict on children and to implementing 1612. Possible elements include:
- committing to working on a new resolution;
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demanding that persistent violators comply with all demands to stop recruitment and release children (special mention could be made of groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has ignored several public statements, and the government of Nepal, which has pledged but failed to release and rehabilitate minors being held in Maoist cantonments); and
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emphasising the need for groups to deliver and implement time-bound action plans as soon as possible.
Other possible elements may be:
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asking the Secretary-General to estimate how many more situations would come onto the Council if more violations were used to trigger the listing of a party in the annexes;
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suggesting a review of the impact of the recommendations of the Working Group to assess the most effective tools used;
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discussing lessons learned from the implementation of 1612 over the last three years; and
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requesting the Secretary-General to provide recommendations for better Secretariat support for the Working Group, keeping in mind the need for transparency and institutional memory.
Read the full report, including discussion of key issues and council dynamics here.
[Source: UN Security Council]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20117&flag=event
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DR CONGO: Children burned to death by Rwandan Hutu militia [news]
[23 April 2009] - On the night of April 17, 2009, Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked Luofu and Kasiki villages in the southern Lubero territory of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least seven civilians, including five young children who burned to death in their homes. At least seven other civilians were injured and 300 houses were burned to the ground. The following photos and eyewitness accounts were gathered by Human Rights Watch researchers who were in Luofo village the day after the attacks. Congolese army soldiers positioned in both Luofu and Kasiki reportedly put up little or no resistance and fled, along with the local residents and thousands of displaced persons who had sought refugee in the two villages from previous waves of violence in the past two months.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, had a temporary operating base in Luofu but it was removed on April 12. On the night of the attack, a MONUC patrol arrived in Luofo two hours after the attack from its nearest base in Kanyabayonga, 22 kilometers south-east, after the FDLR had already fled. No MONUC patrol made it to Kasiki, where at least 45 houses were burned to the ground and one man was shot to death by the FDLR.
The FDLR had sent a warning earlier on April 17 that Luofu would be attacked. No precautionary measures were taken by government soldiers or MONUC to protect civilians in case the threat was carried out. While fleeing Luofo, many residents heard further threats from the FDLR that the towns of Kayna and Kirumba, seven kilometers east of Luofo, would be next.
The FDLR attacks on Luofo and Kasiki appeared to be deliberate reprisals against the population. A few days earlier, the Congolese army and MONUC launched Operation Kimia II, a joint military operation to defeat the FDLR rebels. Similar reprisal killings have been documented by Human Rights Watch in other areas of North Kivu.
As operations against the FDLR move forward, MONUC and the Congolese army should take urgent measures to ensure that all key population centers close to the frontline, including those harboring large numbers of displaced people such as Kirumba and Kayna, are protected from reprisal attacks by FDLR forces.
[Source: Human Rights Watch]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=20135
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UN: Annual Report to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict [publication]
This Annual Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict (A/63/785–S/2009/158) will be examined by the Security Council during an Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict scheduled for 29 April 2009.
The report covers compliance and progress in ending six grave violations against children by parties to armed conflict: recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other grave sexual violence, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access to children.
The Secretary-General’s report documents grave violations against children in 20 situations of concern, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nepal, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand and Uganda.
Furthermore, the report explicitly lists in its annexes 56 parties, both State and non-State actors, committing grave violations against children. The annexed lists include 19 persistent violators who have been listed for more than four years. Although progress has been made through action plans to release child soldiers in several situations of concern, such as in Burundi, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, children continue to suffer in many conflicts.
In order to halt violations and ensure greater protection of children in conflict situations, the Secretary-General recommends targeted measures by the Security Council against repeat violators. He also encourages national and international justice mechanisms to take strong actions in the fight against impunity for crimes against children within their jurisdictions. “Accountability for perpetrators will create a sense of justice for the victims and it will also have a deterrence effect. Persistent violators have to realise that their crimes will not remain unpunished,” stated Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict.
The report recommends expanding the protection framework by adding rape and other grave sexual violence against children as a gateway to the annexed lists, which are currently limited to recruitment and use of children as soldiers. It also stresses the need to allow contact between the United Nations and non-State parties for the purposes of preparing action plans to stop recruitment and use of children and undertake specific measures to address all other grave violations committed against children.
According to the report, other emerging concerns should also be prioritized for action such as internally displaced children and their particular risks for recruitment; terrorism and counter-terrorism measures and its impact on children; and measures to achieve sustainable reintegration of children affected by conflict, among others.
With regard to the Open Debate planned for 29 April 2009, Radhika Coomaraswamy said that the child protection community was waiting for a strong signal from the Security Council on its commitment to tackle the protection of children during armed conflict. She highlighted the need for targeted measures against persistent violators and expanding the criteria for listing. “Opening the gateway to the annexed lists could lead to successes similar to those that we have begun to see on the issue of child soldiers. It would give hope to the thousands of child victims of sexual violence around the world,” she concluded.
[Source: Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=20132
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PERU: Army must explain death of child soldier [news]
[15 April 2009] – The Peruvian State and army must explain why a 17 year old boy, killed in a terrorist ambush last week, was recruited into the army aged 16, said Marta Maurás, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Robinson Macedo Cima was one of 14 servicemen who died in a subversive attack on two patrols in Sanabamba Ayacucho. His 18th birthday would have been in two months. He was born on 19 June 1991, according to records held in the municipality of Coronel Portillo.
“A few years ago an Optional Protocol was passed as an annex to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the subject of children and armed conflict. This prohibits the recruitment and use of children under 18 in any act of armed conflict. Therefore, if a boy under 18 years old is found in uniform and carrying arms, it is absolutely against the conventions to which the Peruvian State has subscribed”, explained Maurás on radio station San Borja.
The UN representative said that both the State and the army must give an explanation on the case and ensure that this does not happen again...
The mother of the boy said that her son was recruited by the army. But, how is this possible, given that so-called 'conscription' no longer exists in the the military? How can a 17 year old boy be sent to an emergency zone like the Apurímac and Ene rivers valley?
When the chief of the Joint Command and Armed Forces, Francisco Contreras, was questioned about the case, he said it was an “administrative issue” which must be investigated by the institution. He added that he trusted that the general commander of this unit, Otto Guivobich, would sanction those responsible for this event. “It is very bad that minors are recruited”, he told RPP.
[Source: 24horaslibre]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20055&flag=news
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UN COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: 51st Session [event]
The 51st Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will take place from 25 May to 12 June at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Committee will examine reports from the Bangladesh, France, Mauritania, Niger, Romania and Sweden on their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In addition, the Committee will review reports on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) for Oman and Slovenia and reports on the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) for Oman and Slovenia also.
A special CRC news page devoted to the activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been set up on the CRIN website in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The page provides summaries of the Committee sessions by country, UN press releases, NGO press releases, information about the Day of General Discussion, Decisions, General Comments and other activities of the Committee.
States Parties reports submitted by governments to the Committee on the Rights of the Child are available in English, French and Spanish on the website of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Word and PDF formats.
Alternative Reports submitted by NGOs to the Committee on the Rights of the Child are made available on the CRIN website in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reports can also be searched by country, Committee session or by organisation. Note that alternative reports are posted on the CRIN website as they are received.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20102&flag=event
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**NEWS IN BRIEF**
Sri Lanka: Conflict is taking the lives of children, says UNICEF (19 April 2009)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=19891&flag=news
African Committee: Experience of submitting a communication on child soldiers
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20137&flag=report
Pakistan: Taliban rules Swat, children pay price (15 April 2009)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20039&flag=news
OPT: UN report says Israel used boy as human shield (UN Human Rights Council)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=19926&flag=report
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