3 March 2010 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 138
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**NEWS IN BRIEF**
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DR CONGO: Mai Mai Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers - Entrenched and unending [publication]
[KINSHASA, 26 February 2010] - Mai Mai militias* have been among the most prolific recruiters of children in eastern Congo in recent years, yet virtually nothing has been done to lessen the vulnerability of boys and girls from exploitation by these groups, stated the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers this week.
At the Kinshasa launch of a new briefing paper on the Mai Mai’s recruitment and use of child soldiers, the Coalition’s Director, Dr Victoria Forbes Adam, called on the DRC government to prioritise the protection of children in conflict-affected areas.
“For too long, the politics of conflict have taken precedence over the welfare of children in the eastern provinces, with the result that the future of the next generation of Congolese children is being jeopardised” said Dr Forbes Adam.
The Coalition’s new briefing details surges in recruitment of under-18s by Mai Mai that coincide with escalations in hostilities, failed peace deals, flawed army integration processes and renewed outbreaks of violence. Chronic insecurity means that armed violence, or the threat of it, is ever present in the lives of children in eastern Congo. In the words of one former child soldier interviewed by the Coalition: “If the attacks start again, we’d have to join to defend ourselves. Otherwise we’ll die or be exterminated.”
Insecurity is seen to justify the existence of local militias but the vulnerability of children is also entrenched in socio-economic conditions. The lives of many children in the conflict-affected areas are additionally blighted by poverty, lack of access to education and few economic opportunities. While forced recruitment by Mai Mai is not uncommon, for some children, joining with a Mai Mai group is seen as a way out of poverty or just another job.
“Programmes that focus only on releasing and returning these children to their communities miss the point” said Dr Forbes Adam. “Reducing vulnerability of boys and girls to Mai Mai exploitation means fundamentally changing children’s life chances and providing them with a genuine alternative to joining militias.”
The imperative of protecting children from involvement with Mai Mai is underscored by the range of abuses that they experience when in the ranks. Children have been sent into frontline combat, subjected to whipping or other violent punishments and, in the case of girls, raped and used for sexual slavery. Young children are also actively recruited by Mai Mai to perform rituals believed to protect their members in battle.
The Coalition welcomes the fact that several thousand child soldiers were released during the integration of Mai Mai and other armed groups into the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) last year. However, the opportunity to release the children was not fully exploited and some children associated with the groups remain in the FARDC. The Coalition is calling on the Congolese government to finalise the action plan called for by Security Council Resolution 1906 and to work with MONUC to ensure that all under-18s are identified and released from the army.
Primary responsibility rests with government
The primary responsibility for protecting and promoting the rights of children in eastern Congo rests with the government. However, Mai Mai have often had the tacit support of the authorities, which have sought their support in past military operations in the full knowledge that they have violated national and international law by having child soldiers in their ranks.
“The Congolese government could make a significant difference simply by implementing its own policy and laws. This means systematically investigating and prosecuting those who recruit and use children and ensuring that any former Mai Mai integrated into the FARDC suspected of committing abuses against children are removed.”
Dr Forbes Adam noted that the Coalition had met with several government representatives during the week. She said they had all recognised the gravity of the problem and expressed their intention to treat it as a priority in their programmes. In the longer-term, the government must work with the international community to provide educational and vocational training and employment opportunities to youth in conflict-affected areas. Putting a brake on Mai Mai recruitment and re-recruitment of children is a long-term project in which efforts to release and reintegrate children need to be underpinned by measures to change the environment which makes children’s association with Mai Mai likely, if not inevitable.
*The term Mai Mai describes a range of militia groups drawn from communities broadly described as “indigenous” to the DRC. The groups vary in size and level of organisation, from community-based militias with about 50-60 members, to larger more structured groups with a wider geographical spread and up to 1,000 troops. Mai Mai have an ambiguous relationship with the DRC authorities having fought both alongside the armed forces and, on occasions, in opposition to them. Successive attempts to disarm and demobilise Mai Mai groups, including most recently through an accelerated integration process into the armed forces in 2009, have not succeeded. A number of Mai Mai groups either refused to join or have withdrawn from the process and are once again reported to be militarily active and recruiting children.
Several Mai Mai commanders have been among a handful of people prosecuted for the crime of child soldier recruitment in Congolese courts. However, other suspected child recruiters remain at large or have been integrated into the FARDC. One former Mai Mai commander Jean-Pierre Biyoyo, who was found guilty by a military court in 2006 on charges related to child recruitment, subsequently escaped and is now reported to be serving as deputy commander in the Congolese armed forces.
For more information, contact:
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
4th Floor, 9 Marshalsea Road, London, SE1 1EP, United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 20 7367 4110
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.child-soldiers.org
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=22044
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UN: Cluster bomb treaty to enter into force [news]
[17 February 2010] - An international treaty banning cluster bombs will enter into force in August after it was ratified by a 30th country, the UN says.
Burkina Faso and Moldova became the latest states to ratify the treaty.
The convention bans the production and use of cluster munitions and obliges states to compensate victims.
First developed during World War II, cluster bombs contain a number of smaller bomblets designed to cover a large area and deter an advancing army.
But campaigners, including some in the military, have long argued they are outmoded and immoral because of the dangers posed to civilians from bombs that do not explode and litter the ground like landmines.
Holdouts
The treaty is binding only on countries that have signed and ratified it. Since the Convention was opened for signature in Oslo in 2008, 104 countries have signed on but only 30 have ratified, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), which represents 200 activist groups against cluster bombs.
Some of the biggest stockpilers - including the US, Russia, China and Israel - are not among the signatories.
Some major European States - including France, Germany and Spain - have ratified the Convention. The UK and Italy have signed, but not ratified.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the 30 ratifications a "major advance on the global disarmament agenda" and said the treaty's entry into force "demonstrates the world's collective revulsion at the impact of these terrible weapons".
The CMC said the first meeting of states that have ratified the convention would be held in November in Laos, the country most heavily contaminated by cluster munitions as a result of US bombing more than 30 years ago.
Steve Goose, the coalition's co-chair and director of the arms division at Human Rights Watch, called on all countries to join the convention before November.
"Cluster munitions are already stigmatised to the point that no nation should ever use them again, even those who have not yet joined the convention," Mr Goose said in a statement.
[Source: BBC]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21868
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CRIN: Children and Armed Conflict Survey Results
Thank you to all those who responded to our survey to help us evaluate the information we provide on children and armed conflict.
Below is a summary of the responses.
If you have any comments you would like to add, please email [email protected].
In which of the following areas do you work?
- 70 per cent of respondents said their work focused on advocacy for children involved in armed conflict.
- 50 per cent focus on implementing child protection provisions and systems, monitoring and reporting child rights violations, and lobbying their national governments.
- 20 per cent work to ensure accountability of those who recruit and use children in armed conflict and provide rehabilitation and reintegration services.
- Other responses: Facilitating alternative dispute resolution and court representation for women and child survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (as a direct or indirect consequence of conflict).
Which areas would you like to know more about?
- 60 per cent would like more information on advocacy and ensuring accountability for those who recruit and use children in armed conflict.
- 50 per cent asked for more information on implementing child protection provisions.
- 40 per cent asked for more information on lobbying national governments.
- 30 per cent would like more information on monitoring and reporting child rights violations, providing rehabilitation and reintegration services.
- Others responses: Economic, social and cultural rights during conflict - not just legal measures, but other measures to protect rights, strategic litigation
What kind of information would be most helpful to your work?
- 80 per cent said they would like more in-depth information on country situations, advocacy strategies/ tips, news items and current affairs and programmes initiated by States and international organisations.
- 70 per cent would like more information about NGO programmes and experiences of monitoring and reporting.
- Other responses: Information provided in advance on the country visits of the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.
Which thematic areas would you like more information about?
- 30 per cent said they would like more information on illegal detention of children for alleged association with armed groups.
- 20 per cent on sexual and gender-based violence, situations of armed violence.
- 10 per cent on mental health, psycho-social well-being and child protection.
What sources do you use to find information on children and armed conflict?
UN, academic journals, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Watchlist, Human Security Network, treaty body reports, Special Procedures, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Criminal Court, International Crisis Group.
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)
East Studio, 2, Pontypool Place, London, SE1 8QF, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7401 2257
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
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COLOMBIA: The Struggle for Survival and Dignity - Human rights abuses against indigenous peoples [publication]
Amnesty international has denounced an increase in attacks against Indigenous Peoples across Colombia during 2009, which is leaving many communities struggling for survival in a report launched this week.
The organisation blamed guerrilla groups, the security forces and paramilitaries for the abuses – which include killings, enforced disappearances and kidnappings, threats, sexual abuse of women, recruitment of child soldiers, forced displacement and persecution of Indigenous leaders.
"Indigenous Peoples are increasingly under attack in Colombia," said Marcelo Pollack, Colombia Researcher at Amnesty International. "They are being killed and threatened, forced to participate in the armed conflict, and being kicked out of their lands.
"It is time for the Colombian government to take its obligations seriously and take immediate action to protect Indigenous Peoples."
According to figures from the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia, at least 114 Indigenous women, men and children were killed and thousands forcibly displaced in 2009 alone.
Amnesty International also said crimes committed against Indigenous Peoples are rarely investigated by the authorities.
Thousands of Indigenous Peoples have been forced off their land because they often live in areas of intense military conflict and rich in biodiversity, minerals and oil. Many other Indigenous communities have been unable to leave their territories because armed groups have laid landmines in surrounding areas.
Access to food and essential medicines has also been blocked by the warring parties, who often argue such goods are destined for the enemy. All parties to the conflict have occupied schools and used them as military bases, while teachers continue to be vulnerable to physical attack, denying Indigenous communities access to education.
"Unless the authorities take speedy action to protect Indigenous Peoples in Colombia there is a real risk that many will disappear," said Marcelo Pollack.
Killings of Indigenous People rarely investigated
The Awá Indigenous People accounted for more than half of all killings of Indigenous Peoples during 2009.
They collectively own the land and rivers of the resguardo (Indigenous reservation) of El Gran Rosario in Tumaco Municipality, in the south-western region of Nariño.
The area is of strategic importance for the parties to the conflict. FARC and ELN guerrillas, paramilitary groups, the security forces and drug-trafficking gangs are all active in the area.
On 26 August 2009, 12 Awá, including six children and an eight-month old baby, were killed and several more injured by gunmen wearing military uniforms and hoods who attacked the community at 5am. Among those killed were Tulia García and her sons. Tulia García had been a witness to the killing of her husband, Gonzalo Rodríguez, by army soldiers on 23 May 2009 and had subsequently received threats.
Following the August massacre, 300 Awá, including 100 children, fled to the town of Tumaco, leaving their homes, belongings and livelihoods behind. Weeks after arriving in the town, people were still living in shelters they had built themselves or sleeping out in the open. Food and water were scarce and there were no sanitation facilities.
On 4 February 2009, 15 Awá, including two pregnant women, were killed by FARC guerrillas in Barbacoas Municipality in the department of Nariño.
Amnesty International called on those participating in the conflict, including guerrilla groups and the Colombian security forces, to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples not to be dragged into hostilities and to respect the territories in which they live and depend upon for their livelihoods.
Colombia's 40 year long armed conflict has affected millions across the country and left tens of thousands dead, tortured and forcibly disappeared. The vast majority of victims are civilians.
For more information, contact:
Amnesty International
1 Easton Street, London, WC1X 0DW, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 74135500; Fax: +44 (0)20 79561157
Website: http://www.amnesty.org
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22046&flag=report
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YEMEN: The Situation of Children in Armed Conflict [publication]
[SANAA, 22 February 2010] - One hundred and eighty-seven children have been killed since August in the conflict in north Yemen, a report by the local SEYAJ children's rights organisation and the UN Children's Fund on Monday.
The report also accused both north Yemen Shiite rebels and a pro-government militia of using child soldiers.
Seventy-one per cent of the 187 were killed in the fighting, while the remainder died from lack of food or medical services, the report said.
The most recent round of a six-year conflict between the rebels, also known as Huthis, and government forces began on August 11, when the government launched an all-out offensive aiming to crush the uprising.
Saudi Arabia joined the fray on November 4, after accusing the rebels of killing a border guard and occupying two villages inside its territory.
The fighting has centred on the northern Saada and Amran provinces.
The report said there were child soldiers on both sides of the conflict -- 402 who fought for the Huthis, and 282 who fought for a pro-government militia.
However, it also noted that the actual number of child soldiers was probably much higher.
It cited information from witnesses as indicating that about half of the fighters in the government militia were under 18, while more than half of all Huthi forces were under that age.
A survey of areas in Saada and Amran found 73,926 displaced children present in the two provinces -- 37,387 boys and 36,539 girls, the report said.
Of those, 42 per cent suffered from malnutrition, 25 per cent from respiratory infections and 19 percent from skin diseases, the report said.
It said that just three per cent of the children have access to education.
According to the report, the fighting took a heavy toll on infrastructure in the Saada region.
Two of the province's 18 hospitals and three of its 17 health centres were destroyed, it said. Seventeen of the 701 schools in the region were also destroyed, and 16 were used for military purposes.
The report called for an increase in humanitarian aid to displaced people, for all parties to ensure safe passage for aid convoys, and for ways to be found to grant children access to health and educational services.
It also called for studies on the effect of the war on children, and for the continued collection of statistics on victims of the fighting, particularly children, as well as damage to infrastructure.
And it said an "impartial committee" should be formed to investigate "crimes and violations during the war, and (their) impact on children."
[Source of press release: AFP]
For more information, contact:
Seyaj for Childhood Protection
P.O Box 5642, Sana'a, Yemen
Tel: + 9671257505; Fax: + 9671257505
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.seyaj.org
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21930
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PHILIPPINES: Young men paying high price for Mindanao conflict [news]
[MANILA, 11 February 2010] - Armed conflict and protracted displacement in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are taking their toll on young men in many areas such as education, and forcing them into adult roles, say aid workers.
The conflict has lasted nearly four decades, displacing and killing hundreds of thousands. Boys are shouldering responsibilities they are simply too young to face and for which they are not prepared, say agencies.
"It is common and expected for young boys, even while they are studying, to help augment the family income by taking on jobs as street vendors, tricycle drivers or contractual labourers," Steven Muncy, executive director of the Philippines-based NGO, Community and Family Services International (CFSI), told IRIN.
"My father was killed four years ago. Since then, I have been taking on odd jobs to help my mother take care of my six brothers and sisters," Saidman, 17, told IRIN from Mindanao.
CFSI has provided humanitarian assistance in Mindanao for nearly a decade. Research by the group on the impact of armed conflict on male youth, defined as younger than 24, has found that despite their violent environment, many look to education and skills training as the way to improve their lives.
However, in the Philippines, boys are more disadvantaged than girls in accessing education, and more so in Mindanao, according to the UN Children's Fund-Philippines (UNICEF).
"More than the girls, the boys are exposed to vulnerabilities like health problems, child labour and violence, like being in gangs," Lourdes de Vera-Mateo, UNICEF's chief of education, told IRIN.
"In Mindanao, especially in ARMM, this problem becomes more pronounced," she said, referring to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, comprising mainly Muslim provinces.
Taking up arms
Limited education opportunities, the proliferation of firearms and the constant state of insecurity and fear have made young boys prone to taking up arms in Mindanao.
"Carrying a gun is way of getting respect. There is a certain status with being armed, whether as a part of a resistance movement or for security. It is certainly more attractive [to them] than being a fisherman or farmer," said Muncy.
One of the most impoverished areas in the Philippines, the ARMM has consistently pulled down national averages when it comes to key education indicators.
According to the most recent literacy and education survey conducted by the National Statistics Office in 2003, the Philippines' overall literacy rate was 93.7 per cent for males and 94 per cent for females.
In the ARMM, it was 71 per cent for males and 69.4 per cent for females.
The number of children dropping out of school was also the highest in the ARMM, at 23 per cent, compared with major provinces such as Luzon and Visayas, where the rates are less than 8 per cent.
Peace talks offer hope
In August 2008, hostilities resumed in the ARMM between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), displacing some 700,000 people.
Both sides agreed to a ceasefire in September last year. Peace talks have started and are set to resume on 18 February, offering a glimmer of hope for young men caught up in the conflict.
"The peace talks will be a definite start. But as far as education is concerned, there is a need for interventions that will go beyond putting up a school structure and setting up a curriculum," said the director of CFSI's Philippine programme, Vladimir Hernandez.
"Hope needs to be re-established in these young boys. This will make the difference between taking up arms and seeing education as a way to a better life," he said.
However, this may prove a challenge. The London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, in a 2008 Global Report, noted the continued involvement over years of children in government-linked paramilitaries and Mindanao armed groups, including the MILF.
The MILF acknowledges there are children in its 21 base camps scattered around Mindanao, but insists they only perform simple chores in the community-like camps.
But even if not all children who become members of the armed groups are combatants, their presence in camps, nonetheless, exposes them to extreme risks, campaigners say.
"Whether or not they are being used as child soldiers or in auxiliary roles as cooks or porters, the fact that they are in a camp puts them in danger and cuts them off from basic services like schools and healthcare," said Ryan Silverio, Southeast Asia regional coordinator for the Coalition to Protect Children in Armed Conflict.
[Source: IRIN]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22051&flag=news
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UNITED KINGDOM: Children's Rights and War [event]
Location: London, UK
Date: 14 April 2010
Wars and conflict affect children in numerous ways. They are often the direct victims of attacks, they are displaced through war, and they become involved in wars as soldiers. What is particularly problematic about children caught up in war? Does war change the relations between people and the state, or between groups of people and the state? How can the civil rights, citizenship and participation of children caught up in wars be promoted? How can children's participation in peace-building be strengthened?
Confirmed speakers:
* Roz Evans, University of Oxford. The two faces of empowerment in conflict: the experiences of young Bhutanese refugees growing up in Nepal.
* Jason Hart, University of Bath. Protecting Palestinian Children: whose concepts, whose politics?
* Berry Mayall and Virginia Morrow, Institute of Education, University of London. English children's contribution to the war effort 1939-1945.
* Kirrily Pells, Human Rights Consortium, School of Advanced Study, University of London. 'Keep going despite everything that has happened': Addressing the legacies of genocide for Rwanda's children and youth.
* Mark Waddington, Chief Executive Officer, WarChild. Dying to get back to school: the effects of war on children's rights.
* Niousha Roshani, Nukanti Foundation for Children, Colombia. Documentary Film presentation: I Don't Know Why They Call Us Children
The conference is linked to the Institute of Education's MA Sociology of Childhood and Children's Rights and the week long module 'Children's Rights in Practice', 12th-16th April 2010. This can be a stand-alone course. See www.ioe.ac.uk
If you would like to attend the conference visit www.ioe.ac.uk or email Matt Haywood at [email protected]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21841&flag=event
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**NEWS IN BRIEF**
Sri Lanka: Children affected by armed conflict - recommendations to Security Council Working Group
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict have welcomed the report of the Special Envoy of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict to Sri Lanka following his mission from 5-11 December 2009. They have made a number of points in response to the report.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22045&flag=report
Netherlands: Eviction of undocumented children unlawful
The Dutch policy to evict undocumented children from reception centres following a failed residency bid denies children their basic right to protection, according to the European Committee of Social Rights.
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22000&flag=news
Myanmar/ Burma: Mortar attack on school in northern Karen state
On 19 February 2010, soldiers based in Hsar Law Kyoh, Lu Thaw Township in northern Karen state killed a 15-year-old student and injured two others after firing a mortar into a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22051&flag=news
Kashmir: Pakistan says Indian army shots wound two children
Two children were wounded in "unprovoked firing" by Indian forces across the de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region, Pakistani officials (Reuters, 2 March 2010)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22063&flag=news
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