CRINMAIL 154

In this issue:

To view this CRINMAIL online, click here.

Follow up on Security Council Resolution 1998

In last month's issue of CRINMAIL, we reported that the UN Security Council (UNSC) had adopted a resolution expanding the criteria for listing parties to conflict in the Secretary-General's annual report.

The new criteria, which build on the monitoring and reporting mechanism established by SC Resolution 1998, include the grave violation of attacks on schools and hospitals.

Below are extracts of statements from members of the Council made during the annual debate on children and armed conflict when the resolution was adopted:

Colombia's Foreign Minister said: "It is entirely naive to think that the United Nations or any other multilateral organisation can change the minds of terrorist organisations (...). For that reason Colombia believes that the stated intention of agencies of the United Nations system to attempt to talk to those groups directly and without the consent of Governments is inadmissible and unacceptable".

Russia disputed the references in the Secretary-General's 10th annual report on Children and Armed Conflict to India, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines and Haiti, claiming that the situations in those countries could not be called armed conflict.

India expressed its concern about the manner in which Security Council resolutions are being interpreted, and cautioned against "mandate creep". Read more

UNSC representatives clarified that the new resolution will only apply to conflicts breaking out after it is adopted. This means it will not apply retroactively to conflicts such as the recently ended war in Sri Lanka even though the country is on the "naming and shaming" list of the UN Secretary General.

In Sri Lanka, 25 years of armed conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have had serious humanitarian consequences for civilians throughout the country. Over the years many people have fled their homes, particularly in the conflict-affected areas in the north and east of the country, and families have become separated.

More than two years after Sri Lanka's decades-long conflict officially ended, the whereabouts of 630 children are still unknown, according to a government database.

Reports cited by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) state that 64 per cent of those missing were recruited by the LTTE while 30 per cent were last seen behind government lines. Read full article here.

Conflict in Yemen generating more child soldiers

This year's UN annual report on child soldiers has added al-Houthi anti-government armed group and Al-Jaysh Al-Sha’bi pro-government tribal militia in Yemen to its "list of shame" of 57 armed groups around the world that recruit child soldiers or commit other wartime abuses against children.

Yemeni militias, it noted, deployed boys in fighting and logistical roles on the front line, while girls, some of whom are allegedly recruited after being forced to marry militia members, were used for cooking or to carry military and other supplies.

According to the UN, an estimated 20 per cent of al-Houthi fighters and 15 per cent of the tribal militia affiliated with the government are children. Read more

Sanctioning violators of children's rights in Somalia

A recent resolution by the UN Security Council (S/RES/2002) introduced sanctions against individuals and entities that violate the rights of children in Somalia, a country that is experiencing both war and famine. The sanctions can include arms embargos, travel bans and asset freezing.

"Starting from now, in Somalia, if you kill, maim, recruit, use or sexually violate children, or if you attack their schools and hospitals, you can be sanctioned. This is one step closer to ending impunity of the worst violators of children in war." Said Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy. Read more.

State Violence

The civilian death toll in Syria has risen by the hundreds in recent weeks, with the current figure estimated at between 2,000 and 2,400. Of these, over 70 are children, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. Read more 

Meanwhile, Sudanese government forces have bombed Kurchi, a town in Southern Kordofan, killing 16 people, including three children.

The conflict began on June 5 between the Sudanese government and Sudan People's Liberation Army in Kadugli and other towns in Southern Kordofan.

Sudanese government forces have shelled and bombed civilian areas, looted homes and churches, and arrested and killed civilians suspected of links to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the southern political party that now rules South Sudan.

The United Nations Security Council should take immediate steps to ensure international monitoring in Southern Kordofan, where reports of massive human rights violations by Sudanese forces have emerged, Human Rights Watch said. Read more

OPT: Children are the most affected by the ongoing conflict

According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Palestinian NGOs specialising in mental health, the number of children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders including depression has increased in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) where conflict continues with Israel. Read article

Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights has issued a new report entitled Torture and other Forms of Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment against the Palestinian Population in Gaza Strip by the IOF.

The report documents Israel's policies and actions in regards to international human rights law and international humanitarian law over a period of two years.

Al Mezan's documentation over this period shows that Israel continues to arrest Palestinians, including children, patients, fishermen, and rubble collectors and other civilians close to the border fence, subject them to interrogation under torture, and detain them in inhumane conditions.

UN calls to end use of children in Central African Republic conflict

The Security Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict has expressed concern over continuing violations of children's rights in the Central African Republic (CAR) and urged all armed groups in the country to immediately halt the practice.

In a press statement, the chair of the United Nations body urged all the groups to develop time-bound action plans on the removal of children from armed groups.

The Working Group also expressed concern over the lack of humanitarian access in areas under the control of the Convention des Patriotes pour la Justice et la Paix (CPJP) in the north-eastern part of the country, as well as persistent reports of recruitment and abuses of children. Read more.

United against escalating war in Colombia

Colombia has been ravaged by a decades-long violent conflict involving armed groups and drug cartels.

The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is the oldest and largest group among Colombia's left-wing rebels and is one of the world's richest guerrilla armies.

Read more about children and armed conflict in Colombia.

The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), in southwest Colombia, has called for a "minga" or protest march to "curb the militarisation driven by the army and the FARC" which set off a car bomb on a busy market day in a Nasa Indian town on July 9 where some 1,500 people were packed into the central plaza in Toribío.

A total of three civilians and one police officer were killed, and 122 people were injured in the attack, which destroyed 27 houses and damaged another 433. In addition, 1,175 students were left without classes because the school was damaged, as well as the church, and the town's only bank was destroyed.

The immediate aim of the protest is to force the army, police and FARC to dismantle the bases and camps that they operate in the midst of the civilian population.

"The local indigenous children are terrified," said Darío Tote, a Coconuco indigenous leader. "When they're on their way to school, armed actors appear on the road, and you don't know who they are: army, guerrillas or (far-right) paramilitaries". Read full article.
 

Where Have Libya's Children Gone? 

As the conflict in Libya continues since February, there is a growing public and government concern in western parts of the country for the whereabouts of 53 girls and 52 boys aged one to 12 years and another group ranging from 12 to 18 years, both part of a government-run home for orphans and abused children that until February was operating in Misrata, now under rebel control.

More than a dozen social welfare organizations, women's groups and Libya's Lawyer syndicates have launched an intensive media and public involvement campaign to find the children who have now been missing for nearly six months. Read more

Organisations are also calling on the NATO to take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties during military operations, after allegations by Libyan officials loyal to Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi that 85 people, including two children, were killed during an air strike on Monday 8 August. Read more

Publication

2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq

A UN report on the human rights situation in Iraq over the course of 2010 has warned that women and children continue to suffer disproportionately from indiscriminate and targeted violence and children are been recruited or used to commit acts of violence.

The report, released by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), studies a range of human rights issues, including the impact of armed conflict and violence on civilians, detention and the rule of law, and protection of the rights of specific groups.

THE LAST WORD

Back to top