CRINMAIL 158:

In this issue:

Click here to read the CRINMAIL online.

A year of revolutions

In 2011, we witnessed the anger of citizens in the Middle East and North Africa against the decades-long rule of dictators across the region. Demonstrations were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on 17 December 2010 in Tunisia soon triggering waves of demonstrations in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria - and beyond the region - against lack of civil and political rights, corruption and poor living conditions.  

One of the most salient features of the uprising was the prominent role of children. The UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon publicly recognised the “stunning” role young people have played in bringing dictatorships to an end. CRIN paid homage to those involved by publishing an editorial on children's freedom of assembly.

However, demonstrators were met with violent repressions and reports of killings, detentions and intimidation shocked the world. Children were not spared from state violence; in Bahrain reports showed that police carried out periodic raids on 15 girls' schools detaining, beating and threatening to rape students as young as 12; while in Syria a UN report found evidence that Syrian troops have killed more than 250 children.

Tunisian President Ben Ali resigned in January followed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The peaceful uprising in Libya soon turned into civil war after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi launched a full-scale attack against demonstrators, including children and human rights defenders, killing an estimated 10,000. The war ended in October when Gaddafi was captured by rebels in his home town and killed.

After 11 months of protests and fighting between governmental forces and rebels, the Yemeni President agreed to step down.

Meanwhile in Syria, as the UN estimated a death toll that exceeded 5,000, Arab ministers suspended Syria from the League of Arab States, imposed political and economic sanctions on the country and pressured Syria to allow the entry of an Arab League fact-finding team to assess the human rights situation in the country. The team's observers are still conducting their mission at the moment while the violent repression continues.

CRIN reported on the situation across the region throughout 2011 and marked the events by launching its very own Arabic website and CRINMAIL.

The Arabic website serves as a reference point for rich and comprehensive information on children's rights. It provides ongoing coverage of children's rights news and related activities and events at the international level, including in the Middle East and North Africa.

This year also saw the launch of the “Children’s Rights Wiki” which brings together all information about children's rights in every country. We began with an initial batch of 41 countries with the aim of covering every single country by the end of 2012. The purpose of the project is to make the huge volume of information that exists on children's rights more accessible, assist children's rights advocates in identifying persistent violations, and inspire collective action.

International Justice

In August, the trial of former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga before the International Criminal Court (ICC) reached its final stages when the Chamber officially closed the trial phase of the ICC’s first case. The Lubanga case is the only case brought before the ICC in which an individual is charged for the recruitment and use of children in armed forces. Read more.

A conference sponsored by the International Criminal Court Student Network focusing on the Lubanga case ("The Lubanga Trial: Lessons Learned") will take place in The Hague in March 2012. Read more.

Read CRIN's editorial on Children and International Justice.

On the same topic, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict released a new report this year entitled Children and Justice During and in the Aftermath of Armed Conflict.

Involvement of children in armed conflicts

Serious concerns were raised last year on the use of children in armed conflict across the world. Amnesty reported that boys as young as 13 years old were being used as soldiers by officers of the Chadian national army and other armed groups. A UN report covering the period from July 2008 to December 2010, noted that children continue to be recruited and used by armed forces and other armed groups in Chad, they also continue to be targets of sexual and gender-based violence, and mines and other explosive remnants of war continue to expose children to danger. Download report.

In Somalia, 20 years of armed conflict have taken a massive toll on civilians. With the escalation of fighting across the country between opposition rebel fighters al-Shabab and the fighters of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) since January 2011, armed groups have reportedly recruited more child soldiers to their ranks, with some even forcing teachers to enlist pupils.

In the Central African Republic, a report by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict (Watchlist) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) found evidence of the abduction of children, recruitment or use of child soldiers, attacks against schools, and the denial of humanitarian access are still being committed against children.

Read also the United Nations report on children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic.

According to the press office of the Colombian army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are recruiting children as young as 12 from indigenous territories in the south west of the country. Read more. The government has the responsibility to take all possible measures to prevent the recruitment of children in accordance with article 20 of the Colombian Law on Childhood and Adolescence.

In the Philippines, a bill was approved, criminalising the use of children by the military, the police and other armed groups in armed conflicts. Although the approval of a bill is a positive step, Human Rights Watch said that significant hurdles remain in fulfilling its potential. One of the obstacles is that most instances of recruitment and use of children are being carried out by three armed political groups over whom the government has no control.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy made visits to Chad, Somalia, CAR and Sudan and succeeded in signing action plans with governments and armed groups to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

Ms. Coomaraswamy stressed that demobilised child soldiers will need help to reintegrate into society. The UN supports programmes for the reintegration of children associated with armed forces and groups. Such programmes promote rehabilitation of children through counselling, back-to-school initiatives and skills-based training, including family reunification.

Schools and hospitals off limits!

In July, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution expanding the criteria for listing parties to conflict in the Secretary-General's annual report.

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

Prior to this resolution, the Secretary-General’s annual list was limited to parties who recruit or use children, kill and/or maim children, or commit sexual violence. Read more

Read a briefing note from Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict on practical and achievable steps that the UN Security Council can take to ensure stronger protection for children affected by armed conflict.

Download the 2011 the Secretary-General's annual report on Children and Armed Conflict.

Read more on the six grave violations monitored under UN Security Council Resolution 1612.

To read more on the Security Council's work on Children's Rights, read CRIN's page on the Security Council.

The crisis in Côte d'Ivoire

A humanitarian crisis spread through Côte d'Ivoire as both incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara declared themselves president following the disputed November 2010 elections. Read more.

Fighting between the supporters of the two leaders took many civilian lives and led to hundreds of thousands becoming refugees. A UN report highlighted that women and children were the most affected by post-election conflict in Côte d’Ivoire.

A significant step in bringing an end to the crisis occurred in April 2011 when Laurent Gbagbo was captured and arrested in Abidjan by pro-Ouattara forces backed by French forces.

In May, the UN Human Rights Council appointed a Commision of Inquiry to investigate the abuses committed.

In December, Gbagbo was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court to face charges of murder, rape and other crimes allegedly committed by his supporters. Read more.

Armed violence

The second edition of the Global Burden of Armed Violence, released in October 2011 revealed that nine out of ten violent deaths occur outside conflicts. One-quarter of all violent deaths occur in just 14 countries with average annual violent death rates above 30.0 per 100,000, half of which are in the Americas. Download the report.

In June 2006, Switzerland and UNDP invited several countries, international agencies, and civil society organisations to participate in a Ministerial Summit in Geneva. The goal was to identify concrete measures to prevent and reduce the global scourge of armed violence and to enhance the prospects for sustainable development.

The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development was first adopted by 42 states. It is now endorsed by 100 states and recognises that armed violence is both a cause and consequence of underdevelopment. The Declaration calls on states to achieve measurable reductions of armed violence and improvements in human security by 2015. Read more on the Declaration.

In the meantime, a snapshot of how armed violence affected children in 2011 reveals the scale of the problem to overcome.

In May, civil society organisations in Chile denounced the recent arrest and detention of a 17-year-old boy from the Mapuche indigenous group who was arrested under the country’s anti-terrorism law. Full story (in Spanish).

In a hearing on Chile during the 141st session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (from 21 March – 1 April 2011), the Commission heard complaints of State violence against Mapuche children committed in the context of its repression of the Mapuches' protests to claim their ancestral territories. The petitioners reported that children have received bullet wounds, suffered asphixiation caused by the effects of tear gas, been beaten and kicked, assaulted with firearms, tortured, threatened with death by drowning, treated inhumanely in detention, persecuted, experienced raids on schools and communities, and been kidnapped.

They also informed the Commission that anti-terrorism legislation is being applied to children involved in the protests. Read more.

According to the Child Rights Network in Mexico, 994 children and adolescents were killed in drug-related violence between late 2006 and late 2010 - many of them intentionally.

In March last year, a young woman was bound and gagged, shot and left in a car in Acapulco. Her four-year-old daughter lay slumped beside her, killed with a single bullet to her chest. She was the fifth child killed in drug violence in the resort city in one week. In November, Human Rights Watch released a report that examines the human rights consequences of President Felipe Calderón’s approach to confronting Mexico’s powerful drug cartels. Download report.

Those nominated to exalted positions within the world of child rights can make a massive difference. But who are they? How are they chosen? And, most importantly, are they the best people for the job?

CRIN is running a campaign on this crucial issue. Our aim is to stimulate open and transparent appointment processes in order to identify leaders with the appropriate commitment, skills and experience to work effectively for children’s rights.

The Mission Statement of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict is: "To promote and protect the rights of all children affected by armed conflict."

Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy has assumed this position since April 2006. Her mandate was renewed for another three years by the General Assembly resolution A/RES/63/241 of 13 March 2009.

This year will mark the end of her mandate and will be an opportunity, if the mandate is to be renewed, for ensuring that the appointment process is transparent, and that the criteria are publicly available and child rights-focused.

Click here to read CRIN's campaign page to promote transparency in how candidates are appointed to the top jobs in children's rights.

A year of child rights jargon

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