UN SECURITY COUNCIL: Call to end impunity of child rights violators

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[NEW YORK, 17 July 2008] – On the tenth anniversary of the statute classifying child recruitment as a war crime, members of the United Nations Security Council were urged this month to take measures offering greater protection for children in conflict zones and ending impunity for violators of children’s rights.

Speaking at the conference,  Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said: “The Security Council is the UN body of action on issues of peace and security”. She urged that the Security Council consider “imposing targeted measures” against persistent violators on the so-called ‘shame list’, an annex compiled by the Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict in the latest Secretary-General’s reports.

Conflict and child mortality

In addition to physical crimes and family losses imposed upon children by violence and warfare, armed conflict takes a grave toll on children’s health. In conflict and post-conflict areas said Ms Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF, there is often a resurgence of preventable diseases such as malaria, measles and diarrhoea.

In the 33 countries most affected by armed conflict from 2002 to 2006, 20 have made little or no progress in reducing mortality among children under the age of five.

Sexual violence as ‘trigger for action’

Speakers also urged that the rampant use of sexual violence in conflict situations be addressed by the Security Council, recalling the recent adoption of Resolution 1820, which classifies rape as a war crime.

During the meeting, Kathleen Hunt of Watchlist, a coalition of non-governmental organisations, called for expanding the scope of the UN monitoring and reporting arm to include sexual violence as a “trigger for action” by the Special Representative.

Such an expansion of the current annex, which is limited only to parties who use and recruit child soldiers, was supported by representatives of member states Belgium, France, the United States and Italy.

Furthering Resolution 1612

The debate was called by the Government of Viet Nam, whose Minister of Foreign Affairs is the current President of the Security Council. Past debates on the topic of children in armed conflict have resulted in statements, but no new Security Council resolution since the 2005 resolution enabling the monitoring and reporting of child recruitment.

Further information

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