Below is a short summary of some of the key issues from the Committee on the Rights of the Child's 65th session concluding observations for Yemen’s initial report on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC). Read the full text, and you can find other documents related to the Committee's 65th session (including alternative reports submitted by NGOs and the Committee's concluding observations for other States reviewed in this session) on the Committee’s 65th session page. Please note that these are not official UN summaries.
Data: The Committee notes with concern the absence of data on all areas covered by the protocol, in particular on the number of children recruited or used in hostilities, and those that have been demobilised and reintegrated.
The Committee recommends that the State party establish a data collection system and seek the assistance of relevant United Nations agencies and programmes, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in this regard.
Right to survival and development: The Committee expresses its deep concern at the high number of child casualties between July 2011 and March 2013, which amounts to more than 500 children killed or injured in incidents due to or related to the conflict in the State party.
It urges the State party to expedite the renewal and expansion of its detection and disposal programme for unexploded mines while providing adequate care and assistance to survivors; to ensure that cases of killing and maiming of children as well as cases of sexual violence against children are promptly investigated and that perpetrators are prosecuted and sanctioned; and to prevent and address the violations of children’s rights as a result of drone strikes.
Age verification: The Committee is concerned that procedures for verifying the age of recruits are insufficient and may be further discouraged by the practice of commanders being provided with material incentives such as equipment depending on the number of soldiers in their units.
The Committee reiterates its recommendation to continue and strengthen its efforts to ensure the birth registration of all children. The Committee further recommends that guidelines be issued on age verification and recruiters be instructed that potential recruits should not be accepted if doubts exist about their age.
Voluntary recruitment: The Committee recommends amendments to the law to ensure that the age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces is set at 18 years and that information be provided in the next periodic report regarding the number of recruits under 18, any reported cases of recruitment irregularities, the nature of the complaints received and the sanctions undertaken.
State armed forces: The Committee is particularly concerned that the recruitment and use of children in hostilities has long been a practice within the armed forces which is exacerbated by poverty, as families enlist their children in the armed forces for financial reasons, as well as by the belief that bearing arms, including by children, is linked to masculinity and tribal honour.
The Committee urges the implementation of the Presidential Decree prohibiting the recruitment of children in the Yemeni Armed Forces; the implementation of the Action Plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the Yemeni Armed Forces; the removal from service of those suspected of recruiting or using children in hostilities pending completion of investigations against them; and the introduction of an awareness-raising campaign to challenge traditional attitudes and beliefs harmful to children.
Pro-governmental forces: The Committee is particularly concerned that, in 2011, children represented approximately 15% of the recruits of the pro-government tribal militias, including girls who were used as spies, cooks or to carry detonators.
The Committee urges the State party to prohibit the provision of any military, financial or logistical support to pro-government tribal militias and armed groups, which allegedly recruit or use children in hostilities or commit other human rights abuses; to start screening to identify all children recruited in pro-government tribal militias and armed groups; and to provide full policing and support to children involved.
Non-state aligned forces: The Committee expresses its deep concern about the continuous recruitment and use of children in hostilities by both the Al-Houthi armed group to man checkpoints or to combat against pro-government tribal militias and by Ansar al-Sharia armed group for whom there have also been reported instances of boys recruited for sexual exploitation and abuse, and cases of rape against girls forced into marriage with their members.
The Committee reminds the State party of its obligations under the protocol to take all the necessary measures for the release of children associated with non-State armed groups and to ensure the recovery and reintegration of these children. It also urges the State party to ensure that cases of sexual violence against children and sexual exploitation and abuse are promptly investigated with perpetrators prosecuted and punished.
Protected civilian facilities: The Committee is concerned at the deliberate attacks and occupation of schools and hospitals by all parties to the conflict and urges the State party to ensure that legislation explicitly prohibits the occupation and attacks on schools and hospitals; that reconstruction of these facilities is expedited as appropriate; and that attacks and/or occupation of schools and hospitals are promptly investigated with perpetrators prosecuted and punished.
Juvenile justice: The Committee is concerned at the lack of information on the number of children who have been prosecuted or are awaiting prosecution for their alleged participation in the 2011 civil unrest, the 2011-2012 conflict in Abyan and the 2004-2010 conflict in Sada’a.
The Committee urges the State party to ensure that children are not arbitrarily arrested, detained and prosecuted by military courts for their membership in armed groups or for military offences such as desertion; that captured child soldiers are treated in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law and promptly handed over to child protection actors; that children are detained only as a last resort and for the shortest time possible; that trials are held before civilian courts and in compliance with international standards on juvenile justice; and that no child is sentenced to death or to life imprisonment.
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