WUNRN
THE GIRL CHILD IN ARMED CONFLICT -
THE GIRL CHILD SOLDIER -
THE GIRL CHILD "WAR WIFE"
Please see 2 parts of this WUNRN
Release on Children & Armed Conflict, and the attached UN Report.
ATTACHED: UN General Assembly
Security Council Report of the Secretary-General: CHILDREN & ARMED CONFLICT
Some 250,000
Children Worldwide Recruited to Fight in Wars – UN Official
Radhika Coomaraswamy
30 January 2008 – While precise estimates are difficult to
come by, some 250,000 children globally are being recruited to fight in armed
conflicts in violation of international law, a United Nations official said
today, reporting mixed progress in efforts to tackle the problem.
Briefing reporters in New York on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on children and armed conflict, his Special Representative on the issue, Radhika Coomaraswamy, voiced hope that the Security Council would take decisive action in response to its findings.
Children are being recruited by groups in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda, according to the report.
But there have been no recent cases of child recruitment in Côte d’Ivoire, where the parties are taking measures to identify and release affected children for rehabilitation. Sierra Leone and Liberia, which used to have a prevalence of child soldiers, are also no longer contained in the report’s annexes, which Ms. Coomaraswamy said collectively amount to a “list of shame.”
The report draws attention to disturbing trends exacerbating the problem of child conscription, including a close link between camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the recruitment of children. “Research shows recruitment goes down if the camps have good security,” the Special Representative said.
She also voiced concern about cross-border movements with regard to child recruitment in places such as Sudan and Chad, as well as the detention of children in Burundi, Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, she called attacks on schools, buildings and teachers a “serious new phenomenon” affecting Afghanistan, Iraq and Thailand.
The Special Rapporteur welcomed legal precedents for ending impunity, including the issue of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for five senior members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) operating in Uganda. The rebel group is notorious for recruiting and otherwise exploiting children.
Ms. Coomaraswamy said she will push for action in the Security Council, which is expected to discuss the report on children and armed conflict on 12 February. She said the Council should adopt “either a resolution or presidential statement” on the issue. Among other measures, she called for expanding the “list of shame” to include groups responsible for all manner of violations against children, or at least sexual violence.
_______________________________________________________________________
UN News Centre
Child
Recruitment Continues in Over One Dozen Countries, Reports Ban Ki-Moon
29
January 2008 – The recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is taking
place in more than one dozen countries around the world, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon states in a new report,
calling for further measures to combat the scourge.
The practice continues in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda, Mr. Ban notes in his latest report on children and armed conflict, covering the period from October 2006 to August 2007.
On the
positive side, he reports that no new cases of child recruitment have been
recorded during that period in Côte d’Ivoire. The parties to the conflict there
have not only ceased recruitment but have taken measures to identify and
release children associated with them for rehabilitation, Mr. Ban writes.
Regarding
specific issues of concern, the Secretary-General points to the close link
between child recruitment and internal displacement, noting that the lack of
security around refugee and internally displaced person (IDP) camps and the
“convenient concentration of vulnerable children” make these camps “prime
recruiting grounds.”
There have
been reports that the Karuna faction have abducted and recruited children from
IDP camps in Sri Lanka, while in the DRC, children have been recruited from
camps in North Kivu Province by forces loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
In addition,
the Secretary-General notes that girls, and sometimes boys, are targeted with
various forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, during armed
conflicts. For example, 60 per cent of cases of sexual and gender-based
violence recorded in Kisangani, in northern DRC, involved victims between the
ages of 11 and 17.
“It is
imperative that perpetrators of acts of rape and other sexual violence which
leave a long-term, devastating impact on the victims are prosecuted in
accordance with the gravity of such crimes,” Mr. Ban writes.
The report
also sounds the alarm about armed groups moving across borders to recruit
children from refugee camps, especially along the Sudan-Chad border. Both
Sudanese and Chadian armed groups are recruiting children from Sudanese refugee
camps in eastern Chad, while Chadian refugee children are being recruited by
Sudanese rebel groups in Darfur.
Another
concern is the escalation in “systematic and deliberate attacks on
schoolchildren, teachers and school buildings” in certain conflict situations,
including Afghanistan and Iraq, which warrants increased attention and action
by the global community, the Secretary-General states.
Mr. Ban says
the Security Council should consider a range of measures, including bans on
military aid and travel restrictions on leaders, targeting parties to armed
conflict who continue to systematically commit grave violations against
children.
He also
encourages the Council to refer violations against children in armed conflict
to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In this regard, he points to
“important precedents” set to end impunity for crimes against children. The
Court has issued arrest warrants for five senior members of the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA), including its leader, Joseph Kony, who faces charges
including the forcible enlistment and use of children in hostilities.
The
Secretary-General says the sentencing by the Special Court for Sierra Leone of
three men and the conviction of a fourth for the recruitment and use of child
soldiers “send an important message that such crimes against children will not
be tolerated and that those who engage in the practice will be brought to
justice.”
================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.