COUNCIL CONCLUDES DIALOGUE WITH SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN AND ON CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT

The Human Rights Council during its midday meeting concluded its clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, Marta Santos Pais, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui.

Ms. Santos Pais, in concluding remarks, said although many important strides had been made in recent years, there was still much to be done. Every dollar invested in the prevention of physical punishment of children had a return of $ 11. Investment in children in that regard was crucial for development. Violence against children was now recognized as a fundamental priority in the post 2015 development agenda and the United Nations was ready to support all countries in achieving and monitoring relevant targets.

Ms. Zerrougui, in concluding remarks, said children did not belong in armed conflict, and their recruitment was not justifiable. Recruitment of children in armed forces was a war crime, and it was important not to neglect States’ responsibility at national and international levels to effectively criminalize this practice. It was very important for States and regional organizations to allocate sufficient budgets for the prevention and prosecution of the recruitment of children.

The first part of the interactive dialogue was held on Wednesday, 11 March in the afternoon and can be seen here.

In the interactive dialogue on violence against children, speakers were concerned about violence against children, including trafficking and sexual exploitation, and highlighted the particular vulnerability of girls to sexual violence. Speakers stressed the importance of cooperation and inclusion of all stakeholders to combat violence against children, and supported the inclusion of violence against children in the post-2015 development agenda. States presented some of their domestic efforts to combat and prevent violence against children.

In the interactive dialogue on children in armed conflict, speakers expressed concerns at the dire situation of children in conflict-affected areas and condemned violence against children in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria. Speakers emphasized the importance of education, including in times of conflict, and condemned attacks against schools. Speakers also condemned the recruitment of children in armed forces and stressed that States should enact laws which prohibited and criminalized the recruitment of children in armed forces and their use in hostilities.

Speaking during the interactive dialogue were International Committee of the Red Cross, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Georgia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Morocco, Portugal, Sudan, South Africa, New Zealand, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Indonesia, Syria, India, South Sudan, Palestine, Sweden, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Colombian Commission of Jurists, Alsalam Foundation, Al-Khoei Foundation, Liberation, Franciscans International, Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy, World Barua Organization, World Jewish Congress, Sudwind, Foundation EPCAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes), International Agency for Development, International Catholic Child Bureau, Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association, Human Rights Advocates, Institut International pour la Paix, la Justice et les Droits de l’Homme and Organisation Internationale pour les Pays les Moins Avancés also took the floor.

Armenia and Azerbaijan spoke in right of reply.

The Human Rights Council will reconvene this afternoon at 3 p.m. for the second part of its annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, with a focus on “applying a rights-based approach to investment in children and strengthening accountability – focus on concrete examples of strategies and good practices”.

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and on Children and Armed Conflict

International Committee of the Red Cross expressed grave concern about acts of violence, particularly sexual violence, suffered by children in armed conflict. The silence surrounding sexual violence posed a serious challenge to responding effectively to victims’ multifaceted needs. It was essential that States fulfilled their responsibility to prevent sexual violence in armed conflict; they had an obligation to criminalize rape in their domestic legislation and to prevent impunity.

Iraq spoke about the heinous crimes of ISIS against children in Iraq, and said it was documenting them in partnership with local organizations and would present a report to the Council in the last week of the session. Iraq had a strict policy of sparing children hardship as a result of military operations, and sparing them from the horrors of violence in general, especially sexual violence. Iraq never recruited nor exploited children through national service.

Sierra Leone said preventing violence against children should be firmly placed on the post-2015 development agenda. The surge in extremist ideology and the criminal recruitment of children by armed groups had become an alarming trend in recent months. Countries must act collectively to address the plight of children who had been abducted, sold into slavery, used in conflict, maimed, raped and killed. They must not forget the human rights of the girls abducted by Boko Haram – as well as thousands of other children.

Georgia spoke with great concern about the situation in the occupied regions of Georgia, where children were deprived of their fundamental right to receive education in their native language and those willing to attend school in Government-controlled areas were denied the right to cross the occupation line. The continuing denial by the occupying power of the right of ethnically cleansed children to return home was another area of concern.

Switzerland said that one of the key challenges remained the implementation of many plans that existed to eliminate violence against children and asked Ms. Santos Pais how she intended to address violence against children in conflict with the law. Switzerland expressed strong support for the campaign to eliminate by 2016 the recruitment and use of children by governmental security forces and encouraged the Special Representative Zerrougui to continue her dialogue with non-state armed groups who recruited children and committed grave violation against them.

United Kingdom welcomed the initiative to end the recruitment and use of children by national armed forces by 2016 and, noting the progress it had achieved in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, asked what more could be done to tackle the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by non-state armed groups, and to increase the pressure on persistent perpetrators to end violations committed against children.

Morocco said violence against children had very harmful effects on their personal development, and supported the integration of this theme in the post-2015 development agenda. Morocco had carried out significant reforms to address violence against children, and was considering the ratification of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishing a complaints procedure. Morocco shared the Special Representative’s concerns about attacks against schools and was committed to continue the implementation of international standards regarding the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

Portugal stressed that education was key to a long-standing peace, and said education had to be respected and protected by all parties to armed conflicts. On violence against children, Portugal supported the mandate of the Special Representative, and welcomed her remarks on the cultural rights of children. Portugal highlighted the vulnerability of girls, including girls with disabilities, to violence, including trafficking and sexual violence, and demanded what measures would best prevent violence against them.

Sudan said its legislation provided the highest level of protection to children, and criminalized any sort of exploitation or recruitment of children. Sudan also fought violence in the name of gender, and had set up a number of prosecutors’ offices to address the needs of victims. Sudan had mechanisms to address the recruitment of children in armed forces and for the rehabilitation of child victims of armed conflicts.

South Africa said it strongly condemned all forms of sexual abuse and violence against children of all ages, irrespective of motivation and person of the perpetrator. In addition to laws prohibiting all forms of sale and sexual exploitation of children online, South Africa said it had established progressive programmes to protect children and guarantee their rights to dignity and social services. It was of paramount importance that all heightened efforts to protect children from all crimes.

New Zealand spoke of an intrinsic link between peace, security and development and said freedom from violence was indispensable to sustainable development. This year had seen unprecedented challenges for the protection of children in conflict zones, with a proliferation of crises featuring complete disregard for the basic human rights of children. Progress on the protection of children in conflict could not be made without more effective engagement with non-state groups.

Azerbaijan spoke about hundreds of children who had been killed as a result of the ongoing aggression by Armenia on Azerbaijan, including specific cases of children who had suffered from atrocities committed by the military forces of Armenia. Azerbaijan expressed deep concern about continued impunity for such crimes and asked the Special Representative on children in armed conflict to strongly react to such crimes.

Algeria said that the involvement of children in armed conflict was a complex phenomenon and States and non-state actors must be challenged to resolve it. Algeria was concerned about the inherent challenges of the involvement of non-state armed groups and asked about the best way to deal with human rights violations perpetrated by those armed groups. Eliminating violence against children in the judicial system was a priority for Algeria, which would soon enact a law to this effect.

Costa Rica was concerned about the fact that around 120 million girls under the age of 20 had been forced to have sexual relations or been subjected to a sexual assault. A comprehensive approach to address this problem was needed, which would involve health, social and educational institutions, as well as private actors. Violence against children must become a crucial part of the post-2015 development agenda. States should enact laws which prohibited and criminalized the recruitment of children in armed conflict and their use in hostilities.

Netherlands said that States had an obligation to protect children from mass atrocities, and stressed the particular risk for girls of sexual violence, a particularly serious form of violence against children. United Nations missions must protect the dignity and human rights of civilians, and abuse of the trust of the local populations by United Nations peacekeeping forces must not be condoned. A shared understanding of what it took to keep the peace and to protect civilians if violence erupted must lead a mission, which must be better prepared and outfitted for that part of their mandate.

Luxembourg welcomed the “Children not Soldiers” campaign launched by the Special Representative on children and armed conflict, and condemned any attacks on schools and hospitals and the recruitment of children in the armed forces. It stressed the importance of supporting the International Criminal Court and the role it played to combat impunity.
Indonesia stressed the importance of cooperation and inclusion of all stakeholders to combat violence against children. Indonesia was ready to share its experiences with other countries on eliminating violence against children. It welcomed the fact that the Special Representative on children and armed conflict cooperated with other United Nations agencies, and took note of the “Children not Soldiers” initiative. It expressed concerns about attacks against schools and hospitals.

Syria said terrorism financed by third countries in Syria had led to a dire situation for children. Violence against children in Syria would remain as long as the United Nations Charter was being violated.

India expressed grave concern about violence against children worldwide, saying that sustainable change would not be possible without a change in attitudes. India was home to 20 per cent of the world’s children, and worked to stop violence against them in all spheres, especially sexual violence and trafficking. Funding for child protection services had increased threefold since 2009. The daunting challenges faced by children displaced by conflict were a grave concern, and India supported the call for access to justice for victims.

South Sudan said that as a result of the conflict that started on 15 December 2013 in South Sudan, a major humanitarian crisis had developed, including the forceful recruitment of children. South Sudan spoke about the demobilization of child soldiers through Government-run programmes, including their rehabilitation and education. It was also investigating allegations of the occupation of schools by the SPLA.

Palestine said the brutal assault on the occupied Gaza strip by Israel last summer left 500 Palestinian children dead, more than 3,100 children wounded, 1,000 with permanent disabilities, 15,000 orphaned and 373,000 children in urgent need of psychosocial support. Israel continued to arbitrarily arrest and torture of children and prosecuted them in military courts.

Sweden said that only eight per cent of children in the world were protected from corporal punishment and Sweden would start a continuous dialogue with other States and experts in order to put this issue on the international agenda and work towards its elimination. Sweden asked how it could support the protection of children in countries where corporal punishment was not prohibited by the law.

Senegal said that the international community must address the tragedy of children orphaned by epidemics and conflict, and the tragedy of children abducted by extremist groups, such as ISIS and Boko Haram. Senegal welcomed the decision of the Human Rights Council to integrate the rights of the child in its work and dedicate an annual discussion on the rights of the child.

Democratic Republic of the Congo said it had undertaken several measures to address violence against children, including the adoption of the 2010 law on the protection of children and the national strategy to protect children to 2015. Sanctions and punishment for perpetrators of violence against children had been strengthened.

Colombian Commission of Jurists spoke about the effect of the armed conflict in Colombia on young people. In 2014 there were 125 cases of children recruited by non-state armed groups and many deaths, cases of rape and sexual slavery, attacks against schools and people displaced. Both the police and armed forces used boys and girls in intelligence-gathering activities.

Alsalam Foundation, in a joint statement, called the Council’s attention to recent acts of violence involving children in Bahrain. Since the peaceful protests of February 2011 the Government of Bahrain had engaged in a systematic persecution of children and minors in an effort to silence dissent.

Al-Khoei Foundation spoke about the horrific treatment of children in Iraq and Syria by ISIL which used recruitment propaganda to allure children into carrying out actions for it. The use of children as tools of terror ranged from suicide bombers, bomb makers and informants to human shields in airstrikes or their sale for money.
Liberation reminded that the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their use in hostilities were prohibited by the Optional Protocol and drew the attention of the Council to the situation in Jammu Kashmir where children were still being recruited by armed groups. The best interest of children released from custody by armed groups must be addressed.

Franciscans International welcomed in a joint statement the efforts to combat impunity for perpetrators of violence against children, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and expressed concern about persistent violations of human rights, including children’s rights in the east of the country. Of particular concern were instances of child labour and the prevalence of sexual violence which was being used as a weapon of war, particularly in the mining areas.

Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy said that in the regions of Kashmir and north east India, which had been suffering from the Government’s armed actions for decades, children got killed, injured, abused and maltreated. Children living in fear and in such condemnable conditions in regions affected by armed conflict were likely to host extremist views, which was dangerous for their own future and peace in the region.

World Barua Organization said violence against children affected the personal development of a child. In many child abuse cases, perpetrators were persons trusted by children. In India, cases of sexual abuse in childcare centres were underreported and had become an accepted norm.

World Jewish Congress was concerned about children being used as child bombers or executioners in the Middle East. Children were deliberately placed in the line of fire, and were brainwashed into taking part in hostilities. The world community should condemn the exploitation of children as human shields, which violated international humanitarian law.

Sudwind said that in Iran, honour killings received a lesser punishment than when murderers and victims were not related, which resulted in reduced accountability for perpetrators of honour crimes. In Iran, corporal punishment was not criminalized, and flogging could be used against juvenile offenders.

Foundation EPCAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes) said the crime of the sexual exploitation of children online was evolving at an alarming rate. It transcended boundaries, eluded laws and challenged criminal investigators. EPCAT urged all States to sign the WeProtect Statement and commit to eradicate online child sexual exploitation.

International Agency for Development said violence against children, especially in armed conflict, was increasing worldwide. The perpetrators were often the same individuals who were responsible for protecting children and their families. Children in Kashmir, under Indian occupation, had become the worst victims of violence, having been assaulted and killed, disappeared and forcibly arrested by Indian troops.

International Catholic Child Bureau, in a joint statement, spoke about children in the criminal justice system. Girls accused of having broken the law faced stereotypes and increased discrimination. Training on girl-friendly procedures for public officers serving in the criminal justice system was needed, and girls’ needs had to be integrated into State policies.

Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association said children lost their lives in India every day because of violence against them, and suffered discrimination. India continued to restrict the activities of civil society organizations by cutting their funds. Children lacked access to education and health.

Human Rights Advocates said many Latin American children migrating to the United States were being taken to privately-run detention for children facilities. This had become a lucrative business, and budget cuts by private businesses led to a worsening of the situation of children there. In addition, personnel of these facilities were often not trained to address the specific needs of children.

Institut International pour la Paix, la Justice et les Droits de l’Homme was deeply concerned about attacks on schools during armed conflicts and the use of schools for military purposes in violation of international humanitarian law. This constituted a direct threat to the enjoyment of children of their right to education. The Institute referred to such cases in Nigeria.

International Organization for the LDCs spoke of grave violations of children’s rights in several crisis-affected least developed countries including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, as referred to in the Special Representative’s report. It noted with satisfaction progress made in the Secretary-General’s “Children not Soldiers” campaign launched last year.

Concluding Remarks by the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and on Children in Armed Conflict

MARTA SANTOS PAIS, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, said although many important strides had been made in recent years, there was still much to be done. Today eight per cent of the global homicide rate was children younger than 15; there were increasing numbers of child victims of trafficking; and many children aged five and under were dying or becoming disabled for life as a result of violence. Almost one billion children were affected by physical punishment. Such violations were very costly for society. Child abuse alone cost more than four per cent of the global gross domestic product. Every dollar invested in the prevention of physical punishment of children had a return of $ 11. Investment in children in that regard was crucial for development. Violence against children was now recognized as a fundamental priority in the post 2015 development agenda and the United Nations was ready to support all countries in achieving and monitoring relevant targets. New technologies represented a unique opportunity to empower children but needed a dedicated platform where risks could be addressed. She also highlighted the needs of children, particularly girls, in the criminal justice system. While 2015 was a global turning point, 2016 would also be very important as the first year of the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

LEILA ZERROUGUI, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, said in concluding remarks that the support of States and civil society gave her legitimacy to speak to those who did not want change on the issue. Children did not belong in armed conflicts, and their recruitment was not justifiable. The recruitment of children in armed forces was a war crime, and it was important not to neglect States’ responsibility at national and international levels to effectively criminalize this practice. It was very important for States and regional organizations to allocate sufficient budgets for the prevention and prosecution of the recruitment of children. It was possible to do things with non-state armed groups, including groups such as Boko Haram, through mediation and peace agreements. With regard to affected and radicalized children, States should work with communities and make them understand that these children were victims. It was important also to delegitimize practices such as recruitment of child soldiers or sexual violence through awareness raising campaigns.

Right of Reply

Armenia, speaking in a right of reply, said children’s needs and aspirations were the same worldwide and spread across all ideologies. Armenian children living in border villages with Azerbaijan suffered constant shelling and sniper fire, despite the ceasefire agreement between the countries. Today there were almost 70,000 refugee children. Almost 18 Armenian villages in the northern part of Nagorno-Karabakh remained under occupation by Azerbaijan, whose army indiscriminately fired upon hospitals, schools and other public services. However, said Armenia, it still hoped for a peaceful settlement with Azerbaijan one day.

Azerbaijan, speaking in a right of reply, said Armenia’s remarks were an attempt to mislead the international community with regard to the causes of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia and its political and military consequences. It was a well-known fact that Azerbaijan had suffered from Armenian aggression and ethnic cleansing for 20 years. More than 20,000 people had been killed as a result of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and the fate of more than 4,000 political Azerbaijani prisoners in Armenia remained unknown. The Armenian forces had an immoral policy contrary to the international law on the prohibition of targeting civilians, including children.

Armenia, speaking in a second right of reply, said that Azerbaijan had the responsibility to provide explanations on the disappearance of Armenians, adding that Azerbaijan’s militarization and refusal to uphold ceasefire agreements constituted great threats and made it solely responsible for the escalations in the situation.

Azerbaijan, speaking in a second right of reply, said that the statement by Armenia was based on false facts. Armenia was responsible for launching an aggression against Azerbaijan. The international community was very clear that the occupied territories were an integral part of Azerbaijan. Armenia should cease its aggression and ethnic cleansing policy.


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC15/029E