S tatement by Ambassador P ras ad K ariyaw as am Per manent Representative of S ri Lanka to the U nited Nations Agenda I tem : 67 Pr omotion and Pr otection of the R ights of Children At U nited Nations General Assembly, 60 th S ession T hird Commi ttee New York, 17 October, 2005 A Copy for ColomboPage.com
The Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children in May, 2002; A World Fit for Children has established a time-bound set of goals for children and young people. It continues to bind Governments toward realising the dream of a child-friendly world. Some of the benchmarks set relate directly to, and are derived from, the Millennium Development Goals, and seek to integrate the protection and promotion of rights of children effectively into global and national strategies. The Outcome Document adopted by the UN High-Level Summit on 16 September this year once again emphasizes the imperative of promoting and protecting the rights of children. Identifying the use of children in armed conflicts as a growing menace that requires urgent global attention, the Outcome Document unanimously stated that ; I quote : We reaffirm our commitment to promote and protect the rights and welfare of children in armed conflicts. We welcome the significant advances and innovations that have been achieved over the past several years. We welcome in particular the adoption of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). We call upon States to consider ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. We also call upon States to take effective measures, as appropriate, to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, contrary to international law, by armed forces and groups, and to prohibit and criminalize such practices. We therefore call upon all States concerned to take concrete measures to ensure accountability and compliance by those responsible for grave abuses against children. We also reaffirm our commitment to ensure that children in armed conflicts receive timely and effective humanitarian assistance, including education, for their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
In this regard, we now expect UN agencies to redouble their efforts on the issue of Children and Armed Conflict, with a view to implementing the wishes of our leaders. Ms. Karin Sham Poo, who held office as Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and Under-Secretary-General, for the last two months, deserves our sincere appreciation for the initiative, commitment and leadership she had demonstrated in taking forward the UN agenda in this field. We call for a renewed mandate for her to continue in the Office as Special Representative at the level of Under-Secretary-General, and for sustained funding of the Office of the Special Representative through UN regular budget. My delegation commends the Special Representative for the informative report contained in Document A/60/335. It explains clearly the problems and challenges, as well as developments in the on-going advocacy and norm-setting tasks. Paragraph 8 of the Report clarifies an important aspect in the UN practice of listing parties to armed conflicts. It states; the names of countries are mentioned only to indicate the geographical location where the violations are being committed, and the mention or discussion of any particular State or situation should not be construed as a legal determination that there exists a situation of armed conflict within the meaning of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the additional protocols thereto. My delegation views this assertion as a valuable policy clarification based on international law and practice. Paragraph 51 of the Report elaborates on the Special Representative s dual task of engaging both Governments and insurgent groups in dialogue. Let me quote the paragraph in full: It is critical to engage in a protection dialogue with all parties, whether Government or insurgencies, whose actions have significant impact on
children, without any implications as to their political or legal status. Therefore, the engagement of dialogue with an insurgent group does not confer legitimacy or a particular legal status on that group. The only purpose for such dialogue is to ensure protection for and access to vulnerable children. Such dialogue must be conducted in full transparency and with the knowledge and co-operation of national Governments. We have often observed that despite good intentions, dialogue with armed groups, who are bent on flouting internationally-accepted norms and conduct, has often been perversely projected as a sign of recognition of their armed campaigns and as an opportunity for expanding their reach and manoeuvrability. Therefore, this statement by the Special Representative is timely. It would help to clear lingering misconceptions, arising out of the Special Representative s sensitive role of engaging both Governments and insurgent groups. This does not mean, however, that we shut the doors of dialogue with insurgent groups altogether. A pragmatic balance should be struck between implementing the mandate of the Special Representative that warrants a dialogue and the overriding obligation under international law, to protect children and to halt systematic grave violations as well as the need to promote international peace and security. The time has also come for the United Nations to actively promote a policy of zero tolerance against violators of rights of children, denying the cover of legitimacy sought by them through their interactions with UN functionaries and the other international entities. In this regard, we commend the international human rights community, especially the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and other dedicated NGOs, for their inspiring example of giving leadership in this field. In this context, we now need to re-energize the advocacy role of the UN including on the concept of Children as Zones Of Peace, once echoed at the
United Nations inspired by Madam Graça Machel, Expert of the Secretary- General. It is time that the United Nations focused on this concept with the seriousness it demands. In paragraph 11 of the report, the Special Representative reiterates several violations against children in armed conflict situations as war crimes. They are; the conscription, enlistment or use in hostilities of children, intentional attacks on schools and hospitals; and grave acts of sexual violence. The report categorizes abduction of children and denial of humanitarian access for children also as grave violations of the rights of children. We value this timely reiteration that such violations are indeed war crimes and systematic grave violations. In Sri Lanka, for instance, the LTTE continues to recruit and use children in armed conflict. UNICEF and national and international human rights organizations have widely reported that there has been a sharp increase in such recruitment of children in recent months. In this conscription drive, more often than not, children have been removed against their will from schools, or as we have seen in the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster, from welfare centres and makeshift camps. Parents or guardians are not allowed access to their children by the LTTE. There is also evidence that the access to schools and other civilian centres for conscription purposes is obtained through threat or pressure exerted upon the management of the school or the civilian centre. Only a week ago, principals of two schools in the Jaffna District who reportedly refused to co-operate on such activities were gunned down. My delegation views such situations as blatant attacks against schools or civilian centres. And these acts therefore fall into the category of grave systematic violations as classified by the Report of the Special Representative. With regard to acts of sexual violence against children, LTTE seems to follow a policy of connivance and support to offenders. For instance, the LTTE has taken hostage three Sri Lanka Police Officers in Mannar, who went to apprehend a paedophile convicted in the UK, who has taken shelter in that area.
The Police Officers were on this mission as directed by the National Child Protection Authority, and they still remain in LTTE captivity despite appeals and demands by the Government of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Ceasefire Monitoring Mission and by several civil society organizations for their immediate, unconditional release. In this context, we reiterate that in our view the process of recruitment of children as combatants by this armed group in Sri Lanka consists of four grave violations, namely (i) attacks against schools and civilian centres; (ii) abduction of children; (iii) denial of humanitarian access for children; and (iv) use of children in armed conflict. It is therefore necessary to keep a sustained focus on all these inter-connected, continuing grave violations against children with a view to preventing their recurrence. Security Council Resolution 1612 symbolises the growing consensus at the UN on taking punitive actions against violators of the rights of children in armed conflicts. It represents a remarkable step forward in the international community s resolve to bring a variety of sanctions, including the possibility of international ban on travel for offending parties. We commend the Security Council, the Secretary-General and the Special Representative for the strong signal sent through this Resolution. The Government of Sri Lanka is currently in the process of working with relevant UN Agencies to set up the task force on monitoring and reporting as envisaged by the Resolution. It is now imperative that the United Nations, and the Security Council redouble their efforts to halt systematic grave violations against children and for this purpose, take resolute action including targeted sanctions against offending parties. Thank you!