Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict Newsletter

Children and Armed Conflict Key News

OHCHR Report on Yemen Highlights Serious Violations Committed Against Children: On August 25, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the international community to establish an international, independent body to carry out comprehensive investigations of Yemen after a report released by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) mentioned serious allegations committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen. Children have been particularly affected by the continuous conflict. Information collected by the MRM suggests at least 620 children were killed and 758 maimed between July 2015 and June 2016. Children have also been recruited by both parties and used in hostilities. Additionally, the number of children out of school has increased since June 2015 and today 2.2 million school-aged children are out of school because of closures and attacks on educational facilities. High Commissioner Zeid urged all parties to the conflict to respect civilians’ life and international humanitarian law.
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Annual Report of the Special Representative of The Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Presented to General Assembly: The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), Leila Zerrougui, presented her annual report, covering August 2015 to July 2016, to the United Nations General Assembly on August 23. The report warns that the increasingly complex and protracted conflicts around the world from South Sudan to Yemen affect children severely, with grave violations against children intensifying in a number of conflicts as respect for international humanitarian and human rights law continues to denigrate among parties to conflict. An emerging challenge discussed in the report is the impact of violent extremism on children. Although over 115,000 children associated with armed groups have been released since 2000, the number of arrested and detained children for their alleged association with armed groups is increasing. As part of the report, the Special Representative also made recommendations to the General Assembly and Member States, including a call on them to treat children allegedly associated with non-State armed groups as victims entitled to the full protection of their human rights, and to take appropriate measures to reintegrate children, giving special attention to the needs of girls.
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HRW Reports Rise in Military Use of Schools in Afghanistan: A new Human Rights Watch report, “Education on the Front Lines: Military Use of Schools in Afghanistan’s Baghlan Province”, released on August 17, confirms the military use of schools by both Afghan security forces and the Taliban. The research was conducted in April 2016 in one area of a north-eastern province where 12 schools were occupied or used for military purposes. Using schools as military bases risks students’ lives as schools become military targets and endangers their right to education. It also contradicts the Safe Schools Declaration which Afghanistan endorsed in 2015. Direct attacks on schools also impedes children’s education and occurs all too frequently in conflict zones. The American University of Afghanistan was attacked by unidentified insurgents on August 25 in Kabul, killing 13 civilians, injuring dozens, and destroying a nearby high school for the blind. Save the Children reported that the number of bombings on schools in Syria has increased recently. Parents are reportedly afraid to send their children to school in North West Syria because routes and surrounding areas are under attack, too. In Thailand three people died, including a 4-year-old girl and her father, when a bomb went off outside of a school as students and teachers arrived on September 7. Ethnic Malay insurgents have targeted schools, teachers, and other education personnel in Southern Thailand to express their opposition to the Thai government. According to HRW, more than 200 schools have been bombed or burned down during the past twelve years in Thailand.
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UNICEF Reports That More Than 650 Children Have Been Recruited by Armed Groups in South Sudan Since January: According to a UNICEF press release dated August 14, an estimated 16,000 children have been recruited by armed forces and groups since the beginning of the crisis in December 2013. The recruitment and use of minors has continued this year despite broad political commitments made to end this practice and holding in 2015 one of the largest demobilizations of children ever. At least 650 children have been recruited since January 2016. In addition, gender-based violence, like rape and sexual exploitation, is also recurrent. The United States State Department called for an immediate halt to the unlawful recruitment and use of children and warned that the responsible officials may be targeted for US and UN sanctions.
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