RIGHTS: Declaration on War-Affected Children Criticised as Weak

By Paul Weinberg Reprint | | Print |

Paul Weinberg

ONTARIO, Sep 19 2000 (IPS) - Delegates to the weeklong International Conference on War-Affected Children in Winnipeg, Canada say the declaration, which had been hoped would help protect the world’s youth caught in situations of strife, is vague.

“You know the sense of impatience p the sense of needing to move forward p was totally lost, says Kathy Vandergrift, a representative of a coalition of Canadian non governmental organisations at the gathering, which ended Sunday.

In the declaration a broad set of goals to end the suffering of children in war has been established. It includes a general determination that the use and abuse of children in war was inexcusable under all circumstances. It contained 14 points that ranged from the release of abducted children to a prohibition of the violation of children’s rights.

But advocates like Graca Machel, the United Nations’ special advisor on war-affected children says the language in the declaration is weak. She points to such phrases as “governments should live up to international law” or “states are invited to sign agreements” instead of they must or they will do those things.

“It leaves me really disturbed when I feel that there are some attempts to say ‘No, we shouldn’t go so far,” Michel said.

Earlier on Sunday, a 18 year old delegate, Florian Bizindavyi who has endured seven years of conflict in war torn Burundi in Africa called on adults who run the world to take serious action. “How do I explain to you, or make you understand, how hard it is to live in perpetual terror, every day.”

Bizindavyi was addressing a session that was attended by ministers and ambassadors from more than 60 nations.

“I was lucky not to lose my parents or siblings, but I can’t forget my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my friends, who were massacred,” the young man said. “Why should we be martyrs of these stupid ridiculous conflicts?” Bizindavyi asked.

At the conference Sudan has agreed through international mediation to seek the release of about 6,000 child soldiers, taken by Uganda rebels, the Lord Resistance Army.

Just a few days earlier, former deputy executive director of the UN Children’s Fund and a Canadian, Stephen Lewis demanded action against the Sudan for its support of the LRA which has kidnapped, raped and murdered children in Uganda. The LRA is based in southern Sudan.

The critics at the conference included a wide range of academics, young people and aid workers, all of whom demanded that governments take firm commitments to seek out and punish individuals responsible for crimes against children.

The conference was co-chaired by Canada and was the first of its kind. In addition to delegates from governments and non- governmental organisations, dozens of young people who had been forced to fight in armed conflict and had been seriously injured or brutalised made an appearance.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy says the recommendations in the final accord were still significant. He says government representatives did not have enough time to debate and some countries were reluctant to make any commitments.

“The document that was negotiated was the best effort,” says Axworthy, who also recently announced that he was leaving politics for an academic position at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

To deal with the concerns about the declaration, stronger recommendations have been added in an attached document, and a committee led by Canada, Ghana and the United Nations will do a follow up.

Canada itself came under some criticism. Former UN official Stephen Lewis blasted Ottawa and a Canadian oil company Talisman for its participation in a controversial oil project in civil war- torn Sudan. It has been criticised for its human rights violations against its southern black population.

Also, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said countries like Canada could do more to halt the use of child soldiers. He urged them to stop the fund-raising within their borders by rebel groups like the Tamil Tigers who recruit pre-teen and teenage soldiers.

Also Canada was chided for allowing young people under 18 to join the Canadian Armed Forces.

There are an estimated 10 million young people around the world who are now caught up in armed conflicts, says Stephen Thompson, an officer with the Canadian Armed Forces who has been seconded to the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping and Training Centre in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia in eastern Canada.

Thompson estimates that 2 million have been killed in the past decade and 5 million more have been disabled.