RIGHTS: EU Intervention Sought on Child Soldiers

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Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Mar 1 2004 (IPS) - European parliamentarians and a coalition of civil society groups are asking the EU to investigate the growing use of children in armed conflict.

A group of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigning for children’s rights say are seeking greater visibility for children’s rights and a greater prominence for children’s issues in all European Union (EU) policies.

“If the EU is serious about wanting to stop the abuse of children in situations of armed conflict, it could make a tremendous difference,” Lotte Leicht, Brussels director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) told IPS Monday.

Amnesty International, HRW, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and Save the Children were among a group of NGOs that wrote to EU foreign ministers last month asking for the appointment of a special representative on children and armed conflict.

The coalition sees the special representative as “monitoring and reporting the situation of children in armed conflict, promoting actions to protect the rights of children before, during and after conflict, and a focal point for the UN and other international agencies.”

More than two million children have been killed and more than six million injured or disabled in armed conflicts in the past decade alone, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Millions have been orphaned or displaced, and countless held hostage, abducted and trafficked.

Some 300,000 child soldiers currently participate in conflicts around the world, UNICEF says.

In Colombia a third to half of all fighters are children, it says. Reports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have revealed that armies of children have been facing off against each other. Some are recruited when they are just seven or eight years old.

This situation continues in spite of pressure from Western governments to stop groups involved in armed conflict using children.

The NGOs say in their petition that commanders often force children to watch captives being mutilated and tortured. Children are asked to torture other children, including friends, who may have tried to run away.

“Violence, sexual abuse, and rape is standard fare for these children,” the NGOs said in a joint statement. “The use and abuse of child soldiers is a deliberate policy.”

Use of child soldiers below 15 years of age is a war crime subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court which came into being in July 2002. But “inadequate implementation of these laws has resulted in a feeling of impunity on the part of armed groups and the continued use of child soldiers,” the NGOs say.

EU foreign ministers pledged to consider the proposal for appointment of a special representative in their ‘guidelines on children and armed conflict’ adopted last December. The guidelines set out proposals to raise awareness within the EU and beyond of the impact of armed conflict on children.

The guidelines propose several measures to address the issue, including monitoring and reporting on conflict situations and increasing dialogue with third countries.

But the NGOs say the EU lacks the institutional know-how and operational mechanisms to act on its pledge. “The foreign ministers need to discuss whether the EU can realistically do this,” Leicht told IPS. “The credibility of the EU’s response to these vital issues is at stake. Failure to build on the initiative created by the guidelines would simply breed cynicism.”

The coalition supports this view. “The momentum generated by these guidelines must not be lost,” they said in their statement. “We have before us an exceptional opportunity to change the lives and futures of millions of children.”

The NGOs say that acting on the guidelines would be “impracticable without a dedicated representative, given the breadth of the tasks at hand.”

Some MEPs strengthened their call for appointment of a special representative for children’s rights at an EU-ACP (a group of 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly meeting in Addis Ababa Feb. 16-19.

Irish minister of state for development and cooperation and human rights Tom Kitt said at the meeting that promotion and protection of the rights of the child was a priority in the EU human rights policy. He urged delegates to “maintain a vigorous approach to this issue.”

HRW says some EU member states have indicated that they support the idea of a special representative. But some are reported to have objected on the ground that this would be too costly.