ROUND TABLE
CHILDREN IN CONFLICTS

held on Thursday, 15 April 1999
at
Room No. XXXI Palais des nations, Geneva
From 13.00 to 15.00 hours

SPONSORED BY:
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MINORITIES

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 ORGANIZED BY:
ATTORNEY M. A. MAJID TRAMBOO
Regional Head, UK and European Office, IHRAAM

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CO-SPONSORS
International Educational Development
WMC
International Peace Bureau
MWL
IIFSO

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Panelists

Chairperson: Ms. Karen Parker
International Educational Development (Replacement for Dr. Y. Kly)

Ms. Rachel Brett
Associate Representative Human Rights and Refugees Quaker United Nations
 

Ms. Elizabeth Bennett
Head ACT Project on Children in Armed Conflict, South Africa

Mr. Henrik Haggstriom
Swedish Save the Children
 

Mr. Shabir A. Dar
Delegate of IIFSO

Mr. Sidji Kaballo
World Federation of Democratic Youth

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON ‘CHILDREN IN CONFLICTS’

    A Round Table discussion was held by IHRAAM on the topic of CHILDREN IN CONFLICTS at the Palais des Nations on 15 April, 1999. The Round Table was attended by 139 NGOs, IGOs and United Nations officials. The Round Table was opened by chairperson Ms. Karen Parker of International Educational Development.
         She invited Majid Tramboo, European Director, to read the opening statement forwarded by Dr. Y. N. Kly, IHRAAM’s Chair.  The statement was very well received.

         This was followed by the rest of the invited speakers, beginning with Ms. Rachel Brett) Associate Representative of Human Rights and Refugees, Quaker United Nations who spoke primarily of child soldiers.

         Next to speak was Colin McNaughton of the Guatemala Human Rights Comrnission who reported on the effects of the internal armed conflict in Columbia on the lives of the children and a brief history of the socioeconomic causes of the conflict.

         Ms. Elizabeth Bennett continued with a brief description of the project which she heads, the ACT Project on Children in Armed Conflict in South Africa.

         Then Mr. Shabir A. Dar,, a delegate of the International Islamic Federation of Students Organizations, presented a view of the situation in Asia, with particular reference to Jammu and Kashmir.

         He was followed by Mr. Henrik Haggstriom of Swedish Save the Children with an interesting discourse on the Child Coalition and the work they are presently doing with children.

          Mr Sidji Kaballo from the World Federation of Democratic Youth concluded the speakers list by providing information about the effects on children of armed conflicts in Africa, including Rwanda, Sudan, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Liberia.

          These presentations were followed by a brief question and answer period.

          Majid Tramboo was then asked by the chair to present the Declarations and Recommendations which were placed by the panel before the participants. The declarations and recommendations were unanimously approved with thunderous applause.

          The round table event culminated with a video presentation about child soldiers and children in armed conflicts.

STATEMENT TO CONFERENCE ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN SITUATIONS OF INTERNAL CONFLICT

PROFESSOR Y.N. KLY
CHAIR OF THE IHRAAM DIRECTORATE

First, I would like to express my deep regrets at not being able to assist at this most important conference on the situation of children in conflict situation and the duty of the UN and the international community to provide such children with adequate human rights protection. Only the need to recover from a serious illness could have prevented my presence with you on this occasion.

I would also like to thank and express IHRAAM's sincere appreciation to those organizations that co-sponsor this event with IHRAAM. To them, I can only state our deep gratitude and unconditional willingness to continue our cooperation with them in all efforts to promote the human rights of all humans in any situation or under any circumstances wherein any human rights are being violated. Last and most heart-felt, I express the gratitude of the IHRAAM directorate to our Geneva representative, Mr Majid Tramboo, for all the diplomatic work he has done in making this event possible.
Having stated the above, I would now like to make a few comments about nature and gravity of the situation of children in conflict situations. The human rights aspects of this problem, which we are gathered here to explore and elaborate, seem to have resulted from three unavoidable and interdependent historical factors, and their impact on the development of international human rights law.

Briefly stated, the first of these factors was the rise of the ideal of the nation state (including the ideal of absolute sovereignty over how a state treated its citizens) as the only international personality or international legal subject.  The second, the collapse of this ideal in the mid 21st century led to the third, internal conflicts (civil wars) as a major animator of socio-political change in the international system and thereby the major threat to world peace and human centered development.

The first factor influenced the orientation of those responsible for the development of the Geneva conventions.  Thus, children were not seen as having specific rights in themselves, but rather were seen as simply part of the civilian population and thus indirectly protected by the conventions. The subsequent collapse of nation-state ideal witnessed the emergence of citizens as the subjects of  nation states and also subjects of international law. Thus, human rights treaty law emerged and came into force. This new international law reflecting the changed ideals and spirit through the good offices of  the UN, spoke repetitively to the rights of the child and particularly so, in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

However, in giving the state the chief responsibility to provide for, protect and respect these rights, international law ignores the significant  changes in the ideals and socio-political environment that were responsible for the advent of these human rights (particularly the rights of the child, which were chiefly animated by NGOs instead of governments) coming into force in the first place. Thus, with the collapse of many multinational states into internal conflicts, we of course find that neither the Geneva convention and its elaborations nor the UN human rights treaties provide sufficient guidelines, law or jus ferenda needed to enforce or sufficiently encourage the protection of children in situations of violent internal conflict.
In guise of concluding this opening address, I choose to stop at what is really only the beginning.  I hope that your deliberations and conclusions will serve to bring this dilemma to the attention of international organizations, government, etc and to provide them with the correct understandings and clues for its remedy.

I would like to provide you with the IHRAAM website address; www.ihraam.org and invite you to consult with our Geneva Representative, Mr Majid Tramboo.  IHRAAM thanks you for your participation.

1. Whereas we welcome extending the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to deal with alleged grave and other breaches of international humanitarian law in both international and non-international conflicts regarding Children, we however, recommend that the ratification process should be expedited.

2. Children deserve the highest level of protection under international humanitarian law.  Any distinction between protection offered in international conflicts and that offered in internal conflicts is invalid.

3. All states are legally obliged to provide or accept impartial humanitarian aid directed at the civil population, in particular to children, whatever the characterization of the conflict.

4. States should not be allowed to close schools for security reasons in times of armed conflicts.  All parties to the conflicts are obliged to permit children to receive education.  Schools may not be the object of military operations.

5. Given the armed conflict situations in Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Columbia, Jammu & Kashmir and Uganda, which drastically affect the children there, we recommend that the Committee on the Rights of the Child appoint a Standing Committee on these situations.

6. Although prevailing international law sets 15 as the minimum age for military recruitment and participation in armed conflicts, there is widespread disagreement on this and hence this Round table recommends that this age limit must be raised to 18 pursuant to the Optional Protocol.

7. NGOs should be actively encouraged to provide information on the plight of children in armed conflicts or emergency situations to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.  It is recommended that an NGO Children’s Group should be formed.  This would require considerable development of the group and the appointment of responsible officers.  The Commission on Human Rights should establish a Voluntary Fund on Children in Armed Conflicts for this purpose.

8. Small arms and ammunition should not be supplied to the countries that recruit under age children.

9. Skilled training should be provided to ex girl combatants.