14 May 2003
U.N. Special Representative Hopeful Era of Child-Soldiers Is Over
(Ugandan Minister says that international community and NGOs hold key)
(440)
By Bruce Greenberg
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Paying special tribute to the United States for its
leadership and support of international programs aiding and
rehabilitating child combatants and their victims, UN Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara A. Otunnu,
delivered an impassioned speech to the May 7 Department of
Labor-sponsored conference on child soldiers, "Children in the
Crossfire: Prevention and Rehabilitation of Child Soldiers."
Stressing that there are two components to this issue, that of the
soldier and the victim, Otunnu said, "The faces of war are often those
of the children: maimed and traumatized --- as are their victims,
often children as well. We must come to their relief and support all
of them."
Citing the contributing factors that turn children into soldiers:
economic deprivation, political and social upheaval, sexual
enslavement, forced indoctrination, Otunnu also remarked that there
are resources and programs now in effect, and a willingness on the
part of individuals and governments everywhere, to put an end to such
conditions.
"But," he added, "even though we have the means at our disposal, there
remains the question of how best to implement [them] on the ground.
This is the most pressing challenge facing the world community," how
to implement these norms and standards to prohibit the use and abuse
of children, particularly during war.
As to what can and should be done in the practical sense, Otunnu
listed several actions:
-- individual governments instituting massive media campaigns to make
the public aware of the abuse of children, particularly during
conflict;
-- international monitoring and reporting of the treatment of children
during combat as a basis for putting pressure on warring parties to
cease such activities;
-- naming and shaming those parties in conflict that continue to use
children as combatants, and making it a standard policy to arrest and
prosecute those guilty of such offenses.
Otunnu urged that every peace accord should include built-in measures
of protecting the civil rights of children. He cited instances in
Northern Ireland and in Sierra Leone where these governments have
enacted special child protection laws in the context of the peace
agreements.
Otunnu also observed the disturbing link between terrorism and child
combatants, "for who better to be a terrorist," he asked, "than a
child who has no alternative, and is coerced into a radical ideology
through intimidation and indoctrination."
"I believe that we can turn a new page and create a world where child
soldiering and the victimization of children in conflict is made
unacceptable, " Otunnu closed.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
