Working to end impunity

Grave child rights violations in situations of armed conflict represent a profound challenge to the international legal order. The normative infrastructure for the protection of children is both robust and comprehensive and enjoys an unprecedented consensus among Member States. Since the entry into force in 2002 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, it has been ratified by 121 Member States and ratifications continue. However, running counter to this is the shocking reality that in far too many situations of armed conflict children are routinely brutalized and their most fundamental rights contravened. It is critical, therefore, for the international community to remain steadfast, resolute and focused on ensuring accountability and fighting impunity for grave violations.

As already noted, in recent years the international community has witnessed some unprecedented initiatives to address impunity. These examples serve as a powerful deterrent by putting those who commit violations on notice. It is evident that perpetrators are taking note. In the age of global media and information, the arrest and trial of individuals such as Thomas Lubanga, Charles Taylor and Jean Pierre Bemba register with commanders and warlords across the globe. These actions by international justice mechanisms, as well as initiatives such as the Secretary-General's annual listing of violators and the concern and commitment of the Security Council expressed in its resolutions and emerging institutional arrangements to address grave child rights violations, serve as leverage to bring parties into compliance.

In the past several years parties such as Forces Nouvelles and pro-government militia groups in Côte d'Ivoire, the Sudan Liberation Army (Minnawi) in the Sudan and the APRD in the Central African Republic, have agreed to specific provisions for the protection of children.

However, it must be recognized that the successes that we have had in engendering compliance thus far have been based on a credible threat of action by international actors, including the Security Council. More must be done to systematize and activate the full range of options available to the international community to ensure more robust action against recalcitrant violators. There are, for instance, 16 such persistent violators who have been explicitly named and listed by the Secretary-General for four years or more and the lack of action against them undermines accountability initiatives. The challenge of political will and means for targeted measures must be resolved by Member States if the progress that we have registered over the past several years in addressing impunity is to be sustained and extended.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough that action at the international level must be underpinned by a commitment to address impunity at the national level. Member States, as a matter of most urgent priority, must ensure that they undertake appropriate reforms of national legislation for the protection of children so as to bring their laws into line with their international obligations. Furthermore, such domestic legislation must be implemented, including through the timely and rigorous investigation and prosecution of grave violations against children and establishment of systems to care for the victims. Justice becomes a critical element in the redress and healing of victims and communities.