A/HRC/31/30 take an active part in hostilities and are themselves victims of such events. 58 Additionally, there is increased concern about the use of children with disabilities as suicide bombers. 59 States parties must review their national criminal legislation to ensure prosecution and punishment for grave breaches of international humanitarian law. 60 They should also collect data, including disaggregated data, regarding boys and girls with disabilities in emergencies and armed conflict.61 45. States and non-State actors should intensify their efforts to facilitate, by every means available, the reunion of persons with disabilities with their families in accordance with their wishes. Service providers should consider the support required by some persons with disabilities in this regard. Personnel involved in these processes should be aware of the psychological impact on persons with disabilities and the potential distress caused by abandonment and violence. In addition, attention should be paid to the particular needs of unaccompanied boys and girls with disabilities, particularly those subjected to torture or trauma, and to the needs of older persons. Lastly, personnel should be aware of gender and cultural issues that could affect the process of family tracking and reunification; for example, those subjected to rape can experience shame upon reuniting with their families owing to cultural prejudices.62 46. The parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and combatants. Attacks may only be directed against combatants. 63 All parties to a conflict may only lawfully target persons with disabilities if they are actively participating in combat.64 Persons with disabilities have been identified as having taken part in hostilities as suicide bombers;65 this raises concerns about the nature and context of such participation, particularly regarding the provision of safeguards to guarantee the respect of their will and preferences without undue influence. 47. In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, persons with disabilities should not be forcibly held in mental health facilities or institutions.66 Any interpretation of existing provisions and standards of international humanitarian law related to medical treatment and generally accepted medical standards that allows for the detention of persons with disabilities in mental health facilities or other institutions, or for their forced treatment, should be rejected and regarded as discriminatory towards persons with disabilities, and thus contrary to the Convention.67 Furthermore, 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 14 See Security Council resolution 2225 (2015) and related resolutions. See CRC/C/OPAC/IRQ/CO/1, para. 31. ICRC, Advisory Service on International Humanitarian Law, “Penal Repression: Punishing War Crimes”, January 2004, p. 1. UNCHR, Working with Persons with Disabilities (see footnote 47), p. 9. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Guidelines on family reunification for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2001, p. 7. The principle of distinction is now codified in articles 48, 51(2) and 52(2) of Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I). Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, arts. 43, 44, 45 and related articles. e-Include, “People with intellectual disabilities in armed conflict”, 30 October 2012. See CRPD/C/GC/2, paras. 40 and 41; see also CRPD/C/ESP/CO/1, para. 36; CRPD/C/HUN/CO/1, para. 28; CRPD/C/AUT/CO/1, para. 31; CRPD/C/AUS/CO/1, para. 34; CRPD/C/SWE/CO/1, para. 36; CRPD/C/MEX/CO/1, para. 30; and CRPD/C/KOR/CO/1, para. 26. See Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, art. 30; see also Cathy J. Schlund-Vials and Michael Gill, eds., Disability, Human Rights and the Limits of Humanitarianism (Farnham, Surrey, Ashgate, 28 June 2014), p. 163) and Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).