A/HRC/33/64 59 per cent of cases were children under 5 years of age. A total of 437 deaths were reported. 83. Children continue to suffer as a result of the conflict, and the lack of economic development and basic social services. Children are recruited by armed groups, in particular Al-Shabaab, mainly in Lower and Middle Jubba, in Gedo and the Lower and Middle Shabelle, where Al-Shabaab targets Somali Bantu youth and children as young as 10 years of age. More than 90 children have been captured, of whom about 66 remain in detention, while 43 have been transferred to rehabilitation facilities in Mogadishu. A few have been sentenced to death in Puntland. Orphaned children are employed as domestic servants, are poorly paid and work long hours or are involved in informal activities, such as street vending or washing cars. The accession by the State to the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a welcome development for the protection of children’s rights in Somalia. XV. African Union Mission in Somalia 84. The Independent Expert held a meeting with AMISOM leaders during his mission. He paid tribute to the sacrifices made by AMISOM soldiers and its civilian personnel, and commended the support given by the international community to its mission. The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission reiterated a message previously conveyed to the Assistant Secretary-General, in which he rejected allegations that AMISOM contingents had killed civilians during air strikes; thorough investigations conducted by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the administrative authorities of Jubbaland had in fact found that the allegations were untrue. He stated that AMISOM operations were sensitive to human rights and respect for international humanitarian law, and that AMISOM acted on all concrete reports of violations. 85. The Special Representative conceded that a vehicle carrying civilians had been attacked in Bura Maleh a few days prior to the mission of the Independent Expert because AMISOM soldiers had mistaken the vehicle’s failure to stop at a checkpoint, despite the warnings given, as an attack by Al-Shabaab. AMISOM would set up a board of inquiry into the incident at both the command and headquarters levels. The board would include representatives of the police and the local community; in the interests of transparency, representatives of the United Nations, the Government and the regional authorities were also invited to observe the process. The Special Representative pointed out that AMISOM would honour the recommendations made by the board whether compensation is to be paid or the soldiers implicated court-martialled. 86. At the time of drafting the present report, the Independent Expert had not received information regarding the findings of the above-mentioned board of inquiry. With regard to the allegations of sexual abuse by AMISOM soldiers, the Special Representative informed the Independent Expert that AMISOM had taken a number of measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. The camps had been sealed against any unnecessary interaction with the civilian population. Businesses had been removed from within the camps, thus reducing contacts between civilians and soldiers. A toll-free hotline managed by Somali non-governmental organizations to receive allegations of cases of sexual exploitation and abuse had been set up. Since the measures had been taken, no new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse had been reported. The Special Representative emphasized that he had directed the force commanders to ensure that such acts do not occur again. 87. With regard to actions taken by troop-contributing countries, the Special Representative explained that they were accountable to the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission had set up a board 18

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