A/HRC/12/49 page 6 use of children by armed forces, armed groups and the police, sets the legal majority age at 18 years, and calls for the creation of special tribunals and police special units for the protection of children. 15. Another significant development in the fight against impunity for the recruitment and use of child soldiers is the adoption of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008 in the United States of America. This law makes it a federal crime to knowingly recruit or use those under the age of 15 as soldiers, and permits the United States to bring charges under the law against both United States citizens and non-citizens who are in the United States. It also allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers. In addition, the coming into force of the Child Soldier Prevention Act on 23 June 2009 restricts the provision of United States military training, financing and other defence-related assistance to countries identified as recruiting or using child soldiers in government armed forces or government-supported paramilitaries or militias, in violation of international law. 16. Despite these positive steps to investigate and prosecute violators, some former commanders of armed groups who were well known for their recruitment and use of child soldiers are now in Government or senior military positions. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jean-Pierre Biyoyo was recently promoted to the rank of major in FARDC despite being convicted by a military court in March 2006 for the recruitment and use of children while a leader of the Mudundu 40 militia, and Bosco Ntaganda was made a general in FARDC in January 2009 despite being the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers and using them in hostilities. In Sri Lanka, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (also known as Colonel Karuna) became Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation. Prior to April 2004, he was the commander of the eastern division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and was responsible for recruiting children into LTTE ranks. After breaking away from LTTE, he formed the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulighal (TMVP), which continued to recruit children. Recently, TMVP entered into an action plan with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to release children in their ranks. A. Action plans to halt the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict 17. The application of international norms, combined with the political process in the context of Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict, has yielded several concrete actions and commitments by parties to conflict. In particular, in accordance with resolutions 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005), parties to conflict, in collaboration with the United Nations, have developed and implemented time-bound action plans which, among other commitments, oblige parties to immediately release all children within their ranks; put in place measures to prevent further recruitment such as training for military personnel and strengthening of birth registration systems; discipline those responsible for recruiting children; and provide access to recruitment and training centres for independent monitoring by the United Nations. 18. Since her previous report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/9/3), formal action plans to halt the recruitment and use of children were signed with TMVP on 1 December 2008, and the Government of Uganda on 16 January 2009. Important commitments to begin negotiations on an action plan were received from the Justice and Equality Movement in the Sudan and the