A/HRC/12/49 page 4 presences, as well as into the work of human rights mechanisms, including the universal periodic review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council, and treaty bodies such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as special procedures. 6. The Office of the Special Representative is further encouraged by the practice of a number of special rapporteurs of including a section on children and armed conflict in their reports, and by their proactive advocacy for the protection of children’s rights in situations of conflict. 7. In 2008/2009, the Office of the Special Representative provided contributions for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in reviewing State party reports on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict in Chad, the Philippines and Uganda. The Office has submitted inputs for the UPR reports on Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and has also collaborated with other special procedures mandate holders to prepare joint submissions on the human rights situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 7/20 and S-8/1 and in the occupied Palestinian territory in accordance with Council resolution S-9/1 on grave violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory particularly due to the recent Israeli military attacks against the occupied Gaza Strip. 8. The Office will continue to share information on the status of the protection of children affected by armed conflict in specific country situations of common concern ahead of country reviews by the human rights mechanisms, including key recommendations by the Secretary-General and the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in the context of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). In the same vein, the concluding observations and recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review respectively, as they pertain to the issue of children and armed conflict, will constitute a basis for continued advocacy by the Office. III. ENDING IMPUNITY FOR GRAVE VIOLATIONS AGAINST CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT 9. The need to address impunity and bring to justice those responsible for violations of the rights of children in situations of armed conflict, in contravention of applicable international law, continues to be a focus of priority attention and action by the Office of the Special Representative. Towards this end, the Office of the Special Representative regards the Human Rights Council as an important component of, and a critical partner in, efforts to ensure the application, enforcement and compliance of parties to conflict with international norms and standards to protect children’s rights, as well as to ensure full accountability for commissions of grave violations against children. 10. In recent years, there have been several unprecedented initiatives to address impunity for crimes against children by international justice mechanisms, mixed criminal courts and tribunals and, increasingly, through national justice systems. The trial of former militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the International Criminal Court, solely for the recruitment and use of children, continues. The Office of the Special Representative submitted an amicus curiae brief during the course of the proceedings, in which the Special Representative urged the Court to adopt a case-by-case