A/HRC/4/45 page 11 with 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, enslavement, sexual enslavement, and forcible enlistment and utilization in hostilities of children under 15 years. In March 2006, the International Criminal Court also announced the indictment of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for commission of war crimes, conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15 and the use of children for active participation in hostilities. In addition, national processes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently saw the successful prosecution, conviction and sentencing of Major Jean-Pierre Biyoyo of the Mudundo Forty armed group by the National Military Tribunal in South Kivu for the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Also for the first time, a former Head of State, Charles Ghankay Taylor of Liberia, was transferred to the custody of the Special Court for Sierra Leone under indictment on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities”. 18. The Office of the Special Representative will follow closely the proceedings of the International Criminal Court on the case of Thomas Lubanga relating to grave violations against children, in particular child recruitment, and, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary-General and other partners, will file an amicus curiae containing gathered information as well as the Office’s approach to the legal interpretations of the provisions of the International Criminal Court relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity involving children. III. PROMOTING RIGHTS-BASED PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN AFFECTED BY ARMED CONFLICT A. Girl children 19. It is clear that the girl child remains particularly vulnerable in situations of armed conflict. The girl child is often the victim of sexual violence and exploitation, and girl children are increasingly being recruited into fighting forces. In intervention initiatives for war-affected children, such as community-based reintegration programmes for children associated with fighting forces, girls are most often bypassed, even though they are in greatest need of care and services. We miss girls in our interventions because many of them are unwilling to come forward in the first place, to be identified as “bush wives” or to have their children labelled as “rebel babies”. Communities often stigmatize and ostracize girls because of their association with rebel groups and the “taint” of having being raped. Often, rebel groups categorically refuse to give up the girls at all even after commitments have been made to release children, because even where association between perpetrators and victims have begun with abduction, rape and violence, over several years “family units” have developed which include babies born of rape. 20. A deeper understanding of the acute vulnerability of girls in situations of armed conflict is required, and there is also a need to draw on girls’ skills and capacities acquired in armed groups, so that future strategies and programme responses address both the empowering and the detrimental aspects of their experience to maximize the protection and recognition of the human rights of the girl child. Effective action against violations of these rights also needs our serious attention.