A/HRC/12/49 page 10 security. The high incidence of rape and sexual violence against children in Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia and the Sudan are of particular concern. 35. There is universal consensus that rape and sexual violence against children in armed conflict is a grave breach of international humanitarian law and a most serious human rights violation. Furthermore, international criminal law explicitly outlaws rape and sexual abuse during wartime, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court states that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or “other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity” may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo, a former commander-in-chief of the Mouvement de libération du Congo, is currently standing trial at the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity charges resulting from alleged instances of rape and other abuses by troops under his command. 36. International law also provides that children affected by armed conflict are entitled to special respect, protection and care, including against all forms of sexual violence and exploitation. It is therefore critical that efforts be strengthened towards ending impunity and ensuring access to justice, accountability and remedies for cases of such crimes against children. Towards that end, in his report on children and armed conflict, the Secretary-General recommended that the Security Council include rape and other grave sexual violence against children as additional criteria for inclusion of parties to conflict who perpetrate this crime onto the annexes of his report (ibid., para. 158). This is a positive step towards expanding the protection framework for children and driving United Nations and international efforts to seal commitments to put an end to sexual violence against children. Children internally displaced as a result of armed conflict 37. Children who are internally displaced count among the most vulnerable categories of children affected by armed conflict. In addition to the dangers to their physical safety and security during flight, these children are vulnerable to a host of other threats, including separation from family, trafficking, abduction by armed groups, lack of food and basic services, detention against their will and exploitation and abuse. Reports of some of these incidents have been received from Afghanistan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka and the Sudan. 38. In some situations, the recruitment of children by armed groups also continues to be a pressing issue for internally displaced families and communities perpetually at risk of being further displaced. A protracted displacement situation, extended stay in camps, proximity of camps from national borders, and in some cases the infiltration and presence of armed elements in internally displaced persons’ settlements also places children at a heightened risk of recruitment. 39. The Office of the Special Representative, in collaboration with the efforts undertaken by the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, stresses the need to address some of the key protection concerns for children displaced as a result of conflict, including the need for a proper registration system for separated and unaccompanied