A/HRC/12/49
page 7
Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines. In addition, commitments by the Government
of Nepal to release children from Maoist cantonments as a matter of priority, as well as
commitments by the Forces nationales de libération (FNL) in Burundi to immediately and
unconditionally separate and release all children were also received. In fact, between April and
May 2009, a total of 340 children were separated from FNL and have been reunited with their
families and communities, marking the end of the demobilization phase of all children formerly
associated with FNL. And in July 2009, the Government and the Unified Party of Nepal-Maoist
declared that they will discharge the 2,973 children remaining in the cantonments to the
United Nations for rehabilitation and reintegration.
19. Also in 2009, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and local defence units were removed
from the annexes of the Secretary-General’s report (A/63/785-S/2009/158) as a result of the full
commitment by the Government of Uganda and concerted efforts toward implementing the
provisions of its action plan.
20. The Special Representative, however, remains very concerned that grave violations
continue to be committed against children by parties to conflict, in blatant violation of
international law, and would like to bring to the attention of the Human Rights Council parties
who were included in the annexes to the latest report of the Secretary-General on children and
armed conflict (ibid., annexes I and II) for the recruitment and use of children and the
commission of other grave violations against children. More must be done to systematize and
activate the full range of options available to the international community to ensure more robust
action against recalcitrant violators. There are, for example, 18 such persistent violators1 who
have been explicitly named and listed by the Secretary-General for four years or more, and the
lack of action against them undermines accountability initiatives. A successful deterrent to the
recruitment and use of child soldiers and other grave violations against children will only be
established when individuals are held accountable through the rule of law.
B. Field visits by the Special Representative
21. Apart from the sustained engagement and pressure placed on parties to conflict by the
Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations human rights
mechanisms and other relevant bodies of the United Nations and its partners, field visits by the
Special Representative have brought high-level visibility to the situation and rights of children
1
Palipehutu-Forces nationales pour la libération (FNL) - Agathon Rwasa, Forces armées de la
République démocratique du Congo (FARDC), Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda
(FDLR); Front nationaliste et integrationaliste (FNI), Mai-Mai groups in North and South Kivu,
including Coalition des patriotes résistants congolais (PARECO), Karen National Liberation
Army (KNLA), Karenni Army (KA), Tatmadaw Kyi, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M), Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA),
government-supported militias in Darfur, Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP), Abu Sayyaf Group
(ASG), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), New People’s Army (NPA), Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA). With the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), its
listing in the annexes is no longer applicable.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents