CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

peter klanduch

CYIL 12 (2021)

2. Children and armed conflict Millions of children are affected by armed conflicts not just as merely bystanders, but often as direct targets. Some fall victims to a general attack against a civilian population, others die as part of a calculated campaign. Children suffer the effects of sexual violence, hunger, or disease. Thousands of them are used in military activities. 5 A total of 350 million children – one child in every six – are estimated to be living amidst conflict, an increase of 75 percent from 200 million of the early 1990s. 6 The changing nature of armed conflict and the prevalence of intra-state wars waged by ill-trained armed groups without any knowledge of the rules of IHL pose a particular threat. 7 Protracted and high- intensity conflicts, cyclical spikes in violence, operations to counter violent extremism, and cross-border operations by armed forces and groups have continued to disproportionately affect children around the world. 8 We need to keep in mind that the figures that appear in the annual reports of the UN Secretary-General (UNSG or the Secretary-General) cannot provide a full and accurate picture of the nature and scale of the problem and are just the tip of the iceberg since all reported incidents must go through a thorough verification and vetting process and depend on access. 9 In 2019, the United Nations verified over 25,000 violations against children in 19 situations, more than half committed by non-state actors, and a third by government or international forces. 10 Why we need to pay special attention to children? The CRC stipulates that “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity needs special safeguards and care, including legal protection, before as well as after birth.” 11 Moreover, the Committee on the Rights of the Child confirmed in 2006 that “[t]he distinct nature of children, their initial dependent and developmental state, their unique human potential as well as their vulnerability, all demand the need for more, rather than less, legal and other protection from all forms of violence.” 12 A “child sensitive approach” adopted in the ICC Policy on Children (see below) “appreciates the child as an individual person and recognizes that, in a given context, a child may be vulnerable, capable, or both.” 13 3. Crimes against children When I refer to “crimes against children,” I mean only those grave violations of children’s rights that are committed during and in connection with an armed conflict and give rise to individual criminal accountability. Not all criminal offences targeting children fall within this 5 UN Doc. A/51/306, para. 1. 6 FATIMA, Shaheed, et al., Protecting Children in Armed Conflict. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2018, p. xi. 7 Ibid. , p. 40. 8 Children and armed conflict. Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, UN Doc. A/HRC/40/49 of 26 December 2018, para. 2. 9 Children and Armed Conflict. Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/74/845-S/2020/525 of 9 June 2020, para. 2. 10 Ibid. , para. 5. 11 Convention on the Rights of the Child, preambular para. 9. 12 General Comment No. 8 (2006): The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment (arts. 19; 28, para. 2; and 37, inter alia), UN Doc. CRC/C/GC/8 of 2 March 2007, para 21. 13 International Criminal Court, Office of the Prosecutor, Policy on Children , November 2016, para. 22, https:// www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/20161115_otp_icc_policy-on-children_eng.pdf (Accessed on 24 May 2021).

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