CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) TOWARD STRENGTHENING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN … definition. I concentrate on those violations that amount to the most serious international crimes as articulated in the Rome Statute of the ICC (the Rome Statute). 14 Unlike war crimes, which always have the nexus to an armed conflict, genocide and crimes against humanity can also be committed in peacetime. My understanding is closely related to the concept of the “six grave violations” (see below) and thus limited only to those which occur in wartimes. It is apparent that this approach is victim-oriented. In principle, children can become victims of most international crimes under the ICC jurisdiction. However, there are crimes which have highly disproportionate and often long-term or even lifelong impact on their lives and well-being. Consequently, “crimes against children” only include the violations which deliberately target or have inherently disproportionately negative effect on human beings under the age of 18 during an ongoing armed conflict of international or non-international character. The idea of “crimes against children” draws substantially from two different though similar and to a large extent overlapping methodological approaches. The first one has been developed and is being used by the United Nations and is known as the concept of the “six grave violations.” 15 The other is the notion of “crimes against and affecting children” presented by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor in its Policy on Children in 2016. 16 The UNSC set the framework for the “six grave violations” in 1999 by strongly condemning the targeting of children in armed conflict, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction and forced displacement, recruitment, and use of children and attacks on schools and hospitals. 17 These categories were selected not only due to their ability to be monitored and quantified, but also for their “egregious nature, and severity of their consequences on the lives of children.” 18 3.1 Killing and maiming Some 10,173 children were verified by the United Nations as having been killed (4,019) and maimed (6,154) in 2019. Causes of casualties include crossfire, small arms and light weapons, ground engagement between parties, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the excessive use of force by State actors. Afghanistan, Mali, Myanmar, Iraq and the Philippines belong to the deadliest countries for children. 19 The Geneva Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Geneva Convention IV) 20 provides the basic framework for the protection of civilians in international armed conflict. Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 sets the minimum rules applicable in the non-international armed conflict. It stipulates that all persons not taking active part in the hostilities must be treated humanely, irrespective of their race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth, or wealth, “or any other similar criteria.” The IHL 14 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 17 July 1998, 2187 UNTS 90. 15 Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, The Six Grave Violations Against Children During Armed Conflict: The Legal Foundation. Working Paper No. 1 , October 2009 (Updated November 2013), https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/publications/WorkingPaper-1_ SixGraveViolationsLegalFoundation.pdf (Accessed on 24 May 2021). 16 See Policy on Children . 17 UNSC Resolution 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, para. 2. 18 OSRSG/CAAC, The Six Grave Violations, p. 9. 19 UN Doc. A/74/845-S/2020/525 of 9 June 2020, para. 7. 20 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Geneva Convention IV), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287.

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