CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) TOWARD STRENGTHENING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN … In addition to a general protection on civilian objects, the Rome Statute provides special protection to hospitals and defines as a war crime “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against […] hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives” and “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport and personnel using distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law.” 83 3.6 Attacks on schools In 2016, a school compound in a rebel-held Idlib province in northern Syria was repeatedly hit by airstrikes in what seemed to be the deadliest attack on school since the beginning of war in 2011. Twenty-two children and six teachers were killed in the strikes. Some estimates indicated at least 35 civilians had died. 84 In 2018, attacks on schools or threats of attacks on schools and generalized violence led to widespread school closures, depriving over 140,000 girls and boys of their right to education. 85 More recently, the United nations verified almost 500 attacks on schools in 2019. 86 The right to education is guaranteed in number of IHRL treaties which are applicable both in peacetime as well as in times of war. 87 Armed conflicts have a drastic impact on education. Schools may be destroyed or turned into military camps and teachers may be singled out as being “dangerous intellectuals.” 88 The lack of educational opportunities in times of war is often an underestimated symptom of contemporary armed conflict. And yet, “[t]he very routine of schooling, however informal, can be a therapeutic source of continuity and stability for children facing traumatic situations.” Education provides not just immediate relief but also “long-term benefits for national economic and social development, perhaps representing a step towards preventing future conflicts.” 89 IHL provides more specific protection to hospitals than to schools. I share the view of those authors who call for removing this asymmetry and ask for equivalent legal protection. 90 Analogously to “hospital,” international law does not contain the definition of a “school.” The Guidance Note defines schools as “all learning sites and education facilities, as determined by the local context, including both formal and informal, secular and religious, providing early childhood, primary and secondary education, as well as vocational training to children.” They include “all school-related spaces, structures, infrastructure and grounds attached to them, such as water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, which are recognizable and known to the community as such, but may or may not be marked by visible boundaries or signage.” 91 83 Rome Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(ix), Article 8(2)(e)(iv), Article 8(2(b)(xxiv), Article 8(2)(e)(ii). 84 Gladstone, Rick “Airstrikes Hit a School in Syria, Killing Dozens,” The New York Times , 26 October 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/world/middleeast/syria-school-airstrike.html (Accessed on 24 May 2021). 85 UN Doc. A/HRC/40/49, para. 5. 86 UN Doc. A/74/845-S/2020/525 of 9 June 2020, para. 8. 87 E.g., Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 28; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3, Article 13. 88 Beresford, Stuart. “Child Witnesses and the International Criminal Justice System.” Journal of International Criminal Justice 3, no. 3 (2005): pp. 724–725. 89 Children and Armed Conflict. Report of the Secretary General, UN Doc. A/55/163-S/2000/712 of 19 July 2000, para. 44. 90 Bart, Gregory Raymond. “The Ambiguous Protection of Schools under the Law of War – Time for Parity with Hospitals and Religious Buildings,” Georgetown Journal of International Law 40, no. 2 (2009): pp. 405–446. 91 OSRSG/CAAC, Guidance Note , p. 29.

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