PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

Some 60 per cent of the people displaced in the conflict between the Russian Federation and insurgents in its constituent republic of Chechnya were children, Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Briefing correspondents on his recent week-long trip to the Russian Federation, including Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Chechnya in the Northern Caucasus, he said there were 150,000 displaced Chechens within Chechnya itself and 160,000 others living in Ingushetia.

Noting that there had been persistent reports of plans to force the displaced persons to return home against their will, Mr. Otunnu emphasized that the authorities in Moscow had given him firm and direct assurances that any return would be voluntary.  Despite their tremendous eagerness to return to their homes, the displaced people were deeply concerned about security, owing to continuing reports of harassment and abuse during military mopping-up operations.

Mr. Otunnu said he had taken up that issue in the context of Military Order No. 80, issued last April by the Chief Military Commander in Chechnya.  The order laid out clear-cut rules on the conduct of mopping-up operations.  Those procedures were aimed at maximizing accountability, responsibility and protection for the civilian population, he added.

Regarding landmines, the Special Representative said there were an estimated half-a-million of them contaminating Chechnya, making the republic one of the most densely landmine-contaminated zones anywhere in the world.  An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 Chechens had been maimed by landmines, about 5,000 of them children, he added.

He said insurgent groups continued to enlist children, paying them to plant landmines and other explosives, and to target civilians perceived to be cooperating with the Government administration.  They must stop such unacceptable practices, he emphasized.

Asked what could be done specifically to end insurgents' use of children around the world, Mr. Otunnu cited a worldwide campaign that declared there was no place in armed conflict for children, whether they were used as spies, to plant or clear landmines, or to participate as combatants.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was critical in that regard, because it raised to 18 years the age limit for any person to participate in armed conflict.

How could insurgent groups be made to comply with the Optional Protocol? the same correspondent asked.

Mr. Otunnu said the Optional Protocol addressed both States involved in conflict and insurgent groups.  For the latter the 18-year limit was absolute,

both for recruitment and participation in conflict.  On the other hand, for governments 16 years was the minimum age for recruitment and 18 years for participation in conflict.

Regarding the enforcement of compliance by insurgents, he stressed that no party to conflict could remain indifferent to international public opinion.  In addition to legal and juridical channels, it could play a very important role in exerting pressure on all parties in conflict to comply with agreed international standards.

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