PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

The very grave humanitarian developments of the last several weeks in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo particularly affected children, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, told correspondents this afternoon during a press briefing at Headquarters.

In Liberia, particularly around Monrovia, and in the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was a lack of humanitarian access, he said.  A great number of children had been killed.  Schools and hospitals had been attacked.  There were reports of rampant recruitment and use of children as soldiers, as well as of widespread abduction of and sexual violence against girls.  There was also massive displacement of the population, including children separated from their parents, internally and cross-border.

He stressed that the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia also presented sub-regional problems.  The situation in Liberia could easily undo the new-found peace in Sierra Leone and could affect the situation in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea as well.  In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the attitude and conduct of neighbouring countries had a significant impact on what was happening in Ituri.

Mr. Otunnu underlined that the abuse and atrocities committed violated the Rome Statute governing the International Criminal Court (ICC) -- which defined attacks on schools and hospitals, recruitment and use of children as soldiers and committing sexual violence as war crimes -- as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Well-being of Children, the International Labour Convention and four Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict.

Last year’s Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict had featured a “naming and shaming” list of parties that continued to abuse children.  Of the 24 parties listed, 10 came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Both the Government of Liberia and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) were on that list as well.  The Secretary-General was now preparing a new report with an updated list, he said.

He supported the Secretary-General’s call for a robust international peace presence under Chapter VII in Liberia for which the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was “willing, able and prepared to put men and women in harm’s way”.  However, political leadership and financial, communication and logistical support was needed, and he hoped members of the Council, especially a permanent member, might provide such leadership as had been done in Sierra Leone and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He called on ECOWAS countries and the African Union to do everything to ensure continuation of the ceasefire in Liberia and to achieve an early political settlement.  He called on the parties involved in the Liberian conflict to cease activities affecting children, warning that they risked being held accountable.

He also supported the call for a more robust mandate for the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) mandate and for an increased military presence.  Resources should also be made available for humanitarian intervention.  As local communities in the Ituri district had traditionally played an important mediation role, he said those communities needed to be empowered to play that role in a more vigorous way.

Answering correspondent’s questions, he said the problem in Liberia was larger than the recruitment and use of child soldiers, as people were being killed, schools and hospitals were not functioning and there was an increased incidence of abduction and rape of girls.  As the ICC placed responsibility on individuals, he put the leaders of both parties, the Government and LURD, on notice that they would be held responsible for the war crimes of recruitment and use of children as soldiers, of grave sexual violence against girls and of attacks on schools and hospitals.

He said how parties addressed issues of children as mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report was on the agenda of Council missions, including the current mission to West Africa.  He hoped that, based on the update of the “name and shame list”, the Council would take more “muscular” action against those who continued to abuse and violate children.

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