Statement by Chairman of Security Council Working Group

 

on Children and Armed Conflict

 

At its thirty-first meeting, on 22 June 2011, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the consideration of the second report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic (document S/2011/241), to address the following message to all parties to the conflict in the Central African Republic, through public statements by the Chairman of the Working Group:

I. To all armed groups:

(a)            Expressing deep concern regarding the continuing violations and abuses committed against children in the Central African Republic, and urging them to immediately implement the previous conclusions of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in the Central African Republic (document S/AC.51/2009/2);

(b)            Strongly urging them to immediately halt the recruitment and use of children, as well as violations and abuses against children, as called for in Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005) and 1882 (2009), and to release all children still within their ranks;

(c)            Urging them to develop as soon as possible time-bound action plans in line with Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005) and 1882 (2009);

(d)            Emphasizing that the full implementation of an action plan in line with Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005) and 1882 (2009), confirmed by the task force on monitoring and reporting, is an important step for a party to conflict to take in order to be de-listed from the annexes of the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict;

To the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et de la démocratie:

(e)            Welcoming the separation of children from the ranks of the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république de la démocratie (APRD) since June 2008, and calling on APRD to ensure the comprehensive and definitive release of all remaining children;

(e)

To the Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement, the Front démocratique du peuple centrafricain and the Mouvement des libérateurs centrafricains pour la justice:

(f)            Expressing deep concern at the ongoing recruitment and use of children and other violations and abuses committed against children, and calling on the Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement, the Front démocratique du peuple centrafricain and the Mouvement des libérateurs centrafricains pour la justice to immediately cease the continuing violations and abuses committed against children and to enter into a dialogue with the United Nations;

To the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix:

(g)            Expressing deep concern at the lack of humanitarian access to areas under the control of the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP) in the north-eastern part of the country, as well as persistent reports of the recruitment and use of children, and of violations and abuses against children in those areas, and urging CPJP to allow humanitarian actors to deliver assistance to the displaced and other populations in need;

(h)            Welcoming the announcement of a ceasefire by CPJP, and encouraging CPJP to enter into a dialogue with the Government towards the signature of the Libreville Comprehensive Peace Agreement;

To the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) (to be addressed through the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for LRA-affected areas):

(i)            Strongly condemning the continued perpetration of violations and abuses committed against children, including the recruitment and use of children, rape and other sexual violence, and abductions by LRA in the south-eastern and eastern parts of the Central African Republic;

II. To the Government of the Central African Republic:

(j)            Expressing serious concern at the recruitment and use of children by local self-defence militias, and calling on the Government to reiterate its prohibition of the recruitment and use of children, to work to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all children associated with these groups, and to refuse any support for any militias that recruit and use children.

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For information media • not an official record