Press Statement by Chairman of Security Council Working Group

 

on Children and Armed Conflict

 

At its thirty-second meeting, on 30 September 2011, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the consideration of the first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (S/2011/366), covering the period from January 2008 to December 2010, to address the following message to the armed groups mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General through public statements by the Chair of the Working Group:

(a)   Expressing deep concern about continuing violations and abuses committed against children in contravention of applicable international law in Iraq, such as the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other sexual violence, abduction, attacks against schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access;

(b)   Condemning in the strongest possible terms the practice of armed groups, such as Al-Qaida, of recruiting and using children, including those with mental disabilities, as suicide bombers, and calling for the immediate disbandment of its so‑called youth wing “Birds of Paradise”;

(c)   Strongly urging them to immediately halt violations and abuses against children as called for in Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009) and 1998 (2011), and to release all children remaining within their ranks.

The Working Group also agreed to address a message to civil and religious leaders in Iraq urging them to publicly condemn the use of children, especially as suicide bombers, and to engage with the Government of Iraq, in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other child protection partners, to prevent any kind of violation and abuses against children in contravention of applicable international law in Iraq.

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For information media • not an official record