http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/07/14/children-and-armed-conflict-sri-lanka-palitha-kohona-clears-misconceptions

Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka: Palitha Kohona clears misconceptions

Thu, 2011-07-14 14:41 — editor
News
Daya Gamage – Asian Tribune Foreign News Desk
Washington, DC. 14 July (Asiantribune.com):
Presenting detailed underlying realities of child soldiers and armed conflict in Sri Lanka that have been ignored by a report released by the U.S.-based Conflict Dynamics International which Sri Lanka’s envoy to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona described as an endeavor “to stroke up embers of a bitter past and politicize the issue of accountability related to child recruitment”, Sri Lanka told the U.N at an open debate at the Security Council July 12 that despite the impressive progress to end the child soldier era Sri Lanka continues to remain on the “Naming and Shaming List” of the UN Secretary General’s Annexes.
Ambassador Kohona was quite conscious of the fact that the misinformation and distortions of the Conflict Dynamics International report feeds to the international elements to strengthen their maneuvers to disrupt the Sri Lanka government’s initiation for reconciliation and consolidate peace within the country since the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 when he reminded the Security Council that “in the final stages of the conflict, children were thrown up in large numbers by the LTTE as cannon fodder and more than one generation of children was sacrificed to realize a megalomaniac’s (referring to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran) dream”.
“Sri Lanka has serious reservations about the Report of the Conflict Dynamics International that was launched under the auspices of the Permanent Mission of Canada and the Permanent Mission of Germany”, Dr. Kohona said.
“For instance, its assertion that individuals implicated in crimes against children in the area of armed conflict continue to hold high-government positions is sadly incomplete and misleading. The Government had consistently encouraged former armed groups to denounce violence and enter the democratic process as a part of the reconciliation effort. Following this approach, the TMVP, a breakaway faction of the terrorist LTTE, ceased to be an armed group, and entered the political process as a registered party. Like in other countries, where former terrorist groups have transformed themselves into legitimate political parties, the TMVP has also joined the democratic process. They have released all child combatants under a tripartite action plan with the UNICEF and the Government. The adult cadres are very much part of the democratic process which has had a salutary impact. It appears that the Report will stoke up embers of a bitter past and politicize the issue of accountability related to child recruitment. Unfortunately, these detailed underlying realities have been ignored”.
Dr. Palitha Kohona was replying to an observation of the Conflict Dynamics International report that noted: “In Sri Lanka, Vinayagamoorthi Muralidharan, alias “Karuna,” was sworn into parliament in 2008. As of mid-2011, he was serving as the Vice Chairman of the chief party in the Sri Lankan Government. According to the UN, Karuna is suspected of a series of grave human rights viola¬tions, including the abduction of hundreds of children to serve as child soldiers and the killing of hundreds of civilians, including children, while in his previous positions as a commander in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulighal (TMVP)”.
Referring to a UN report Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Kohona said “According to an UNICEF report made public recently, over 60% of the LTTE’s fighting force from 1983 - 2002 consisted of boys and girls under 18 years, including orphans harvested after the Tsunami.
UNICEF recorded over 5,700 cases of child recruitment by the LTTE from 2003 to 2009. Others have suggested a figure closer to 20,000. Child soldiers were often deployed to attack villagers with machetes, used as suicide bombers, especially, the girls (hundreds of such attacks were launched.).”
Dr. Kohona presented to the UN Security Council open debate on Children and Armed Conflicts to enlighten the international community the positive measures and steps taken by Sri Lanka “in realizing its policy of “zero tolerance” in the case of child recruitment including the rehabilitation and re-integration of former child combatants under its campaign of “Bring Back the Child” is by any standard, salutary.”
(Begin Quote)
• Sri Lanka voluntarily submitted to the monitoring process and established the Sri Lanka Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting in July 2006 in terms of resolution 1612.
• Sri Lanka fully cooperated with the SRSG, the Working Group and UNICEF on this issue.
• During the entire conflict period, essential services such as healthcare and education were provided unimpeded to all affected communities in the North and the East sometimes under difficult conditions. Since 2006, the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA), an apex consultative body overseeing a coordinated humanitarian response was established, heeding the request made by the Co-Chairs to the peace process, Japan, United States, the European Union and Norway. The Committee also comprised the Minister for Disaster management and Human Rights, Secretaries of the Ministries of Nation Building, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, Health, Education, Foreign Affairs, the Commissioner General of Essential Services, the Government Agents of the North and the East together with the Ambassadors of the US, Japan, the EU, Norway and UN agencies UNHCR, UNICEF, UNOCHA, WHO, WFP, FAO, ILO, UNDSS, ECHO, ICRC and CHA.
• At the end of the conflict, 594 child combatants (231 girls and 363 boys) between 12-18 years) were taken into custody by Government forces.
• A special Gazette issued by H.E. the President of Sri Lanka in 2009 on Child Rehabilitation, was based on the CRC and the Paris Principles.
• Adopting the principle of restorative justice and not retributive justice, these children were placed in institutional rehabilitation and received access to education, vocational training, heath care and psychosocial support. Even though one child had confessed to killing 126 civilians.
• 273 child combatants (154 male and 119 female) were given the opportunity to continue with their formal education at the Hindu College in Colombo in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education prior to their reintegration with their families. Following reunification with their families they were also given the freedom to gain admission to a school of their choice.
• 35 children have returned to the Hindu College in Colombo to continue their junior and senior high school education.
• 321 children (209 males and 112 females) opted to undertake vocational training conducted by the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka.
• Following their rehabilitation process they were all reunited with their families in May 2010. These institutionally rehabilitated former child soldiers are now continuing community-based rehabilitation. The rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers was a priority for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka managed this process with its extremely limited resources and in effective partnership with the UNICEF. Our rapid progress has been acknowledged today.
• Among the adult beneficiaries who were once recruited as children, a system called the “Catch-up education Programme” has been initiated in liaison with the Ministry of Education to enable them to continue their formal education. In 2010, 175 beneficiaries (130 males and 45 females completed the national Grade 10 examination (the O/Ls) while 361 beneficiaries completed the national Grade 12 examination (the A/Ls). 91 passed their O/Ls and 222 passed the A/Ls.
• In 2011 46 beneficiaries are preparing for their O/Ls while 302 beneficiaries are preparing for their A/L/s.
• Tremendous progress is being made in child tracing and family reunions. According to a recently released UNICEF study, 64% of the missing Tamil children had been recruited by the LTTE. Many may have died in mosquito infested jungles.
• In the post-conflict phase, significant attention is being paid to restoring and rebuilding schools and the release of schools to the educational authorities. Over 135 schools in the North that were abandoned have now been rehabilitated and are functioning normally. Sri Lanka provides free education to all its children without distinction from kindergarten to University level.
Recognizing that children formerly associated with armed groups continue to be highly vulnerable, the monitoring of the re-integrated former combatants will continue. The government recognizes that these children should be, placed under the purview of the Department of Social Services. Children are an asset and Sri Lanka will invest heavily in their future as it had done in the past. (End Quote)
Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona further declared: “Sri Lanka has a dedicated institution, the National Child Protection Authority, doing significant work in child protection issues. Sri Lanka’s experience in ensuring the overall wellbeing of children in conflict zones is unique. I note that even during the height of the conflict, the Government agreed to a cessation of hostilities to ensure that the national qualifying examinations (Grade 10 Ordinary Level Examination and the Grade 12 Advanced Level Examinations) were held in the conflict zones to enable students to sit these examinations every year. This also included the uninterrupted holding of the Grade 5 National Scholarship Examination in these areas. As to whether the terrorist LTTE permitted the children to sit the examinations is another matter.
“Sri Lanka is also unique because once again we were able to agree to cease hostilities to ensure that the polio vaccination programme was carried out in the conflict zones. It is precisely in recognition of these dedicated efforts, that the UNICEF in its State of the World’s Children 2008, documented and commended Sri Lanka as the best achiever in our sub-region despite a long-standing conflict. UNICEF had also commended Sri Lanka in its publication entitled, “Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity”, Number 9, September 2010.
“Unfortunately, despite the progress outlined above, Sri Lanka continues to remain on the “Naming and Shaming List” of the SG’s Annexes. The unresolved cases relating to five children appear to be the reason for this. In comparison with other situations in the world, this would appear to be trite and unreasonable.”
The US-based Conflict Dynamics International in its report titled ‘New Approaches to Addressing Violations against Children in Armed Conflict’ outlined:
“The UN Security Council called for the establishment of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on violations against children in armed con¬flict in its Resolution 1612 (2005). The MRM is de¬signed to collect and report data on grave violations against children and to feed this information to the UN Security Council via its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Acting upon this information, the UN or others may respond at the local, national or international level to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.
“Many armed forces and groups have failed to sign action plans. Reasons for the failure to sign action plans vary widely. In some instances, the armed groups are not accessible by UN representatives or are not interested in releasing children or engaging in dialogue to end other violations.
“In the case of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the proposed action plan did not meet certain minimum standards. The UN and LTTE were not able to reach agreement and ultimately failed to sign an action plan. Shortcom¬ings of the proposed plan included failure to allow the UN Task Force unhindered access to monitor implementation, formalize principles and time-bound measures for the effective release and reintegration of children, or to establish mechanisms for account¬ability and the prevention of re-recruitment.”
Despite several distortions and misinterpretations in Sri Lanka scene Conflict Dynamics International however said:
(Begin Quote) In 2005, the UN Security Council established its Work¬ing Group on Children and Armed Conflict, comprising all 15 members of the UN Security Council with rotat-ing leadership. Shortly after its establishment, the Working Group agreed on a tool kit of potential actions it would take to respond to reports of violations.
In the case of Sri Lanka, the Working Group used its tool kit to put pressure on the LTTE to end its recruitment and use of children. In June 2007, the Working Group:
? Strongly condemned the continuous recruitment and use of child soldiers and all other violations and abuses committed against children by the LTTE
? Urged the leadership of the LTTE to take a number of steps to immediately end the practice of abduc¬tion, recruitment and use of children and to provide for other protections
? Recommended that the President of the UN Se¬curity Council request a follow-up report from the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Sri Lanka by October 31, 2007, paying particular attention to the follow-up actions of the LTTE and other parties
? Warned of its intention to consider further action if the LTTE did not demonstrate progress.
Subsequently, the UN Secretary-General reported a decrease in the number of cases of recruitment of children by the LTTE, an increase in the number of released children and steps taken by the LTTE to improve its action plan.124 While this may demonstrate one instance of the Working Group’s capacity to influ¬ence the activity of an armed group, in the end the Working Group did not follow through on its threat and the LTTE allegedly continued to recruit and use chil¬dren through the final days of the conflict in 2009. (End Quote)
Conflict Dynamics International is an independent, not-for-profit organization which works to prevent and resolve violent conflict and to alleviate human suffering resulting from conflicts and other crises around the world. Conflict Dynamics works to fulfill its mission through conflict resolution, mediation activities and humanitarian policy development across three program areas: (I) Peace building in Transition States, (II) New Frontiers in Humanitarian Policy and (III) Pressure Points for Conflict Resolution.
Its mandate include in the areas of: humanitarian access; humanitarian negotiations with non-State armed groups; humanitarian-military relations and assessing the humanitarian implications of sanctions.
It works closely with parties to armed conflict, national governments, the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Development of policy options and new approaches to strengthen protection of children affected by armed conflict has been a core element of Conflict Dynamics’ work since its establishment.
- Asian Tribune