A new United Nations Report says that in 2023, violence against children in armed conflict reached extreme levels with a shocking 21% increase in grave violations.
The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict also for the first time listed Israeli forces on its ‘list of shame” of countries that violate the rights of children in armed conflict.
The report also lists non-state actors Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in its annex of groups that violate the rights of children. The report says children were killed and maimed in unprecedented numbers in devastating crises in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, notably the Gaza Strip, but also in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine among others.
The report, which has not been publicly released but seen by SABC News, attributed 5 698 violations to Israel’s armed and security forces, 116 to Hamas and 21 to Palestinian Jihad. The report says that the highest number of violations were verified in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria and in Sudan.
The UN verified the killing of 2 267 children – mostly in Gaza between 7 October and 31 December but further explained that owing to severe access challenges, particularly in Gaza, that the information presented in the report did not represent the full scale of violations against children.
The report further states that the Hamas attack on Israel last October and the subsequent military response in Gaza had led to a 155% increase in violations against children.
This was the Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan’s reaction to his country’s listing for the first time, publicizing a private call with the Secretary General’s Chief of Staff Courtenay Rattray last week.
“ I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision by the Secretary General. Courtenay, you know that Israel’s army is the most moral army in the world so this immoral decision will only aid the terrorists and reward Hamas. And I have to tell you another thing, the only one who is blacklisted today is the Secretary General whose decision since the war started and even before, are rewarding terrorists and incentivizing them to use children for terror acts and now Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this decision, shameful decision of the SG will only give Hamas hope to survive and will only extend the war and extend the suffering. Shame on him.”
The SG’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric then reacted to the airing of that private conservation last Friday.
“This is an initiative of Member States – more specifically of Security Council Members – who have tasked Secretaries-General to report annually on this, based on a well-established methodology. Coming back to this morning’s events, earlier today, our chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, called the Permanent Representative of Israel, Gilad Erdan. The call was a courtesy afforded to countries that are newly listed on the annex of the report. It is done to give those countries a heads-up and avoid leaks. Ambassador Erdan’s video recording of that phone call and the partial release of that recording on twitter, is shocking and unacceptable and, frankly, something that I’ve never seen in my 24 years serving this Organization.”
Overall, the report says the UN verified almost 33-thousand grave violations against children in the reporting period and that while non-State armed groups were responsible for almost 50% of grave violations, government forces were the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access.
The UN has also verified over 1 720 grave violations against children in Sudan, mostly during crossfire between Sudan’s Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces and other armed formations in the country, pointing to 85 attacks on schools and hospitals. In Ukraine, the UN verified 938 grave violations against children mostly attributed to Russia’s armed forces and affiliated groups with most casualties resulting from explosive weapons with wide area effects. It attributed 249 attacks on schools and hospitals to Russian forces and 70 such attacks to Ukrainian armed forces.
The Secretary General further called on all parties to conflicts to adhere strictly to their obligations under international humanitarian law, notably the principles of distinction and proportionality and their obligations under international human rights law. The report and its annexes listing all violators will be transmitted to the Security Council this week.
Source: eNCA
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