VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0140/01 0451405
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141405Z FEB 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3732
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN 1171
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0246
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 0336
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1112
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0240

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PGOV PHUM PREF UNSC BM FR
SUBJECT: UNSC CALLS FOR INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY ON 
CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT 
 
REF: STATE 14292 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict 
(CAAC) Radhika Coomaraswamy on February 12 urged the Council 
to implement targeted measures against persistent violators 
against children.  She also called for the Council to add 
rape/sexual violence as a trigger to list a country in the 
annexes of the Secretary General's report for the application 
of the monitoring and reporting mechanism.  42 delegations 
spoke in addition to Council members.  Many delegations 
echoed the SRSG's requests, and they also called for the 
inclusion of child protection advisers within UN peacekeeping 
forces, increased referrals to the ICC, and a focus on 
reintegration efforts.  Russian PR Churkin raised the 
situation of children in Iraq and Afghanistan, emphasizing 
the responsibility of all parties, including multi-national 
forces, to abide by international humanitarian law.  Churkin 
asked the SRSG why her report did not address the death of 
children caused by private security firms in Iraq.  Libyan PR 
Ettalhi and other Arab delegations focused their comments on 
Israel and condemned air bombing operations by coalition 
forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Some nations under review by 
the CAAC Working Group commented on their status.  Council 
members adopted a PRST at the close of the meeting. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
SRSG CALLS FOR TARGETED MEASURES 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Special Representative of the Secretary-General 
(SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) Radhika 
Coomaraswamy urged the Council to implement concrete and 
targeted measures against the 16 persistent violators listed 
in the annexes of the SYG's report for five consecutive 
years.  She also urged the Council to include rape/sexual 
violence as an additional trigger to list a country in the 
annexes for the application of the monitoring and reporting 
(M&R) mechanism.  She viewed this as a first step toward 
incorporating all six grave violations as triggers. (NOTE: 
The Council currently uses one grave violation, the 
recruitment and use of child soldiers, as a trigger.  The 
other five grave violations are killing or maiming of 
children, attacks against schools or hospitals, rape and 
other grave sexual violence against children, the abduction 
of children, and the denial of humanitarian access to 
children.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) The SRSG highlighted achievements of the past year, 
including six meetings of the Council's Working Group (WG) on 
CAAC, trials of offenders in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo, the de-listing of Cote d'Ivoire from Annex I, and 
other steps forward in the Central African Republic, Burma, 
Sudan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Chad, and Colombia.  She called for 
the Council and the WG to adapt to the changing 
characteristics of conflict, including the rise of non-State 
actors, use of children in terrorist acts including suicide 
bombings, impact of collateral damage caused by 
counter-terrorism strategies, targeting of schools 
(especially in Afghanistan), use of indiscriminate weapons 
such as cluster munitions, detention of children for alleged 
association with armed groups, and increased sexual and 
gender-based violence. 
 
UNICEF FOCUSES ON REINTEGRATION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman highlighted 
UNICEF's efforts to reintegrate children who had been 
involved in armed forces and groups and called on states to 
endorse the 2007 Paris Commitments, which addressed 
reintegration.  Veneman urged the Council to address the 
resurgence of preventable disease in conflict/post-conflict 
areas due to breakdowns in health facilities.  She also 
condemned the use of cluster munitions and attacks against 
schools, and she urged the Council to use all grave 
violations as triggers, especially sexual violence. 
 
WATCHLIST PUSHES FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Watchlist on CAAC representative Jo Becker urged the 
Council to hold violators accountable by imposing targeted 
measures, especially against the persistent violators named 
in all five of the SYG's reports.  She also called for the 
Council to use all six grave violations as triggers, starting 
 
 
with sexual violence. 
 
U.S. CALLS FOR DDR FOCUS 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Wolff urged the Council to continue to 
focus on Burma, Southern Sudan, Darfur, and Chad, and to 
continue demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) 
efforts.  He expressed US support for targeted measures 
against persistent offenders and for the development of 
action plans to monitor compliance.  Wolff noted US 
disagreement with two areas of the SYG report, arguing that 
the Council should not have a general policy of referring 
cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and that the 
WG should allow weapons experts groups to address the issue 
of cluster munitions. (Reftel). 
 
DELEGATES CALL FOR INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The French delegation, represented by Foreign 
Minister Kouchner, urged the WG to do more in Sri Lanka, the 
DRC and Burma.  He called for the Council to fulfill its 
responsibilities and allow the WG to implement targeted 
measures.  Many other delegations warned that the Council's 
credibility was at stake and urged members to hold violators 
accountable through targeted measures (including sanctions), 
action plans, and additional options in the WG toolkit. 
However, China, Libya, Egypt, and Colombia opposed targeted 
measures.  A large number of delegations, including UK, 
France, South Africa, and Italy, urged the Council to refer 
violators who were not persecuted by their national 
governments to the ICC. 
 
¶8. (SBU) A majority of delegations called for the Council to 
include sexual violence as a trigger to launch the monitoring 
and reporting (M&R) mechanism and annexation process, with 
most noting that this would be a first step toward including 
all six violations as triggers. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Many delegations called for expansion of 
reintegration efforts.  French Foreign Minister Kouchner said 
the next forum on the Paris Commitments (a set of principles 
aimed at strengthening action on the issue) would take place 
in September on the sidelines of the UNGA and would focus on 
reintegration.  Japanese PR Takasu said Japan, as initiator 
of the Friends of Human Security in New York, would integrate 
the DDR approach into relevant UN policies and programs. 
Brazilian PR Viotti, joined by El Salvadorean PR Hernandez 
and Peruvian PR Tincopa, called for the Peacebuilding 
Commission to discuss concrete DDR measures.  A number of 
delegations, including UK, South Africa, Panama, EU, and 
Japan called for child protection advisers to be included in 
UN peacekeeping operations. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Italy, Canada, and Slovenia (on behalf of the EU) 
called for a new Security Council Resolution.  The Slovenian 
PR recommended the resolution build on the experience of the 
issue in the Working Group and incorporate the 
recommendations of the SYG.  Italian U/S for Foreign Affairs 
Craxi recommended incorporating lessons learned into a new 
resolution, and the Canadian PR requested the expansion of 
the M&R mechanism to include sexual violence. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Chinese PR Wang, Vietnamese PR Minh, and Indonesian 
PR Natalegawa called for the Council to address the roots of 
the conflicts and to focus on peacekeeping and peacebuilding. 
 Wang and Minh urged Council members to recognize the roles 
of the national governments and engage them in dialogue. 
 
IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN 
-------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Russian PR Churkin focused much of his statement on 
the situation of children in Afghanistan and Iraq and 
emphasized the responsibility of all parties, including 
multinational forces, to abide by international humanitarian 
law.  He said that more attention should be paid to Iraq, 
including the incarceration of children by multinational 
forces and Al-Qaida's use of child soldiers.  He expressed 
disappointment that the SYG's report did not address 
children's deaths caused by the private security firms in 
Iraq.  He supported the decision to include the Taliban on 
the list of violators, which opens the door for a WG review. 
Libyan PR Ettalhi condemned the effect of air bombing 
 
 
operations by coalition forces on children in Iraq and 
Afghanistan and supported a convention banning cluster bombs. 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Iraqi PR Al-Beyati indicated children in Iraq have 
been suffering for decades, first under dictatorship and 
international sanctions, and now due to terrorist acts.  He 
said protecting children is a priority in Iraq and that Prime 
Minister Al-Maliki has established a committee to create and 
implement an Iraqi Child Law.  The Afghan PR said increased 
terrorists attacks against Afghani schools had resulted in 
300,000 children being out of school.  He urged the 
international community to focus on poverty alleviation and 
to help create employment opportunities for youth in 
Afghanistan. 
 
ISRAEL AND PALESTINE 
-------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Libyan PR Ettalhi condemned Israeli military 
operations that he claimed killed more than 500 children in 
the past year, and he called on the international community 
to address the situation of children detained in Israeli 
prisons.  Egyptian PR Abdelaziz said Israel should be 
referred to in the annexes because of its activities in the 
Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian "occupied territories." 
Permanent Observer of Palestine Mansour said nearly 1000 
Palestinian children had been killed since 2000 due to 
Israeli military assaults, and he noted 67 children had died 
due to Israel's obstruction of access to Gaza. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Israeli PR Gillerman condemned the use of children 
in terrorist activities and the targeting of civilians by 
Hamas.  He underlined the dangers of extremist ideologies and 
warned against Palestinian attempts to indoctrinate children 
into terrorism.  He was concerned that the methodologies used 
in compiling the SYG report relied too heavily on 
unsubstantiated reports, third-party testimonials, and 
hearsay. 
 
NATIONS LISTED IN ANNEXES 
------------------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Several delegations from nations under WG M&R made 
statements to the Council, including the Philippines, Nepal, 
Uganda, Sri Lanka, Cote d'Ivoire, Burma, and Colombia.  The 
Philippine, Colombian, Nepalese, and Sri Lankan PRs reported 
actions taken by their governments to address the WG's 
concerns.  Sri Lankan PR Kariyawasam supported targeted 
measures against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 
 The Cote D'Ivoire representative praised the WG and the 
Office of the SRSG for giving his country the opportunity to 
eradicate the unlawful recruitment and use of children.  He 
promised his country would redouble its efforts on child 
protection and invited the Council to continue to weigh in on 
Cote d'Ivoire's progress. 
 
¶17. (SBU) The Burmese and Ugandan PRs protested the inclusion 
of their nations in the annexes. The Burmese PR claimed that 
962 children have been released since 2002.  He said they are 
fully cooperating with Resolution 1612, allowing access to 
and cooperation with the SRSG and UNCT, and that Member 
States claims against this were inaccurate.  Ugandan PR 
Lukwiya was angry that his government's efforts to implement 
the action plan and work with the SRSG had not been 
recognized, and he threatened to suspend his nation's 
cooperation with the SRSG if Uganda's concerns were not 
addressed. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Council members adopted a PRST at the close of the 
meeting (S/PRST/2008/6). Statements in full can be viewed: 
www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scact2008.htm under Meeting 
Record S/PV.5834 
WOLFF