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Monday, September 29, 2008 - 5.05 GMT |
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LTTE’s persistent recruitment of child
soldiers- Foreign Minister |
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Participating in the Ministerial meeting in
New York on September 26 on the follow up to
the Paris Principles relating to children
associated with armed forces and groups,
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama stated
that the LTTE known as a ruthless terrorist
organization operating in Sri Lanka, has
been identified by the UN as a persistent
violator of basic human rights, through its
recruitment of child combatants throughout
the period of the conflict. He elaborated
that over 60% of the LTTE cadres
have been children both boys and girls and
according to the UNICEF 6,273 children have
been recruited since 2002.
On the other hand, he said the political arm
of the break away LTTE faction namely the
TMVP is working with the UNICEF and the
Special Representative of the UN Secretary
General for Children and Armed Conflict with
a view to releasing under-aged cadres and 39
having already been released. The Minister
further stated that the TMVP successfully
contested the Local Government and
Provincial Council elections in the East
culminating in a former child soldier,
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, being
appointed as the Chief Minister of the
Eastern Province. Minister Bogollagama
termed this as a fascinating story of
transformation of a child soldier to one of
authority in a democratic framework. The
TMVP is working closely with the
Commissioner General of Rehabilitation to
help release the balance children in their
ranks, he said.
The Foreign Minister thanked the French
Government and partners for convening this
meeting and added Sri Lanka’s support for
the implementation of the Paris Principles
which he stated will secure a better
tomorrow for children vulnerable to being
recruited for armed conflict. He informed
that Sri Lanka is one of the 119 members
which have ratified the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict, and that the Government has a zero
tolerance policy on the recruitment of
children for use in conflict while
collaborating closely with the relevant UN
agencies.
Minister Bogollagama outlined that the Sri
Lanka’s armed forces do not recruit any one
under 18 years of age to their ranks and the
country’s legal system makes recruitment and
deployment of children in armed conflict an
offence punishable by 30 years imprisonment.
He pointed out that the Sri Lanka Government
is fully committed to the rehabilitation and
reintegration of all child combatants who
have managed to escape from the captivity of
armed groups. This he said was being done
through the provision of a protective
rehabilitation environment as well as family
reunification, community integration, access
to psycho-social care and support, education
and vocational training. The Minister
further added that a high level Committee to
Inquire into Allegations on Abduction and
Recruitment of Children for Use in Armed
Conflict, has also been established in Sri
Lanka. This Committee, he said, has
developed a policy on the rehabilitation and
reintegration of children recruited for
armed conflict.
The Paris Principles resulted from the Paris
Conference organized jointly by the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNICEF in
February 2007 under the theme “Free Children
from War”. Fifty nine states including Sri
Lanka attended the Paris Conference and
supported the adoption of the principles
where states committed themselves
inter-alia, to make every effort to apply
these principles as a set of operational
guidelines on the subject. This meeting in
New York is a follow-up forum to the Paris
Conference.
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