International Tribunals

Important precedents are being set in the fight to end impunity for crimes against children, with steady momentum building for the application of international child protection standards. In the age of global media and information, the arrest and trial of individuals such as Thomas Lubanga, Charles Taylor and Jean Pierre Bemba register with commanders and warlords across the globe. These actions by international justice mechanisms, as well as initiatives such as the Secretary-General's annual listing of violators and the concern and commitment of the Security Council expressed in its resolutions and emerging institutional arrangements to address grave child rights violations, serve as leverage to bring parties into compliance.

The most prominent developments include the arrest by the International Criminal Court of Germain Katanga , former leader of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) and of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15 and the use of children for active participation in hostilities. In this context the Office of the Special Representative submitted an amicus curiae during the course of the proceedings, which was accepted by the Court. In the intervention, the Special Representative urged the Court to adopt a case-by-case method in interpreting the provisions of the Court that define enlistment, conscription, participation and use of children so as to protect all children associated with armed groups in line with the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles and Commitment).

The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for five senior members of the Lord's Resistance Army, including its leader, Joseph Kony, who is charged with 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the forcible enlistment and use of children under 15 in hostilities.

Another tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, convicted and sentenced Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and, recently, Allieu Kondewa of the Civil Defence Forces militia for, among other crimes, the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

The Special Court of Sierra Leone is currently trying, in The Hague, the case against Liberia's Charles Ghankay Taylor for 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including conscripting or enlisting children into armed forces or groups and using them to participate actively in hostilities. This action against a former President sends a clear message that no individual is beyond the reach of justice for crimes against children.

Press releases by the Special Representative: (1) THE ICC's first case is a milestone in the issue of child soldiers (2) The first ICC trial (3) Special court for sierra leone: First convictions on recruitment and use of child soldiers