It registers almost 33,000 serious violations against children around the world
June 13. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations has certified this Thursday the inclusion of the Israeli Army in the list of entities that violate the rights of children in conflict situations, considering that the security forces are “responsible for the killing and mutilation of children” in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This has been confirmed in an extensive report by the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflicts, which indicates that the Israeli Army is also behind attacks against schools and hospitals. “The last quarter of 2023 revealed an extreme increase in violations, particularly against children in the Gaza Strip, especially due to the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact zone, even in highly populated areas,” the report states. text.
In this sense, he has urged the Israeli authorities to “immediately” sign an action plan with the United Nations to “cease and prevent the killing and mutilation of children and attacks on schools and hospitals.”
“While the denial of humanitarian access to children is a non-listing violation, I urge the Israeli Armed and Security Forces to fulfill their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and International and guarantee safe, rapid and unhindered access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers to the entire Gaza Strip,” he said.
For this reason, he has asked Israel to accelerate collaboration with the UN special representative to implement measures to improve the situation of minors, while emphasizing that the conflict presents an “unprecedented scale and intensity of violence.” “serious actions against children in the context of hostilities, which has caused an increase in serious violations by 155 percent.” “Attacks on schools and hospitals (1,650) remain worrying, especially in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” he added.
On the other hand, the blacklist also includes the Ezzeldin al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the Al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad, which the UN in turn accuses of being behind the ” “killing, mutilation and kidnapping of children following the brutal terrorist acts perpetrated in Israel on October 7, 2023.”
“I urge these armed groups and affiliated factions, as well as the Al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad, to urgently stop and prevent serious violations against children,” he said.
GLOBAL FIGURES
The report indicates that throughout 2023, 32,900 serious violations against children have been recorded, which puts child victims at 22,557. During this period of time, children in conflict zones have experienced “unprecedented levels of violence”, as the UN has denounced.
“Children have been recruited and used on the front lines, attacked in their own homes, kidnapped on their way to school. (…) The complex nature and intensification of conflicts, as well as the use of explosives in populated areas, has led to a significant increase in serious violations against minors in 2023,” says the text, which includes information on Haiti and Niger for the first time.
In this sense, the UN has emphasized that “this unprecedented level of suffering has translated into a trend of increasing violations”, which leads minors to suffer a clear “disregard for their rights and the protections to which they are entitled.” enjoy, according to International Law”.
In total, 11,649 children have been killed or maimed, which is 35 percent more than the previous year. The figure represents the equivalent of almost 15 children killed daily, an issue to which is added the recruitment of some 8,655 minors and the kidnapping of another 4,356.
The highest number of such violations of children’s rights have been recorded in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma, Somalia, Nigeria and Sudan. Nearly 50 percent have been committed by armed groups, including those designated as terrorists by the United Nations, while the rest have been carried out by those countries’ own security forces and other unidentified actors.
The armed groups in question are responsible to a greater extent for the kidnapping, recruitment and sexual violence against children, although government forces are responsible for their mutilation and death in attacks against civilian infrastructure, as indicated by the conclusions of studies carried out by the UN. “The use of explosives continues to have a disastrous impact, also on the delivery of aid,” she lamented.
The lack of humanitarian access has increased by 32 percent in 2023, compared to data collected in 2022, while sexual violence related to these armed conflicts has registered a rebound of 25 percent in the same period of time.
“The figures obtained in this report are a wake-up call to take action. We are failing children. I ask the international community to commit to the protection of minors in situations of armed conflict and I call on States to fulfill their responsibilities and guarantee the security of their populations,” said the special representative, Virginia Gamba.
Likewise, he has pointed out that the UN is willing to help the parties in conflict to “develop a joint plan that prevents the use and abuse of minors in these situations.”
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself announced that the United Nations had made the decision to include the country on its blacklist and assured that this would not change the actions of the Israeli military in the framework of the offensive against Gaza. where more than 37,200 people have already died.
Hours later, the spokesman for the United Nations General Secretariat, Stephane Dujarric, noted that the conversation with the Israeli authorities was purely a “courtesy call” to report the situation and “avoid leaks”, while condemning the action. From Israel.
Add Comment