The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child should press the Philippines government to take meaningful steps to investigate death squad killings and prosecute the perpetrators.

During the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s review of the Philippines on September 15, 2009, we urge you to give special attention to the execution-style killings of children by “death squads” that operate with virtual impunity in Davao City and elsewhere in the Philippines.

Students with disabilities face corporal punishment in public schools at disproportionately high rates. The physical discipline, which often includes beatings, can worsen these students' medical conditions and undermine their education.

The United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions on governments and armed groups for using child soldiers, sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools, and should promote effective prosecution of the commanders responsible.

On the night of April 17, 2009, Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked Luofu and Kasiki villages in the southern Lubero territory of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least seven civilians, including five young children who burned to death in their homes.

Parents from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo plead with the UN Security Council to help end the suffering of a generation of Congolese children.

Although the Security Council has identified six grave violations against children in armed conflict, to date it has focused primarily on the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Other violations affect much larger numbers of children, and result in terrible and long-lasting consequences, but have not received the same focused international response.