Kabineh Ja'neh
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
Dear Kabineh Ja'neh,
Human Rights Watch welcomes the June 30 statement from Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) outlining LURD's commitment to end all recruitment of children under age eighteen, to demobilize all LURD soldiers under the age of eighteen, to provide assistance for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who have served in LURD, and to discipline any commanders and/or recruiting officers that recruit child soldiers. These commitments are in line with international norms and standards prohibiting the use of child soldiers, including the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which sets eighteen as the minimum age for participation in hostilities, and prohibits all recruitment of children under the age of eighteen by armed forces distinct from the armed forces of a state.
The commitments made by LURD are particularly encouraging given the increased exploitation of children as soldiers in West Africa in recent months. Human Rights Watch has monitored the situation in Liberia with great concern, and has noted the widespread recruitment and use of children as soldiers by parties to the conflict, including LURD, MODEL and government forces. Demobilization of children from LURD's forces and their successful rehabilitation and reintegration is not only in the best interests of the children involved, but will also help establish a positive example for other parties to conflict in the region.
As you are no doubt aware, in November of 2002, the UN Secretary-General included a list of specific parties to armed conflict that recruit or use child soldiers in violation of international law to his report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict. This list included both LURD and the Liberian government. In response, the Security Council requested reports on steps being made by the parties to end recruitment and use of child soldiers, and asked the Secretary-General to submit a report on any progress made by October 31 of this year. If sufficient progress is not shown, the Security Council has pledged to consider additional steps in relation to these parties.
We encourage LURD to fully implement its new commitments as soon as possible, and to ensure that in accordance with international standards, your forces refrain not only from using children in combat roles, but also from using boys and girls in non-combatant roles such as porters, cooks, intelligence gatherers. We also would like to request information on the concrete steps that are being taken by LURD to ensure the leadership's new instructions are being conveyed to all levels of the organization and carried out. Human Rights Watch would like to bring to your attention that we have received reports dated just prior to your announcement that LURD troops continued to use children younger than eighteen among its fighting units near Monrovia, and that children in their early teens continued to be deployed behind the frontlines as weapons porters and caretakers. We would therefore be interested to learn more about the timeframe for this process, how many children have already been brought to national headquarters in Voinjama City for demobilization, details regarding the rehabilitation programs that are being set up, and the steps being taken to ensure that children are not recruited in the future, including the sanctions that will be applied to any commander or recruiter found to be recruiting children.
We would also welcome the opportunity to meet with LURD representatives to discuss these issues.
Sincerely yours,
Lois Whitman
Executive Director
Children's Rights Division
Peter Takirumbudde
Executive Director
Africa Division
