Background Briefing

<  |  index

Recommendations

 

To the Government of Burundi

  • Immediately halt the use of children by Burundian government soldiers or security forces to help locate and identify FNL combatants and supporters;
  • Work with UNICEF to rapidly identify all those persons under eighteen years old who have admitted or are accused of FNL involvement and are currently in government custody, whether in military camps, in communal lock-ups, or in prisons;
  • Transfer these children, as well as those currently residing at the Randa site, to an appropriate location, away from adult combatants, where their rehabilitation and reintegration can begin; and
  • Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

 

To the National Liberation Forces (FNL)

  • Immediately halt any and all recruitment of children into your ranks, and allow children in your forces to leave without fear of repercussions.

 

To UNICEF

  • Assist the government of Burundi in identifying all persons under age eighteen and accused of affiliation with the FNL who are now held in government custody; and
  • Use your considerable global experience in developing child soldier rehabilitation programs to assist the government in promoting the health and welfare of children associated with the FNL.



<  |  indexJune 2006