Murder, rape, torture, slavery: children are targeted for these and other crimes against humanity that occur in widespread or systematic attacks on civilian populations. Crimes against humanity may damage children’s physical and psychosocial development even more severely than adults’ and cause harm throughout their lives. Unlike for war crimes and genocide, there is no dedicated international treaty under which countries agree to prosecute or extradite those responsible for crimes against humanity. But diplomats from around the world will meet at the United Nations in New York from January 19 to 30 for the next step in drafting one.
When they do, it’s imperative that they pay more attention to the issues affecting children. The current draft text mentions children only twice: once in the preamble and once in the definition of enslavement (“women and children”). Crimes against humanity specifically targeting children, from age-based persecution to armies recruiting and using children, and even the accepted definition of a child as anyone under 18, are missing. The draft includes no provisions to capture childhood victimization explicitly, such as a child born of rape or forced to witness crimes against a caregiver, and no provisionto address children accused of crimes.
While it seems obvious that children would be covered, international justice mechanisms have historically taken an adult-centric approach. Criminal investigations have often overlooked how children are particularly victimized in mass atrocity settings, and reparation initiatives often exclude children. These failures illustrate why children should be explicitly included in a new convention.
Thirty-eight organizations and child rights experts have endorsed a succinct set of proposals, rooted in law and jurisprudence, to ensure that a future convention protects children. It’s not a question of listing “vulnerable groups.” Children’s victimization should be specifically captured in how crimes are defined and in provisions relating to victims’ participation, including how they can safely testify, as well as provisions about treatment of those accused of crimes. Progress on international and domestic justice in recent decades show this is possible, practical, and necessary.
Countries meeting at the UN should strongly support including and protecting children in all aspects of a crimes against humanity treaty, and encourage others to join them. Children need champions and they need them now.
