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	Advancing Justice for Children in Conflict by ELAC, Save the Children, agencies   Mar. 2021   One in six children globally live in areas affected by armed conflict, facing a range of threats and challenges as a result. They are consistently killed and injured, subject to sexual violence, denied access to life-saving support, recruited and used by armed groups, forced to flee their homes and prevented from fulfilling their fundamental human rights. Too often, perpetrators of heinous acts involving children are not held to account.   This research paper deals with how those responsible for crimes and serious violations against children in conflict can be brought to justice. It looks at why, to date, such few examples exist of accountability for crimes against children. Specifically, it explores how governments, legal institutions, civil society and UN agencies can set a new path – one which prioritises and upholds children’s rights.   This study finds there are a few reasons why those committing crimes against children seldom face consequences for their actions. Perhaps the most important, is that governments are simply not making crimes against children a priority. As a result, neither is the international justice system. Without political and financial backing from governments, there are big gaps in expertise, tools, and structures which would deliver justice for children. Importantly, the research focuses on lessons and recommendations for action.   Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:   'This important report produced by Save the Children and the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford draws attention to the grave reality faced by millions of children in conflict situations around the world.   Despite the raft of international commitments and laws designed for their protection and access to justice, the harsh reality on the ground is this: we are failing them -- from Yemen to Syria, to Myanmar and beyond, in a long list of conflicts growing ever more protracted.   For many, conflict or crisis is all that they have ever known, depriving them of any hope in their future.   Globally, as many as one in five children is living in areas affected by armed conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic has made them and many other children even more vulnerable. Restrictive measures have often affected humanitarian access and school closures have left many at greater risk of recruitment by armed forces.   As the Declaration of the Rights of the Child points out, children need “special safeguards and care". The harms they suffer have an extremely deep and long-lasting impact; without strong protection and commitment for children, we undermine their future as well as that of the whole of society.   But according to the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, crimes and rights violations against children are in fact increasing. That includes sexual violence, abduction and attacks on schools and hospitals, which is particularly egregious given the pandemic situation.   It is essential that children are no longer treated as an afterthought in crises and conflicts nor excluded from accountability processes. And they should not be seen as a homogeneous group in the pursuit of justice.   Understanding the breadth of their experiences is crucial to better understanding why they are being targeted. Children already marginalised -- because of their ethnic, religious or national origin, disabilities, migrant status or for any other reason – are usually at highest risk of harms. Girls in particular pay a heavy price.   We all know that the best way to protect children is to prevent conflicts and crises from happening in the first place.   At the same time, we know that, whenever harms have been done, accountability and access to justice, including remedy and redress, are one of the most important ways that children can begin to heal from their trauma and suffering.   The Convention on the Rights of the Child expresses powerful commitments to uphold the rights of every child, everywhere.   Yet, time and again, the world’s promises to children are being torn apart and their lives shattered.   The report tells us more about where protection and accountability gaps lie and which steps we can take towards justice for children.   We must scale up good practices, applying them more systematically and adapting them across contexts. The protection of children’s rights and wellbeing is not only an obligation under international law; it is a reflection of the state of humanity.   It is entirely unacceptable that children continue to be invisible victims of massive scale human rights violations. And that perpetrators continue to act with impunity.   There is no time for complacency. International laws, treaties and judicial institutions need powerful advocates and ever-stronger support. We need to chart new ways to protect and ensure justice for all children, everywhere.   * Background: This research paper is a joint effort of the Programme on International Peace and Security, part of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), and Save the Children.   Led by the Principal Investigator, Federica D’Alessandra, researchers at the International Peace and Security programme were asked to develop new insight against one of three pillars of work identified by Save the Children as part of this work: holding perpetrators of grave violations against children to account (the other two pillars being: upholding standards and norms in conflict, and taking practical action to protect children and enable their recovery).   http://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/publications/advancing-justice-children-innovations-strengthen-accountability-violations http://www.stopwaronchildren.org/   * Advancing Justice for Children: innovations to strengthen accountability for violations and crimes affecting children in conflict, report: http://bit.ly/2SYdsJL (75pp)   Nov. 2020   Killed and Maimed: A generation of violations against children, report from Save the Children International   Today millions of children are on the frontlines of conflict. Despite progress in some areas, the trends over recent years are of increasing violations, increasing numbers of children affected by conflict and increasingly protracted crises.   Over the past decade we have witnessed the outbreak of conflict in Syria and Yemen, two waves of horrifying violence in Myanmar, and protracted conflicts in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Iraq. The conflict in Ukraine has escalated, and the situation for children in the occupied Palestinian territory has continued to deteriorate. Despite a peace accord in 2016, violence in Colombia persists.   As we write, children are at the forefront of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Sahel. As this litany of conflict suggests, the overall trajectory of violations against children is cause for great alarm. The world must take notice – and act.   While 2020 has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that should not be allowed to mask the red flags signalling the devastation conflict is having on children’s lives.   This report highlights some of the impacts of the war on children:   • Since 2005, more than 250,000 violations against children have been verified in the UN’s annual reports on the situation of children in armed conflict. Of these, 106,000 (42%) related to the killing and maiming of children.   • Since 2010, the equivalent of 25 children a day have been killed or maimed in conflict.   • The number of children living in high-intensity conflicts in 2019 rose by 2% from 2018 to stand at 160 million. A total of 426 million children were found to be living in conflict zones overall in 2019 – the second highest total ever recorded.   • The number of children living in close proximity to the most intense conflict zones rose significantly – up from 4 million to 9 million in 2018–19.   • Explosive weapons accounted for 37% of the 10,294 incidents of killing and maiming of children in 2019 – with the proportion much higher in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.   The world must act to stop the war on children. And there’s no excuse not to. In 2021 there will be critical opportunities for states and parties to conflict to take concrete actions to better protect and support children in conflict.   Governments will be able to lend their support to a declaration avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Donors can ensure that child protection work in conflict is funded in line with other life-saving interventions. UN Security Council members can use their power to hold perpetrators of grave violations to account.   Save the Children calls on states to:   • uphold standards and norms in the conduct of conflict – including protecting education from attack, avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and enabling unimpeded humanitarian access   • hold perpetrators of violations against children to account – including through resourcing international investigative mechanisms, supporting the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism for grave violations against children, and consistently applying political, legal and financial sanctions on perpetrators   • take practical action to protect children and support their recovery – including adequate funding for child protection work, ensuring children have access to quality mental health and psychosocial support and education, and embedding child rights expertise within peacekeeping and political missions: http://bit.ly/3fgz2Ay   http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/killed-and-maimed-generation-violations-against-children http://reliefweb.int/report/world/stop-war-children-killed-and-maimed-generation-violations-against-children-conflict http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/2021/06/a-stolen-childhood-and-a-future-to-repair-vulnerability-of-girls-boys-in-armed-conflict-exacerbated-by-covid-19-pandemic/ http://www.unicef.org/children-under-attack#HACappeal   * Note: As the World Food Programme and many other agencies underline, conflict directly impacts hunger, nutrition and the health and life chances of millions of children and people worldwide. 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	Governments must do more to stop SLAPP suits against civil society by International Commission of Jurists, agencies   Southeast Asian governments must diminish the misuse of lawsuits to harass and silence civil society, so-called SLAPP suites, said more than 70 international experts, judges, public prosecutors, lawyers, members of civil society organizations, academics, and members of executive and State institutions from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand at a discussion convened by the ICJ and partners on 7 and 8 May.   The participants at the regional dialogue on “The Role of Administration of Judicial Authorities and Legislators in the Fight against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) in Southeast Asia” addressed the proliferation of SLAPP suits, which SLAPP suits are undertaken with the principal objective of curtailing or deterring public criticism or opposition to certain activities by the entity initiating the legal action.   SLAPP lawsuits typically have a “chilling effect” on the exercise of freedom of expression and other human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of opinion and expression (article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights); freedom of peaceful assembly (article 21); and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs (article 25).   Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, stated that it is necessary to bring exiting laws in compliance with international law and standards, including with the principles of legality, proportionate, necessity, legitimate purpose, and non-discrimination, and called for defamation laws to be decriminalized.   Prof. Surya Deva, Vice-Chairperson, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, referred to several anti-SLAPP provisions that, in his view, are inadequate, including section 161/1 and 165/2 of Thailand’s Criminal Procedure Code.   He pointed out that while the legal reform needed, States also need to train relevant stakeholders who will make use of these. Internal or soft guidance can also be a helpful guideline on how to exercise discretion, and more resources should be allocated to raise awareness.   Several participants, while noting their duties to protect rights to access to justice and the power imbalance between the parties in SLAPP lawsuits, called for a robust legal frameworks and policies that prevent the filing SLAPPs in the first place and allow relevant authorities to identify, call out and dismiss them as soon as they are filed.   In the jurisdictions where such mechanisms exist, participants highlighted the need to address certain gaps to allow authorities to promptly and effectively exercise their power, and the importance of guidelines that can guide the relevant authorities on how to handle and proceed with SLAPPs in a coordinated effort to raise awareness among justice sector actors on this topic.   In the absence of a specific Anti-SLAPP legislation, participants also shared their experience using existing tools in their domestic laws as a basis in combating SLAPPs, including several provisions of the constitutions, other early dismissal mechanism provided in procedural laws, provisions under international laws, and encouraged their peers to think out of the box.   Reforming individual causes of action that commonly form the basis of SLAPPs, such as defamation, to ensure their compliance with international law and standards were also discussed by participants as another approach that the governments should consider, in combination with other measures.   Remedies for persons negatively affected by SLAPP lawsuits were encouraged.   The Workshop was conducted in collaboration with Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC); Philippine Judicial Academy; the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines; Lembaga Kajian dan Advokasi Independensi Peradilan (Indonesian Institute for Independent Judiciary or LeiP); Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and AmerBON Advocates.   The speakers at the workshop were: representatives of all partner organizations; Nikhil Dutta, Global Programs Legal Advisor of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL); Joel Hernández García, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Rapporteur on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders and Justice Operators; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression; and Prof. Surya Deva, Vice-Chairperson, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.   http://www.icj.org/southeast-asian-governments-must-do-more-to-stop-slapp-suits-against-civil-society-regional-experts-declared/ http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/corporate-legal-accountability/materials-on-slapps/ http://bit.ly/3ptZV99 http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/webinar-slapps-as-a-global-phenomenon/
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