The Peace Secretariat emphatically welcomes the statement of Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, made to the Human Rights council in Geneva on 21st September 2007.

Ms Coomaraswamy emphasized the full cooperation of the government that was extended to Alan Rock, the Special Adviser she sent to report on the situation. We appreciate that, though one NGO attempted to cast doubt on this, Ms Coomaraswamy reiterated the position that the government facilitated Mr Rock’s access to all areas of the country including the north and east. She also dealt firmly with NGO attempts to justify recruitment of children over the age of 15, by claiming that ‘Most troubling was Mr Rock’s use of the age of 18 when the accepted international law age is 15’. It is appalling that defenders of the LTTE continue to defend disgraceful abuse of children, when even the LTTE has at least officially raised the fence.

In this context we also appreciate that Ms Coomaraswamy specifically addressed some issues that had earlier concerned the Peace Secretariat. We had earlier drawn the attention of the UN Coordinator in Colombo to what might have seemed to the LTTE tolerance by the United Nations of some of their abhorrent practices. The previous UNICEF representative, in reporting on a recent visit to Kilinochchi, had mentioned that the LTTE still had children between 17 and 18 in service and that further legislation was required to stop this. Though she apologized immediately for her use of the word ‘legislation’ and made clear her opposition to this position, SCOPP was fearful that the UN had not sufficiently registered the gravity of what was going on, and was not making it clear that it had zero tolerance for such.

Ms Coomaraswamy in her address made it clear that the LTTE’s failure to ‘commit to the full release of children under the age of 18 years’ was ‘in contravention to applicable national and international law’. This emphasized that the United Nations acknowledges that the LTTE is subject to Sri Lankan national law, which has doubtless always been its position but has been challenged by documents such as the LTTE’s outrageous account of its own laws which are dependent on the will of its supreme leader.

In response to the statement of the Sri Lankan delegation, beseeching the Special Representative to ensure that UN staff did not compromise on the issue, Ms Coomaraswamy made clear that there would be zero tolerance of child recruitment. She also welcomed the steps taken by the Sri Lankan government in setting up a committee to investigate allegations of complicity by certain elements of the Sri Lankan forces in the alleged abductions by the Karuna faction, while her address noted the undertaking of that faction ‘to publish formal policy statements forbidding under-age recruitment and to release children who may be in their ranks’. Whilst we welcome her declaration that the LTTE meanwhile ‘committed to better training for their military commanders in relation to recruitment and instituting a process to discipline those who do not comply’, we trust that all UN staff on the ground will interpret this in terms of her assertion of the zero tolerance policy.

We believe it essential that the Sri Lankan government and all its agencies cooperate fully to remedy any deficiencies with respect to children and armed conflict. We also believe that concerted rehabilitation programmes are essential, if children and even other youngsters whose lives have been thus far blighted are given opportunities for a better life. We urge the international community therefore to assist generously in the proposals in this regard put forward by the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation and others genuinely concerned with the plight of these victims.