UN Council condemns abuse of children in war zones

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (Reuters) The UN Security Council told nations it was unacceptable to maim, rape and recruit children as soldiers in war zones after a daylong debate on a report detailing horrific abuses.

In a statement, the council called on all nations in conflict to stop the recruitment of children and said the United Nations should consider putting the fate of children at the center of UN peacekeeping operations.

The 15-member body on July 2005 adopted a widely praised resolution to name-and-shame and monitor governments and rebel groups that kill, maim and sexually abuse children or force them to carry guns. UN officials signed agreements with several countries to stop the abuse.

But the council did not take any action to punish offenders, as it once threatened to do, including an arms embargo and other sanctions. However, the report submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is probably the most complete one in the world on children caught in war zones.

During the last decade, 2 million children have been killed during an armed conflict and another 6 million have been disabled or injured, UN figures show.

One major problem is the lack of schooling, jobs and a future for children, especially teenagers, once a conflict ends and they are recruited again, said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN undersecretary-general for children and armed conflict.

''We know of cases of children who have been demobilised in Sierra Leone and then resurface in Cote d'Ivoire,'' she said yesterday.

''For our work to be successful, it is essential that the longer term re-integration needs of child soldiers and other children affected by war is given as much importance as the punishment of the perpetrators,'' she said.

SRI LANKAN DENIAL Coomaraswamy had sent Canada's former UN ambassador Allan Rock to her home country of Sri Lanka, where the Tamil Tiger rebels are notorious for recruiting children. But Rock said he had proof that the Sri Lankan military helped abduct children to fight for a renegade rebel faction, known as Karuna.

Both the Tigers and the government had signed pledges with the United States to stop recruiting children. Sri Lanka's envoy denied the charge and told the council it should stop ''megaphone'' diplomacy.

Rebel groups accused of abuses came from Chad, Colombia, Nepal, Philippines, Uganda, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia and Sudan.

But national armies in Congo and Sudan, where the government supported ruthless militia in Darfur, were also cited, as was the situation in the West Asia, where children have been killed during several conflicts, including Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

''In the occupied Palestinian territories, an estimated 119 Palestinian children have been killed this year, more than twice the total number of child deaths registered in 2005,'' UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman told the council.

But Israel's deputy UN ambassador, Daniel Carmon, objected saying the too many young Palestinians were recruited as suicide bombers, were given text books inciting violence.

And in Lebanon, he contended that Hizbollah guerrillas used civilians as human shields.

The United Nations, he said, showed a ''willingness to ignore one side of the suffering,'' such as the trauma of Israeli children in areas where Hezbollah and Palestinians fired rockets.

REUTERS SBA BST0740