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Keep children out of PTA, says UNICEF
By N. Dilshath Banu
The United Nation's Children's fund (UNICEF) is pushing the government to exempt children from any charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), though it admits at the same time that some 1300 children still remain with the LTTE.

UNICEF spokesman Geoffrey Keele said the organisation had not made a formal proposal to the government, but was supporting calls by civic groups for children to be exempted from the PTA.

"Children should not be treated as adults under the law, especially in a situation where they are being caught up in adult conflicts which are not of their making," Mr. Keele said.

"If children are to be part of any transitional justice mechanism in Sri Lanka, there need to be special procedures in place that take into consideration their age and maturity in relation to these adult procedures," Mr. Keele said.

"While not excluding prosecution, international child rights standards and standards for juvenile offences encourage the relevant authorities to seek alternatives to judicial proceedings when dealing with child offenders." he said. He added that Sri Lanka had ratified both the Child Rights Convention and its Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict. This required the Government of Sri Lanka to abide by the clauses of the convention.

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