The UNICEF has declared that limited progress has been made to investigate recruitment and use of children by Iniya Barrathi, a former ‘Karuna’ faction member.
The UNICEF in its latest report said that sustained efforts were made by the United Nations (UN) throughout last year to encourage the full implementation and completion of the action plan signed by the TMVP, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and UNICEF in December 2008.
The working group established in Batticaloa in January 2009, comprising representatives from the local administration, the Police, the Sri Lanka Army, the Department of Probation and the UN, met on a monthly basis to follow up on their commitments in accordance with the action plan, the report said.
It said that, between June and July 2010, meetings were also held between the Police Department, Iniya Barrathi and the UN, to advocate and advance progress on the release of children who remain associated with the group.
“This resulted in an investigation carried out on August 30, 2010, by the National Child Protection Authority and its police section, upon request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to establish the whereabouts of these children. Although a request for a full investigation into allegations of recruitment and use of children by Iniya Barrathi was lodged with the Government, after the visit of Special Envoy Patrick Cammaert, limited progress has been made to date,” the report said.
The report noted that since December 1, 2008, 122 children have been reported as released by the TMVP, including 32 boys released in 2010.
Three children and youth, including 201 girls, identified at the end of the conflict as formerly associated with armed groups, were released, upon completion of one year of rehabilitation as required by Emergency Regulation No. 1580/5(2008). All children were released through a Magistrate’s Court order, as well as a letter from the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation.The monitoring showed that at least 250 children formerly associated with armed groups in the north and east of the country are facing a number of security issues. Concerns range from being requested to report regularly to the nearby military/police posts, visits by military and police/intelligence staff to their homes, arrests by the police, to being required to report and sign at the local military or Navy post, before leaving their administrative division of residence.
“Child recruitment has come to an end in Sri Lanka, with the last case reported in October 2009. This is owing both to the defeat and disbanding of the LTTE, responsible for most of the child recruitment cases reported in Sri Lanka, and the commitments of the GoSL and the TMVP to release children recruited previously by the TMVP.” “Nevertheless, the whereabouts of some children recruited by armed groups remain unknown, including some who are now adults,” the report added.
“With regard to the LTTE, as at the end of December 2010, the number of persons unaccounted for was 1,373, including 15 who are still children. With regard to the TMVP, the total number of pending cases is 13 boys, including five who were under the age of 18 years at the time of the signature of the TMVP action plan.”
The report said that the National Child Protection Authority investigation did not make any reference to Iniya Barrathi or his involvement in the recruitment or abduction of the missing persons. At the time of writing, no prosecution against persons allegedly responsible for child recruitment has been initiated, and repeated appeals by the UN country team and the Office of the UN’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, to open a case against Iniya Barrathi for child recruitment, have not been actioned.
In 2010, 28 incidents related to mine and explosive remnants of war were recorded, killing five children and injuring 16, including five girls (compared with 12 child casualties in 2009). Nevertheless, the casualty rate remains relatively low, especially in the light of the high level of contamination in returnee areas.
There were allegations of sexual violence across the four districts in the north (Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Mannar) among the displaced communities, the report said.
The report noted that access for humanitarian partners is progressively improving, although difficulties continue to be experienced on several occasions. In particular, the strict implementation of Ministry of Defence orders requiring clearances to access conflict-affected areas across the Northern Province for all UN agencies, international organisations and international and national NGOs, that was implemented in June 2010, delayed implementation of some projects in the region. |