Otunnu stresses rights of children and women

Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, told IRIN today (Thursday) his enduring impression at the end of a three-nation regional tour was the strength of African women in the face of extreme adversity. Otunnu, who recently concluded official visits to Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan, urged the international community to provide more support to women and children. He added that the protection of human rights during conflict should be “fastened on two pillars” - international instruments and “local value systems” which have traditionally regulated the conduct of warfare. He said the tragedy of many current conflicts in Africa was that traditional injunctions have given way to a “free for all”. Briefing UN agencies and NGOs today in Nairobi on the outcome of his regional tour, Otunnu said he had stressed in Rwanda the plight of children accused of genocide, but recognised the problem of administering justice under difficult circumstances. In Burundi, he won acceptance from internal political organisations that protection of the rights of children should be endorsed at the political level, and that women be included in the Arusha peace process. He added that the government had agreed to start the process of raising the minimum age of recruitment into the army to 18 years, and agreed to ratify the Ottawa treaty on landmines during the next parliamentary session beginning in April. On Sudan, Otunnu said he had been given assurances by both the government and SPLA rebels that they would not use anti-personnel mines in the on-going conflict. However, Khartoum’s guarantees were limited to the south and did not include the eastern border regions. Otunnu noted that both sides recognised the importance of protecting the rights of children, and “we shall be working with the two to find the appropriate formula to be inserted in the peace process.” He had also drawn the government’s attention to attacks by Arab militia on local communities along the Babanusa-Wau rail line.