A/71/205 During the visit, the Special Representative encouraged the diplomatic community to prioritize these issues in their bilateral relations with the Government. 56. In Puntland, the Special Representative met with the children captured in March by regional forces and detained since that date for their alleged association with Al-Shabaab. The Special Representative expressed her alarm that children under 18 continued to be held in detention in Puntland for their association with Al-Shabaab and that 12 of them had even been sentenced to death under the same charges. While the Puntland authorities assured the Special Representative that children under 18 years old would not be executed, federal and reg ional authorities must swiftly resolve all existing legal ambiguities and clearly domesticate the country’s international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. B. Working with regional organizations African Union 57. The strong partnership between the Special Representative and the African Union continued, and she participated in the annual African Union high -level retreat for special envoys and mediators, held in Namibia in October 2015 (see para. 23). The Special Representative also briefed the African Union Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa in May 2016 at the Council’s third open session dedicated to children affected by armed conflict, convened under the chairmanship of Botswana, which focused on the theme of the protection of schools. During the session, the Special Representative received strong support from all members of the Council who backed the “Children, not soldiers” campaign and made commitments to protect schools and hospitals, including refraining from military use. In June 2016, the Office of the Special Representative participated in a workshop aimed at supporting the development of a human rights compliance framework for African Union peace support operations. Lastly, the issue of violations attributed to contingents of AMISOM was discussed on a number of occasions during the reporting period. European Union 58. The Special Representative continued to strengthen her partnership with the European Union, which is a key interlocutor who engages in human rights dialogue and capacity-building with the majority of countries on the children and armed conflict agenda. In January she addressed the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence during an interactive session in which views and information were exchanged on the impact of armed conflict on children and the challenges of reintegration and for Common Security and Defence Policy missions related to children and armed conflict. League of Arab States 59. Pursuant to the cooperation agreement between the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Office of the Special Representative signed in 2014, the Special Representative and the Secretary-General of LAS sent a joint communication in September 2015 to the five LAS members who are not parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict in order to advocate for ratification. The Office also participated in the twelfth United Nations-LAS sectoral meeting on human rights in 14/18 16-12896