A/65/219
access of humanitarian actors may be limited. The evolution of the “conditionality
policy” in MONUSCO (ensuring that support to national forces will be provided
only if they comply with the condition that they protect civilians) is another healthy
practice in the development of peacekeeping norms.
B.
Children in detention
8.
Detention of children for alleged association with armed groups or other
threats to security remains a significant concern. This includes the use of
administrative detention in several conflict scenarios. An unknown number of
children have been captured, arrested and detained by security and law enforcement
forces in contravention of international standards for juvenile justice.
9.
Detention of children should be in line with the United Nations Standard
Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, which include specific
protection with regard to the age of the child, access granted to child protection
partners, appropriate legal counsel and provision of psychosocial support and
activities. The treatment of children must be based on the objective of their future
reintegration into society.
10. Child protection actors have regularly raised specific concerns related to
conditions of detention, especially in overcrowded facilities, ill-treatment, including
torture by adult detainees and corrections personnel, and acts of sexual violence
perpetrated in detention facilities. The age of criminal responsibility is also a
specific concern, particularly as it relates to children detained on security-related
charges. Emphasis should be placed on alternatives to institutionalization of these
children and on non-judicial and restorative processes.
11. Children being detained by multinational forces is also a concern that must be
addressed by Member States. In such cases, access by child protection actors to all
facilities, including high-security sites, is necessary for ensuring that procedures of
detention and due process for children are in line with international standards.
Beyond the responsibility and imperative to protect children, this represents a
critical issue in respect of the credibility of international and multinational forces.
C.
Education under attack
12. A marked characteristic of the changing nature of conflict is deliberate attacks
against and destruction of educational infrastructure, including the targeting of
schoolchildren and teachers. This is illustrated by data which indicate that over one
third of the 72 million out-of-school children of primary school age reside in lowincome countries affected by conflict.
13. In response to this crisis of education in conflict and other emergency settings,
Member States, United Nations entities and civil society organizations have
undertaken a concerted campaign in the past several years, which resulted in the
adoption by the General Assembly in July 2010 of resolution 64/290 on the right to
education in emergency situations. The resolution affirms that attacks on
educational buildings is a war crime and threatens the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals, including in the context of education for all.
10-47421
5