Yemen: Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Advance of Yemen’s Initial Periodic Report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

Yemen: Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Advance of Yemen’s Initial Periodic Report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

Yemen: Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Advance of Yemen’s Initial Periodic Report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

EXCERPT FROM INTRODUCTION:

“Child Soldiers International submits this report for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) in view of its examination in June 2013 of Yemen’s initial report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC). This report was compiled through desk-based research of available secondary sources and through communication with a national non-governmental organisation (NGO). On the basis of the information gathered, this report summarises Child Soldiers International’s concerns about Yemen’s implementation of some of its obligations under OPAC, including in relation to:

  • The unlawful recruitment of children in state armed forces and allied armed groups (tribal militias) and their participation in hostilities.
  • The unlawful recruitment of children in armed opposition groups and their use in hostilities.
  • The lack of criminalisation and accountability for the unlawful recruitment and use of children in hostilities.”