Background to the project

By the begining of 2002, Eric MALLONGA and Dominique LEMAY, members of the Filipino branch of AMADE, laid the foundations for an international humanitarian campaign to call for reinforcement of criminal law at the international level.

Confronted with the many weaknesses of existing national laws, AMADE-Philippines proposed a draft project aimed at seeking a more effective sanction of the most serious crimes perpetrated against children, which included the possibility to qualify those crimes as crimes against humanity. The emphasis was placed on systematic and repeated infringements of children's fundamental rights such as:

child slavery, hazardous labour for children, sexual abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution, child-pornography on the internet, video and audio recordings or any other technological means, trading in human organs taken from children, the use of children for scientific experiments, child trafficking, the recruitment and enrolment of children for military operations, and the use of children as military targets.

The draft project was presented and discussed at the AMADE Annual General Meeting in March 2002. At the instigation of HRH the Princess of Hanover the draft proposal was adopted as one major avenue for AMADE to pursue at the international level.

At the United Nations General Assembly

On the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in New York in May 2002, His Serene Highness Crown Prince Albert of Monaco emphasised the strong commitment of Monaco to the defence and protection of children's rights.

In His capacity as President of the Monaco delegation He also stressed the urgent need to reinforce existing legal measures at international level

« in order to ensure, beyond constraints of temporal or national boundaries, the prosecution and punishment of crimes against nature perpetrated against children by obtaining that those crimes are qualified as crimes against humanity ».

Declaration by Crown Prince ALBERT of Monaco
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(in French)

This proposal was subsequently discussed and commented upon during the Plenary Committee of the Special Session, on the initiative of the Secretary General of AMADE (the World Association of Children's Friends).

Statement by Mr. Jacques DANOIS,
Secretary General of AMADE
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H.E. Mr Jacques L. BOISSON, Ambassador of Monaco to the United Nations, made a declaration at the Security Council open debate on "Children and armed conflict" on 14 January 2003, in which he stressed the necessity:

« to determine the juridical ways and means to allow for the prosecution of the most serious crimes committed against children ».

Declaration by H.E. Mr. Jacques L. BOISSON,
Monaco Ambassador to the UN
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(in French)

First Expert Session (April 2003)

On 25-26 April 2003, the AMADE international Round Table "Crimes against the Child, Crimes against Humanity" assembled a group of experts in international humanitarian and criminal law, specializing in the Rights of the Child, together with representatives of international bodies and non-governmental organizations.

A requirement to follow the route towards a 'criminalization' of children's Rights' infringements appeared imperative to all participating experts, being the only means for an effective repression against the perpetrators of the most serious crimes.

A Model-Law

It was considered, in the shortest timeframe possible, delegating a committee of experts the task of drawing up a model or draft law. This could be given to countries worldwide through their own parliamentary systems. This draft or model should define the list of the most serious crimes that should be considered equivalent to crimes against humanity, as identified and defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989.

This draft law will also provide for the reinforcement of international judicial cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Amendments to the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

At the international level, one could propose by way of an amendment, a modification of the optional protocols relative to the Convention on the rights of the child, concerning children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

It is possible to foresee a presentation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, proposing an amendment which qualifies the acts described in each of these protocols, as being crimes against humanity.

AMADE calls upon the governments of all Member States, and in the first instance among them, the Government of the Principality of Monaco, to support its action and to propose an assembly of the Member States for a conference to examine these proposals.

The Monaco Declaration

The Monaco Declaration is a consolidation of the main conclusions and recommendations of the experts gathered together by AMADE (issued 15 November 2003).

Monaco Declaration on "Crimes against the child, crimes against humanity"
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See the Proceedings of the international Round Table
"Crimes against the child, crimes against humanity",
Monaco, 25-26 April 2003

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