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CRIMES AGAINST THE CHILD, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
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AMADE has launched an international humanitarian campaign for the qualification of the most serious crimes against children as crimes against humanity.
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Background
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The international Round Table on 'Crimes against the Child, Crimes against Humanity' organised by the World Association of Children's Friends (AMADE), held under the patronage of UNESCO in Monaco on 25-26 April 2003, assembled a group of experts in international humanitarian and criminal law, specialising in the Rights of the Child, together with representatives of international bodies and non-governmental organisations.
H.R.H. The Princess of Hanover with participating experts and members of AMADE,
Monaco, 26 April 2003 (© E.Mathon/Miti Info Image)
Panel of international experts: Mr Jacques BIANCARELLI French State Councillor and Former Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, The Honourable Mr Phillipe KIRSCH President of the International Criminal Court Represented by Mr Bruno CATHALA Director of Common Services of the International Criminal Court, The Honourable Mr Sergio VIEIRA de MELLO United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Represented by Mr Joël MERMET Human Rights Officer Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), The Honourable Judge Theodor MERON President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, The Honourable Mr Olara A. OTUNNU United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts, Mrs Francesca PIZZUTELLI International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mrs Hélène SACKSTEIN Convenor of the Focal Point Programme of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Honourable Mrs Maria Amalia SERENO Minister Councillor, Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the United Nations Coordinator of the Resolution on the Rights of the Children adopted by the 57th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, The Honourable Mr Peter TOMKA Judge at the International Court of Justice, Professor Karel VASAK Former Legal Adviser to UNESCO.
The purpose of the meeting was to explore the various sources of incrimination for crimes against humanity within the context of current international criminal law and identify every possible route for future qualification of the most serious crimes against children as crimes against humanity.
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H.S.H. Prince Albert at the United Nations |
The Round Table was part of the extension of the initiative by the Filipino branch of AMADE, which was discussed and adopted at the AMADE Annual General Meeting in March 2002 as one major avenue for the organisation to pursue.
The AMADE proposal was given support in the Declaration by His Serene Highness Crown Prince ALBERT of Monaco at the 27th Extraordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children, in New York in May 2002..
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 Declaration by HSH Prince Albert of Monaco
United Nations, New York, 8-10 May 2002
Recommendations and ways forward
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The participating experts confirmed both the timeliness and opportunity of the project initiated by AMADE, thereby highlighting the importance of a conscious examination by the international community in the face of the existence of systematic and repeated violations of children's fundamental rights in relation to the development of a transnational organised criminality.
A requirement to follow the route towards the 'criminalisation' of infringements of children's rights appeared imperative to all participants in the round table. It was suggested that the project should examine the efficacy of existing international conventions -including the Rome Statute- and seek ways to ensure more effective protection of children at the national, regional and international levels.
 In particular :
1) Proposed Amendments to the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
In line with the provisions of Article 12 of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, and Article 16 of the Optional Protocol concerning the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, it would be possible to foresee the submission to the Secretary-General of the United Nations of an amendment which would qualify the acts described in each of these protocols as crimes against humanity.
2) Proposal for the revision of Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
On a longer term perspective, a proposal for the revision of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court through insertion in Article 7, defining crimes against humanity, with an explicit reference to crimes committed against children could allow for a more effective sanction of those crimes by placing crimes against children squarely within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
3) A Model-Law to national states
At the national level, the participating experts regarded it as essential for AMADE to consider, in the shortest timeframe possible, delegating a committee of experts the task of drawing up a model or draft law for the qualification of crimes against children as crimes against humanity, which could be offered to countries worldwide for implementation in their own domestic criminal law.
Link to the campaign website
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