Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-fourth session

25 May-11 June 2010

Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict

List of issues related to the consideration of the initial report of Colombia (CRC/C/OPAC/COL/1)

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party. The present list of issues covers only some priority questions on which the Committee would like additional information before the dialogue.

The State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 6 April 2010

1.Please provide information on the estimated number of children recruited by non-State armed groups. Please include information both on guerrilla groups as well as on child recruitment into armed groups formed by former paramilitaries. Please provide the Committee with updated information on how many children, demobilized from guerrilla groups as well as paramilitary groups, currently receive demobilization assistance.

2.Please provide information on the number of children who have been victims of anti-personnel mines since 2006 and how many of them receive measures for physical and psychological recovery.

3.With regard to the; “Comisión Intersectorial para la Prevención del Reclutamiento y la utilización de niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes por grupos armados al margen de la ley”, please indicate what has been the role of civil society in this preventative mechanism? With reference to its planned activities (CRC/C/OPAC/COL/1, paras. 107-120), please indicate the degree to which they have been implemented. Specifically, with regard to paragraphs 117-118, please indicate how many children have benefitted from integral reparations.

4.With reference to the Early Warning System (Sistema de Alertas Tempranas- SAT), (CRC/C/OPAC/COL/1, paras. 95-96), please inform the Committee how many risk reports (informes de riesgo ) have been issued relating to potential child recruitment? How many of these were subsequently converted into early alerts (alertas tempranas )? In how many of these cases were specific urgent measures taken to prevent the recruitment of children? In how many cases were children victims of forced displacement in order to avoid recruitment by non-State armed groups?

5.Please provide the Committee with more information regarding specific measures taken to prevent recruitment of children among Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

6.Please inform the Committee of measures taken to prevent, investigate and punish sexual violence against girls and boys, perpetrated by non-State armed groups as well as the armed forces in the context of the armed conflict.

7.With reference to concerns in the previous concluding observations of the Committee (CRC/C/COL/CO/3, paras. 76 and 77), shared by the Secretary-General in his report on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2009/434, paras. 25 and 93), please provide information on measures taken to discontinue civic-military programmes for school children, including activities undertaken by the armed forces inside schools.

8.Please inform the Committee what specific measures have been taken to prevent attacks on schools by non-State armed groups? Furthermore, please provide information on measures to prevent and sanction the occupation of schools by non-State armed groups as well as the armed forces.

9.Please provide information on the number of reported cases of interrogations of demobilized and captured children by the armed forces for intelligence purposes (despite military instructions to the contrary ( (CRC/C/OPAC/COL/1, paras. 189-190), and of the investigations undertaken in order to establish appropriate responsibility for this practice.

10.Please inform the Committee of training provided on the Optional Protocol among relevant professional groups working at the national level with children who may have been recruited or used in hostilities, including the armed forces, migration authorities, lawyers, judges, medical professionals, social workers and journalists.

11.With reference to article 162 of the Penal Code, criminalizing recruitment of children for direct or indirect participation in hostilities, please provide the Committee with updated information on the number of investigations undertaken, convictions, and what have been the sanctions in each specific case. Please also specify to which non-State armed groups these convictions relate..

12.Please clarify how the State party considers article 64 of the Law 975 of 2005 to be compatible with its obligations under the Optional protocol and whether judicial benefits have been given to persons suspected for having used and recruited children in hostilities. Please provide additional information on the number of investigations under Law 975 for crimes of child recruitment for use in hostilities, how many persons have been convicted and what sanctions were applied. Please also provide information whether Decree 128 of 2003 has provided judicial benefits for persons suspected of having used or recruited children in hostilities.

13.Please provide information regarding the investigations into extrajudicial killings of children by the armed forces, specifying the age of the victims, the number of investigations conducted as well as details on how many members of the armed forces have been convicted and what sanctions were applied.

14.Please provide updated information whether any children under 18 years have been prosecuted for involvement with non-State armed groups.

15.With reference to the right to reparations (articles 42 to 49 of the Justice and Peace Law 975 of 2005), please provide information on the number of child victims of recruitment by non-State armed groups who have been awarded adequate compensation and on measures taken for their physical and psychological recovery as well as social reintegration. Please provide details of the reparations measures provided in this regard.

16.Please provide information on specific measures undertaken by the State party in order to identify children released during the demobilization of paramilitary organizations and ensure that they are provided with assistance for physical and psychological recovery as well as follow-up action to support their social reintegration, especially in view of the low number of children officially released.

17.Please provide disaggregated data (including by sex, age group and country of origin) covering the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 on the number of asylum-seeking and refugee children coming to the State party from areas where children may have been recruited or used in hostilities. Please provide information on existing identification mechanisms and the procedure for considering refugee and asylum claims from children who have been recruited or used in situations of armed conflict.

18.Please inform the Committee whether the State party has made progress in relation to the recommendation contained in the Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/434, para. 83), calling for the preparation and implementation of action plans by all parties that have recruited children.