Committee on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration the initial report of Rwanda, adopted by the Committee at its pre-sessional working group for the sixty-second and sixty-third sessions (8–12 October 2012)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (15 pages maximum), if possible before 1 February 2013.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State p arty.

1.With reference to paragraph 106 of the State party report, please provide information on the exact role played by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

2.Please provide information on the training activities related to the Optional Protocol for professionals working with children who are likely to have been involved in armed conflict, especially for members of the armed forces, the police, immigration officials, lawyers, judges, medical and social workers.

3.Please provide information on military academies referred to in paragraph 90 of the State party report. With respect to each category of military academy, please specify:

(a)The number of students enrolled;

(b)The minimum age of entry; and

(c)The proportions of academic and military training in the curricula.

4.Please describe measures taken by the State party to prevent the recruitment of children by non-State armed groups and the results of those measures. In this regard, please explain why the State party rejected the recommendation made in the universal periodic review of Rwanda in 2010 to “ensure that children under the age of 18 are not recruited into any armed group on the national territory”.

5.Please provide the Committee with updated information on measures taken by the State party to arrest General Bosco Ntaganda and Laurent Nkunda who have both been charged by the International Criminal Courtfor war crimes related to the use and recruitment of child soldiers.

6.In the light of legislation providing a minimum age requirement of 18 years old for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces (Law No. 21/2001) and the Local Defense Forces (Law No. 25/2004), please also indicate whether recruitment of children under 18 into the armed forces, the Local Defence Forces, and non-State armed groups is criminalized and sanctioned under domestic legislation and, if so, whether there have been any investigations or prosecutions for violations in this regard.

7.Please inform the Committee whether domestic legislation or military codes or manuals explicitly incorporate or define the concepts of children in “direct participation” and “hostilities”.

8.Please provide information on procedures in place to identify at the earliest stage refugee and asylum-seeking children or children in migrant situations who may have been or who are at risk of being recruited and/or used in hostilities. Please also provide data, disaggregated by age, sex and nationality, on the number of refugee and asylum-seeking children who have been returned to their country of origin over the last three years. Please also update the Committee on how the State party has been cooperating with the Joint Verification Mechanism launched by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

9.Please provide further details on the rehabilitation programmes for children affected by armed conflict under the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Program. In particular, please provide detailed statistics on the number of children demobilized over the last three years disaggregated by sex, ethnicity, and national origin and who have benefited from Government-sponsored reintegration programmes and services, including the number of children who, after participating in these programmes, have benefited from further support to reintegrate into their communities.

10.Please provide information on whether there is extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes covered under the Optional Protocol and, if so, under which specific legislation. Please also report to the Committee on the practice and policy to request extradition for crimes under the Optional Protocol.

11.Please indicate whether national legislation prohibits the trade and export of arms, including small arms and light weapons, as well as military assistance to countries where children are involved in armed conflict.

12.Please transmit to the Committee information on efforts to ensure that all children receive tolerance and peace education in the school system.