Geneva: The US should promptly carry out the recommendations of a UN panel of experts to improve protection of children abroad from armed conflict, Human Rights Watch has said.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child released a report and recommendations to the US government Tuesday.
The committee raised a number of concerns regarding US practices during armed conflict that were harmful to children, Human Rights Watch said.
The committee said it was “alarmed” at reports of the deaths of hundreds of children from US attacks and air strikes in Afghanistan since the committee last reviewed US practices in 2008.
It also expressed “deep concern” at the arrest and detention of children in Afghanistan, laws that exclude former child soldiers from securing asylum in the US, and presidential waivers to US laws that have allowed governments using child soldiers to receive US military assistance.
“The US can and should do more to protect children affected by armed conflict,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
“The US should take decisive action on the child rights committee’s common-sense recommendations.” On Jan 16, the 18-member, Geneva-based committee conducted a formal review of US compliance with an international treaty, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. (IANS)