Citing ‘improvement’ by the Indian government, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has removed India from his annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, Last month, United Nations placed Russia’s military on its “list of shame” over the killing and maiming of hundreds of children in its Ukraine war but Israeli remained absent despite killing more than 40 Palestinian children last year.
India was mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on Children and armed conflict since 2010 along with other countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in J&K for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds.
Guterres said in his report last year, he had welcomed the engagement of the Indian government with his special representative and noted that it might lead to the removal of India as a situation of concern.
In his 2023 report on Children and Armed Conflict, the UN chief said, “In view of the measures taken by the government to better protect children, India has been removed from the report in 2023.”
Guterres highlighted the technical mission of the office of his special representative in July 2022 to identify areas of cooperation for child protection, and the workshop on strengthening child protection held in Jammu and Kashmir last November by the government, with the participation of the United Nations.
In his latest report, he also called upon India to implement the remaining measures identified in consultation with his special representative and the United Nations. These include the training of armed and security forces on child protection, prohibition of the use of lethal and non-lethal force on children, including ending the use of pellet guns, ensuring that children are detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, Guterres said.
In last year’s report, Guterres had said he was concerned by the “increased number of violations against children verified in Jammu and Kashmir”, and had called upon the Indian government to strengthen child protection.
"The UN chief had welcomed the legal and administrative framework for the protection of children and improved access to child protection services in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, and progress in the creation of a Jammu and Kashmir Commission for Protection of Child Rights."