Child Rights group acts to release LTTE under-age recruits

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 May 2007, 23:39 GMT]
Tamileelam Child Protection Board (TCPB), an authority empowered by the Liberation Tigers' Political Wing with the task of implementing Tamileelam Child Protection Act, has urgently requested the parents of children under 17 who had joined the LTTE and yet to be released, to contact the TCPB, in an announcement published Tuesday in Eezhanaatham, the Tamil daily circulated in LTTE controlled areas.

The following is the translation of the full text of the announcement that appeared in Tamil:

Tamileelam Child Protection Board
Tamileelam

Urgent Request to the parents of children under 17
who had joined the LTTE in Vanni mainland

Tamileelam Child Protection Board has been responsible for the execution of the provisions of the Tamileelam Child Protection Act 2006 which came into force in January 2006.

As one of the main function, the Board identifies under-age recruits, obtains their release, and reunites them with their families.

The Tamileelam child Protection Board has been expeditiously reuniting children born in 1990 and after with their parents. The board is acting on the basis of information received from parents and other organizations, and from the data collected by the Board.

In order to fully complete our mission, we kindly request all parents who have children born in 1990 and after, and yet to be released from the Organization [LTTE], to provide the details of their children to the following address.

M. Paavarasan (Thiyaakaraasaa)
LTTE Secretariat for UN Organizations and NGOs,
Paravippaagnchaan,
Ki'linochchi

Thank you,

Tamileelam Child Protection Board
Tamileelam



Tamileelam Child Protection Act No. 03 of 2006 outlaws the enlisting of children under 17 years in Armed forces and makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal. The legislation enacted by Tamileelam Legislature Secretariat, and which became effective on October 15 2006, brings into law measures to protect the Rights and well-being of children from inception of life through adolescence.

The Act, containing 83 sections, makes education compulsory upto grade 11, mandates registration of all child births, outlaws enlisting of children under 17 years in Armed Forces, makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal, and proscribes all forms of child labor.

Chronology:


Related Articles:
25.10.06   Tamileelam Legislature enacts Child Protection Act
25.01.04   Rule of Law, values said basis of Tamil society
30.10.03   Thamil Eelam judiciary said a basis for rebuilding northeast


External Links:

HRW:		Child Rights
UN:		Study on Violence Against Children
UN:		Children in armed conflict: Report of UN Secretary General, 9 Feb 2005
UN:		Children and armed conflict