On June 2, 2017, a group of 41 civil society organizations released an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling on him to publish an accurate and credible list of perpetrators of grave violations in his upcoming 2017 annual report on children and armed conflict. As of June 6, 2017, 44 civil society organizations have signed on. The open letter reacts to the Secretary-General’s reported – and unprecedented – decision to ‘freeze’ the addition of warring parties that have been found to commit grave violations against children to his 2017 annual report. It follows two years of politicization of the annual report’s annexes where certain countries exercised undue pressure to avoid being listed despite UN-verified evidence documenting grave violations of children’s rights. Signatories to the letter believe that a freeze sets a damaging precedent and undermines the list’s credibility and calls on the Secretary-General to publish a full and impartial list of all perpetrators of children’s rights violations in war in his 2017 annual report.
Read it here: Open Letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres
