Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System Cover photo: ©iStock.com/pixelprof UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System UNITED NATIONS Vienna, 2017 © United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2017 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention of firm names and com- mercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Publishing production: English, Publishing and Library Section, United Nations Office at Vienna. Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................v Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 A. Challenges .....................................................................................3 B. The Handbook ..................................................................................4 C. Terminology ...................................................................................7 Chapter 1. Strategies for preventing recruitment of children by terrorist and violent extremist groups ................................................................................................................9 A. Recruitment and exploitation of children ........................................................10 B. Adopting a holistic approach: preventing violence against children .................................16 C. Preventing recruitment of children by terrorist and violent extremist groups ........................21 Chapter 2. Child victims of recruitment and exploitation: their treatment in the justice system ............39 A. Recognizing as victims children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups ....40 B. Protecting child victims and witnesses during investigations and trials ..............................47 C. The right of child victims to reparation ..........................................................58 Chapter 3. Justice for children accused of terrorism-related offences ..................................................69 A. Specialized juvenile justice system ...............................................................70 B. Pretrial stage ...................................................................................82 C. Trial and sentencing ............................................................................90 D. Children deprived of their liberty ...............................................................97 Chapter 4. Rehabilitation and reintegration of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups .......................................................................................... 105 A. Reintegration of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups .........106 B. Promoting comprehensive reintegration policies and programmes. .110 C. Demobilization and release ....................................................................121 D. Cross-border cases ............................................................................129 E. Rehabilitation and reintegration as a key purpose of the justice process ............................135 Annex. Relevant international legal framework ........................................................................... 144 Acknowledgements The preparation of this Handbook was made possible by the cooperative efforts and invaluable contributions of several individuals and Governments. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) wishes to extend its gratitude to the Member States who contributed to the consultation process. UNODC is grateful to the Chairs of the regional groups for identifying experts to participate in the expert group meeting on the treatment by the justice system of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups, held in Vienna from 13 to15 December 2016. UNODC is grateful to the participants of the expert group meeting for their extensive contributions. In particular, UNODC is most thankful to Carolyn Hamilton for her invaluable background research and substantive input. The experts who attended the meeting were Mahmood Fadhil Masyab Al Bayati, Abdelaziz Ahmed Abdalla Alhajri, Jamie Bell, Abderezak Bensalem, Sofiane Bessadok, Hanae Boughdad, Haffide Boulakras, James Cooke, Valerio de Divitiis, Swen Dornig, Hamza Essaid, Abdoul Kassim Fomba, Imma Guerras Delgado, Carolyn Hamilton, Ibrahim Jean Etienne, Rose Marie Kerkor, Kai Li, Carlos Magadán Martínez, Angela McCabe, Rolando Melo Latorre, Tim Molyneux, Naïma Müller, Rose Oka Oji, Siobhan O’Neil, Reynante Orceo, Alexandra Ott Müller, Daniel Palmer, Stephen Ramwell, Guenther Sablattnig, Ibrahim Sesay, Dmitry Titov and Renate Winter. The following UNODC staff members contributed to the meeting: Aldo Lale-Demoz, Valérie Lebaux, George Puthuppally, Ulrich Garms, Alexandra Martins, Anna Giudice and Giulia Melotti. The Handbook was written by Giulia Melotti, Alexandra Martins, Ulrich Garms and Katharina Peschke, using as a basis the contributions of the expert group meeting. The production of the Handbook was guided by: Valérie Lebaux, Chief of the Justice Section, Division of Operations; George Puthuppally, Chief of Implementation Support Section II (Sub-Saharan Africa) in the Terrorism Prevention Branch; and Mauro Miedico, Acting Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, Division for Treaty Affairs. UNODC is grateful to the following individuals for their comments on and contributions to the draft- ing of the Handbook: Renate Winter, Stephan Husy, Naïma Müller, Imma Guerras-Delgado, Alexandra Ott Müller, Merel Molenkamp, Irina Scheitz, Jessika Soors, Abdoul Kassim Fomba, Rose Marie Kerkor, James Cooke, Tim Molyneux, Aimee Comrie, Panagiotis Papadimitriou, Anna Giudice, Dayan Farias Picon, Rouzbeh Moradi and Rohan Sinha. UNODC is most grateful to the Governments of Austria, Canada, Denmark and Switzerland for providing the funding to enable the development, translation into Arabic and French, reproduction and dissemination of this Handbook. Vv Introduction In the past few years, the international community has been increasingly confronted with the recruit- ment and exploitation of children by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Numerous reports have shed some light on the extent of this disturbing phenomenon. Estimates indicate that, since 2009, about 8,000 children have been recruited and used by Boko Haram in Nigeria.1 According to a report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, some boys have been forced to attack their own families to demonstrate loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls have been forced to marry, clean, cook and carry equipment and weapons. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights received consistent reports that some boys and girls were increasingly being used as human shields and to detonate bombs. In May 2015, for example, a girl about 12 years old was used to detonate a bomb at a bus station in Damaturu, Yobe State, killing seven people. Similar incidents were reported in Cameroon and the Niger. During attacks by Boko Haram, abducted boys were used to identify those who refused to join the group, as well as unmarried women and girls.2 In 2015 alone, the United Nations verified 274 cases of children having been recruited by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Syrian Arab Republic. The United Nations verified the exist- ence of centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of children as foreign fighters has increased significantly, with 18 cases involving children as young as 7 years of age. The use of children as child executioners was reported and appeared in video footage. In Iraq, in two incidents in June and September 2015, more than 1,000 children were reportedly abducted by ISIL from Mosul district.3 While the lack of access to areas in conflict undercuts the possibility to gather precise data, it is known that recruited children were used to act as spies and scouts, to transport military supplies and equip- ment, to conduct patrols, to man checkpoints, to videotape attacks for propaganda purposes and to plant explosive devices, as well as to actively engage in attacks or combat situations.4 These figures are likely to be significant underestimates because of the limited opportunities to gain access and monitor violations against children. Child recruitment is also perpetrated by Al-Shabaab in Kenya and Somalia,5 by the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, Ansar Eddine and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Mali and neighbouring countries and by the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines,6 to name a few. Owing to the expanding reach and propaganda of terrorist and violent extremist groups, child recruitment and exploitation are in no way limited to conflict-ridden areas. More and more children are travelling from their State of residence to areas controlled