Dokument #1394715
HRW – Human Rights Watch (Autor)
(New York) – Countries around the world are taking measures to protect students, teachers, and schools from the harmful consequences that can result from the use of schools for military purposes during times of armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 101-page report, “Protecting Schools from Military Use: Law, Policy, and Military Doctrine,” contains examples of law and practice from 40 countries, from Afghanistan to Yemen, instituting some level of protection for schools or universities from military use. Many of the examples come from countries currently or recently involved in armed conflict, indicating that governments and armed forces are recognizing the negative consequences of military use of schools and have found practical solutions to deter such use. Examples of these measures can be found throughout the world, in legislation, court decisions, and military policies and doctrine. Governments should adopt and follow protections for schools, Human Rights Watch said.
Since 2007, the military use of schools or universities by government armed forces and non-state armed groups has been documented in at least 29 countries with armed conflict or insecurity, according to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, of which Human Rights Watch is a member. That number represents the majority of countries experiencing armed conflict during the past decade.
Schools and universities have been taken over either partially or entirely to be converted into military bases and barracks; used as detention and interrogation facilities; for training fighters; and to store or hide weapons and ammunition.
Since 2009, Human Rights Watch has investigated the military use of schools in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Ukraine, and Yemen.
The use of schools for military purposes endangers students’ and teachers’ safety, can lead to the damage and destruction of important education infrastructure, and can interfere with students’ right to education, Human Rights Watch said.
“When government leaders know that they can take practical steps to keep students safe during war, they should feel morally obliged to take them,” Sheppard said. “All countries should endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and acknowledge that the military use of schools is a global problem, needing international attention and response.”
Protecting Schools from Military Use - Law, Policy, and Military Doctrine (Spezieller Bericht oder Analyse, Englisch)