UN Chief’s Shameful “List of Shame” on War Crimes Against Children

By: Kayhan Int’l  

It is indeed a matter of shame that the "List of Shame” for the year 2018 released recently by the UN Secretary General for the killing and wounding of children in various countries, has omitted the illegal Zionist entity, despite the World Body’s own official report that Israel’s killing and wounding of Palestinian children last year reached its highest level since 2014.

Moreover, Antonio Guterres has surprisingly prepared a two-tier "List of Shame” that puts Saudi Arabia in the "B category” of violators instead of the "A category”, even though UN documents note the surge in the Riyadh-led coalition’s crimes against children in Yemen – while totally ignoring the imprisonment, torture, and possible execution of Shi’a Muslim children in the restive oil-rich Eastern Region.

It is obvious that US political pressure in the case of the child-killing regime of Benjamin Netanyahu and petrodollars in the case of the Wahhabi child-killers of Mohamed bin Salman (MBS), matter most for the former socialist prime minister of Portugal, rather than ground realities.

It is a sacrifice of justice on the altar of personal interests by Guterres, who, however, has not been able to escape criticism, even from persons in the West.

Jo Becker, Children’s Rights Advocacy Director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, expressed dismay, saying: "The UN Secretary-General simply refuses to hold to account all warring parties that have inflicted tremendous suffering on children.” 

She said in reference to the absence of Israel on the "List of Shame” in spite of the fact that according to the UN itself 59 Palestinian children were killed in 2018 by the Israeli army – nearly a four-fold increase over 2017 – while in the West Bank, Israeli forces injured 1,398 children last year and another 1,335 children in Gaza: "By listing selected violators but not others, Secretary-General Guterres is ignoring the UN’s own evidence and undermining efforts to protect children in conflict.”

Although Guterres’ List of Shame included the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, but it was placed in "B category” for supposed steps to improve the situation of war-stricken children, despite overwhelming evidence that Saudi and allied forces killed or injured children on a large scale in 2018 – 729 child casualties compared with 670 in 2017 according to the UN Chief’s own self-contradictory report. 

Furthermore, the UN Secretary-General has de-listed the Saudi-led coalition pertaining to attacks on schools and hospitals in Yemen, despite 12 UN-verified attacks on schools and 3 attacks on hospitals in 2018. 

In the words of Jo Becker of the Human Rights Watch: "It’s baffling that the Secretary-General’s list gives credit to parties that are increasing, not reducing, their violations against children.” 

Guterres’ unfair "List of Shame” includes the Syrian army without evidence, but fails to list the US occupation forces in Afghanistan and the NATO-affiliated soldiers who together are responsible for grave violations against children, including killing and maiming.

According to UN documents, in Afghanistan, child deaths reached the highest level in 2018 since figures were first recorded in 2009, with the US army killing and wounding at least 286 children last year – nearly triple the number reported in 2017 – and the NATO-affiliated Afghan forces responsible for the death and injury of 467 children.

Yet, surprisingly, there is no mention of the said two parties in the UN Chief’s List of Shame.

This is further proof of the fact that the UN Secretary-General, whatever his past achievements as a statesman in his own country, is not supposed to be a fair and independent person on becoming head of the World Body, and has to obey whatever Washington says, and this means turning a blind eye to both the US policy of state terrorism at home and economic terrorism abroad (especially against Iran), and the mounting crimes against humanity of the illegal Zionist entity.