Narendra and Naina were detained for 10 days in April 1995 before being sent to an observation home by a magistrate. The authorities of Kathmandu Central Prison should not have held 15 children, aged between 12 and 14, alongside adults in August 1997. The children had been working in Kathmandu, Nepal , and living on the city s streets. States are obliged to respect and ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which are relevant to the child. His parents were not even consulted.
Special protection is to be given to refugee children.
Child refugees should not be dying from malnutrition and preventable diseases in relief camps in India to which they have fled to escape ethnic violence between Bodos and Santhals in Assam. All armed opposition movements are bound, like governments, to observe principles of international humanitarian law in their treatment of children and others in the context of armed conflict. These principles include the prohibition of the killing, torture, rape or hostage-taking of anyone who is not taking an active part in armed conflict. These principles are widely ignored by armed opposition groups in South Asia. The cruel consequences for children include psychological damage, recruitment into fighting units, displacement, sexual and other violence, and death.