concerns that the term may also lead to stigmatization and dehumanization, especially for children. The Handbook uses the term “foreign terrorist fighters” when referring to the use of the term as reflected in relevant Security Council resolutions.37 Children affected by the foreign fighter phenomenon 24. The Handbook uses the broad term “children affected by the foreign fighter phenomenon” to recognize the diverse ways in which the phenomenon impacts children. This affirms the principle that international standards for child rights should apply to all children, regardless of their situation or age. The diverse groups38 of children may include, but are not limited to, children who fall into one or more of the following categories: children accompanying family members who crossed borders to join designated terrorist groups; children who travelled to areas of conflict to join such groups; children who were taken by such groups across borders; children who directly participated in hostilities; children who were born in conflict zones or areas impacted by the foreign fighter phenomenon and children who were identified by authorities to be linked with such groups by virtue of familial relationship even when they 37 See also United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Working Group on Promoting and Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law while Countering Terrorism, guidance to States on human rights-compliant responses to the threat posed by foreign fighters (New York, 2018), available at www.un.org/sc/ctc/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ Human-Rights-Responses-to-Foreign-Fighters-web-final.pdf. 38 Security Council resolution 2396 (2017) uses the term “children associated with foreign terrorist fighters”. It was raised during expert meetings held while developing this Handbook that the use of the term “association” could be problematic as national legal frameworks that define “association” frequently do not require international acts. Children should not be criminally responsible for his or her presence in a country if she or he travelled with family or was born there. Notably, the Paris Principles (2007) define children associated with armed groups as primarily those recruited or used by an armed force or armed group. See para. 2.1. had never travelled abroad. Some of these cases may involve parental abduction, criminal kidnapping, human trafficking, recruitment, use, and exploitation for the worst forms of child labour. 25. Such children include newborns up to the age of 18. Both girls and boys, including children with disabilities, are impacted by the phenomenon. While mindful of the need for age and gender-sensitive programmes for such children, the Handbook reiterates that international human rights law, including child rights law, affords special protections to all those under 18 years of age. Any accountability measures shall consider the child’s age at the time of the commission of a crime and the conditions under which the child may have been living or acting, including coercive, manipulative, or violent conditions. They should simultaneously support the child’s rehabilitation and reintegration.39 International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, and International Refugee Law International human rights law 26. International human rights law is established through treaties and customary international law. When States become parties to international human rights treaties, they are obligated to act in accordance with and uphold all of the requirements imposed by the treaty. When a State ratifies a treaty, it can make a reservation, which excludes or modifies the legal obligations under certain provisions of the treaty in their application 39 Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), art. 37; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 24 (2009) on children’s rights in juvenile justice. 19.