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International standardsThe Coalition promotes the adoption and implementation of international legal standards protecting children from recruitment or use as soldiers. The following is a summary of the main regional and international legal standards relating to child soldiers: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict: This was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 May 2000 and entered into force on 12 February 2002. The protocol sets 18 as the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities, for recruitment into armed groups, and for compulsory recruitment by governments. States may accept volunteers from the age of 16 but must deposit a binding declaration at the time of ratification or accession, setting out their minimum voluntary recruitment age and outlining certain safeguards for such recruitment. Status of ratifications and declarations and reservations Guide to the Optional Protocol Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998): This establishes a permanent court to try persons charged with committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. In its definition of war crimes the statute includes "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" (Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi)); and in the case of an internal armed conflict, "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities" (Article 8(2)(e)(vii)). When drafting the treaty, delegates agreed that the terms "using" and "participate" would prohibit not only children's direct participation in combat, but also their active participation in military activities linked to combat such as scouting, spying, sabotage, and the use of children as decoys, couriers, or at military checkpoints. Also prohibited is the use of children in "direct" support functions such as carrying supplies to the front line. The statute also defines sexual slavery as a crime against humanity (Article 7(1)(g)). The treaty came into force and the court came into being on 1 July 2002. Visit the International Criminal Court website. ILO Minimum Age Convention 138: This convention was adopted on 26 June 1973 and came into force on 19 June 1976. States ratifying the convention are bound to: pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons (Article 1). ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 182: This convention was adopted on 16 June 1999 and came into force on 19 November 2000. It commits each state which ratifies it to "take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency". The term "child" applies to all persons under the age of 18 years and the worst forms of child labour include: all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict (Article 3a). The text of ILO Conventions 138 and 182 can be found on the ILO website. Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 (1977): The protocols set 15 as the minimum age for recruitment or use in armed conflict. This minimum standard applies to all parties, both governmental and non-governmental, in both international and internal armed conflict. Article 77 of Additional Protocol I, applicable to international armed conflicts, states: The Parties to the conflict shall take all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities and, in particular, they shall refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years the Parties to the conflict shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest (Paragraph 2). If, in exceptional cases, despite the provisions of paragraph 2, children who have not attained the age of fifteen years take a direct part in hostilities and fall into the power of an adverse Party, they shall continue to benefit from the special protection accorded by this Article, whether or not they are prisoners of war (Paragraph 3). Article 4(3)(c) of the Additional Protocol II, applicable to non-international armed conflicts, states: Children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities. Additional Protocols I and II can be found on the ICRC website. Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989): Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child generally defines a child as any person under the age of 18, Article 38 uses the lower age of 15 as the minimum for recruitment or participation in armed conflict. This language is drawn from the two Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Article 38 states that: States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities (Paragraph 2). States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest (Paragraph 3). Visit the UN treaty dabatase for the full text of the Convention. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: The charter is the only regional treaty in the world which addresses the issue of child soldiers. It was adopted by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) and came into force in November 1999. It defines a child as anyone below 18 years of age without exception. It also states that: "States Parties to the present Charter shall take all necessary measures to ensure that no child shall take a direct part in hostilities and refrain in particular, from recruiting any child" (Article 22.2). The text of the Charter can be found on the African Union website. The UN Security Council has passed a series of resolutions condemning the recruitment and use of children in hostilities. These are resolutions 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000) 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005) on children and armed conflict. Resolutions can be found on the UN Security Council website. The Paris Commitments and Principles (2007) A major international conference entitled "Free children from war" was held in Paris on 5 and 6 February 2007. The meeting, co-organized by the French Government and UNICEF, was attended by 58 countries, including dozens of government ministers, donors, the heads of UN agencies and many non-governmental organizations. At the meeting, the 58 governments endorsed, and pledged to respect, the principles contained in two documents: The Paris Commitments - consists of a set of legal and operational principles needed to protect children from recruitment or use in armed conflict. The "Paris Commitments" complement existing legal and political mechanisms already in place. The "Paris Principles" is a more detailed document which sets forth a wide range of principles relating to the protection of children from recruitment or use in armed conflict, their release and successful reintegration into civilian life .The principles also address the need for long term prevention strategies in order to definitively end children's involvement in armed conflict. The meeting was the culmination of an 18-month process to review the "Cape Town Principles and Best Practice on the prevention of recruitment of children into the armed forces and on demobilization and social reintegration of child soldiers in Africa", adopted by non-governmental organizations at a conference in Cape Town in 1997. The review process was led by UNICEF and drew upon a wealth of experience gained by UN field staff, NGOs and other practitioners in this field. The Coalition was closely involved in the drafting process of the Paris Commitments document. Update: As at September 2009, 84 countries have endorsed the Paris Principles. Downloads |
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