Developments

Towards a ban on child soldiers

In recent years, progress has been made in developing an international legal and policy framework for protecting children from involvement in armed conflict. An increasing number of governments have "ratified" or agreed to become legally bound by a series of international laws banning the use of child soldiers in armed conflict (see International standards).

The International Criminal Court

The statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), established in 1998, provides for the prosecution and punishment of those found guilty of recruiting children under the age of 15 for use in hostilities. In 2004 the ICC announced that it was initiating investigations into crimes committed in the course of armed conflict in Northern Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where thousands of child soldiers are still being used.

The ICC's first prosecution came in 2006 when Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the leader of a militia group based in the northeast of the DRC, was transferred to The Hague. He is charged with forcibly recruiting boys and girls under the age of 15 to fight with his militia from July 2002 to the end of 2003. After many delays the trial finally got underway in January 2009. If convicted, Lubanga could face life in prison. Trial updates

The Special Court for Sierra Leone

The prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (established by the UN and the government in 2002) issued its first indictments in 2003. They included charges of conscripting, enlisting or using boys and girls under the age of 15 to participate in hostilities.

In June 2007 the Special Court for Sierra Leone handed down verdicts against three accused men from the rebel Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), one of three warring factions during Sierra Leone's 11-year brutal armed conflict, which ended in 2002. The judges found the three accused - Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu - guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers. All three received prison sentences of more than 45 years.

In August 2007, Allieu Kondewa, a former leader of Sierra Leone's Civil Defence Forces Militia, was found guilty on five counts, including the recruitment of child combatants under the age of 15. He received a prison sentence of eight years.

These were the first convictions by a UN-backed tribunal for the crime of recruiting and using child soldiers. A ground-breaking step toward ending impunity for commanders who exploit hundreds of thousands of children as soldiers in conflicts worldwide.

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was indicted by the Special Court in 2003 on 11 counts, including the use of child soldiers. In 2006 he was arrested and transferred to the Special Court in the Hague, Netherlands, under an agreement with the International Criminal Court. The trial began in January 2008 and the prosecution rested its case in February 2009. Trial updates.

In February 2009, Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao, the most senior suriving commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were found guilty of various war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the recruitment of child soldiers, during the 1991-2002 civil war. They received jail terms of between 25 and 52 years.

The United Nations

The UN Security council has issued a series of resolutions condemning the use of child soldiers and proposing measures to stop child recruitment. These include dialogue with parties to armed conflict aimed at the immediate demobilization of children; and targeted measures to sanction those who continue to recruit and use them as soldiers. Such measures could include the suspension of military aid or assistance, weapons or travel bans of asset freezing.

The UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the African Union (formerly the Organization for African Unity), the European Union, the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have all condemned the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

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