WORLD: Child Soldiers: Governments agree to ban use of child combatan
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
News Service: 014/00
AI INDEX: IOR 51/02/00
21 January 2000
Child Soldiers: Governments agree to ban use of child combatants but
treaty fails to prohibit all recruitment of under-18's
Concluding six years of negotiations, governments today agreed to ban
the use of children under the age of eighteen in armed conflicts. The
treaty applies to both national armed forces and to non-governmental
armed groups. However, it failed to establish eighteen as the minimum
age for voluntary recruitment into government armed forces.
In a significant shift, the United States agreed for the first time to
end the deployment of under-18's in combat.
"This is a great advance for children around the world," said Jo Becker,
steering committee chair for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers. "When backed by political and public pressure, this treaty
will help stop the appalling use of children as soldiers."
The Coalition expressed disappointment that the agreement failed to
establish an eighteen year age minimum for voluntary recruitment.
"The best way to ensure that children are not used in war is to ensure
that they are not recruited in the first place," said Becker.
"Unfortunately, many governments based their positions on narrow
military interests, rather than the best interests of children."
The Coalition also noted that the agreement creates a double-standard by
prohibiting all recruitment of children by non-governmental armed groups
but allowing governmental forces to recruit volunteers under eighteen.
The Coalition credited several governments for strong efforts to achieve
a prohibition on any recruitment or use of children in hostilities, in
particular, Switzerland, Belgium, Uruguay, Portugal, Sweden, Guatemala,
the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Poland, Denmark, Mozambique and Finland.
The treaty is an optional protocol to the nearly-universally ratified
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention generally defines
a child as any person under the age of eighteen, but was adopted in 1989
with the lower age of fifteen as a minimum for recruitment and use in
hostilities. The protocol was drafted to address this anomoly in
children's rights standards.
The protocol includes the following key provisions:
· Establishes eighteen as the minimum age for conscription and for
direct participation in hostilities;
· Requires governments to raise their minimum age for voluntary
recruitment beyond the current minimum of fifteen, and to deposit a
binding declaration stating the minimum age they will respect;
· Prohibits the recruitment or use in hostilities of children under the
age of eighteen by rebel or other non-governmental armed groups, and
requires states to criminalize such practices;
· Requires government measures to demobilize and rehabilitate former
child soldiers, and reintegrate them into society.
The Coalition pledged to monitor compliance with the treaty, to campaign
for broad ratification, and tocontinue pushing for a higher enlistment
age in countries that currently recruit under-18's. Countries that have
recently adopted legislation raising their recruitment age to 18 include
South Africa, the Czech Republic, and Portugal.
The Coalition noted that many delegations made significant compromises
in order to achieve an agreement that was acceptable to all governments,
and called for swift and universal ratification of the agreement. It
will be open for signature and ratification after adoption by this
year's UN General Assembly.
The Coalition estimates that over 300,000 children under the age of
eighteen are currently being used in armed conflicts in more than thirty
countries around the world.
Note to Editors
The international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers is headed
by a Steering Committee composed of ten regional and international NGOs:
Amnesty International, African Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers, Defence for Children International, Human Rights Watch,
International Federation Terre des Hommes, International Save the
Children Alliance, Jesuit Refugee Service, Latin American Coalition to
Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Quaker United Nations Office- Geneva,
World Vision International.
The Steering Committee meets four times a year to agree on Coalition
policy and strategy.
ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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Silramien
amn...@amnesty.oil.ca wrote:
> ## Nachricht vom 24.01.00, erstellt von amn...@amnesty.oil.ca
> ## weitergeleitet ans Gruppen-Brett durch Klaus Merkle
> ## PMs zum Inhalt bitte an den Ersteller, Brett-Mail ans Gruppen-Brett
>
> * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
> International *
> News Service: 014/00
> AI INDEX: IOR 51/02/00
> 21 January 2000
>
> Child Soldiers: Governments agree to ban use of child combatants but
> treaty fails to prohibit all recruitment of under-18's
>
> Concluding six years of negotiations, governments today agreed to ban
> the use of children under the age of eighteen in armed conflicts. The
> treaty applies to both national armed forces and to non-governmental
> armed groups. However, it failed to establish eighteen as the minimum
> age for voluntary recruitment into government armed forces.
>
> In a significant shift, the United States agreed for the first time to
> end the deployment of under-18's in combat.
Do you want to help these children? Please email or send this letter to
your senators (addresses can be found at www.congress.org) It will
encourage them to ratify a convention setting 18 as the minimum age for
soldier recruitment. Please send the message to your government that we
want action against this tragedy. Thank you very much.
Dear Senator:
I urge you to support ratification of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) with the addition of the Optional Protocol on Child
Soldiers. Youth around the world are forced to participate in violent
and disturbing conflicts, a condition that the Optional Protocol
endeavors to end.
Currently, Article 38 of the CRC allows children over 15 to fight in
armed conflicts. Children as young as 12 and 13, however, can pass for
15 and are therefore conscripted into service. By establishing 18 as the
minimum age for participants in armed conflicts, the Protocol limits the
ability to conscript children. It will help youth to escape the
emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that 300,000 child soldiers suffer
worldwide.
The Pentagon, formerly an opponent to the 18-year limit, has
consented to following the Protocol. For the United States to
participate in this international effort to better children's lives,
however, Congress must ratify the addition of this Protocol to the CRC.
Please work to end the abuse of children's rights with your vote to
ratify this Protocol.
Respectfully,
--
Silrama
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