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Another pointless African war, Afghanistan needs more aid and more...
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FACTSHEET: Child soldiers on the frontline
31 Oct 2005
Source: AlertNet
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LONDON (AlertNet) - Nobody knows exactly how many child soldiers are involved in conflicts worldwide, but the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers puts the number at about 300,000 children, some as young as nine yeas old.
Following are key facts about the global recruitment of child soldiers and international treaties designed to protect them.
A child soldier is usually defined as anyone under the age of 18 who is attached to an armed group.
Some child soldiers are used by government forces, although most are used by non-government armed groups. The development of easy-to-use and lightweight weapons has encouraged some armed groups to recruit more children, both boys and girls.
Children are used as fighters, messengers, porters, spies, cooks and sexual slaves. Some are sent into minefields ahead of older troops, and some have been used for suicide missions.
Experts say some children are forcibly recruited while others join hoping to find food and security. A few become soldiers to avenge violence against their relatives or communities. According to Human Rights Watch, orphans and refugees are particularly vulnerable to recruitment.
Some are forced to commit atrocities against their own family and neighbours. This ensures they cannot return home.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, some child soldiers are given drugs to make them more willing to take risks, quell their hunger and make them follow orders.
Amnesty International says children are more likely to be killed and injured than adult soldiers because they take greater risks and are less able to take care of themselves.
Some government forces capture and torture children suspected of supporting opposition groups, rights groups say.
At least 60 governments, including Australia, Germany, Britain and the United States, legally recruit children aged 16 and 17 although they are not allowed to send them into actual combat.
Few peace treaties recognise child soldiers and make provision for their reintegration. Experts say that after demobilisation many children end up on the streets, get involved in crime or return to armed conflict. They say many demobilisation programmes ignore the needs of girls, most of whom have been raped and as a result may be rejected by their communities.
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES COVERING CHILD SOLDIERS
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child says anyone under the age of 18 cannot be used in conflicts or recruited into armed groups. Governments may accept volunteers from the age of 16, but they cannot compulsorily recruit anyone under 18.
The Protocol came into force in February 2002. By September 2005, 101 countries had ratified it.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child says children under 15 years old cannot be used in combat. The Protocol raised the age to 18 years.
The International Labour Organisation, African Union, Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Security Council resolutions also cover the use of child soldiers.
Most child soldiers are used by non-government armed groups that are not bound by international laws in the same way. But the International Criminal Court in The Hague can prosecute non-government armed groups who recruit children under 15 years old.
Further reading:
Human Rights Watch’s International Legal Standards Governing Child Soldiers
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers International Standards
Sources: Amnesty International, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Children’s Fund.
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