- Title: [SW News] (M2 Communication) Child soldiers -- Governments agree to ban use of
child combatants but treaty fails to prohibit all recruitment of under-18's
- From:[]
- Date :[]25 Jan 2000
Child soldiers -- Governments agree to ban use of child combatants but treaty
fails to prohibit all recruitment of under-18's
"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."
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Child soldiers -- Governments agree to ban use of child combatants
but treaty fails to prohibit all recruitment of under-18's
Story Filed: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 7:34 AM EST
JAN 25, 2000, M2 Communications - 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.
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London,
United Kingdom
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