October 14, 2009 • 3:24 pm
Kate Davey Director of Research Projects
Sarah Pierce Legal Intern and Director of Outreach, Development and Communication
Children have been used as tools of war throughout history, serving not only as foot soldiers on the front line, but also as spies, porters and sexual slaves. Lawmakers and human rights organizations generally recognize the following from the 1997 Capetown Principles as the standard for defining a child soldier: “a child soldier is any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers and anyone accompanying such groups, other than family members. The definition includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and for forced marriage. It does not, therefore, only refer to a child who is carrying or has carried arms.”
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Filed under: Educational, Human Rights, Intl Criminal Ct, Laws, Treaties , child soldiers, law, War
October 1, 2009 • 1:14 pm
Albania, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Jamaica, Liechtenstein, Panama and Senegal joined 76 other countries (totaling 84) by signing the Paris Commitments on Tuesday, an agreement that is designed to”strongly reaffirm our collective concern at the plight of children affected by armed conflict, our recognition of the physical, developmental, emotional, mental, social and spiritual harm to children resulting from the violation of their rights during armed conflict, and our commitment to identifying and implementing lasting solutions to the problem of unlawful recruitment or use of children in armed conflict.”
More information on laws and treaties relating to child soldiers.
Filed under: Laws, Treaties , child soldier, laws, legal, treaty, War
This entry is by Kate Davey, our legal analyst at Child Soldier Relief.
On April 9, Southern Sudan President Salva Kirr introduced the Child Act, which guarantees certain safeguards to children.
The Act recognizes anyone under 18 as a child and requires the Government to ensure the rights established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child to children in Southern Sudan.
Some of the highlights of the Act include that children cannot be recruited “by armed forces and groups” and forbids the use of torture or cruel treatment against children. As UNICEF reports, the Act also requires that anyone “who suspects a child’s rights have been violated or are at risk must report the case to local authorities.”
In addition, the Act also establishes an independent Children’s Commission, which UNICEF explains, “must investigate reported violations and make recommendations on how to promote childrens’ rights.”
Filed under: Human Rights, Laws, Treaties, Sudan , act, child soldier, international law, laws, Sudan, treaties
The recent conviction of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders Issa Hassan Sesay and Morris Kallon at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, of 16 counts of war crimes including “acts of terrorism”, mutilation, terrorism, rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers, has also had the added effect of elevating the crime of forced marriage and sexual violence as a “crime separate from sexual slavery“. Girls forced into marriage and those who suffered sexual violence in being forced to join Lubanga’s militia, are now considered victims of “a crime against humanity distinct from other forms of sexual violence such as sexual slavery because of the length of the association and its domestic nature.” From IRIN:
According to local NGOs many women and girls associated with the rebel forces, especially those not in fighting roles, were excluded from the official disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process whereby ex-combatants received money and training to help them re-enter civilian life.
Filed under: DDR, Girl Soldiers, Intl Criminal Ct, Laws, Treaties, Sierra Leone , child soldiers, Congo, Human Rights, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, War
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and UNICEF last Thursday created a new initiative called ‘Bring Back the Child’, designed to eliminate the recruitment and use of child soldiers in that country. The national program is designed to prevent child recruitment and also “promote the release of all recruited children” in Sri Lanka.
The multimedia initiative will be broadcast on television, radio and through newspapers, billboards and posters nationwide. The program promises rehabilitation and reintegration services for the children that are released. President Rajapakse said that “the total under age — under 18 years — recruitment by the LTTE in December 2008 was 6,288″ and remarked:
The whole world knows that the strategists of LTTE terror continue to hold Tamil civilians hostage for their cause and have increased the recruitment of children to carry arms for terror.
Filed under: Laws, Treaties, Sri Lanka , child soldiers, LTTE, Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers, War
February 27, 2009 • 11:27 am
Issa Hassan Sesay and Morris Kallon, two accused war criminals from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the civil war in Sierra Leone, were convicted of 16 counts of war crimes at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, including “acts of terrorism,” against the civilian population, mutilation, terrorism, rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
The statute establishing the Special Court of Sierra Leone includes a provision prohibiting conscription of children under the age of 15 punishable under Article 4.c. of the Statute.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone is a collaboration between international and national justice, set up to try those accused of committing war crimes in the civil war in Sierra Leone. AP reports: “The court was set up in 2003 after the end of the 11-year war that began in 1992.”
The last case to be tried is against Charles Taylor and is currently underway in the Hague – the trial was moved there for security reasons. Serious funding issues due to the global economic crisis have sparked talk of a possible early end to the trial, allowing Taylor to “walk free”.
Filed under: C. Taylor Trial, Intl Criminal Ct, Laws, Treaties, Sierra Leone, United Nations , charles taylor, child soldiers, court, International Criminal Court, law, news, Sierra Leone, War
