Child Soldiers: A Briefing
One of the most horrifying trends in contemporary armed conflict is the employment
of children as combatants. More than 300,000 children below the age of 18 are believed to be participating currently in armed conflicts around the world, in places as different as Afghanistan,
Angola, Colombia, Sri Lanka, and the Sudan. Most of these children are under 15, and some are as young as 7 or 8.
300,000 is a firm estimate of children currently in armed service. In addition there are unestimated
numbers of children ( ie hundreds of thousands) whose involvement in military action has traumatised their childhood and alienated them from communities and schools. There are still more
hundreds of thousands of children being educated and trained by the military. In the past decade, 2 million children have been killed, 6 million seriously injured or disabled, 1 million
orphaned, and 12 million made homeless because of war.
The action to stop this is growing. Last week (1 September 1999) the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the recruitment of children in war and pledging to prioritise children's needs in future UN missions.
Another response is the proposed Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict. This Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child seeks to raise the age of participation in armed conflict and recruitment into armed forces to 18. Raising the age limit for recruitment and participation is an attempt
to protect all those under 18, and is particularly aimed at protecting the youngest and most vulnerable children.
The age of 18 is important because this is the age to which various special protections for the young are provided under
international law. These cover harmful and exploitative child labour, all forms of violence, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, sexual exploitation, sale and trafficking, abduction and
unlawful or arbitrary detention. All these human rights violations are features of the use of children by armed forces. To argue for a lower minimum age for the recruitment and training of
soldiers (say 16 or 17) is to say that it is acceptable for these protections of the young to be weaker or to not apply, in the context of military training or military action.
While Australia has supported most aspects of the proposed Optional Protocol, it has stood out, along with the USA, against
the provision which would stop the recruitment of under 18 year olds.
The Australian Army, Navy and Airforce currently recruit 17-year-olds although the
numbers are small (around 300 per annum). As a matter of policy, these 17 year old recruits are not sent into action until they are over 18, but this is not guaranteed. The Government has
simply agreed to take all “feasible measures” to ensure that it does not happen. Nor can the Australian Government guarantee the same level of personal safety to a 17 year old
recruit as that afforded to a civilian of the same age. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, all members of the armed forces, wherever stationed and whatever their age and training status,
become legitimate targets in the event of war.
It is our view that, the very nature of the regimented and structured environment of the armed forces, and its contrast to
the civilian experience, requires maturity, emotional stability, life experience and adult status from the moment of recruitment. The acceptance of adult recruits only would enhance rather than
diminish the quality of the Australian armed forces.
It is also important to note that the United Nations has adopted a policy of using no-one under the age of 21 in UN actions,
and prefers those over 25 for peacekeeping missions.
The vast majority of nations, particularly those which have a problem of child soldiers support 18 as the minimum age for
recruitment as well as participation. Major international bodies such as the UN Security Council and the European Union are currently developing their position and plans having accepted that
this is an issue of major global importance.
DCI calls on the Australian Government to bring its position into line with the
widely supported worldwide standard. We urge the Australian Government not to hold out against the proposed Optional Protocol, for the sake of domestic convenience. We do not want this
nation to maintain a weak and ambiguous position. We want to be part of the solution by supporting the proposed optional protocol and becoming a clear and legitimate international voice on this
issue, especially in our region and with neighbouring states.
DCI urges the Australian Government to:
* support the Draft Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict, including the prohibition of all forms of recruitment of those under 18;
* amend domestic recruitment so that children under 18 years are not recruited into the armed forces;
* promptly sign the International Criminal Court Statute which makes the use of child soldiers under the age of 15 years a war crime;
* exert pressure on governments and groups that continue to use children as combatants, and cease all financial and other support for military activity in those countries;
* increase funding to projects aimed at eliminating the use of child combatants and to provide aid for the rescue and rehabilitation of those children.
Helen Bayes
DCI National Co-ordinator
DCI Representative on the Australian Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
6 September 1999
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