International Law to Stop Use of Child Soldiers

Today, the use of child soldiers in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere is an issue that many can agree on. Something must be done to stop it. Yet this idea that using child soldiers is somehow immoral is not an old belief. Until fairly recently it was simply accepted as a method of warfare. The mission to do away with child soldiering has had a long and tortuous past, and continues to evolve (and be abused) today.

Developing International Legal Regimes

In the early 1900s, attempts were made to protect the child, but the focus remained on the integrity of the family as a whole, and the whole issue of child soldiering was largely ignored.

A year after Germany and Japan surrendered, the draft Convention for the Protection of Children in the Event of International Conflict or Civil War was to be included in the Geneva Conventions of 1949. These Geneva Conventions did little with respect to child soldiers. They ignored crimes by non-state actors, and did not set a minimum age for child soldiers. The focus in the early years was put mainly on international conflict, ignoring those destabliziing civil wars and insurgencies where child soldiers are most often used.

Child Soldiering Becomes a Mainstream Concern

The United Nations issued the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, guaranteeing the right to a name, a nationality, and the right to be raised in a peaceful environment. In 1974 the international community acknowledged the need to protect women and children in civilian roles in the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict. This would lead to the 1977 Geneva Protocols, but again, did little to substantially change the plight of soldiers under the age of 18.

Recent International Law

In 1989 the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into existence. Finally the international community was attempting to deal with the issue of child soldiers, but it only amounted to a strong suggestion that children under 15 not be involved in war.

In 2000 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a protocol which was aimed at restricting the use of children in armed conflict. The Children in Armed Conflict Protocol set minimum ages for compulsory service, and was met with stiff opposition from the beginning. The minimum age was brought up to 18 from 15 and declared that no one under the age of 18 may be put in a combat situation.

Algeria pushed for separate rules for volunteers, pointing out that Geneva Convention IV separated recruits and volunteers in legal terms. The United States supported Algeria because unlike many nations in the world, the U.S. military was all volunteer and they wanted to keep their options open. America proposed a compromise, which would require states to raise the age of combatants, if not all the way to 18, then at least some progress was made.

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

To date, the largest attempt to outlaw the use of child soldiers came not from Europe or North America, but from that war-plagued continent of Africa. The African Charter was the most ambitious attempt to control child soldiering, but its enforcement was delayed probably due to its massive scope. It not only protected children in war, but in "tension and strife" as well. On November 29, 1999 it came into force. In its final form the Charter only prohibited child marriages, discrimination, and gave protection from harmful rituals.

Sources:

"African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child Comes Into Force." Journal of African Law Vol
45 No 1.

"Newly Adopted Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child." American Academy of Political and
Social Science Vol 575, Children's Rights.

"The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child -- And How to Make It Work." Human Rights Quarterly Vol 12 No 1.

Originally Published here at Suite101.com.