Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict Adopted and

opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution A/RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000 entered into force on 12 February 2002 1st Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

In Article 38, the Convention on the Rights of the Child urges governments to take all feasible measures to ensure that children under 15 have no direct part in hostilities. The Convention also set 15 years as the minimum age at which an individual can be voluntarily recruited into or enlist in the armed forces. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict is an effort to strengthen implementation of the Convention and increase the protection of children during armed conflicts. The Protocol requires States who ratify it to take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces under the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities. States must also raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces from 15 years but does not require a minimum age of 18. The Protocol does, however, remind States that children under 18 are entitled to special protection and so any voluntary recruitment under the age of 18 must include sufficient safeguards. It further bans compulsory recruitment below the age of 18. States parties must also take legal measures to prohibit independent armed groups from recruiting and using children under the age of 18 in conflicts. When ratifying the Protocol, States must make a declaration regarding the age at which national armed forces will permit voluntary recruitment, as well as the steps that States will take to ensure that such recruitment is never forced or coerced. This requirement is particularly important because the Optional Protocol does not establish age 18 as a minimum for voluntary recruitment into the armed forcesonly for direct participation in armed conflict. After receiving the first 10 ratifications needed for its entry into force, the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict became legally binding on 12 February 2002. Today, more than 100 countries have signed and ratified this Protocol. For more information on the process of ratification or accession, click on Using the Convention to protect children on the left menu. Ten years have passed since the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) came into force. In that time, the international community, led by the UN, has made a concerted effort to limit the global use and recruitment of children. Agreements have been reached with many state and non-state armed groups to try and limit future recruitment and use. Thousands of child soldiers have been

demobilised. And this decline in the overall numbers of child soldiers, once estimated in the hundreds of thousands, has been assisted by peace settlements concluded in the past ten years, particularly in Africa. But this broadly positive trend is not irreversible, nor is complete. The decrease in the numbers of child soldiers has largely come about because of an end to hostilities. Few of the measures that have been adopted so far provide adequate safeguards that children will not be recruited and used in future conflicts. And many of the circumstances that made past use so easy, and so attractive, to commanders of armed forces and groups, have not gone away. Indeed, grave violations continue to occur, with many thousands of children continuing to be recruited and used in hostilities by both government forces and armed groups in most contemporary armed conflicts. For those reasons, effective and sustainable prevention must now be the priority. This year we will be launching a report to mark the tenth anniversary of OPAC which will make a strong case for building on the recent achievements of the UN through the implementation of a set of specific preventative measures. The report will also call for child soldier issues to be given due account in national and international support for post-conflict stabilisation, security sector reform and military assistance. As our Director, Richard Clarke, makes clear, without more effective prevention, the risk of recurrent recruitment and use of child soldiers remains high. In the past ten years, accessions to OPAC have undoubtedly established a clear global trend towards raising the minimum recruitment age to 18. Yet the UK stands alone among its EU partners, and among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, in continuing to recruit 16 years olds into its armed forces. Operationally, financially and in terms of the rights and welfare of these children, there is an overwhelming case to end this policy. Now, on this tenth anniversary of the entry into force of OPAC is the time to do it.

The 12th February 2012 is the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers (celebrated in many parts of the world as Red Hand Day). It is also the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict is the core international human rights treaty on child soldiers and to date it has been ratified or acceded to by 144 states. Since OPAC was drafted, the UN has spearheaded efforts to limit the global use and recruitment of children. Agreements have been reached with a number of state and non-state armed groups and action plans are in place in 15 countries. At the same time there are fewer conflicts in Africa

and Asia (where most of the previous violations occurred), with lower numbers of child soldiers than the 250,000 previously estimated by the UN. Nevertheless grave violations continue to occur, with many thousands of children continuing to be recruited and used in hostilities by both government forces and armed groups in most of contemporary armed conflicts. Indeed the perceived decrease in the participation children in armed conflict is due more to the ending of hostilities than to measures that have been adopted to prevent and protect children from recruitment and use, or to any effort to address the underlying risks of childrens participation in conflict. On 17 March 2006, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was the first person to be arrested on an ICC arrest warrant. His trial began on 26 January 2009. At the request of Mr Lubanga Dyilo, and in accordance with article 76(2) of the Rome Statute, the Chamber will hold a separate sentencing hearing. The Chamber will, furthermore, establish the principles that are to be applied to reparations for victims. The defence is entitled to appeal the conviction within 30 days of receiving the French translation of the Judgment. Over the course of 204 days of hearings, the Trial Chamber has delivered 275 written decisions and orders and 347 oral decisions. The Chamber heard 36 witnesses, including 3 experts, called by the Office of the Prosecutor, 24 witnesses called by the defence and 3 witnesses called by the legal representatives of the victims participating in the proceedings. The Chamber also called 4 experts. A total of 129 victims, represented by two teams of legal representatives and the Office of Public Counsel for Victims, were granted the right to participate in the trial. They have been authorised to present submissions and to examine witnesses on specific issues. The Prosecution submitted 368 items of evidence, the Defence 992, and the legal representatives of victims 13.

At present, 15 cases have been brought before the Court in the context of 7 situations that are currently under investigation: Uganda , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Central African Republic , Darfur ( Sudan ), Kenya , Libya and Cte dIvoire . The ICC Judges have issued 20 warrants of arrest (2 withdrawn following the death of the suspects) and 9 summonses to appear. Currently, five individuals are in the ICC custody and 11 suspects remain at large.

The following is a summary of the main regional and international legal standards relating to child soldiers: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict: This was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 May 2000 and entered into force on 12 February 2002. The protocol sets 18 as the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities, for recruitment into armed groups, and for compulsory recruitment by governments. States may accept volunteers from the age of 16 but must deposit a binding declaration at the time of ratification or accession, setting out their minimum voluntary recruitment age and outlining certain safeguards for such recruitment. ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 182: This convention was adopted on 16 June 1999 and came into force on 19 November 2000. It commits each state which ratifies it to "take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency". The term "child" applies to all persons under the age of 18 years and the worst forms of child labour include: all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or

compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict (Article 3a). Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 (1977): The protocols set 15 as the minimum age for recruitment or use in armed conflict. This minimum standard applies to all parties, both governmental and non-governmental, in both international and internal armed conflict.

The Paris Commitments and Principles (2007) A major international conference entitled "Free children from war" was held in Paris on 5 and 6 February 2007. The meeting, co-organized by the French Government and UNICEF, was attended by 58 countries, including dozens of government ministers, donors, the heads of UN agencies and many non-governmental organizations. At the meeting, the 58 governments endorsed, and pledged to respect, the principles contained in two documents: The Paris Commitments - consists of a set of legal and operational principles needed to protect children from recruitment or use in armed conflict. The "Paris Commitments" complement existing legal and political mechanisms already in place. The "Paris Principles" is a more detailed document which sets forth a wide range of principles relating to the protection of children from recruitment or use in armed conflict, their release and successful reintegration into civilian life .The principles also address the need for long term prevention strategies in order to definitively end children's involvement in armed conflict. Who are child soldiers? Child Soldiers International considers the term child soldier to be equivalent to the following description of children associated with armed forces or groups: A child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking, or has taken, a direct part in hostilities. (Source: Paris Principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups, UNICEF, February 2007.) Child soldiers perform a range of tasks including participation in combat, laying mines and explosives; scouting, spying, acting as decoys, couriers or guards; training, drill or other

preparations; logistics and support functions, portering, cooking and domestic labour; and sexual slavery or other recruitment for sexual purposes.

However, research has shown that a number of factors may be involved in making the decision to actually join an armed conflict and in reality many such adolescents see few alternatives to enlisting. War itself is a major determinant. Economic, social, community and family structures are frequently ravaged by armed conflict and joining the ranks of the fighters is often the only means of survival. Many youths have reported that desire to avenge the killing of relatives or other violence arising from war is an important motive. Poverty and lack of access to educational or work opportunities are additional factors - with joining up often holding out either the promise or the reality of an income or a means of getting one. Coupled with this may be a desire for power, status or social recognition. Family and peer pressure to join up for ideological or political reasons or to honour family tradition may also be motivating factors. Girl soldiers have reported joining up to escape domestic servitude or enforced marriage or get away from domestic violence, exploitation and abuse.