HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WELCOMES ENTRY INTO FORCE OF INSTRUMENT AGAINST USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WELCOMES ENTRY INTO FORCE

OF INSTRUMENT AGAINST USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS

GENEVA, 12 February (UN Information Service) -- A treaty to ban the use of children as soldiers comes into force today, crowning ten years of international efforts to fight one of the major causes of human rights violations in the world.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict establishes that no person under the age of 18 shall be subject to compulsory recruitment into regular armed forces, and imposes an obligation on States to raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment to at least 16 years.  States Parties to the Protocol shall also ensure that members of their armed forces under 18 years of age do not take a direct part in hostilities.  In addition, armed groups distinct from the armed forces of a State should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons under 18.

Marking the entry into force of the Optional Protocol, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson called on States not only to ratify the treaty, but to make binding declarations ending all forms of military recruitment and participation of children under 18 years of age.

"We are urging all governments and armed groups to end the military recruitment of children under 18 and to release and rehabilitate those children already in service", she said.  "There can no longer be any excuses for using children for war".

      The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has played an important role in advocating for the adoption of an Optional Protocol.  It estimates that half a million children are currently serving in government armed forces, paramilitaries and armed groups in 85 countries worldwide; more than 300,000 of these are actively participating in fighting in more than 35 countries. 

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which ten years ago initiated work leading to the adoption of the Optional Protocol, will be in charge of monitoring progress achieved by States parties in implementing the new instrument.  Each State party will, within two years of ratifying or acceding to the Protocol, submit a report to the Committee providing comprehensive information on the measures it has taken to implement it.

Fourteen countries have now ratified the Optional Protocol:  Andorra, Bangladesh, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Holy See, Iceland, Kenya, Monaco, New Zealand, Panama, Romania, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Eighty-two countries have signed without proceeding to ratification. 

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