Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 17. november 2004 / Timeline November 17, 2004
Version 3.516. November 2004, 18. November 2004
11/17/2004
Child Soldiers: Governments failing generations of
children
Amnesti International
London -- Governments are undermining progress in ending the use of
children as soldiers, said a coalition of the world's leading human
rights and humanitarian organizations in a newly published
report.
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers today released the
most comprehensive global survey of child soldiers to date. It said
that children are fighting in almost every major conflict, in both
government and opposition forces. They are being injured, subjected
to horrific abuse and killed.
The Coalition accused governments at the European Union, G-8 and UN
Security Council of a failure of leadership. It called for the
immediate enforcement of a ban on the use of child soldiers.
"Children should be protected from warfare not used to wage it.
Instead generations are having their childhoods stolen by
governments and armed groups," said Casey Kelso, head of the
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
"A world that does not allow children to fight wars is possible,
but governments must show the political will and courage to make
this happen by enforcing international laws."
`Child Soldiers Global Report 2004' reviews trends and developments
since 2001 in 196 countries. Despite some improvements the
situation remained the same or deteriorated in many countries. Wars
ending in Afghanistan, Angola and Sierra Leone led to the
demobilization of 40,000 children, but over 25,000 were drawn into
conflicts in Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan alone.
Opportunities for progress, including the creation of and growing
support for a UN child soldiers treaty, the creation of
demobilization programs in some countries and momentum towards
prosecutions of those recruiting children, have been undermined by
governments actively breaking pledges or failing to show political
leadership.
Although the UN Security Council has condemned child soldiering and
monitors those using children in war, some members have blocked
real progress by opposing concrete penalties for violators. The
Coalition said that the Security Council should take immediate and
decisive action to get children out of conflict by applying
targeted sanctions and referring child recruiters to the
International Criminal Court for prosecution.
Armed groups, both government-backed paramilitaries and opposition
forces, are the main culprits in recruitment and use of child
soldiers. Dozens of groups in at least 21 conflicts have recruited
tens of thousands of children since 2001, forcing them into combat,
training them to use explosives and weapons, and subjecting them to
rape, violence and hard labour.
Girls and boys in the opposition Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, for example, were subjected to "war councils" for
disciplinary offences and in some cases other children were forced
to execute them. In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, armed
groups sexually abused and raped girls and forced children to kill
their own relatives.
The Coalition said that all armed groups should protect children
from conflict or be held legally accountable.
Governments, including Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Myanmar, Sudan and the USA, used children on the front lines in at
least 10 conflicts. Others, including Colombia, Uganda and
Zimbabwe, backed paramilitary groups and militias that used child
soldiers. States such as Indonesia and Nepal used children as
informants, spies or messengers.
Some governments, including Burundi, Indonesia and the Russian
Federation, killed, tortured or arbitrarily detained children
suspected of supporting armed opposition. Palestinian children
detained by Israeli forces were tortured or threatened to coerce
them to become informants.
Western governments broke commitments to protect children by
providing military training and support to governments using child
soldiers, such as Rwanda and Uganda.
The Coalition called on governments to ban all recruitment of
under- 18s into any armed force and to ratify and fully implement
the UN child soldiers treaty, which is helping to reduce the
numbers of children used in hostilities.
At least 60 governments, including Australia, Austria, Germany, the
Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA, continue to legally
recruit children aged 16 and 17.
For a copy of the full report, please go to:
www.child-soldiers.org
For further information, contact Nicki East or Casey Kelso at the
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers: +44 20 7713 2761 or
press@child-soldiers.org.uk
1. The Steering Committee of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers consists of Amnesty International, Defence for Children
International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation Terre
des Hommes, International Save the Children Alliance, Jesuit
Refugee Service, the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and
World Vision International.
2. `UN child soldiers treaty' refers to the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict. This prohibits the participation of
children under the age of 18 in hostilities and all forced
recruitment of children. It calls on states to raise the minimum
age for voluntary recruitment. By October 2004 it had been ratified
by 85 states and signed by 116.
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