Liberia – Video of Girl Child Soldiers + UN CRC Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: September 14, 2009
WUNRN
International Day of Peace –
September 21
GIRLS & WOMEN CALL FOR PEACE
Direct Link to Video:
Liberia – Testimonies of
Girl Child Soldiers – Video
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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
entry into force 12 February 2002
The States Parties to the present Protocol,
Encouraged by the overwhelming support for the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, demonstrating the widespread commitment that exists to strive for
the promotion and protection of the rights of the child,
Reaffirming that the rights of children require special protection, and
calling for continuous improvement of the situation of children without
distinction, as well as for their development and education in conditions of
peace and security,
Disturbed by the harmful and widespread impact of armed conflict on children
and the long-term consequences it has for durable peace, security and
development,
Condemning the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict and
direct attacks on objects protected under international law, including places
that generally have a significant presence of children, such as schools and
hospitals,
Noting the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
in particular, the inclusion therein as a war crime, of conscripting or
enlisting children under the age of 15 years or using them to participate
actively in hostilities in both international and non-international armed
conflict,
Considering therefore that to strengthen further the implementation of
rights recognized in the Convention on the Rights of the Child there is a need
to increase the protection of children from involvement in armed conflict,
Noting that article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies
that, for the purposes of that Convention, a child means every human being
below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child,
majority is attained earlier,
Convinced that an optional protocol to the Convention that raises the age of
possible recruitment of persons into armed forces and their participation in
hostilities will contribute effectively to the implementation of the principle
that the best interests of the child are to be a primary consideration in all
actions concerning children,
Noting that the twenty-sixth International Conference of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent in December 1995 recommended, inter alia, that parties to conflict
take every feasible step to ensure that children below the age of 18 years do
not take part in hostilities,
Welcoming the unanimous adoption, in June 1999, of International Labour
Organization Convention No. 182 on the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which prohibits, inter alia,
forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict,
Condemning with the gravest concern the recruitment, training and use within
and across national borders of children in hostilities by armed groups distinct
from the armed forces of a State, and recognizing the responsibility of those
who recruit, train and use children in this regard,
Recalling the obligation of each party to an armed conflict to abide by the
provisions of international humanitarian law,
Stressing that the present Protocol is without prejudice to the purposes and
principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations, including Article
51, and relevant norms of humanitarian law,
Bearing in mind that conditions of peace and security based on full respect
of the purposes and principles contained in the Charter and observance of
applicable human rights instruments are indispensable for the full protection
of children, in particular during armed conflict and foreign occupation,
Recognizing the special needs of those children who are particularly
vulnerable to recruitment or use in hostilities contrary to the present
Protocol owing to their economic or social status or gender,
Mindful of the necessity of taking into consideration the economic, social
and political root causes of the involvement of children in armed conflict,
Convinced of the need to strengthen international cooperation in the
implementation of the present Protocol, as well as the physical and psychosocial
rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who are victims of armed
conflict,
Encouraging the participation of the community and, in particular, children
and child victims in the dissemination of informational and educational
programmes concerning the implementation of the Protocol,
Have agreed as follows:
Article
1
States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that members of
their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 years do not take a direct
part in hostilities.
Article
2
States Parties shall ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 18
years are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces.
Article
3
1. States Parties shall raise the minimum age for the voluntary recruitment
of persons into their national armed forces from that set out in article 38,
paragraph 3, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, taking account of
the principles contained in that article and recognizing that under the
Convention persons under the age of 18 years are entitled to special
protection.
2. Each State Party shall deposit a binding declaration upon ratification of
or accession to the present Protocol that sets forth the minimum age at which
it will permit voluntary recruitment into its national armed forces and a
description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure that such recruitment is
not forced or coerced.
3. States Parties that permit voluntary recruitment into their national
armed forces under the age of 18 years shall maintain safeguards to ensure, as
a minimum, that:
(a) Such recruitment is genuinely voluntary;
(b) Such recruitment is carried out with the informed consent of the
person’s parents or legal guardians;
(c) Such persons are fully informed of the duties involved in such military
service;
(d) Such persons provide reliable proof of age prior to acceptance into
national military service.
4. Each State Party may strengthen its declaration at any time by
notification to that effect addressed to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, who shall inform all States Parties. Such notification shall take
effect on the date on which it is received by the Secretary-General.
5. The requirement to raise the age in paragraph 1 of the present article
does not apply to schools operated by or under the control of the armed forces
of the States Parties, in keeping with articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Article
4
1. Armed groups that are distinct from the armed forces of a State should not,
under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of
18 years.
2. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to prevent such
recruitment and use, including the adoption of legal measures necessary to
prohibit and criminalize such practices.
3. The application of the present article shall not affect the legal status
of any party to an armed conflict.
Article
5
Nothing in the present Protocol shall be construed as precluding provisions
in the law of a State Party or in international instruments and international
humanitarian law that are more conducive to the realization of the rights of
the child.
Article
6
1. Each State Party shall take all necessary legal, administrative and other
measures to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the
provisions of the present Protocol within its jurisdiction.
2. States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the
present Protocol widely known and promoted by appropriate means, to adults and
children alike.
3. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons
within their jurisdiction recruited or used in hostilities contrary to the
present Protocol are demobilized or otherwise released from service. States
Parties shall, when necessary, accord to such persons all appropriate
assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social
reintegration.
Article
7
1. States Parties shall cooperate in the implementation of the present
Protocol, including in the prevention of any activity contrary thereto and in
the rehabilitation and social reintegration of persons who are victims of acts
contrary thereto, including through technical cooperation and financial
assistance. Such assistance and cooperation will be undertaken in consultation
with the States Parties concerned and the relevant international organizations.
2. States Parties in a position to do so shall provide such assistance
through existing multilateral, bilateral or other programmes or, inter alia,
through a voluntary fund established in accordance with the rules of the
General Assembly.
Article
8
1. Each State Party shall, within two years following the entry into force
of the present Protocol for that State Party, submit a report to the Committee
on the Rights of the Child providing comprehensive information on the measures
it has taken to implement the provisions of the Protocol, including the
measures taken to implement the provisions on participation and recruitment.
2. Following the submission of the comprehensive report, each State Party
shall include in the reports it submits to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child, in accordance with article 44 of the Convention, any further information
with respect to the implementation of the Protocol. Other States Parties to the
Protocol shall submit a report every five years.
3. The Committee on the Rights of the Child may request from States Parties
further information relevant to the implementation of the present Protocol.
Article
9
1. The present Protocol is open for signature by any State that is a party
to the Convention or has signed it.
2. The present Protocol is subject to ratification and is open to accession
by any State. Instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. The Secretary-General, in his capacity as depositary of the Convention
and the Protocol, shall inform all States Parties to the Convention and all
States that have signed the Convention of each instrument of declaration
pursuant to article 3.
Article
10
1. The present Protocol shall enter into force three months after the
deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present Protocol or acceding to it after its
entry into force, the Protocol shall enter into force one month after the date
of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
Article
11
1. Any State Party may denounce the present Protocol at any time by written
notification to the Secretary- General of the United Nations, who shall
thereafter inform the other States Parties to the Convention and all States
that have signed the Convention. The denunciation shall take effect one year
after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General. If,
however, on the expiry of that year the denouncing State Party is engaged in
armed conflict, the denunciation shall not take effect before the end of the
armed conflict.
2. Such a denunciation shall not have the effect of releasing the State
Party from its obligations under the present Protocol in regard to any act that
occurs prior to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective. Nor shall
such a denunciation prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any
matter that is already under consideration by the Committee on the Rights of
the Child prior to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective.
Article
12
1. Any State Party may propose an amendment and file it with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon
communicate the proposed amendment to States Parties with a request that they
indicate whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of
considering and voting upon the proposals. In the event that, within four
months from the date of such communication, at least one third of the States
Parties favour such a conference, the Secretary-General shall convene the
conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a
majority of States Parties present and voting at the conference shall be
submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.
2. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present
article shall enter into force when it has been approved by the General
Assembly and accepted by a two-thirds majority of States Parties.
3. When an amendment enters into force, it shall be binding on those States
Parties that have accepted it, other States Parties still being bound by the
provisions of the present Protocol and any earlier amendments they have
accepted.
Article
13
1. The present Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the
archives of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified
copies of the present Protocol to all States Parties to the Convention and all
States that have signed the Convention.
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