> Country Child Soldiers Afghanistan COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * Sources have claimed that children as young as 11 were members of the various armed groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen database quoting The Scotsman, 17/12/97) * It is estimated that at least 108,000 children are involved in the fighting. (ECPAT International, A Step Forward, 1999) * In recent years, with approximately 90% of children having no access to schooling, the proportion of child soldiers has risen from roughly 30% to at least 45%. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) * In August 1999, a Taliban delegation visited all the main madrasas in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province appealing for students to join the Taliban's holy war. It is estimated that up to 5,000 students left their schools. According to the UN, the students who joined the Taliban at that time were aged between 15 and 35. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Galpin, R., "Teenage recruits swell Taliban ranks", The Guardian, 21/08/99) * In August 1999, the United Nations estimated that up to 5,000 students aged 15 years and above, left their schools and joined the Taliban's holy war. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing P. Lobjois, "Pakistanis fiers de mourir en Afghanistan: recrutés par les taliban, ils pensaient combattre les Russes", Libération, 13 August 1999) * The Annual Report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan accused the Taliban of recruiting soldiers as young as 14 from religious schools in Pakistan. ("Taliban denies charge, it uses child soldiers", The Plain Dealer, 1 December 1999) * The Northern Alliance, had a combined strength of over 60,000, of which about 45% were children below 18 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Afghanistan, 1994-1995) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * The Machel Study found that the youngest child soldier was 13 years old, though did not mention for whom he was fighting. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing the Machel study) * Amnesty International reported a case of a man who filed a petition in the Sindh High Court in Karachi, Pakistan, after his 13-year-old son was reported missing while he was studying in the local Jamia Islamia school. The father accused the principal of the school of having sent his son to fight in Afghanistan without consulting the parents. Some 600 other juveniles were reportedly taken in buses to Afghanistan on the same day. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Amnesty International, Children in South Asia securing their rights, ASA, April 1998) * UNICEF notes that thousands of children are involved in the ongoing civil war on both sides. Although unable to supply specific figures, the UN affirms that the problem is worse now than it was in the past. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * There have been many reports of child and adolescent recruitment by the Taliban although no estimates of total numbers are available. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * No girls have been recruited by the Taliban, but there have been reports of forced marriages of girls from Shamali and Mazar. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen database, citing some NGO staff in Pakistan) * In 1998, Afghanistan's Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, decreed that followers who are too young must leave his fighting militia. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "Row over Taliban child soldier claim", BBC News, 1 December 1999) * To fill the ranks caused by numerous casualties following unsuccessful attempts to conquer the northern provinces in 1997, the Taliban were said to be recruiting more and more young men in their early teens. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing War Resisters International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * A UN official who visited the country in the fall of 1996 said there were many children, as young as 13 years of age, among the Taliban. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * When Taliban became party to the civil war in 1994, they forcibly recruited young Afghan refugees attending religious schools in Pakistan by press-ganging, house-to-house searches, and seizing children from secondary schools. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * Children have reportedly been seen in the ranks of the Northern Alliance. One journalist reported of a child who helped unload Soviet-era MI-6 rockets from a helicopter in a northern Afghan village, Andarab. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "Afghanistan's deadly war is child's play", AFP, 3 November 1998) Albania RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Every Albanian man and woman over the age of 18 years is liable for military service. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Children were alleged to have been involved in armed activity during the uprising in 1997. In addition, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) reportedly recruited children under 18 for the armed conflict in neighbouring Kosovo. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * It is believed that the minimum age for entry into military schools in Albania is 14 years. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information provided by Natasa Dokovska, Journalists for the Rights of Women, Children and the Environment) * During the uprising of 1997, it was reported that children as young as 10 were among the looters and seen carrying arms. It has been reported that the KLA recruited soldiers, including children, on Albanian territory during the Kosovo crisis. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen, http://www.rb.se) * During the months of the uprising it was claimed that an opposition group, 'Committee of National Salvation', based in Girokaster, had called upon all children under 18 years of age to surrender their weapons. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) Algeria RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment (conscription) is 19 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Ordinance 74-103 of 15 November 1974) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * It has been reported that children and youth are actively participating both in the local militias linked to the government and in the armed groups opposed to the governmental armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Peter Strandberg, Swedish freelance journalist) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Armed opposition groups are widely reported to have children in their ranks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) A journalist who secretly visited an AIS (the Islamic Salvation Army) camp in 1997 reported the presence of boys, some as young as 15, among the movement's soldiers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Dennis M., Newsweek, 30/6/97) * Another source has claimed that The Armed Islamic Group, Groupe Islamique Armés, uses young boys, mainly in their early teens, to plant bombs and carry out surprise attacks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information received from reliable source that requests confidentiality) Andorra NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18 recruits, as the country has no armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Angola COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * It is estimated that with the resumption of armed conflict since 1998 some 7,000-child soldiers are currently participating in the conflict, with forcible recruitment of children increasing during 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The UN estimates that at least 3,000 children are among the ranks of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing UN citing Radda Barnen, Child War database) * UNICEF claimed that in 1997 there were 520 children in the FAA. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * Two staff members from the Norwegian Save the Children, after working with registration of child soldiers for UNAVEM, reported that 5,600 child soldiers had been registered on the UNITA side. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Military service was made compulsory for all men aged over 20 years. For voluntary recruitment the minimum age was fixed at 18 years for men and 20 years for women. In November 1998, the Council of Ministers lowered the minimum age for conscription from 18 to 17 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Angola Peace Monitor, 27 November 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Angolan government forces were charged with recruiting large numbers of Namibian children some as young as 14 or 15, including girls. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing AI Urgent Action Appeal, "Child Soldiers on Angola/Namibia Border", 3/00) * In 2000, recruitment of children occurred throughout the country, particularly rural areas and in some suburbs of Luanda. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US Department of State, Angola Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2000) * The UN Monitoring Mechanism reported to the UN Security Council that in the Nangweshi refugee camp, where some 13,000 Angolans reside, there is a "risk of forced recruitment of minors. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing UN Monitoring Mechanism report to the UN Security Council) * Although some children might have been caught up in forced recruitment campaigns, the Government has not brought any significant number of children back into the armed forces. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * The government claims that no one below the age of 18 years is being recruited. However, NGOs and international organisations operating in the country testify to the contrary. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. Belida, "Angola war", Voice of America, 19 January 1999) * It has been claimed that military commanders have paid police officers to find new recruits. Children as young as 14 years have been forced to enlist. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * UNITA increased its forcible recruitment of children and adults in its war effort. Conscription of children continued to be commonplace with boys and girls as young as 10 seized and trained as soldiers by the rebels. (HRW, World Report 2001 citing Angola Peace Monitor, "Fears that refugee camps harbouring UNITA", No.5, 31/1/01) * In January 2000 there were reports of UNITA forces recruiting Namibian children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No 1/00, 3/00) * According to the US State Department, UNITA continued to forcibly recruit or even abduct children throughout the country's disputed territory. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US State Dept op. cit.) * Women, many as young as 13 years old, were forcibly recruited to serve as porters and camp followers, and reports of sexual assault were widespread and credible. Females were also abducted for use as sex slaves. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US State Department op. cit.) * One source, requesting confidentiality, has asserted that boys in their early teens are still being rounded up and deployed. There are also said to be very high desertion rates for these children, though it is not clear whether they are able to make it home. When very young children are initially recruited, they are 'thrown back' as the receiving military commanders do not want them. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * In 1998, the Inter-African Network for Human Rights and Development (Afronet) and Human Rights Watch alleged that UNITA was abducting children aged 13 years living in border towns of Cazombo and Lumbala Nguimbo. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing M. Mulenga, " UNITA accused of abducting Angolan youths for war ", Panafrican News Agency, 30 July 1998) * A number of different sources have stated that the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave recruited children into their forces. The FLEC-FAC was reported to have children as young as 8 years of age among its ranks and 30-40% of them were girls. A similar situation is believed to exist in the breakaway FLEC-Renovada. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing freelance journalist Peter Stranberg) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Children had been recruited and used as soldiers throughout the Angolan conflict. After the Lusaka Peace Accord in 1994, soldiers from both government and UNITA forces were officially demobilised. A total of 8,500 child soldiers were registered. Children comprised 12% of UNITA troops gathered in the 15 Quartering Areas, but this figure greatly underestimates the scale of the problem since many soldiers had been recruited as children but had reached 18 years of age by the time of registration. By the end of March 1997, only 2,336 child soldiers had been demobilised and over 50% of the total had deserted the Quartering Areas. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * 7,000 children were involved in the conflict. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing SAPA/AP, 30 January, 1997, citing UN sources) * In January 1997, 212 child soldiers between the ages of 13 and 17 were demobilised from the Angolan armed forces. This marked the first official demobilisation by the government. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing J. Fleming, "Baby steps toward final peace in Angola", Christian Science Monitor, 2 February 1997) * In 1996, UNITA began demobilizing its child soldiers and had returned 2,000 children to civilian life by January 1997. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * One source reported that at the time of the Lusaka Protocol, the armies registered over 9,000 minors, of whom 5,171 were selected for demobilisation. Most of these youths had been recruited forcibly at 13 or 14 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing M. Wessels, Child soldiering: Challenges to security and democracy, 4 December 1998) Antigua and Barbuda NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in Antigua and Barbuda small armed forces due to insufficient information regarding voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Argentina RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 19 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Armenia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Law on Military Duty states 18 years as the minimum age for voluntary enlistment. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UNICEF, 18 August 1999) * All men between the ages of 18 and 27 are liable for military service. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The Committee on the Rights of the Child, at its January 2000 session, raised questions regarding reports of refugee children from Azerbaijan being forced to join the Armenian army. The delegation responded that Armenian children in Nagorno Karabakh had been known to take up arms against Azerbaijan "in defence of their territory" but that there were no reports of children participating in armed conflict at the present time. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing he Committee on the Rights of the Child) * There have been reports of the forced recruitment of refugee children from Azerbaijan into the Armenian army despite legal minimum age requirements of 18 for both compulsory and voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Australia COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * There are 650 children comprising 1% of the total force. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In 1998, the government reported that in practice no one under age 17 is recruited into any of the three services. But given the absence of legislation setting a minimum age for voluntary recruitment, this policy is not hard and fast. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Compulsory military service was abolished in December 1972 by an administrative action, a decision that became a legislation the following year under the National Service Termination Act. There is no minimum age specified in the law. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * According to the government, in practice, no one younger than 17 years old can be recruited into any of the three services. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing the Australian Department of Defence, 5 January 1998) * According to the Defence Act 1903, in time of war, no one below the age of 18 years can be sent to the front line. In time of peace, it had been a "long-standing practice in all three services not to send members under 18 years to an area of hostility. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing world vision Australia, 12 April 2000) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS Evidence emerged of cases of under-18s being deployed with Australian forces in East Timor in September 1999. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing World Vision Australia, 12 April 2000) Austria RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * New legislation has been passed prohibiting direct participation in hostilities of those who have not reached 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)   * The legal basis for conscription is the 1990 Defence Law according to which every male citizen is liable for voluntary service from the age of 17 and military service not before he turns 18. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * The Austrian delegation said to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that "girls could not under any circumstances enter the army before 18 years of age". However, it seems that this information was incorrect and that girls can join the armed forces at the age of 17. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UN CRC, Consideration of the Report of Austria, 15 April 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * During the last nine years, the number of recruits under age 18 has more than doubled and the percentage of underage recruits in the armed forces has almost tripled. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruitment at 17 years of age is possible with parental consent. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * According to the government, under no circumstances could underage recruits be sent into combat in time of war. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UN CRC, Consideration of the report of Austria, 15 April 1999) Azerbaijan RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Government has stated that the minimum age for service in the armed forces is currently 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UN CRC, Consideration of the Report of Azerbaijan, 28 August 1997) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There have been reports of the forced recruitment of refugee children from Azerbaijan into the Armenian army despite legal minimum age requirements of 18 for both compulsory and voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There are no reports of government recruiting under-18s. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Recruitment and use of child soldiers, some as young as 14, by opposition forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have been reported. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Some sources say that 17 years is the minimum age for recruitment in a "a form of conscription… imposed by the self-proclaimed 'Armenian republic of Nagorno-Karabakh'". (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen Child War Database quoting Swedish TV/Aktuellt, 1996, http://www.rb.se) * There has also been photographic evidence of the participation of a 14-year-old soldier guarding the land corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in 1995 but it is not certain that the boy belonged to Karabakhi forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen Child War Database quoting IPCS, Armed Conflict Report 1995, Project Ploughshares, Waterloo, Ontario, http://www.rb.se) Bahamas NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information about the minimum recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Bahrain NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Bangladesh GOVERNMENT STATISTICS * Figures for 1999 show that there were 3,374 recruits under 18 in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing M. Masum op cit.) * Some 3% of government armed forces are under 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing M. Masum op cit.) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum legal enlistment age in the Bangladesh Army is 16 years for soldiers and 17 for cadet officers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing the Bangladesh Government Representative at the Asia Pacific Conference on Child Soldiers, 15-18 May 2000) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * In 1997, a report asserted that "Jumma children have been tortured, forced to watch the torture of their parents, and forced to participate in torture." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Minority Rights Group International, War: The Impact on Minority and Indigenous Children, Report 97/2) NOTES ON OPPOSITION FORCES * Children are also used by armed opposition groups and criminal gangs. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Barbados NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in the Barbados armed forces as volunteers under 18 are accepted with parental consent. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Belarus NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to insufficient information regarding minimum voluntary recruitment age. The direct participation of children in armed conflict is prohibited in military law. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Belarus to the UN CRC, 29 June 1993) Belgium RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Voluntary recruitment is possible from 16 years of age. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing a telephone conversation, dated 8 September 1999.) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as certain ranks may enlist voluntarily from the age of 16. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES ON FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS * On 22 November 1998, the criminal police of Hanover reported that 3 children had been trained by the PKK for guerrilla warfare in camps in the Netherlands and Belgium. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing GfbV, "GfbV appelliert an Bundesregierung: Sorgen Sie für die Rückkehr der von der PKK in Deutschland entführten kurdischen Minderjährigen in ihren Familien!", 23 November 1998) Belize NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Benin RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers may be accepted from 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing information obtained by the Swedish Consulate in Porto Novo through official sources in Benin) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The government maintains that it does not recruit under-18s. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Ambassador of Benin in Brussels, 10 December 1998) * There is no underage recruitment into the Benin armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * There is no evidence of any underage troops amongst the 145 troops Benin sent to Guinea Bissau as part of the West African peace monitoring forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Benin send troops to Guinea Bissau", Pan-African News Agency, 28 January 1999) Bhutan GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In the government armed forces, which had a total strength of 11,000, 5% or around 550, were children below 18 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Bhutan, 1994-1995) * Child soldiers below the age of 18 formed approximately 10%, or around 200, of the Militias, the government paramilitary. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Bhutan, 1994-1995) * Reports stated that one detachment of 200 soldiers contained 3 soldiers under 15 years, and that another 400 contained 15 who were under 16 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Bhutan, 1994-1995) * NGO sources claim that up to 30% of militia recruits in the early 1990s were school and village children. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Royal Bhutan Army is an all-volunteer force and the minimum age for recruitment is 18 years. The practice of conscription was stopped a decade ago. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Bhutan to the UN, September 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * A case study on Bhutan conducted for the Machel Study in 1995 provided testimonies indicating that detachments of the Royal Bhutan Army contained young boys, some not more than 15 years of age. Testimony from former soldiers now living in the refugee camps in Nepal suggested a pattern of forced underage recruitment at that time. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen Child War database quoting the Machel case study, http://www.rb.se) * In September 2000 the Government of Bhutan stated that "the question of the use of children as combatants … does not arise" due to the absence of "a war like situation" in Bhutan. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing statement by Permanent Mission of Bhutan to the United Nations in Geneva, September 2000) * According to one source, children who failed their school examinations were compelled to join the armed forces; families with more than three sons were also required to send at least one for military service. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000 citing Mission of Bhutan to the UN, September 2000) * A system of Village Defence Committees is used for local patrolling in the border region. An Amnesty International delegation heard that children under 18 are regularly used for such duties. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Bolivia GOVERNMENT FORCES STATISTICS * Almost half of Bolivia's armed forces are under 18, including some children as young as 14. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * According to one source, some 40% of the armed forces are under 18, and 50% of these are under 16. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing letter by Juan Ramon Quintana, Director, Centro Latinoamericano de Estudios para la Paz, to the CSC, La Paz, 2/6/99) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Bolivian authorities acknowledged that "although the minimum age for performing military service is 18 years, when the annual intake into the armed forces cannot be made up on a voluntary basis, compulsory recruitment is indiscriminate, an occasion for forcibly recruiting poor adolescents, including some as young as 14, by means of organised sweeps". (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 21 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army (EGTK), which was believed to have disappeared in 1992, appears to be still in existence in rural areas and is thought to be in contact with the rebels of the Chilean Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR). These groups have recruited young, educated and marginalised Indians, using the same methods as Shining Path for their recruitment. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing J. M. Balencie and A. de La Grange, Mondes rebelles, 1999) Bosnia and Herzegovina RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * It is asserted that voluntary recruitment can take place for young men in the calendar year when they turn 17 i.e., at the age of 16. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UNICEF, 22 June 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * According to UNICEF, children under 18 years were not obliged to participate in military forces, very few of them joined the military forces as volunteers, and they were accepted only if they were older than 16 years. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information provided by UNICEF, 22/6/99) * It is claimed that all men above the age of 18 are liable for military service. This has been confirmed by UNICEF. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * According to sources including the UN, some 3,000 to 4,000 children participated in hostilities between 1992-1995 in the former Yugoslavia, the vast majority in Bosnia and Croatia. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Brett and McCallin op. cit quoting UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children) * One source estimated that more than 20,000 children between 13 and 16 were involved in the conflict (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing N. Dokovska, Journalists for the Rights of Women, Children and the Environment) * The Croatian Ministry of Defence strongly denied such recruitment occurred. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing remarks to the draft report 'The Use of Children as Soldiers in Europe', communication to the CSC, 12/11/99.) * The country case study conducted for the UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children quoted one instance of a 10-year-old child taking part in the hostilities. Rädda Barnen's Swedish magazine, Barnen och vi, also quoted the enrolment of children as young as 11 in the regular forces. In 1995, the magazine contained an interview with a 15-year-old from Bosnia-Herzegovina who became a soldier during the war. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Children of War, No. 2/96.) * According to UNICEF, during the war from 1992 to 1995, "children under 18 were not obliged to participate in military forces" and "very few of them joined the military forces as volunteers and they were accepted only if they were older than 16." This is however is contested by another source, which alleges that between 3,000 and 4,000 children participated in the 1992-1995 war in the former territory of Yugoslavia, the vast majority in Bosnia and Croatia. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children) Botswana RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment into the armed forces is on a voluntary basis for over 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * While there is currently no evidence of under-18s in government armed forces, the lack of formal age qualification for volunteers indicates that under-18s could be enlisted. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment taking place. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * In September 1998, Botswana sent troops to Lesotho as part of the peacekeeping mission of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). There is no evidence that any underage soldiers were among the Botswana contingent. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Brazil RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 19 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum age of voluntary recruitment is 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Brunei Darussalam RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The government declared in 1989 that it had no plans to introduce compulsory military service. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to insufficient information regarding recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)   Bulgaria RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All Bulgarian men are subject to military service after turning 18 and the law does not provide for the possibility of accepting volunteers in the army at a lower age. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Bulgaria to the UN CRC, 12 October 1995) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Burkina Faso RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for voluntary enlistment in the armed forces is 20 years, whereas the minimum age of conscription is 18. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * According to Rädda Barnen the military school Prytanée militaire of Kadiogo accepts children between ages 11 and 13, but pupils are not members of the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Rädda Barnen) Burma (Myanmar) NATIONAL STATISTICS * The total number of child soldiers is estimated to be greater than 50 000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998; MTA/UWSA: based on minimum figure of 10% quoted for other opposition groups known to use child soldiers) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND STATISTICS * In the Shan State, armed groups of the Shan ethnic minority have also used children as soldiers. In February 2001, a gathering of representatives of the Restoration Council of Shan State and Shan State Army at Loi Taileng unanimously passed a resolution that the draft age would henceforth be 18-45 in place of 16-40 as practiced earlier. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing BurmaNet, 6/2/01) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In the case of the Burmese government, there is no statistical or other data on the recruitment of children. Since 1999, the size of the armed forces has nearly doubled, from 180,000 to around 350,000 and anecdotal evidence, supported by the testimony of refugees and some soldiers themselves, suggests that this increase has been facilitated by the recruitment of children as young as 13. (Human Rights Watch/Asia, "Burma: Children's Rights and the Rule of the Law", submission to the UN CRC, January 1997) * There are an estimated 25,000 child soldiers in the armed forces. (ICFTU, Free Labour World, October 1996) * Tatmadav, the government armed forces, comprises 10-66% children in each battalion. (Child War Rädda Barnen, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Myanmar, 1994-1995) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * The Karen National Liberation Army (armed wing of the KNU) is believed to recruit many child soldiers. One battalion commander estimated that there were perhaps 2,000 boy soldiers in the KNLA when it was at full strength, although KNU forces are now much depleted. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Children of War, Newsletter No. 1/99 quoting an AP press release, http://www.rb.se) * According to UNICEF in the mid-1990s, about 900 of the 5,000 Karenni Army members were under the age of 15. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Childwar database quoting The State Of the World's Children 1996, http://www.rb.se) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children have been recruited, voluntarily and forcibly, by governmental armed forces and armed opposition groups alike. Although reliable and objective information is difficult to obtain in the case of Myanmar, it is clear that the country has one of the highest numbers of children within governmental armed forces in the world, including those under 15. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.) * Burmese children are frequently used as unpaid porters by the army and also recruited as soldiers into government and rebel forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing "Burma: Children's Rights and the Rule of Law", Human Rights Watch, January 1997) * In Myanmar, for instance civilians, including children as young as 10, are forced to porter for the military and even used as human shields and minesweepers: the International Labour Organisation reported in 1999 that children had been forced to sweep roads with tree branches or brooms to detect or detonate mines. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Report of ILO Commission of Inquiry) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Children are subjected to other forms of militarization, such as the Ye Nyunt Youth (Brave Sprouts) movement. Boys from the age of 14 years are placed in training centres where they receive military-style education. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * The army viewed children as a cheap source of labour to support the military and as a labour pool from which to draw new soldiers. (US Dept of State, Report On Labour Practices In Burma, 2000, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * There is regular forced recruitment throughout Myanmar, including that of minors, into the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) and various militia groups. It appears that this does not occur pursuant to any compulsory military service laws, but is essentially arbitrary. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, Official Bulletin, Vol. LXXXI, Serial B, Geneva, 2 July 1998) * The country has one of the highest number of children, including children under 15 years of age, in the governmental armed forces anywhere in the world. Some are recruited voluntarily, attracted by the prestige or financial reward of a military career or hoping to protect their family from harassment by the SPDC, but many others are forced to join. Orphans and street children are particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing No Childhood At All: a Report About Child Soldiers In Burma, Images Asia, Bangkok, June 1997) * According to one 17-year-old who joined underage: "I knew people who were 11, 12, 13, and they all claimed they were 18. Anyone can become a soldier." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing No Childhood At All: a Report About Child Soldiers In Burma, Images Asia, Bangkok, June 1997) * The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reiterated its grave concern about the "numerous reported cases of forced and under-age recruitment of child soldiers" and strongly recommended that the Myanmar armed forces " should absolutely refrain from recruiting under-age children, in the light of existing international human rights and humanitarian standards" and added that all forced recruitment of children should be abolished. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UN CRC, Concluding observations, 24 January 1997) * Child soldiers below 15 years of age are reported in the People's Militia ("pyi thu sit"), the government paramilitary. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Men, women and children, some of them only 10 or so years old, have been forced to do portering for the military. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry) * Child soldiers below 15 years of age are reported in the Shan State Army (SSA). (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Myanmar, 1994-1995, and Human Rights Watch) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * The Mong Tai Army is believed to have had the largest number of child soldiers, with each family being required to give one son. The Mong Tai surrendered to the Tatmadaw in 1996. Some former child soldiers were reportedly used as soldiers by militia still known as the Mong Tai army. Some joined the new Shan State Army, which claims to have over 2,000 fighters, many of them children. The rival United Wa State Army is also known to recruit children. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * The Christian Karen militia "God's Army". 12-year-old twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo, who had already been fighting for three years, led this guerrilla force. In January 2000, the "God's Army", became internationally known when some of its members took over a hospital at Ratchaburi, Thailand, taking 700 people hostage. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing "Youthful crusaders", The Nation, 17/5/98) * The group includes other children as young as 13 who have been seen wearing uniforms and rifles. One of them, "Black Tongue", a sort of junior partner to the twins, appeared to be 9 or 10. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing The Times, 18/1/01, "Terrible twins surrender with a smile") * In mid-March 1999, 46 young men from the Karenni ethnic group, some as young as 14, were reported in a press article to have joined armed groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Childwar quoting The State Of the World's Children 1996, http://www.rb.se) * One battalion commander reported that his Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) battalion of 300 fighters contained 30 boys under 16, and estimated that there were perhaps 2,000 boy soldiers in the KNLA when it was at full strength. (Rädda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No.1, March 1999) * The Shan Ming Tai Army and the United Wa State Army are believed to have the largest numbers of child soldiers. The Karen National Union, Karenni Nationalities People's Progressive Army and the New Mon State Party also recruit children as young as 12 years. (Human Rights Watch/Asia, "Burma: Children's Rights and the Rule of the Law", submission to the UN CRC, January 1997) * The Mong Tai Army along with the United Wa State Army emphasise that "each family is required to give a son to the cause". (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing "Burma: Children's Rights and the Rule of Law", Human Rights Watch, January 1997) * In Myanmar, whole groups of children from 15 to 17 years old have been surrounded in their schools and forcibly conscripted. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) * Child soldiers below 18 years of age are reported in the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSD), with the lowest age recorded at 12. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Myanmar, 1994-1995) Burundi GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * An estimated total of over 36,000 children are in military schools, and all are believed to be members of the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2000 citing Gervais Abayeho op. cit; ACEDH, op. cit.) * According to a 1998 DCI-Burundi report the regular armed forces included between 800 and 1,000 children between the ages of 14 and 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing DCI-Burundi, Etude sur la genèse de la crise burundais et implication des enfants dans le conflit, armé, Bujumbura, 3/98) * Estimates of the numbers of children recruited by the armed forces over the past five years vary considerably, from a low of 2,000 to a high of 14,000. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gervais Abayeho) * Tutsi armed groups, made up of youths aged from 12-25 years, were estimated to number 3,500. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Amnesty International, Burundi: Armed groups kill without mercy, 1996) NATIONAL STATISTICS * Up to 14,000 children have taken part in the civil war in Burundi. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001citing information provided by a reliable source that requests confidentiality, 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for military service is 18 years, but there are believed to be some children below that age in the army. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Prior to the conflict, the minimum age for voluntary recruitment was believed to have been 18 years. In its initial report to the UN CRC, Burundi stated that the minimum age of recruitment is fixed between 16 and 25 years of age, but, in practice, nobody is enrolled below the age of 18. However, it added that in recent years the armed forces had been rapidly increasing in size and 'getting younger'. One source suggested that the minimum age for recruitment was actually 15 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Burundi to the UN CRC) * The representative of Burundi stated that Burundi set 18 years as the minimum age for recruitment for all call-ups enacted by the government. He added that although children below the age of 18 took part in hostilities in 1993, the situation changed in 1996. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing the Burundian Government Representative at the African Conference on Child Soldiers, 19 April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * In July 2000 Human Rights Watch reported that the doria -some as young as 12 years old - not only spy in the camps for soldiers but also participate in looting and serve as lookouts, scouts and porters. In return they receive food and clothing and sometimes a small part of the goods looted. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing HRW, "Emptying the Hills: regroupment camps in Burundi", 7/00) * In March, three boys were wounded when soldiers forced them to carry food, water, and medicines through an area known for rebel attacks. (HRW, World Report 2001) * Children as young as 13 or 14 years of age have been seen at checkpoints in the countryside, but rarely in Bujumbura. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * In addition to the child soldiers, there are other underage children, about 12-13 years of age, who are forced to assist the troops by carrying food and water up into the hills and/or carrying out domestic activities in the military camps. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing ACEDH) NOTES FROM EARLIER ARMED CONFLICTS * At the beginning of the conflict, the Hutu rebels sent between 3,000 and 5,000 youths, a majority of whom were under 18, to the Central African Republique, Rwanda and Tanzania for military training. In addition 1,000 to 1,500 children, both boys and girls, were recruited by the rebels. According to information from former rebels, only 500 -800 of these children were alive by 1998. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rädda Barnen/DCI, Etude sur la Genese de la Crise Burundaise et l'Implication des enfants dans le Conflit Armé) * It is asserted that before the beginning of the conflict in Burundi, no children under 18 years of age were recruited into the armed forces but it is widely agreed, despite government denials, that this did occur in substantial numbers, once fighting broke out. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Burundi to the UN CRC) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL) was currently recruiting men and boys in the city and in regroupment camps to try to rebuild its strength. The insurgents recruited boys as young as 14 to serve in their ranks. (Human Rights Watch, World Report 2000- Burundi: Neglecting Justice in Making Peace, April 2000) * No opposition armed group has, so far, pledged not to recruit children into its ranks, and according to the army, the Hutu groups are increasingly being made up of child soldiers, including both boys and girls under 15 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) * Hutu opposition groups are known to recruit children as soldiers, including both boys and girls under 15. Vulnerable children, such as street children, are often targeted. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing AP, "Burundi rebels recruiting refugees", 19/1/00) * Opposition groups also reportedly recruit fighters, including children, from five refugee camps in western Tanzania. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing AP, "Burundi rebels recruiting refugees", 19/1/00) * In one recent case, teenage Burundian refugees between the ages of 13 and 19 were arrested along with 141 adults for attempting to enter Burundi from Tanzania to attend military training by the CNDD-FDD. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter No. 2/00, "Child refugees heading for military training", 7/00) * The rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL) in Burundi also recruited and used "doria" as soldiers and helpers. Often used initially as cooks and general helpers, some children later took up weapons and became regular fighters. (HRW, World Report 2001) Cambodia GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * One study carried out between July 1997 and June 1999 found 1,300 child soldiers in one region. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing World Vision Cambodia - Feasibility study on child soldiers, 2/00) * Hard statistical information on the number of child soldiers used by the armed forces is lacking because child soldiers were often registered under false names and ages. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing World Vision Cambodia - Feasibility study on child soldiers, 2/00) * More recently UNICEF found 233 child soldiers in two regions, but the actual number is believed to be higher. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing World Vision Cambodia - Feasibility study on child soldiers, 2/00) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Military officers are implementing forced conscription of children. The government denies the report. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * A UNICEF study of 199 child soldiers in 3 provinces of Northwest Cambodia (Battambang, Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey) found their main activities were: cooks/cleaners (35%), guards (21%) and porters (6%), as well as combatants (16%), bodyguards (16%) and spies (5%). 57% claimed were exposed to frontline situations. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information provided by UNICEF to the Asia Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, Kathmandu, May 2000) * In early 1998, the UN Special Rapporteur on Cambodia expressed grave concern about reports by human rights workers and soldiers in December 1997 of alleged forced conscription of boys as young as 8 or 10 forced to join the army during raids on villages in Oddar Meanchey province by government forces who demanded payment from parents in return for an exemption from the unofficial draft. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 Report of the Special Representative of the secretary-general for Human Rights in Cambodia, op. cit.) * From May to November 1999, the CVAP undertook the registration of all military personnel, officially finding 262 underage soldiers nation-wide. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * With the collapse of the Khmer Rouge and the political settlement between the governing CPP and FUNCINPEC, there is no longer any armed conflict in Cambodia. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * In spite of legislation prohibiting any recruitment of persons below the age of 18, many cases of underage recruitment by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) were reported by both NGOs and UN bodies during Cambodia's civil war. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * In a workshop organised by the Cambodian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO) in partnership with World Vision in August 1999, 15 soldiers, aged between 16 and 20, attended who claimed to be volunteers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Tim Seaman of LICADHO) * During the civil war, voluntary recruitment of underage boys was common, and unit commanders in the provinces admitted to "helping young boys to join the armed forces by falsifying the boy's age and sometimes giving them the name and biography of other soldiers who had died or deserted". (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Tim Seaman of LICADHO) * Most children serving in the RCAF appear to have joined the military for economic reasons. But local commanders also had an economic incentive for the recruiting children as "ghost soldiers", using the names of adult soldiers, who had deserted, disappeared or died, so as to continue to collect their salaries and benefits. Following registration, a total of 15,551 ghost soldiers and 163,346, "ghost children" dependent, who were also entitled to benefits, were detected and eliminated from the payroll. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF and the Cambodian Government Representative at the Asia Pacific Conference on Child Soldiers, 15-18 May 2000) * A LICADHO mobile team reported that in addition to recruitment of children into the regular army, many villages recruited, for their own militias, commonly young boys, some reportedly as young as 10 years old, to carry weapons and fulfill guard duties and odd jobs in return for payment in cash or kind by the chief. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Tim Seaman of LICADHO) * A recent UNICEF study based on 199 interviews of child soldiers in three provinces of northwest Cambodia, Battambang, Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey, found that 16% were combatants, 16% bodyguards and 5% spies. 57% claimed that they had exposure to frontline situations. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF) * A study by LICADHO and Asian American Free Labour Institute (AAFLI) found that children had been working as spies for the armed forces and laying mines in Kompong Speu province, where there was ongoing conflict between Khmer Rouge and RCAF troops. Child spies appear to have been used by both sides because of their ability to pass unnoticed by the enemy. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF) * There have been numerous accounts and photographs in the local and international press of boys, some reportedly as young as 12, accompanying Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF). (The Cambodia Daily, 3 February 1998) * During the fighting, RCAF soldiers raided villages, demanding payment from their parents in return for an exemption from the draft. If they could not pay, boys were taken away. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen's newsletter Children of War, No. 1/98) * In October 1998, one young man, aged 19 years reported that boys of his age and younger served in the Khmer Rouge, working primarily as medics and cooks. Generally, they receive no pay, although if they were assigned to go to the front line, they received 500 baht (about US$13) a month. Many later decided to join the government army. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Human Rights Watch, 1999) * Young teenagers participated on both sides in the intense fighting that followed the coup in Cambodia on July 5 1997. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Robin McDowell, AP) * In 1997, a spokesman for the RCAF forces in Samrong, admitted that the armed forces recruited children in the area, but said that these children were all volunteers from the ranks of defecting Khmer Rouge guerrilla units and all were more than 14 years old. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen's newsletter Children of War, No. 1/98 quoting AFP, 2 December 1997) * In November 1997, soldiers tried to forcibly recruit all men between 16 and 45 years of age in the village of Ampok, close to Siem Reap town. On 11 November, 1997, 40 new recruits in 'self defence' units from Chi Kreng were seen in two large trucks in Siem Reap town, on their way to the O'Smach battlefield. They included at least two boys, aged 15 and 16 years, respectively. Several men claimed that the boys had been forcibly recruited. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing E. Pape, "Conscription and fear sweep Siem Rap", Phnom Penh Post, 21 November 1997) * In the Prasat Bakon District, according to human rights groups, military draft lotteries and informal war taxes were conducted in at least seven villages in two communes. Village and commune leaders typically took down the names of all men aged between 16 and 45 years and then selected which ones would be conscripted. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing E. Pape, "Conscription and fear sweep Siem Rap", Phnom Penh Post, 21 November 1997) * There were reports by human rights workers and soldiers in December 1997 of alleged forced conscription of boys as young as 8 or 10, forced to join the army during raids on villages in Oddar Meanchey province by government forces who demanded payment from parents in return for an exemption from the unofficial draft. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia) * One member of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in August 1997 that he had observed two truck-loads of very young boy soldiers travelling on the road north from Battambang towards the front-line. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Tim Seaman of LICADHO) * An Australian defence attaché who interviewed 17 young CPP soldiers at Siem Reap military hospital in July 1997 claimed that the number of boy soldiers he encountered there was alarming. All these boys had been wounded while fighting on the front-line. He subsequently met with the Deputy Chief of the RCAF general staff and received an assurance that soldiers under the age of 18 years would be removed from the battlefield. However, there is little evidence that any action was taken at that time. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia) * In 1995, the Dey Ath defectors' centre in Phnom Penh, set up by the government to rehabilitate Khmer Rouge defectors sheltered a 17-year-old girl from Pailin, who had been taken by the Khmer Rouge at the age of 2 and was given military training from the age of 5. She reported being one of a group of 300-500 girls under 15 years of age who were given military training. At 14, they were given guns and uniforms and became active soldiers. The girl soldiers were stationed at the front in all military actions. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Tim Seaman of LICADHO) * An estimated 4% soldiers of the RCAF, the government armed forces, were children. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Cambodia, 1994-1995) * Scores of boy soldiers have been sent by the government to the frontlines in northern Cambodia as part of an offense against opposition forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing AFP)   Cameroon RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment is 18 years. Moreover, if the candidate is less than 21, he or she must have parental authorisation. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Canada GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * According to a Canadian government statement of March 2000, approximately 1,000 16 and 17 year-olds are enlisted into the Canadian armed forces each year. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing OSCE Human Dimension Seminar on Children and Armed Conflict, Warsaw, 23-26 May 2000) * There are about 200 child soldiers in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing inquiries made through the Canadian Mission to the UN, Geneva by Rädda Barnen) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * New legislation prevents soldiers under 18 years of age from being deployed operationally. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail message to GMIS, 18 October 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The government recruits volunteers as young as 16 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing inquiries made through the Canadian Mission to the UN, Geneva by Rädda Barnen) Cape Verde NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known whether there are under-18s in government armed forces due to the limited information available. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Central African Republic NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. The government has acknowledged that in the past students at military schools may have been drawn into armed conflicts or falsified documents in order to join. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There is no evidence of any child participation in the conflict. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Chad RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In 1992 Article 2 of a Decree concerning the discharge of army personnel (No. 398/PR/MDNACVG/92) stipulated applicability to minors and resulted in the discharge of 467 registered minors. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The minimum age for recruitment is fixed at 18 years for volunteers and 20 years for conscripts. However, a law adopted the following year states that although volunteers must be 18 years of age, a non-emancipated minor can be enrolled with the consent of his tutor. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * After confirmed reports of the recruitment of 12-year-olds in 1996 the Sovereign National Conference forbade the recruitment of children in the regular armed forces and called for their rehabilitation. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The use of child soldiers was considerably reduced by both the rebels and the regular armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing reliable sources) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The Chadian armed forces have in fact been known to recruit children between 12 and 15 years old. The government has in the past acknowledged the recruitment of minors, and twice - in 1992 and 1997 - undertook measures to demobilise child soldiers and prevent their recruitment both by government and opposition armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * In November 2000, the government was accused of forcibly recruiting children of the Zagava ethnic group, usually under 13 years old, for detecting landmines. The government has denied the charges. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing OMCT Appeal, "Chad: forced recruitment of children", 20/11/00) * In 2001 there have been reports that Chadian families are forced to choose between letting one of their children be recruited into Idriss Déby's armed forces, or participating in the war effort by giving a certain amount of money or part of their crop. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing OMCT in communication to CSC, quoting confidential sources, 19/4/01) * The government does not support the use of minors in the military services, and minors were believed to have been mustered out in the demobilisation program of 1997. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * A memorandum of understanding signed between the Republic of Chad and France on 30 July 1991 provided for a reduction in the size of the armed forces, and the discharge of minors and their reintegration into civilian life. A 1992 decree concerning the discharge of army personnel stipulates that the provisions apply specifically to minors. In accordance with this decree, a census of minors was organised by the Ministry for the Armed Forces. Of the 500 minors listed, 467 were discharged with an end-of-service grant. The other 33, having reached the age of majority, preferred to continue their army career. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Chad to the UN CRC, 24 July 1997) Chile RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of under-18s in government armed forces, however the minimum age for voluntary recruitment is unclear and may be as low as 16. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Volunteers from 16 years of age are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Americas Report, May 1999)   China RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruits under 18 are accepted. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Minors also appear to have been involved with armed Uyghur nationalist groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * It has been reported that teenagers and children have been accused of taking part in activities of separatist groups. A young boy of 16 was among 29 sentenced at a public sentencing rally in Gulja (Yining) city on 22 July 1997, for alleged offences committed during protests and rioting in the city in February 1997. Furthermore, unofficial sources said that 7 men and boys, aged from 16 to 25 years, were sentenced for alleged involvement in 'separatist' activities at a public sentencing rally held in Yarkant (Shache) the same year. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, People's Republic of China: gross violations of human rights in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, April 1999) China, Hong Kong SAR - China, Macau SAR - China, Taiwan GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * 140,000 men between 15 to 24 enter military service annually for two years. ("Children of War", Far Eastern Economic Review, October 1995, Rädda Barnen) * From 1990-1995, 2,355 young conscripts died in the course of their military service. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen database, citing L'état du monde 1997, Editions Découverte) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in the armed forces due to a lack of information on the minimum voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Reports from the early 1990s indicated that children as young as 15 have in the past been recruited into the armed forces despite a minimum age of 18 for compulsory recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, http://www.rb.se) * It is unclear to what extent underage recruitment continues to be a problem in Taiwan. Human rights observers say they are not aware of such reports. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Communication from Brian Kennedy, Taiwan Association of Human Rights to CSC, 2/3/01) Colombia NATIONAL STATISTICS * The National Department of Statistics estimates that at least 6,000 minors are fighting in the civil conflict, the number growing as the war escalates. (CSUCS, Update 5, 30 September 2000) * The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare estimates that around 2,000 minors are still active in Colombia's insurgent organisations, while around 3,000 participate in right-wing paramilitary groups. Until July 1999, around 4,000 youngsters finishing high school were doing compulsory military service. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing IPS, 11 February 2000) * The NGO, Citizen's Mandate for Peace and Freedom estimates that nearly 7,000 minors are directly involved in the war in Colombia. Of these, 2,000 are said to be members of the insurgent groups FARC and ELN, while 4,000 serve in the national army and 1,000 in the right-wing paramilitary groups. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * Children have been widely used by all parties in the conflict in Colombia. According to the People's Advocate, 20% of all Colombian children directly or indirectly participate in the armed conflict. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing the People's Advocate to the Latin American Conference on Child Soldiers, 5-7 July 1999) * Many NGOs and institutions have reported the recruitment of children below the age of 15 years by the various protagonists in the armed conflict in Colombia. In May 1998, the armed forces conceded that 7,685 under-18s were serving in the National Police, 7,551 in the army, 338 in the air forces, and 83 in the navy, a total of 15,657. Of those, 22% are 15 or 16 years of age. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Human Rights Watch, War without Quarter Colombia and Humanitarian Law, New York, 1998) * There could be 9,000-20,000 minors still involved in the various groups and forces in Colombia. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * Before December 2000, approximately 16,000 under-18s were part of the Colombian armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the CSC , 2/03/01) * Colombia's national security forces, including the Army and National Police, include over 15,000 children. Thousands of others are recruited for civic outreach and placed in war zones in uniform, at serious risk of attack. (HRW, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Campaign, New York, 8 October 1998) * The army also captures or accepts the surrender of children suspected of being guerrillas, then uses them as guides or informants. These children may be forced to patrol with troops, take part in combat, collect intelligence and deactivate land mines. (HRW, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Campaign, New York, 8 October 1998) * Paramilitary units, which often operate in direct coordination with national security forces and are responsible for some of the conflict's worst abuses, include large numbers of children. Children as young as 8 years of age have been seen patrolling with paramilitaries, and up to 50% of some units are made up of children. (Human Rights Watch, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, New York, 8 October 1998) * A Human Rights Watch report dated 8 October 1998 says that some paramilitary units, recruits thousands of children, while another source says around 2,000 of the fighting force is made up of children. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * In May 1996, 22% of all recruits were under 18. In total, 4,756 children under 18 were serving in the Colombian armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing the Defensoría del Pueblo) * Colombia's Army Commander has conceded that 4,000 children are serving in the army. The number may increase, as the army intends to double its forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Reuters) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In Colombia, opposition guerrilla armies and paramilitary forces often linked to the armed forces continued to maintain at least 5,000 children in their ranks and used them as soldiers and spies, according to UNICEF. (HRW, World Report 2001, citing UNICEF) * Opposition groups are estimated to include 4,000 children below the age of 18, with a third of them estimated to be girls. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Radda Barnen, http://www.rb.se) * According to the testimony of an Colombian Welfare Institute (ICBF) specialist, 85% of the members of the guerrilla were children. It is believed that the UC-ELN is the guerrilla which has the most children within its ranks. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Human Rights Watch) * In March 1999, it was estimated that between 1,700 and 2,000 minors fill the ranks of FARC and the ELN. Similar figures were produced by the NGO Citizen's Mandate for Peace and Freedom, which estimated that 2,000 children were members of both guerrilla groups. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No. 4, 1997) * According to one estimate around 2,000 children and adolescents under 18 years of age have been enlisted by paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing "Rights-Colombia: Children of War", IPS,12 March 1999) * Up to 30% of some guerrilla units are made up of children. The number of children in some militias, considered a training ground for future guerrilla fighters, is reported to be as high as 85%. Although most of Colombia's child soldiers are over 15, all sides are recruiting children younger than 15, in violation of the laws of war. The three sides to the conflict are guerillas, national security units, and paramilitaries. (Human Rights Watch, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, New York, 8 October 1998) * 15% members of paramilitary groups are minors. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Report of the UNHCHR on the Office in Colombia, 9 March 1998, citing the Defensoría del Pueblo) * One-third of rebel fighters of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces are under 18. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Children are used for many different tasks, including as combatants, for kidnapping, guarding hostages, as human shields, messengers, spies, sexual partners and as "mules" to transport arms and place bombs. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Tercer Informe sobre la Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Colomba, Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Organización de los Estados Americanos, OEA/Ser.L/V/II/102, 26/02/99) * According to UNICEF's Colombia office, 80% of the new-armed groups' fronts are made up of women and children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing El Tiempo, "Me enseñaron a manejar armas en tres días", 4 December 2000) * Child soldiers are being "born into" armed groups because their parents are members. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * According to the People's Ombudsman Office, 20% of all Colombian children directly or indirectly participate in the armed conflict. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Tens of thousands of children are being used as soldiers by all sides to the bloody conflict underway in Colombia, according to a Human Rights Watch report. (Human Rights Watch, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, New York, 8 October 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The Colombian army also reportedly continued to use captured guerrillas who were children as informants and spies instead of turning them over promptly to child welfare authorities. (HRW, World Report 2001) * The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the Office in Colombia learned of cases in which members of the Army had detained children, handed over or captured from guerrilla groups within their bases, and used them to obtain information and to patrol with their troops as guides. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Report of the UNHCHR on the Office in Colombia, 16 March 1998) * The government has formalised recruiting 15-year-olds. (Rädda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No.4, October 1996) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * In June 2000 the FARC reportedly recruited at least 37 youths, including minors, in the municipality of Puerto Rico in southern Meta department. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Eight FARC guerrillas, all estimated to be between the ages of 13 and 15, were killed during a January 2000 attack on the town of El Castillo, Meta department. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US State Department Report 2000) * Footage of FARC child soldiers, in what is believed to be a training video, were aired on Colombian television in May 2001. The footage shows guerrillas, some as young as 11 making missiles and digging mass graves for dead guerrillas. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US State Department Report 2000) * In May 2000, the Autodefensas Unidas del Sur del Casanare circulated leaflets in the rural area of Monterrey (Casanare) calling up young people living in the region for "compulsory military service". In October 2000, paramilitaries took away several youths in Puerto Gaitán (Meta) by force for military training. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 8/02/01, op cit) * In January 2000, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Commander Manuel Marulanda told reporters that the FARC would not stop recruiting soldiers 15 and older. (HRW, World Report 2001) * A FARC commander from Colombia claimed in the Mexican press on 11 October that many children aged between 12 and 17, dependent on the drug trade would be left with no alternative under the US-backed 'Plan Colombia' than to join the guerrilla movement. The FARC has previously promised not to recruit under 15. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) * The FARC reportedly announced in 2000 that all persons between the ages of 13 and 60 in the despeje zone are liable for military service with the guerrillas; families fleeing the zone reported that they were asked to surrender children to the FARC as of their 14th birthday. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing US State Department Report 2000) * The FARC is known for recruiting children in Venezuela where it conducts some activities. Parents have reportedly been paid US$600 a month for the recruitment of their child. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing El Nacional, Delgado, Eleonora "Venezolana desertora de las FARC era espía y experta en explosivos," 20/10/00) * In October 2000, Luz Celeste Gonzalez Aguilar, a 16-year-old Venezuelan national, surrendered to the Colombian Army after 6 years with the FARC. She confirmed reports of FARC recruitment of under-18 Venezuelan children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing El Nacional, Delgado, Eleonora "Venezolana desertora de las FARC era espía y experta en explosivos," 20/10/00) * FARC activities have been reported also in Bolivia, Ecuador and Panama. There are concerns that the armed group might also recruit children from those countries or Colombian children displaced to other regions. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urubá (ACCU) proposed to the government and civil society to condemn the involvement of minors in the actions of war. But the Organisation of American States mentioned in one of its recent reports that the ACCU in a single day in September 1997 recruited with offers of money, 50 minors from the Policarpa neighbourhood of Apartadó. It added that in other cases, the paramilitary groups simply carry off children by force. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Third report on the situation of human rights in Colombia, 26 February 1999) * The use of child soldiers by guerrillas is common and the paramilitary groups also recruited children into their ranks. The Roman Catholic Church reported that the FARC lured or forced hundreds of children from the Despeje zone into its ranks. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * The UN Office on Human Rights based in Colombia recently confirmed that guerrilla groups recruit children from the age of 12 upwards, either by persuasion or by making threats against their parents. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Report of the UNHCHR on the Office in Colombia, 16 March 1998) * No precise figures for the People's Liberation Army (EPL) are known, but it was reported that it has minors in its ranks and girls among them. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The FARC has stated that the minimum age of recruitment is 15 years and the EPL has denied recruiting children under 16, but both groups acknowledged having recruited children younger than these ages in some cases. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Human Rights Watch) * In an interview, the Bishop of Ariari, denounced the recruitment of children in the demilitarized zone by the FARC and claimed that FARC had issued a directive in the zone by which every boy and girl aged over 13 years was required to join the group. Those who did not wish to join voluntarily were forcibly recruited. He claimed that the guerrillas simply went to the houses of peasants and took the children away "as a type of tax". (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing "Del despeje se pasó al despejo", La Semana, 19 April 1999) * According to one source, "in rural areas, families caught in the cross-fire often are forced to offer their children to guerrilla units in order to survive". (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing "Rights-Colombia: Children of War", IPS, 12 March 1999)   * Large number of children were among the FARC guerrillas who attacked the Guatape hydroelectric facility on 3 September 1997. The employees of this power plant said that some of the attackers were as young as 8 years old. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * The Human Rights Watch found that child guerrillas are used to collect intelligence, make and deploy mines, and serve as advance troops in ambush attacks against paramilitaries, soldiers, and police officers. Those who manage to escape are considered deserters and may be subjected to on-the-spot execution. (Human Rights Watch, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, New York, 8 October 1998) * It has been alleged that girl soldiers are sexually abused by members of the guerrillas. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing US Dept of State) * Within the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), when a girl is pregnant, she can either have an abortion or give birth to a baby who is given to peasants for rearing. On reaching 13 years, the FARC takes the child back for use as a soldier. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing U. Siemon-Netto, "Kolumbiens Guerrilla fängt Nachwuchs in Venezuela", Der Überblick, No. 4, 1998) * In August 1998, the Simon Bolivar Guerrilla Co-ordinating Board, which acts as an umbrella for FARC, ELN and EPL, admitted that 7 to 10% of armed guerrillas were children between the ages of 13 and 17 years. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * Colombian guerrillas call their child soldiers 'little bees' because they sting before the enemy realizes it's under attack. (Human Rights Watch, Child Soldiers Used by All Sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict, New York, 8 October 1998) * Children are used for many different tasks, from collecting intelligence to kidnapping and guarding hostages and are fully armed for carrying out these actions. A large number of children were among the FARC guerrillas who attacked the Guatape hydroelectric facility on 3 September 1997. The employees of this power plant said that some of the attackers were as young as 8 years old. Moreover, the National Liberation Army (ELN) attempted to use a 9-year-old child to deliver a bomb to a polling place in Cucuta, on 26 October 1997, election day. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1997) * In 1996, up to 30% of some guerrilla units consisted of children. But sometimes, the percentage of children in the guerrilla can be much higher. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing the Defensoría del Pueblo, "El conflicto armado en Colombia y los menores de edad", Boletín No. 2, Santa Fé de Bogotá, May 1996) Comoros RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment is 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Neither the group led by the self-declared President Abdallah Ibrahim nor the other smaller group by the former Prime Minister Chamassi Said Oma has made a public declaration not to recruit children. In both groups, young boys between 13 and 16 years of age have been recruited. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * During the time of the mercenaries, between 1978 and 1995, young boys were recruited by the government but this has been stopped since 1996. It is hard to determine which of the current members of the armed forces were actually recruited under the age of 18. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) Congo RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 20 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Congo-Brazzaville is one of nine African countries in which "children, some no more than seven years of age, are recruited by government armed forces". (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Africa, April 1999) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * The Ninjas, a private militia/army of former Prime Minister, Bernard Kolelas which is fighting the government of Sassou Nguesso, reportedly has children as young as 14-15 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Reports estimate that between 7,500 and 10,000 people were members of government-sponsored or opposition militia groups during the June-October conflict. They recruited people from the towns who were between 15 and 35 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing R. Bazenguissa-Ganga, "Les milices politiques dans les affrontements", Afrique contemporaine, April-June 1998) * In June 1998, Rodolphe Adada, the Congolese Foreign Minister, said that in Congo, the problem of child soldiers was not extremely significant. According to him, although the problem certainly needed to be addressed, child participation had not been a major issue, except towards the end of the civil war, when more young children under the age of 16 had taken part in the fighting. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Rodolphe Adada, Foreign Minister of the Congo, 16 June 1998) Congo, Dem. Rep. NATIONAL STATISTICS * UNICEF estimated the total number of child soldiers to be about 12,000. (HRW, Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service in North Kivu, 2001 citing UNICEF) * In early 1998, a pilot training centre was set up in March 1998 in Kaniama-Kasese where 2,000 youngsters were supposed to be trained with the ultimate objective of creating 33 such centres around the country for almost 50,000 'Builders of the Nation'. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing S. Spitzer, "Kabila 'assimile' ses militaires", Jeune Afrique, 28 April-4 May 1998) * Reports have confirmed that the rebel groups are made up of many child soldiers. In one report, rebel soldiers admitted that there were about 5,000 child soldiers among both the rebel troops and the government armed forces.(CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Dieudonné, 16 ans, soldat rebelle et vétéran", AFP, 8 October 1998) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * Estimates of the number of child soldiers in the army range from 6,000-20,000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Human Rights Watch, Casualties of War, February 1999) * A recent census done in Kinshasa and in the south of the country revealed that among a group of 700 soldiers there were 50 children below 13 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * A FAC (Government Armed Forces) commander in Kinshasa who had done an informal survey of troops stationed there in November 1998 found that one out of every 14 FAC soldiers was under the age of 13 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Human Rights Watch, Democratic Republic of Congo, Casualties of War: Civilians, Rule of Law, and Democratic Freedoms, HRW, New York, 1999) * Estimates of the number of child soldiers in the army range from 6,000 to 20,000. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Reuters report from 28 March, and 21 April 1998.) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * The rebel army re-enlisted about 100 demobilised child soldiers in early August from a transit centre in Bukavu and another 500 upon taking Kisangani in late August. The RCD continued to recruit children for combat as recently as December 1998. While many other boys were among this group of recruits, the actual number of children recruited into RCD forces is unknown. (Human Rights Watch, The Use of Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In June 2000, President Kabila issued a decree to stop the recruitment of soldiers under 18 and demobilise those currently serving. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail message to GMIS, 18 October 2000) * The minimum age of recruitment is set at 18 years. This is in accordance with what the government claims is currently the practice, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Despite President Kabila's June 9 demobilisation decree, the extent to which children were actually demobilised was unclear, and early in the year Human Rights Watch received reports that many child soldiers were detained in prison camps for deserting Kabila's forces (HRW, Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service in North Kivu, 2001) * In Congo, a 14-year-old child soldier was executed in January 2000 shortly after being sentenced to death by the country's Court of Military Order. (HRW, Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service in North Kivu, 2001) *Attempts by both the government and rebel alliances to quickly build dependable Congolese armies for their respective camps, reportedly led to extensive recruitment of child soldiers throughout the country. (Human Rights Watch, DRC Country Reports, 2000) * Kadogos start out, in some cases as young as the age of 9, as runners or bodyguards for officers. Some work as porters helping troops to ferry water and ammunition, others as spies. They're thought to be very good at getting information as nobody suspects them. But as soon as they learn to use arms, child soldiers are used for fighting. Some are fighting as rebels with troops who took up arms against President Laurent Kabila in the east, while others are combatants in the government-held West. They make good fighters because they're young and want to show off. They think it's all a game, so they're fearless. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing T. Pitman, "Kibumba - Child Soldiers Fight War in Eastern Congo", Reuters, 9 February 1999) * Both government and rebel forces in the DRC, together with their allies from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, are using thousands of children as soldiers. It is, however, well-nigh impossible to give even a ballpark estimate of how many thousands of children are involved in the DRC conflict. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * On 2 September 1998, during the Non-Aligned Movement's Summit in Durban, President Kabila condemned the Rwandan and Ugandan-backed rebel troops for having "turned children into cannon-fodder". (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. D. Smith, "Pugnacious Kabila snubs mediation", The Guardian, 3 September 1998) * The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, appealed to all parties in the conflict to immediately stop the recruitment and use of children. In addition, he claimed that children were being recruited in neighbouring countries for combat in the DRC. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict condemns attacks on civilians and use of child soldiers", UN DPI, 9 November 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Some children as young as 10 years of age have been allowed to enlist as soldiers in the FAC. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * After the arrival in power of President Kabila, the DRC army became a mish-mash of different types of personnel, including former Zairean armed forces, new recruits, including a lot of children, and Rwandan soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * Human Rights Watch publicly denounced the fact that children who were recruited before Kabila assumed the Presidency of the country were still serving as soldiers in the new government armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Human Rights Watch condemns recruitment of child soldiers in Congo", HRW Press Release, New York, 11 August 1998) * President Kabila, the rebel leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), has since 1996 recruited thousands of young child soldiers, known as 'Kadogo' or 'the little ones' to support his military campaign against the Mobutu government. Despite pledges from the Congolese government to demobilise children from the FAC since the end of the 1996-1997 war and the establishment of several fledgling demobilisation programs, the Kabila government has continued to recruit children as young as 7 years old for military service. While no reliable statistics were available regarding the number of child soldiers, the total number is likely to be at least several thousand. (Human Rights Watch, The Use of Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * In areas of north Kivu that were nominally controlled by another Ugandan-backed rebel faction, the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement (RCD-ML), the UPDF trained several battalions of young soldiers in the towns of Beni, Lubero, and Bunia in the first half of 2000. (HRW, Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service in North Kivu, 2001) * A 2001 Human Rights Watch report on the recruitment of children by the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma) found that children were beaten, ill treated, and used as cannon-fodder. (HRW, Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service in North Kivu, 2001) * Senior rebel commanders drumming up much-needed support at rallies in the East have called openly on child soldiers to support them. Rebel politicians say they strongly oppose the practice, but keeping rebel ranks free of children is difficult. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * In Bukavu, in late 1998, rebels had abducted or threatened to abduct children, apparently for use in the army, from several local organisations working with unaccompanied minors. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Human Rights Watch) * At the beginning of November 1998, a new rebel group, the Mouvement de Libération Congolais (MLC), Movement for Congolese Liberation, was launched by the millionaire businessman, Jean-Pierre Bemba with the support of the Ugandan authorities. One of his first actions was to recruit 1,000, mainly young men, and a number of teenage girls. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. Borzello, "Millionaire rebel recruits 1,000 youths for DRC uprising", AFP, 26 November 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Since the beginning of the conflict on August 2, recruitment of children has increased. An official communiqué aired on national radio on August 7, 1998 called for children and youth between 12 and 20 years old to enlist in the armed forces, in response to the RCD insurgency. A FAC commander in Kinshasa who had done an informal survey of troops stationed there in November, 1998 found that 1 out of every 14 FAC soldiers was under the age of 13. (Human Rights Watch, The Use of Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo) * An official communiqué aired on national radio on August 7, 1998, called for children and youth between twelve and twenty years old to enlist in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Congolese Armed Forces (CAF), Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), and the Rwandan Armed Forces did forcible conscription of children. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * The UN Special Rapporteur denounced the recruitment of children by the AFDL armed forces for use as soldiers, citing the case of "11-year-olds carrying heavy weapons and engaging in combat", and added that "because of their lack of training and their ability to handle weapons, these child soldiers, known as 'kadogos', have been corrupted and have participated in robberies and killings." (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Roberto Garretón, Report on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 30 January 1998) * The total number of children used by Kabila as soldiers in the war against Mobutu has been estimated at up to 10,000, or possibly even more. At the same time, the Zairean armed forces were also recruiting young people between 15 and 18 in order to create a 'deterrent army'. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing C. Braeckman, "Les apprentis-militaires qui suivaient Kabila sont aujourd'hui livrés à eux-mêmes: Mulume, enfant-soldat du Congo, condamné à mort", Le Soir, 15 April 1998) * It was reported that both rebels and regular troops used to target boys as young as 7. According to one commentator, "if they refused to join the armed group, they were usually arrested, accused of connivance with the enemy and, frequently, summarily executed." (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing M. Mwanasali, "Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo", April 1998) * Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, has accused both the government and rebels in the country of recruiting children as soldiers. She said that UNICEF was especially concerned about the re-enlistment of some 400-500 children from a transit centre near the city of Kisangani, and more than 100 from the eastern town of Bukavu. A spokesman for UNICEF gave further clarification, saying that these youngsters had been abducted by the rebels but that both sides were involved in enlisting young teenagers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "UN agency say Congo rivals using child soldiers", Reuters, 14 August 1998) * The rebels have denied recruiting children as soldiers, yet a journalist mentioned that new recruits who look only 12 or 13 will readily assert that they are actually 25 years old. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing C. Braeckman, "Congo: les rebelles racontent", Le Soir, 12 August 1998) * Aid workers say up to 3,000 young Mayi-Mayi, some as young as 8 years old, were living in the Kapalata barracks in cramped and miserable conditions without adequate food and water. The majority of the Mayi-Mayi children at the camp handed themselves over to authorities last October as potential recruits for the national army after several months of low-level fighting in the eastern Kivu provinces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing William Wallis, Reuters, 29 January 1998.) * The DRC Government acknowledged having child soldiers within the armed forces, most of them coming from the AFDL (Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo). (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing the Minister of Social Affairs and the Family) * In the war against President Mobutu in 1996-97, Laurent-Désiré Kabila recruited and used thousands of children as soldiers. CNN, for example, attested that boys as young as 8 years of age called Mayi-Mayi, meaning 'water' in Swahili, (the theory being that the bullets shot at them would turn into liquid) were fighting within the Alliance of Democratic Forces for Liberation (AFDL). It is also believed that groups of Mayi-Mayi also fought alongside former President Mobutu's forces against the then Tutsi-dominated AFDL. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Child soldiers lead rebel advance in Zaire", CNN, 7 December 1996) NOTES ON OPPOSITE FORCES * Boys are trafficked by Ugandan troops and rebel groups for forced and voluntary military service. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001) Cook Islands GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Defense is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Costa Rica - Cote d'Ivoire RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment is 18½ years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * All men of 21 years of age are liable for a military service. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of underage recruitment taking place in the country. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Croatia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * A person is subject to recruitment in the year in which he attains the age of 17, but examination and registration take place when they reach the age of 18, and recruits declared fit for military service are sent to military service only in the year they reach 19. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Croatia to the UN CRC, 7 December 1994) * UNICEF claims that the minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UNICEF, 22 June 1999) * Voluntary applications for military service can be made in the year of reaching the age of 17. i.e. when they may be still 16 years old. The Croatian Ministry of Defence affirms that voluntary recruitment of under-18s is only possible at the request of the conscript, and with the consent of his parents or guardians. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruitment is permitted from the age of 16. The state reserves the right to conscript 16-year-olds at times of imminent threat. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Cuba RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Human Rights Watch has also stated that Cuba's minimum age for compulsory recruitment is 16. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing HRW) * The recruiting age in the armed forces is below 18 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There have been several allegations of the mistreatment of young conscripts, including specifically in Ganusa prison where conscripts between 17 and 21 years of age are detained for going absent without leave from their military base. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Cyprus GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are approximately 200-300 under 18s recruited annually. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Cyprus, 16 August 1999) * 17-year-old volunteers make up not more than 5% of new conscripts entering the force each year. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Cyprus, 16 August 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Only voluntary recruitment is possible for anyone under 18 years of age. 17-year-old volunteers who enter the force usually become 18 by the time they complete basic training, and "thus in practice there are no under 18s in the main body of the armed forces." (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Cyprus, 16 August 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Czech Republic RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Czech Republic has been a strong supporter of the "straight-18" position. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Denmark RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In June 1998, the minimum legal age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces was raised to 18 years without any exceptions. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Denmark to the UN, 23 July 1999) * The minimum age to join the Danish Home Guard has been raised to 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 18 October 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. The minimum age for voluntary recruitment has recently been raised to 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Djibouti RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Military service is not compulsory and the recruitment is apparently done only on a voluntary basis. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "L'inéluctable autonomie de la défense ivoirienne", Le Monde, 28 November 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on the minimum voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), an armed group created in 1991, is reported to have included many young men and boys. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) Dominica - Dominican Republic RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. National legislation provides for the special protection of children at times of war. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) East Timor OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In October 1999, a French journalist reported about 250 guerrilla members were living in one FALINTIL camp, among them girls wearing berets and teenagers in tracksuits carrying machetes. As FALINTIL refused to lay down its arms after the independence vote, reports of child recruitment have continued until as recently as February 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Weber, O., "Timor-Oriental: dans les sanctuaires de la guérilla", Le Point, 22/10/99) * Pro-Indonesian groups have reportedly abducted at least 130 East Timorese children from refugee camps in West Timor in October 2000 in order to train them as anti-independence activists. Pro-Indonesian groups are also reported to have subjected East Timorese children removed from the refugee camps with their parents' permission to orphanages in central Java to intimidation and indoctrination. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing JRS-AP Information Update 19/3/01) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * 1,000 children, aged 6 to 17, are thought to be removed from refugee camps in West Timor. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000, citing a BBC report on 26 October 2000) * Both pro-independence and pro-integration armed groups in East Timor used children during the conflict. The age range on both sides was 10 to 18 although most children involved tended to be between 15 and 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Lyndal Barry op cit.) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * East Timorian militias had children below 18. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS 2000) * The Revolutionary Front for Independent East Timor (Fretilin), a militant force, recruited child soldiers below 18 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Children participated in Intifada-like protests in East Timor, sometimes with lethal outcomes. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) Ecuador RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office in Geneva informed the Coalition in March 2001 that "there are no individuals under 18 serving in the Ecuadorian Armed Forces", nor does the Government have evidence of individuals under 18 years of age participating in military activities in Ecuadorian territory. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office in Geneva) * The minimum age for conscription is 19 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Egypt RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment into the Egyptian armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are some indications of teenage involvement in armed opposition groups. There are not likely to be under-18s in government armed forces due to a surplus of candidates for military service. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) El Salvador RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces since voluntary recruitment can take place from the age of sixteen. During the civil war, some 80% of government and 20% of opposition forces were estimated to be children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Volunteers from 16 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * During the civil war, it has been estimated that 80% of the troops were under 18 years of age. The FMLN also recruited children, and it has been estimated that 20% of the FMLN combatants were under 18. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * In El Salvador, children whose parents had been killed by government soldiers joined opposition groups for protection. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996) Equatorial Guinea RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * It has been asserted that all men who are 18 years of age are liable for military service. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known whether there are under-18s in government armed forces as there appears to be no legislation regulating the minimum recruitment age. There have been no reports about the recruitment of under-18s. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Eritrea NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is widely acknowledged that Eritrea used children as soldiers in the war of independence against Ethiopia. Children may have participated in the border conflict since 1998. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Recruits as young as 14 were reportedly used as reinforcements after Eritrea experienced massive military losses. Reports of a major new recruitment drive including children since the signing of the December 2000 peace accord have not been confirmed. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There were reports that the Government inadvertently employed children under the age of 18 as soldiers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * The representative of Ethiopia at the African Conference to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, denounced the use of hundreds of children by Eritrea before and after the Independence. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Y. Kidane, Ethiopian Government Representative at the African Conference on Child Soldiers, 19-22 April 1999) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has claimed that no children were used during the Eritrean struggle for independence and that the EPLP was constantly against this use. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 31 May 1999) Estonia GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are approximately 30, 17-year-olds in the Estonian armed forces. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Estonia to the UN, 21 September 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Permanent Mission of Estonia in Geneva confirmed that 17-year-olds can volunteer and reported approximately thirty 17-year-olds in the Estonian armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * All young men above the age of 18 years are liable for compulsory military service. 17-year-olds can start their compulsory military service as a volunteers. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Estonia to the UN, 21 September 1999) Ethiopia GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * An estimated 14,000-20,000 Ethiopian government troops were captured over the years by the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) with at least several hundred estimated to be at most 14 years old. (Ilene Cohn and Guy Goodwin Gill, Child Soldiers, 1994, citing T. Lansen, "Dragged from soccer field", Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Under Ethiopian law, the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces is 18 years. (CSUCS, Update 3, July 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * In Ethiopia, credible sources reported that thousands of teenage boys were forcibly recruited into the Ethiopian army, particularly during the build-up to the major offensive launched against Eritrea in May. Children (primarily from Oromos and Somali ethnic groups) were targeted in schools and also press-ganged from marketplaces and villages. Once recruited, children were reportedly sent to camps for military training and indoctrination and then sent to fight. (HRW, World Report 2001) * Ethiopia also accused Eritrea of using child soldiers and circulated lists of Eritrean children whom Ethiopia had taken as prisoners of war. (HRW, World Report 2001) * Thousands of teenage boys have been forcibly recruited into the Ethiopian army, particularly during the major offensive launched by Ethiopia in May 2000. (CSUCS, Update 3, July 2000) * There were reports that some children under the age of 18 were recruited into the military. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Lucy Hannan refers to Ethiopian prisoners of war, including 16-year-old Kadir Abdulkadir from Jigiga, Somali region, Ethiopia, who claims he was forcibly recruited from school. An interview with a 17-year-old POW, Dowit Admas, claimed that he was playing football in Gondar High School when Ethiopian government soldiers rounded up 60 boys and sent them to Bershelk Military Training Camp in Gojam. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * During the African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, the Eritrean authorities denounced the use of children as young as 14 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * The government is making serious efforts to respect the minimum age of 18 years for entry into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) * There are reports of juveniles as young as 12 being conscripted. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN Commission on Human Rights, The Question of Conscientious Objection to Military Service, 1997, quoting Amnesty International) NOTES ON OPPOSITION FORCES * Internal armed opposition groups have also been known to recruit children, some as young as 11 years old. Thousands of children were recruited, many forcibly, during the recent border conflict with Eritrea. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * After the withdrawal of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) from transitional government, during a surprise attack, the EPDRF captured 22,000 OLF soldiers, of which 40% were under 18. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * A form of press ganging, known in Ethiopia as 'afesa', was prevalent in the 1980s, when armed militia, police or army cadres would roam the streets picking up anyone they encountered. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) * Before 1995, it was alleged that Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) recruited children and peasants by force. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) Fiji OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS *There have been about 200 youths between 10 and 30 years old in military training of the rebel army. ("Fiji Rebels Train Child Soldiers", USP Journalism/Fiji's Daily Post/Pasifik Nius/Niuswire, 24 June 2000, reprinted in Pacific Islands Report) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * A person must be at least 18 years of age to be recruited into the army. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Fiji to the UN CRC, 24 September 1996) * There is no conscription in Fiji. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Finland GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The government reported that under previous legislation, less than 300 men under 18 served in the Defence Forces each year, or less than one per cent of recruits. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All male citizens who are 18 years of age are called up and are liable to join military service. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Finland to the UN CRC, 31 January 1995) * Although young men of 17 are liable for military service, in general military service is done within the two years following call-up, at the age of 19 or 20. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) France GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * According to the Permanent Mission of France in Geneva, in 1997 there were 456 recruits under 18, or 2% of annual recruits. In 2000, between 2 and 3% of all male recruits were between the ages of 16 and 19, and a slightly higher proportion of females were in that age grouping. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * 456 under 18s were recruited in 1997, which represented 2% of the annual recruitment. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of France to the UN) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * By 2002, conscription will be suspended as decided in 1997 by a law passed by the Parliament. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * The latest legislation has fixed the age of military service at 18 years but young men could ask to be enlisted from October 1 of the year during which they turn 18. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed force, some several hundred per year. The PKK, a Kurdish opposition group from Turkey, is known to have recruited children in France. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) Gabon RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Until recently the minimum age for recruitment was believed to be 20.But in March 2001 Gabon's Ministry of Defence launched a recruitment drive with the aim of enlisting, over a five-year period, 1,500 young men and women between the ages of 18 and 25. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * It has been claimed that the minimum age for recruitment is 20 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing CIA, World Factbook, 1997) Gambia NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment in Gambia. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * In January and February 1999, Gambia sent troops to Sierra Leone within the ECOMOG forces but there is no evidence of any underage soldiers being deployed. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing IRIN, West African Weekly Round-up 6-99, 12 February 1999) Georgia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * UNICEF confirmed in 1999 that law prohibits the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their participation in military activities in Georgia. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing information provided by UNICEF, 25/6/99) * According to UNICEF, there are currently no under-age recruits in the country. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing UNICEF op. Cit) * The participation of under-18s is prohibited by law. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UNICEF, 25 June 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is alleged that during the civil war in Abkhazia, illegal recruitment methods, including press-ganging, were used by the armed forces when legal forms of recruitment failed to achieve the necessary number of recruits. There were reports that children under 18 were among those forcibly recruited. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.) * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Children were reportedly recruited forcibly during the civil war in Abkhazia. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Allegedly, there were instances of children under 18 years of age being forcibly recruited. Yet, according to information provided by UNICEF, there are currently no under-age recruits in the country. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UNICEF, 25 June 1999) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * It is not known how many children are members of Abkhazia and South Ossetia groups. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) Germany RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum recruitment age is 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * A 17-year-old can be recruited into the armed forces as a volunteer but cannot participate in hostilities. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Ghana RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment is 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001 citing Initial Report of Ghana to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/Add.39, 19/12/95) * The UN confirmed in 2000 that there is no conscription in Ghana. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Report of the Secretary-General, UN doc. E/CN.4/2000/55, op.cit.) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment in Ghana. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Social Service International) Greece RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as volunteers may serve from the age of 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) * Volunteers from 16 years of age are taken in the government armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Grenada - Guatemala RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. During the internal armed conflict, child soldiers were used by both the government forces and opposition forces. Opposition fighters were subsequently demobilised and reintegrated. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * In August, the ODHA released a report on the forced "disappearance" of children during the civil war, attributing 92% of the eighty-six documented abductions to the military. (HRW, World Report 2001) * At the time of demobilisation, of the 2,778 URNG troops who responded to a survey, 99, including 30 females, were between the ages of 10 and 15 years and 737, including 153 females, between the ages of 16 and 20 years. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Childwar Database) * The Civil Defence Patrol (PAC), which was effectively demobilised in 1996, is believed to have forcibly recruited at least 20,000 children below the age of 15, namely 2% of their total strength. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission, "Guatemala: Memory of Silence", 25 February 1999) * Of 2,959 guerrillas who have reported to the camps for their demobilisation, 214 were minors. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Guatemala News Watch, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 1997) * Children, some as young as 10, were recruited by both sides in the 1960-1996 civil war. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Guatemala, 1994-1995) * In Guatemala, rebel groups use girls to prepare food, attend to the wounded, wash clothes, and are also forced to provide sexual services. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Almquist, Kate, Robbie Muhumuza and David Westwood, "The Effects of Armed Conflict on Girls", Geneva, World Vision International, May 1996) Guinea NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known whether there are under-18s in government armed forces due to insufficient information on voluntary recruitment age. There is no evidence of underage recruitment in Guinea. However, the detention and ill-treatment of refugees in early September 2000 was reportedly committed by Guinean authorities and "militant youths". The age of these youths is not known, nor whether they were civilians or armed forces members. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment in Guinea. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON OTHER FORCES * A 1997 report by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, an international NGO, documented recruitment of the Sierra Leonean children from refugee camps in Guinea to join the Kamajors, the Sierra Leonean government militia organisation. (Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Abuses Against Sierra Leonean Refugee Children in Guinea, submission to the UN CRC, January 1999) Guinea-Bissau RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The legislation in force states that all Guineans over 18 years of age are submitted to compulsory military service. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * During the civil war government forces loyal to President Vieira are known to have included at least a small number of children. Concerns regarding possible underage recruitment on a larger scale were raised on several occasions. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to UNICEF there were reports that at the start of the conflict some 500 "youths" were recruited for training in Guinea Conakry, and later youths were recruited forcibly during a food distribution by the National Red Cross. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing UNICEF) * Recently, a rebel leader Ansumane Mané complained about the deployment on the front of 350 young recruits "forcibly enrolled in the Government troops", who had fired gunshots, constituting a violation of the cease-fire. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Integrated Regional Information Network-West Africa, Update No. 343, 20 November 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * The number of youngsters involved as forces in the military junta is low i.e. about 50, and nothing indicates that they participated in hostilities. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) Guyana NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on minimum recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Haiti RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in the government police forces as the minimum recruitment age is 18. There are no government military forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Honduras RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Although Honduras has not been considered to have been in a situation of internal armed conflict, the case study for the Machel Study documented the existence of opposition guerrilla groups which recruit minors. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) * In the 1980s and 1990s, forced recruitment was the norm. The Honduras Case Study conducted for the UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (the Machel Study) quotes estimates from the annual report of the CODEH that there were some 3,690 cases of forced recruitment, mainly of minors, in the five-year period from 1988-1992. Since 1994, there have been no reported cases of forced recruitment by the armed forces. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) Hungary RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The law on National Defence provides for the general conscription for all males above the age of 17 but military service before the age of 18 years is not permissible. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Hungary to the UN CRC, 24 September 1996) * The minimum age for volunteers is 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Hungary to the UN) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Iceland RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are no armed forces in Iceland and legislative provisions governing potential recruitment for the defence of the country indicate that only those over 18 would be required to participate if such a situation were to arise. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) India OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * There are child soldiers in every insurgent group in Manipur, including, apparently, children under 15 years of age. The lowest age recorded is 11 years. It is estimated that the number of child soldiers is between 6,000 and 7,500, which is equivalent to around 50% of the total group membership. It is further claimed that the recent trend is to induct more and more girls into insurgency movement in order to avoid suspicion on the hard core activists. The number of girl soldiers is said to be between 900 and 1,000, i.e., 6-7% of child soldiers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing a local research project quoted by Rädda Barnen) * In the Assam insurgency approximately 9-10% of soldiers are girls, numbering 3,000-4,000, with the lowest recorded age at 12 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * There are child soldiers in every militant group in Assam viz, Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force, Bodo Security Force and United Liberation Front of Assam. Approximately 50% of all these are children. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The Nagaland Insurgents which has a strength of 18,000-20,000, has 50-55% of the soldiers below 18 years. The recent trend is to induct more and more girls into insurgency movement in order to avoid suspicion on the hardcore activists. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * There are child soldiers in every insurgent group in Tripura, including children below 15 years. It is estimated that children make up to 50%, i.e. 7,000-8,000, of the total insurgent strength. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Naxalites have "reportedly begun recruiting boys aged between 8 and 15 years. Boys are recruited to the Bala Sangham, a militant children's organisation based in district towns such as North Telengana " There are reportedly around 75 Bala Sanghams in Andhra Pradesh with over 800 children in their ranks. The People's War Group (PWG) founded the Bala Sanghams believing that they could train children more effectively to resist police interrogation. Tribal girls are reportedly used as couriers in areas of Adilabad and Dandakarnya. Organisations such as the PWG also reportedly use children to provide food and to deliver ransom notes without arousing police suspicion." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South Asia Securing their Rights, 1 April 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * At the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers in May 2000, the representative of the state government of Jammu and Kashmir denied the involvement of children in Village Defence Committees (VDC). He acknowledged that there may have been some instances of young boys taking up arms to defend themselves under attack, but that there was "no policy to encourage young boys to become members of the VDCs." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * The Indian Government claims that even though children under 18 join the armed forces, they are not formally enrolled into regular service before the age of 18. It has been pointed out, though, that since there is no systematic birth registration in some of the rural areas it is sometimes difficult to prove one's real age. Accordingly, there is a small chance that underage children will be recruited into the defence forces as well as the paramilitary services. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen, citing a research) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * A local survey presented to the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers reported 28 children arrested or injured and 10 children killed in Manipur between January and May 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, 2/00) * In April 2000, Kashmir's first suicide bomber turned out to be 18 years old and the number of young Kashmiris crossing the line to receive training in Pakistan apparently rose sharply in 1999. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Two groups of 23 teenagers between the ages of 14 to 18 were intercepted by the army in Kupwara and Gure sectors, while the state police detained a group of nine from Poonch sector in Jammu region. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Joshi, A., "J&K teenagers taking to terrorism", The Hindustan Times, 17/9/98) * One local survey in the north east estimated that up to half of all combatants in most groups are children, with the recruitment of girls increasing - sometimes for sexual services and domestic labour - to about 6 or 7% of these children. The lowest age reported is 11. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, www.rb.se) * A journalist who spent two weeks in April-May 2000 with the NSCN-M (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) faction reported that of the 250-300 troops in the group, "the vast majority were children between 13 and 17 years of age" (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, www.rb.se quoting Peter Standberg) * The All Tripura Tribal Force (ATTF), and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) are fighting in Tripura against the immigration of Bengali people. Children have reportedly been used as soldiers by armed groups in Tripura. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Radda Barnen, www.rb.se) * Amnesty International has found that Naxalites have "reportedly begun recruiting boys aged between 8 and 15. The boys usually come from scheduled castes or tribes, or socially or economically disadvantaged classes. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing AI, Children in South Asia Securing Their Rights, Report ASA 04/01/98) * During the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, a representative of the Jammu and Kashmir state government claimed that none of the terrorist groups had been using young children and that during the entire insurgency there had only been a few instances of children being 'bribed' to commit violence or being intercepted at the border by security forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * Apart from the United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in Nagaland, most of the different armed groups are estimated to number no more than a few thousand combatants, each group fighting for sometimes conflicting demands of independence or greater autonomy. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing J. M. Balencie and A. de La Grange, Mondes rebelles, 1999) * Children under 18 years of age have reportedly been used by many of these groups as fighters, spies, messengers and in other support roles. As a result of the presence of children in armed groups, "children, especially boys, are targeted by soldiers who believe that these boys might be supporters or future members of armed groups." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Report, 1999) * At one camp of Lashkar-e-Taiba 200 young militants with Kalashnikov assault rifles learned how to conduct an ambush. The young fighters, ranging age from 17 to 25, are often from poor families and some join despite objections from their families. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "Where militants sharpen their knives", The Hindu, 31 May 1999) * In Assam hundreds of children have been separated from their families, physically abused, exploited and abducted into militant groups. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Mr. Sancerre Barma, "Impact of conflict and insurgency on children in Assam" December 1997) * Kashmir insurgents with over 180 different groups, has children below 18 years. (Far Eastern Economic Review, 11 April 1996, citing Uppsala University, The Conflict Data Project) * The Child's Rights Bulletin, July-September 1993, reports that Kashmir insurgency groups recruited young boys to throw hand grenades at Indian soldiers and that boys, 11-12 years old, were taught to use AK-47 assault rifles. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) Indonesia NATIONAL STATISTICS * The total number of child soldiers is greater than 1,000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Recent reports have indicated that children between 7 and 12 years of age have been participating in the violence on the islands with both sides. Allegedly, children are sent "into fighting with firebombs in their backpack." (CSUCS, Allegedly, Children are Sent into Fighting with Firebombs in their Backpack, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Kids fighting in Indonesia, Associated Press, 24 February 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. However, paramilitary groups supported by the government in regions such as Aceh and East Timor have reportedly used children as soldiers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In January 2000, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists claimed that child soldiers had been used by such groups to terrorize the pro-independence populace. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing "Acehnese cower from escalating reign of violence", The Australian, 17/1/00) * There are no under 18s in the Indonesian armed forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF, August 1999) * Dagens Nyheter, 21 April 1999, reported that " the military and local authorities created a secret force of thousands of men, mostly recruited among unemployed and poor young men". (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, 2000) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) is said to carry out voluntary and forced recruitment of children, for example during a recruitment drive in November 1999. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Kemp, A., "Indonesia armed Timor death squads", Guardian Weekly, 14/2/99) * The OPM (Organisasie Papua Merdeki) has engaged in a low intensity campaign for the independence of Papua/Irian Jaya since its annexation by Indonesia. While little is known about the OPM's recruitment practice, it is feared that children could be drawn into armed activities in Papua's tribal society. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * Units of boys, some as young as 12, known as agas, after a biting insect, are fighting for Christian armed groups. According to one Christian leader: "They are very valuable in our fights with the Whites (Muslims) because they are young and small. They can sneak into the area and burn everything. Even the Indonesian troops who shoot at the Reds (Christians) will hesitate to shoot a very young person." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "Deadly day's play for child soldiers", The Australian, 21 June 2000) * Church sources in the region say at least 200 boys have been forcibly recruited and trained as fighters and "those who are wounded are often left to die." Allegedly, the recruiting campaign started in October 1999 and was intensified in January 2000 "with the complicity of the local security authorities". (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Agence Internationale FIDES, "Les musulmans laissent mourir les enfants enrôlés comme soldats quand ils sont blaissés", No 4100, 25 February 2000) * Reports indicated that the Free Aceh Movement was recruiting in November 1999 and carrying out training for new recruits wearing civilian clothes. The Guardian newspaper at this time pictured one child soldier holding an AK47 rifle. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing T. Fuller, "Rebel leaders in Aceh vow to fight on", The Herald Tribune, 15 November 1999) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * In September 1999, a journalist reported that most of the members of militia groups were teenagers, and in some cases, children apparently not more than 12-13 years of age. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing D. Jimenez, "Timor se convierte en un immenso campo de refugiados, El Mundo, 10 September 1999) * East Timorian militias had children below 18. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS 2000) * The Revolutionary Front for Independent East Timor (Fretilin), a militant force recruited children soldiers below 18. However, there are no recent reports that children were in Fretilin. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Children participated in Intifada-like protests in East Timor, sometimes with lethal outcomes. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * In the Youth Guard for Upholding Integration, an organisation gathering youths trained to counter pro-independence youth groups, children were seen at checkpoints armed with home made weapons, some of them wearing the black T-shirt, which marks Aitarak. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing T. McCawley, "Murderous puppets", Asiaweek, 17 September 1999) * Besi Merah Putih ('red and white iron') militia shortly after its establishment in 1998, recruited its members from among ordinary peasants, old people and young boys of less than 18 years of age. By early February 1999 it claimed to have a membership of 2,890. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Iran RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * According to Iran's initial report to the Committee on the Rights of Child, "The minimum employment age for the armed forces for the purpose of receiving military training is 16 and the minimum age of employment for the Police Forces is 17." (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Iran's report to the Committee on the Rights of Child) * Children below 18 years of age are recruited into the army. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The Basij, or Popular Mobilisation Army, continues to provide a smaller volunteer peacetime reserve relying heavily upon youths in its recruitment. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * The Basij numbered up to a million volunteers during the Iran/Iraq war and reportedly contained very young soldiers. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) Iraq GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * 8,000 children in Saddam Clubs of Baghdad alone are in the armed forces. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * More than 1,000 child soldiers are reportedly in the Iraqi forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Around 1,000 boys named Saddam's Youth form a wing of government paramilitary. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In law, Iraq conscripts at 19 years of age and accepts volunteers from 15, but is reported to take recruits much younger. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Reports suggest that children participated with Iraqi forces in the Gulf War and the Iran-Iraq war. The militarization of children is currently widespread through military-style youth organisations. Kurdish groups are also known to use child soldiers, the youngest being only seven years old. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In recent years, the Iraqi government launched campaigns to introduce military training for school children between the ages of 12 and 17. The Iraqi authorities have arranged two sessions, "Raad" and "Al Anfal", for a total of 23,000 children. Children are reportedly taken to boot camps for three weeks and are trained in light arms and Ba'ath ideology. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing reference to the 1968 revolution which brought Saddam Hussein's wing of the Ba'ath party to power) * Boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 could join and receive training in the use of light arms. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Each year the Government enrolls children as young as 10 years of age in a paramilitary training program. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001) * For the sixth year, the government held 3-week training courses in weapons use, hand-to-hand fighting, rappelling from helicopters, and infantry tactics for children from 10 to 15 years of age. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Thousands of boys as young as 10 have graduated from a military training program, educating them in the use of weaponry, Alef-Ba, reported in August 1997. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing AP, 13 August 1997) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * There are soldiers reportedly as young as 10 fighting for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a militant organisation. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing radio news report, Swedish Radio, 16 September 1996) Ireland RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There is no conscription in Ireland. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A person, including a minor, may during a period of emergency be enlisted as a man of the Permanent Defence Force to serve for that period of emergency in the Permanent Defence Force. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * Recruits as private soldiers in the Permanent Defence Force must be not less than 17 years old. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Ireland to the UN CRC) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruits are accepted at seventeen. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Israel RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Interviews and assessments for military service begin at age 16, call up occurs formally at 17 with a medical examination, and military service begins at the age of 18. However some applications for early admission are accepted from the age of 17 and some months. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Brett and McCallin op. cit.) * During the UN working group on the Optional Protocol in January 2000 Israel announced a change in position in favour of 18 as the minimum age for deployment. This was confirmed by Israeli Defence Force representatives in March 2001 who told a Knesset committee that "17-year-olds would no longer be allowed to serve as volunteers in combat units, even if their parents agree and would only be allowed to take courses until reaching 18". (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Jerusalem Post, 6/3/01) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) * With Israel conscripting at 18 and recruiting volunteers at 17, many members of the security forces are very young. Israel announced a change in position in favour of 18 years for minimum age of participation at the Optional Protocol negotiations in January 2000, but it is not clear if this policy has yet been implemented. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as recruitment is possible under 18. The government is considering changes that would end the "early admission" of conscripts and the deployment of under-18s. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Minors are recruited into the IDF but the number of such recruits is not known. The Yediot Achronot newspaper pictured the IDF's youngest officer on 4 March 2001: Maayan skipped a class and was drafted at 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES   * Volunteers from 17 years of age are found in the Israeli army. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) Italy RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recent legislative changes prohibit both compulsory and voluntary recruitment of under-18s. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Currently, voluntary recruitment is possible from the age of 17 but participation in peacekeeping forces is only allowed for recruits over 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Italy to the UN, 23 January 1998) * Legislation has been introduced into the Italian Parliament, which would amend the current defence law to raise the minimum age for military recruitment to 18. (CSUCS, Update 3, July 2000) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There is no armed conflict in Italy, although the use of children in organised crime by groups such as the Mafia is of concern. It has been reported that children as young as 11 are taught to assemble and use weapons. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Jamaica NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as volunteers may be recruited under the age of 18 with parental consent. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Japan GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In 1997 the number of under-18s recruited was 355, which represented 2.3% of the total annual intake. In total, there were 1,279 cadets under the age of 18 years in November 1997. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Japan to the UN, 5 November 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Youth cadets are admitted to the Self Defence Force from the age of 16 but cannot be deployed. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Persons of 18 years of age may be recruited as volunteers for service into the Self Defence Force. Nevertheless, as an exception, persons between 15 and 16 years old may be recruited as youth cadets in the Self Defence Forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Japan to the UN CRC, 5 August 1996) * Even in case of an emergency, Self Defence Force (SDF) youth cadets who have not reached the age of 18 are not allowed to engage in hostilities." (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * This information has been confirmed by UNICEF, which has stated that the cadets are not "mobilised to assume military duties," even though as pupils in military schools they are considered part of the SDF. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing information provided by UNICEF, 22/6/99) * 15 years is the minimum age for enrollment in the Self-Defence Force as SDF youth cadets for the Ground, Maritime and Air Self Defence Forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Japan to the UN, 5 November 1999) * Japan claims that stricto sensu soldiers under 18 years of age are not recruited in Japan. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Japan to the UN, 5 November 1999) Jordan RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) Kazakhstan GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * It is not known whether there are under-18s in government armed forces as there is no information on the minimum voluntary recruitment age. There is potential child involvement in Uzbek Islamic armed movements reportedly operating from the south of the country. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Kenya NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * A new omnibus children's law providing that "no child (up to the age of 18) shall take part in hostilities or be recruited in armed conflicts" will be submitted to parliamentary hearings in June 2001. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing information provided to CSC by HRW, May 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There have been no reports of under-18s in government armed forces, but according to legislation recruits need only have the 'apparent' age of 18, while even younger recruits may enlist with the consent of a guardian. Recruitment of Kenyan street children by armed opposition groups from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been reported. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Kiribati GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * No regular military forces. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Korea, Dem. People's Republic NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Children are militarized from an early age through military and ideological training in camps and clubs. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Korea, Rep. RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The government stated that "Korean men are liable for military service in the year of their 18th birthday, and must attain the age of, at least, 19 if they want to be in active service during the year of acceptance. However, a person aged 17 or over who voluntarily applies for military service may be enlisted in the army, navy or air force." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Korea to the UN CRC, 30 November 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known whether there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to conflicting information on recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Kosovo NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * It was also claimed that 1,000 children from Macedonia joined the KLA (UShtria çlirimtare e Kosovës - Kosovo Liberation Army). This claim was supported by the FYROM Minister of Interior, Mr Pavle Trajanov, who declared that the KLA wanted to destabilize the FYROM by recruiting people on its territory. He also said that among those who had been recruited there were teenagers and he quoted about 20 villages in the country where the KLA freely works. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing G. Paris, "Les autoritées macédoniennes redoutent les agissements de l'UCK sur leur sol", Le Monde, 22 April 1999) * The armed forces of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) undoubtedly had a number of bases in the north of Albania. It has been reported that the KLA recruited soldiers, among them children, on Albanian territory. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * 350 underage children from refugee camps in Macedonia joined the KLA and 30 of them were killed there. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Natasa Dokovska, Journalists for the Rights of Women, Children and the Environment, FYROM) Kuwait RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Kyrgyzstan - Laos RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 15 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Some sources claim that the age for compulsory recruitment may be as low as 15. There are internal conflicts with armed opposition groups and given the extent of child participation in neighbouring conflicts, there is a risk of child recruitment by armed groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Latvia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All men are liable for military service from the age of 19. Voluntary service can be performed from the age of 18. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Latvia to the UN, 13 July 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. According to the Law on Compulsory Military Service, all men are liable for military service from the age of 19. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Lebanon NATIONAL STATISTICS * A study commissioned by UNICEF in 1990 estimated that 1% of Lebanese children had taken part in combat, and stated that many young people may have become resigned to violence and a military life (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are around 100 children below the age of 18 in government armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Machal study) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Children are known to participate in various armed groups operating in the country. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Armed militias had a history of recruiting youths during the civil war, with both young boys and girls taking part in the fighting. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Some girls, as young as eleven, received military training from the militias. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Hezbollah, a religious militant outfit operating in Lebanon recruits very small numbers of child soldiers according to NGO source. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Palestinian National Liberation Army, a non-government force recruits very small numbers of soldiers under 18 years according to NGO source. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Palestinian commandos are as young as 9 years old according to the Machal Case Study. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * A woman from Markaba, whose son was forced to join the SLA at the age of 16, told Human Rights Watch that forced conscription of children by the SLA was not unusual: They take them at the age of 14, 15 and 16. (Human Rights Watch, Punishing Flight From The Militia, 1999) * The SLA practice of forced conscription of teenaged boys has been a long-standing nightmare for families that are opposed to the occupation and despise the SLA. According to Lebanese defense lawyers, since 1985 "about 12,000 people have joined the SLA freely or forcibly. (Human Rights Watch, Punishing Flight From The Militia, 1999, citing "Former Israeli-allied militiamen `treated correctly' - lawyers", AFP, 11 June 1999) * Some adults have used young people's immaturity to their own advantage, recruiting and training adolescents for suicide bombings. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) Lesotho GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces as no age is specified for voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Liberia NATIONAL STATISTICS * In Liberia, as many as 15,000 children, some as young as six, served as soldiers. Many of these boys were considered 'hard-core combatants' - youths who had been forced to commit atrocities against their own families or villages as a show of loyalty to their commanders. (UNICEF, Progress Of Nations 2000, New York, 2000) * The UN has estimated that up to 20,000 children, were among both government and opposition forces during Liberia's seven-year civil war. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * About 21% (4,306) of the combatants who disarmed under the provisions of the Abuja peace accords were child soldiers under the age of 17. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * As many as 500 children between the ages of 10 and 17 were seen on a base doing combat drill and light rifle training of the government armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of Children as Soldiers in Africa, 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for voluntary recruitment is set at 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * In 1999 the Liberian government stated its commitment to an age of limit of 18 for participation in armed conflict, but the Armed Forces of Liberia have continued to recruit minors, including children from Sierra Leone. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In 1999 Liberian authorities denied recruitment or abuse of children by the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing statement by A. von Williamson at the African Conference on the Use of Child Soldiers, Maputo, Mozambique, 19-22 April 1999) * According to officials of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), the armed forces do not recruit any person below 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * It is believed that children who continue to be recruited into the AFL, are treated in the same way as they were in wartime. During the conflict, they have sometimes been treated even more cruelly than adult soldiers. One child soldier reported that he had been made to bayonet his pregnant sister in the stomach as a way of instilling total loyalty. Boy soldiers were placed in special 'Small Boys Units', where they were taught to kill without question. These units were particularly feared by civilians for this reason. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * During the African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, the Liberian authorities denied any recruitment of children under the age of 18 in the Armed Forces of Liberia and any involvement in the abuse of children in any manner and form. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. von Williamson, Liberian Government Representative to the African Conference on Child Soldiers, 19-22 April 1999) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * In the past, all factions have recruited large numbers of children. There are no precise figures in this regard, though it is believed that the current armed forces are primarily composed of former National Patriotic Front of Liberia's (NPFL) fighters. According to data collected during disarmament/demobilisation in 1996-97, 18% of the NPLF soldiers were children. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * Of those aged 17 years and under, the majority, 69% were 15 to 17 years old, and had served an average of four years; 27% of the remaining fighters under 17 were between the ages of 12 and 14 years old. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing M. McKenna, "The reintegration of child soldiers in Liberia" , UNICEF USA News, November 1998) * Out of a total number of 21,315 combatants who were demobilised, 4,306 were child soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF Liberia: Demobilisation and reintegration of former child soldiers and other war affected youth, October 1998) * Liberia has its own `small boy unit' ranging in age from 6 to 20. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) * A quarter of the combatants in the various fighting factions were children, some 20,000 in all. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) * In the civil war in Liberia, UNICEF estimates that 6,000 of the fighters or 10% are children under 15. It is estimated that a total of 40,000 to 60,000 fighters were involved in the conflict. (Human Rights Watch/Africa, Easy Prey: Child Soldiers in Liberia, September 1994) * In 1990, children as young as seven were seen in combat. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) * In the late 1980s and early 1990s, using many thousands of child soldiers, factions in Liberia fought a brutal seven-year civil war. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Libya RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is unclear. According to Act No. 9 of 1987 (as amended) concerning national service, national service is compulsory for all citizens who have attained 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Initial Report of Libya to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/28/Add.6, 26, 9/96) * Volunteers from 14 years of age are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994)  GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as conflicting information suggests that recruitment under 18 is possible, but children are reportedly not deployed. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Liechtenstein RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The country has no conscription and its armed forces were abolished in 1868. However, in case of emergency, male citizens can be mobilised.(CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) Lithuania RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Seventeen-year-olds are able to enroll in military schools in which they would be considered to be part of the armed forces during a state of war or aggression. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Voluntary recruitment is possible from the age of 18. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Lithuania to the UN, 30 June 1999) * All men between the ages of 19 and 27 are liable for military service. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) Luxembourg GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are currently 54,17-year-olds, in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are taken. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Conscription does not exist in Luxembourg and was abolished in 1967. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * In 2001 the government reported there were 24 voluntary recruits under the age of 18 in the armed forces, but stated that under-18s are not deployed in situations of armed conflict. Under-18 recruitment is set to continue, but legal provisions are being established to ensure there will be no under-18 deployment either in situations of armed conflict or in peace-keeping operations. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)   Madagascar RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Madagascar has claimed that "no legal provision on national service or a state of national necessity requires children to take a direct part in hostilities". (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Madagascar to the UN CRC, 13 September 1993) Malawi RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment into armed forces is generally on a voluntary basis and the minimum age is 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Malaysia NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of underage recruitment into the Malaysian armed forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Maldives - Mali RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for both compulsory and voluntary recruitment is 18 years and the maximum age is 22 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Mali to the UN CRC, 8 September 1997) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment in Mali. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * In February 1999, Mali sent troops to Sierra Leone as part of the ECOMOG forces. There is no evidence of any underage soldiers among the Malian contingent. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Malta NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Marshall Islands GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * No regular military forces. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Mauritania RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers are taken from 16 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Official sources claimed recently that recruitment into the armed forces is done on a voluntary basis and the minimum age of recruitment is actually 18. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing the military attaché at the Embassy of Mauritania in Paris, 10 February 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces given that recruitment is possible from the age of 16. However, numbers of such recruits are not known. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Mauritius RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS There are no government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Volunteers from 16 years of age are taken. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for recruitment into the Special Mobile Force is 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Mission of Mauritius to the UN, 21 January 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18 recruitment into the government paramilitary forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Mexico OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * Most of the fighters in the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) are said to be 18-20 years old, but according to Rädda Barnen some fighters under 18 have also been reported. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 16 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for conscription is 17 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in the government armed forces as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces is only 16. There are also reports of under-18s being recruited by paramilitaries and armed groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It has been said that the paramilitary groups search for young people aged between 15 and 20 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * Children are forcefully recruited in the paramilitaries. (CSUCS, The Use Of Child Soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * In April 1994, local and international reporters were invited by the guerrillas to their jungle hideout, where they watched a procession of child rebels as young as 6 years old. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Diego Cevallos, "Minors recruited by Army and Guerrillas", IPS, 2 July 1998) * The smaller Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) and the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) are reported to have minors within their ranks. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Diego Cevallos, "Minors recruited by Army and Guerillas") . Micronesia - Moldova RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All men between 18 and 40 years were liable for military service. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on voluntary recruitment age. There are no reports of child participation in the conflict over the breakaway republic of Trans-Dnestr. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Monaco GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Defense is the responsibility of France. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Mongolia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Conscription is practiced in Mongolia in accordance with the 1993 Universal Military Service Law. The minimum age for military service is 18 years and the government has asserted that the common age for military service is 19-20 years. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Mongolia to the UN CRC, 3 February 1995) Morocco RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * 18 years is the minimum age for voluntary or compulsory recruitment in the armed forces as fixed by the Royal Decree of 9 June 1966. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Report of Morocco to the UN CRC, 19 August 1995) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of underage recruitment into the Moroccan armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * In Polisario or Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro Mil wing of Sahrawi People's Liberation Army the age of conscription is 17; they become combatants at 19. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Quaker Peace and Service Report, Child Soldiers, September 1993) Mozambique RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Mozambique supported a "straight-18" ban on military recruitment during negotiations on the Optional Protocol. Mozambican law allows conscription from the age of 18 but this age limit may be lowered during times of war. Many thousands of children were used as soldiers in the past war between Frelimo and Renamo. There are concerns that former child soldiers, now of draft age, may be liable for compulsory military service again. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment, although the possibility of altering the age for recruitment in time of war is disquieting given Mozambique's history prior to 1992. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing International Forum for Child Welfare, October 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Child soldiers were widely used in Mozambique during the 1977-1992 civil war. (Human Rights Watch, Country Reports, 2000) * In the former war between Frelimo and Renamo, many thousands of children were used as soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * Data supplied by the technical unit of UNOMOZ indicates that 27%, about 25,498, of the demobilised soldiers were, at the time of recruitment, younger than 18 years. Of these, about 16,553 belonged to the governmental army, while 8,945 belonged to Renamo. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing "The Social Reintegration of the Child Involved in Armed Conflict in Mozambique", published by the Institute for Security Studies, South Africa,1999) * 25,498, almost 28%, of the 92 881 officially demobilised soldiers in Mozambique were younger than 18 years when recruited. Of these, 4,678 were under 13 when recruited, 6,829 were 14-15-year-old, and 13,982 were 16-17 years old. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing a joint report by UNHCR and International Save the Children Alliance, 1998) * Report of Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, 1997, revealed that at least 10,000 children served as soldiers during the conflict. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * An estimated 8,000 children participated actively in the civil war between Frelimo and Renamo. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Africa News, May 1996) * When Renamo allowed full access to its old bases in June 1994, more than 2000 children were registered. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) Namibia GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * 3,000 child soldiers are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of Children as Soldiers in Africa, 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * For voluntary recruitment the candidate must be over the age of 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There have been continuing reports that a large number of Namibians as young as 14, including teenage girls, have been recruited into the Angolan armed forces at Calai, a settlement on the Angolan side of the Kavango river. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citng Radda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No.1/00) * Recent reports indicate that jobless Namibian boys between the ages of 14 to 16 have joined the Angolan Civil Defence Force Unit (CDFU), a division of the Angolan Armed Forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing IRIN News, NAMIBIA: Boys join Angolan military, 18/1/01) Nauru GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Reports of children being recruited by armed groups in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands continued. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Nepal RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * A person must be at least 18 years old to be recruited into the army. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Nepal to the UN CRC, 10 May 1995) * The 1971 Young Boys' Recruitment and Conditions of Service Rules state that young boys must be between 15 and 18 years old to be recruited. The government explained that this means that "young Nepalese men could enlist from the age of 15 years in order to follow military training, but nobody under 18 years of age could be recruited into the army". (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UN CRC, Consideration of Report of Nepal, 24 June 1996) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In August 2000, Amnesty International warned of a rising tide of recruitment of children by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)/United People's Front . At least 30 children had reportedly been abducted in June and July by members of the armed group. Although it had not been confirmed whether these children were abducted to be trained and deployed as combatants. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, 9 August 2000) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Children as young as 14 have been recruited, sometimes forcibly, by the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The CPN (Maoist) leadership made a commitment not to recruit children in August 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Press articles have likewise asserted that the Maoists are using "school and college students and even young children in their guerrilla activities." The Himalaya Times claimed the Maoists are recruiting children between 14 and 18 years of age who are then sent out in groups of six or seven on guerrilla operations. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing "Reports from the Battlefield", The Worker, No. 4, Publications Department Central Committee Communist Party of Nepal, 5/98, http://www.maoism.org) * On 19 March 1999, it was reported that "seven Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police at Ankot village of Kavre district. Six of them have been found to be students and young people. Four of them were girls." Among these "young people" was a 17-year-old and a 14 year-old. Two other young people, aged 15 and 16, were killed in the operation. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In October 2000, the Kathmandu Post reported the surrender of a 14-year-old Maoist worker to the district administration after 6 months service with the CPN. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In Nepal, evidence mounted that children as young as fourteen, including girls, were recruited by members of the armed opposition group, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist). (HRW, World Report 2001) * The recruitment of children is not yet a widespread problem, but the 'symptoms' are present. Most children taking part in the armed conflict are believed to be between 14 and 18 years of age, but the use of even younger children cannot be ruled out. Children are also reportedly used as messengers, sentries and spies, and involved in cultural or propaganda activities. The Maoists are said to have formed "a youth wing to reach out to school children." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * In Nepal, the Kathmandu Post reported on the surrender of a 14-year-old Maoist worker Pushpa to the district administration. She had reportedly been recruited about six months ago . Following appeals by Amnesty International, the Coalition and Nepal NGOs, the CPN (Maoist) leadership in August publicly denied the recruitment of children and said it would turn away volunteers. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) Netherlands GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The Dutch armed forces recruit 800 to 900 under-18s every year. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9/12/99, op. cit. ) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Civil Code of the Netherlands (Burgerlijk Wetboek) states that children between 16 and 18 years of age may seek employment of their own choosing, on condition that they receive permission from parents or guardians and dispensation from a judge. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to internal rules of the armed forces, these recruits cannot be sent abroad to take part in military operations before they reach the age of eighteen. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Gmelich Meijling op. cit.) * In 1996, when Netherland modified its recruitment policy and its selection of personnel for peace operations abroad, it set 17 years as the minimum age for recruitment and 18 for participation in hostilities. 19 years is the minimum age for recruitment into the National Reserve Corps. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 20 July 1999) * The Dutch armed forces underwent an extensive reorganization in 1993 and conscription was suspended although it can be reinstated in case of emergency. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of The Netherlands to the UN CRC, 24 July 1997) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. Legislative provisions regarding the recruitment age need to be clarified and harmonized with actual practice. It appears that 16 is the minimum age in law but that the armed forces practice a policy of only recruiting 17-year-olds and deploying 18-year-olds. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS * On 22 November 1998, the criminal police of Hanover reported that 3 children had been trained by the PKK for guerrilla warfare in camps in the Netherlands and Belgium. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing "GfbV appelliert an Bundesregierung: Sorgen Sie für die Rückkehr der von der PKK in Deutschland entführten kurdischen Minderjährigen in ihren Familien!", GfbV, 23 November 1998) New Zealand RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Enlistment in the armed forces without parental consent is possible at 18 years of age, and with parental consent at 16 years and 6 months, both in the Navy and the Air Force, and at 17 years and 6 months in the Army. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of New Zealand to the UN CRC, 12 October 1995) * No person serving in the Army or the Air Force shall be liable for active service outside New Zealand while that person is under 18 years of age, and that no person serving in the Navy shall be liable for active service outside New Zealand while that person is under 16 years and 6 months of age. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing The Defence Act) * Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade affirmed that "the minimum age of legal recruitment into the New Zealand Armed Forces is 17 years old and the minimum age for deployment is 18 years". (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 18 March 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. New Zealand permits recruitment from 17 but legislation prohibits the deployment of recruits until they have reached the age of majority. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to the authorities, the number of under-18s voluntarily recruited could be as high as 40-50% in any one year. It is claimed, however, that 17-year-olds tend to be in training until the age of 18 years and, in their relations with adult soldiers, are treated in the same way as other soldiers of equivalent rank. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing New Zealand Permanent Mission, 17/11/99, op. cit.) * There is no evidence of under-18s participating within New Zealand contingent serving as UN peacekeepers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * Volunteers from 17 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000) Nicaragua RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are recruited in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 17 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruitment is possible from the age of 17. However, there are no reports of under 18-year-olds serving at present. There are currently no reports of underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Currently, there is no evidence of any underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999) Niger NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information about minimum voluntary recruitment age. No evidence has emerged regarding the use of children as soldiers in Niger currently. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Nigeria RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment into the armed forces is done on a voluntary basis and the minimum age for such enlistment is 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Possibly children below 18 are fighting. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS In 1999 and 2000 armed Ijaw youths thought to be age 16 and over took part in opposition to the government's oil policy in the Niger Delta. There is no information available regarding the participation of children in other ethnic militias. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The US Department of State reported that confrontations between increasingly militant youths - described typically as unemployed males between the ages of 16 and 40 - oil companies and government authorities continued in 1999 and 2000. At least 28 Delta youths were killed in such clashes or suspected vandalization near oil flow stations in 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing US State Department Report 2000) * Youth have been reported to participate in armed violence between the Ijaw and Itsekeri tribes since the spring of 1997. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of Children as Soldiers in Africa, 1999) Niue GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Defense is the responsibility of New Zealand. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Norway GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * Currently, around 100,17-year-old children are recruited each year into the Norwegian armed forces. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 November 1999) * The number of Home Guard Youth is about 1,700. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Norway to the UN, 19 February 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In the Home Guard, voluntary recruitment is possible from the age of 16 years. Only when they turn 19 do they become Home Guard Soldiers with a combatant status. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Norway to the UN, 19 February 1998) * All men are liable for military service from 1 January of the year they attain 19 years. In wartime, or if war is imminent, the King in Council may decide that men shall be liable for military service from 1 January of the year in which they attain 17 years of age. Nevertheless, the older age groups are called up first. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, to CSUCS, 25 November 1999) * It is prohibited to send children under the age of 18 years into conflict areas as participants in international peace support operations, including crisis-response operations. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing the Norwegian Delegation to the European Conference on Child Soldiers, 18-20 October 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces with approximately one hundred 17-year old volunteers accepted each year. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Oman GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Pakistan OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * Some madrasas have emerged as centres for indoctrination, training and recruitment of young fighters for the armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Jammu and Kashmir. In February 2000 the Pakistani Interior Minister claimed that "only 1%" of the madrasas in Pakistan sent their students for training in Afghanistan. Reportedly, there are 219,000 students in madrasas in Punjab province alone. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing A. Baruah, "Pakistan bans display of arms", The Hindu, 17 February 2000) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 16 years of age are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database)   * The legal enlistment age is between 17 and 22 for officers, and between 16 and 25 for soldiers. (Mission of Pakistan to the UN, 16 December 1997) * The Pakistan Government representative said that while Pakistan recruited under 18s, it had adequate safeguards to ensure they were not involved in armed conflict. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing the Pakistan Government Representative to the Asia Pacific Conference on Child Soldiers, 15-18 May 2000) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Much attention has been paid to the role of informal Islamic schools or madrasas in recruiting children for political and military activities. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Spillius, A., "Seminaries churn out warriors for Kashmir", op. cit. ) * There are no official figures regarding the number of madrasas in Pakistan; estimates vary between 15,000 and 25,000. Some madrasas have emerged as centres for indoctrination, training and recruitment of young fighters for the armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Jammu and Kashmir. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Chandran, S., "Madrassas in Pakistan-I. Madrassas a brief review", Article No. 314, 25/1/00, IPCS, New Delhi,, http://www.ipcs.org) * UN sources reported further recruitment of children from madrasas in the summer of 1999 when the Taliban launched a major recruitment drive in expectation of a new offensive. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing UN document S/PV.4037, Provisional Verbatim of Security Council debate on children and armed conflict, 25/8/99) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment is 16, but there is no evidence of their deployment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Some internal armed groups are also known to have children in their ranks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It is believed that the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) factions have under-18s in their ranks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Human Rights Watch reported in 1999 that "on August 12, 1998, unidentified gunmen shot Mohajir men, including one 16 year old, who was the only one to survive. Later that evening nine Muttahida activists, ranging in age from 15 to 22, were killed and five were injured by unknown gunmen." (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing HRW Report 1999, op. cit.) * There is evidence that children, some under 14, have been recruited by armed groups fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The degree to which under 18-year-old activists of Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) factions are engaged in armed conflict is unclear as many such killings take place in disputed circumstances. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Human Rights Watch, World Report, 1999) * Amnesty International has reported forced recruitment of children in Pakistan through madarsas to fight in Afghanistan. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South Asia Securing Their Rights, 1 April 1998) Palau GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Defense is the responsibility of the US. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Palestine GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There is no military training in regular schools. However, in the summer of 2000 it was estimated that nearly 50,000 children were enrolled in military-style camps, which included military discipline rules and training in the use of light arms. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) OPPOSITION FORCE STATISTICS * According to independent estimates, less than 1% of the total Palestinian adolescent population aged 12 to 18 has taken an active part in the clashes with the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces). (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Participation in the intifada-style violence has impacted greatly on a generation of Palestinian children, with many parallels to the problem of child soldiering. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) * Israeli officials accuse the Palestinians of putting children in the front line to draw sympathy, but Abel Rabbo said children participate because they feel the loss of relatives along with a sense of grievance that their rights have been violated by Israeli occupation. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Children have been prominent in media portrayals of the latest Al-Aqsa intifada which began on 28 September 2000. There is no evidence to date of children being recruited or used systematically by the Palestinian authority or armed. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * While there are some reports of children participating in Palestinian armed groups, there is no evidence of systematic recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There have been reports of children below 15 years of age in Hamas, with the lowest recorded age being 12, but the process of selection for the Izz al-Deen Al-Qassem Brigades is reportedly long and rigorous and has not to date included children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Jacques-Marie Bourget describes in Paris-Match how Palestinian children under 15 years of age are trained to become martyrs for the purpose of having them carry out acts of terror against Israel. As the Muslim religion forbids suicide, these children are promised a kamikaze death which is said to be an act of the Jihad approved by the Koran. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Children below 15 years of age are in Hamas, a militant Islamic Group. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing The Jerusalem Report, 6 April 1995) * Palestinian National Liberation Army, recruits very small numbers of soldiers under 18 years according to NGO sources. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Palestinian commandos are as young as 9 years old according to the Machal Case Study. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have reportedly received training in guerrilla warfare, including mock kidnappings, by the Fatah movement. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000 citing The Times, 25 October) Panama NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is no evidence of underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999) Papua New Guinea RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The country is heavily influenced by Australia and New Zealand in military affairs, both of which recruit at 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to the Papua New Guinea's 1999 White Paper, the government has decided to "reactivate the Volunteer Rifles as a reserve force capable of assisting the government in law and order and internal security situations." It has also been decided to "reactivate the School Cadet Scheme beginning in the year 2000." Some sources claim that there are children under 18 years of age in the governmental armed forces, but no further information is available. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The BRA which fought a long secessionist conflict with government forces on the island of Bougainville has admitted having children under 18 years in its ranks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It is not known if there are under-18s in the government armed forces due to insufficient information about the minimum age for voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Under-18s fought with an armed opposition group during a secessionist war on Bougainville. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * There had been reports of BRA recruitment of children as young as 13 and 14 years old. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * An announcement was made in September 1999 by a Bouganvillian Revolutionary Army representative who said the BRA would ensure that in the future no person below the age of 18 years would either be recruited into their forces or participate in armed conflict. Until this time the BRA actively recruited children as young as 13 and 14. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Minors had been engaged on both sides in the secessionist conflict on the island of Bougainville. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing anonymous NGO source) * BRA never had any policies with regard child soldiers. But in some instances, every BRA Commander was strictly advised not to have young boys in the frontline fighting, but could be used as ammunition carriers, messengers, food carriers and cooks, and even sometimes as spies. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Stop child soldiers, conference on the Use of Child Soldiers, Australian CSUCS, Melbourne, 1999) * Forced conscription of under-age youth had been prevalent in the country. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) Paraguay GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In 2000 an estimated 80% of conscripts were under the age of 18, roughly 10,400 people, of these approximately 30.3% or 4,000 were 15 years or under and their average age was 16.4 years. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Servicio Paz y Justicia Paraguay) * In the government forces there are 2,900 (16% of the troops) soldiers of 18 years,17,000 of 17 years or less (84%), 6,500 of 15 years old or less (35.8%). The average recruitment age is no more that 16.5 years of age. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing SEJUP Paraguay) * The total number of child soldiers in the armed forces is around 21,000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Despite clear legal provisions prohibiting the recruitment of children under the age of 18, the armed forces and police have forcibly recruited children between the ages of 12 and 17, sometimes forcibly or by falsifying their identity papers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing concluding observations of the Committee of the Rights of the Child, UN Doc.) * It has been reported that the Paraguayan State confirmed, in the periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the legislation set 18 as minimum age for military service, but in practice forced recruitment of minors as young as 14 years exists. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing SEJUP Paraguay) * The armed forces and the police practice forced recruitment and the voluntary enrolment of minors between the age of 12 and 17, converting this into a systematic, constant and frequent practice, which up until now has received no sanction. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) Peru COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * The total number of child soldiers is more than 2,100. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) GOVERNMENT FORCES STATISTICS * The number of child soldiers in the government armed forces is above 1,000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Although there is no conscription, young people of the age of 17 are required to present themselves to a Military Institute in order to be evaluated. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Despite the legal prohibition, forced recruitment, called leva, is widely reported. Complaints have been made that minors under 18 years of age or even children under 15 years of age have been conscripted in this way. Other sources have even reported that children as young as 11 have been forcibly recruited. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) COMBINED NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * There are child soldiers below 18 both among government and opposition troops. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * A mission of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights which reported in June 2000 "was informed by experts that although legislation establishes that registration for compulsory military service is required from age 18, in recent years there have been many cases of levies or forced recruitment of persons under 18 years of age in several parts of the country, particularly in border areas or rural areas of the interior." (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/11.106, 2/6/00.) * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces, including some who have been forcibly recruited despite legislation to the contrary. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Most of the Shining Path rebels have stopped fighting but the Senedro Rojo faction of the movement has increased its strength in certain parts of the country, and is reportedly having children below 18. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Latinamerika, Sweden) * Armed groups used child soldiers extensively in past conflicts. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * One 14-year-old of Cenepa battalions killed in the war with Ecuador was proclaimed a national hero. The recruitment of this adolescent has been presented as 'voluntary' by officials, but other sources claim that he was forcibly recruited. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * Complaints have been made that minors under 18 years of age or even children under 15 years of age have been conscripted. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Defensoria del Pueblo, Informe sobre levas y el Servicio Militar Obligatorio) * Sources have reported that children as young as 11 have been forcibly recruited. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) * Some of the Movement Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA) soldiers are children between ages 11 and 15, who were kidnapped from small towns and taken into the jungle for indoctrination and training. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Salt Lake Tribune, 12 January 1997) * Shining Path allegedly has one of the largest female contingent of any armed groups in the world. There is also evidence that boys and girls over the age of 9 years, from poor peasant backgrounds, have been recruited, indoctrinated, received military training and have often been compelled to perpetrate atrocities. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * The senderistas who attacked San Miguel, the capital of La Mar province, in 1997 were between the ages of 14 and 16 years. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing "Foreign special operations forces", Special Warfare, Vol. 12, No. 1, Winter 1999) * The Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA) has been recruiting children and adolescents by force. Some MRTA soldiers are children between the ages of 11 and 15 who were kidnapped from small towns and taken into the jungle for indoctrination and training. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Salt Lake Tribune, 12 January 1997, quoted by Rädda Barnen, Children of War, No. 1, 1997) * Children are forced to join armed bands. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) * Paramilitary government forces the use children below 15 years of age to fight against insurgent groups. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing the Machal study) * Before 1992, Shining Path is believed to have forcibly recruited several thousand children from indigenous communities in areas under their control. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) Philippines OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that numbers between 6,000 and 10,000 reportedly includes children from 13 years of age and up. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to Government sources, the New People's Army (NPA) had 9,463 fighters in June 1999,[and between 13-18% of opposition forces during the past two years were children under 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * UNICEF estimates that 3% of NPA members are boys and girls under the age of 18. Some 20 to 25% of new recruits are reportedly children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, citing US State Department Report 2001) * In February 2000, Philippines Army Brigadier General Victor Obillo and Captain Eduardo Montealto were captured by the armed group; they claimed that 40% of the NPA cadres who guarded them were children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * 86 child combatants of the Communist New People's Army, captured or surrendered to the government since last year, were between14 to 17 years old. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000, citing the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 October 2000, citing military sources) * Of the 415 documented cases of torture from 1976 to 1996, 326 were on children between 15 and 18 years old who were "suspected of being either members of armed dissent groups or supporters/sympathizers of rebel movements". (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000, citing the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22 October 2000) * The New People's Army (NPA Communist) had 9,463 fighters in June 1999, more than 10% of whom were children under 18. This group, however, is no longer as strong as it was in the 1980s. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing the Philippines Government Representative to the Asia Pacific Conference on Child Soldiers, 15-18 May 2000) * MILF policy allows children as young as 12 years to undergo training. According to one MILF leader, some 300 to 500 women had training at Camp Bushra near Butig town, and some were between 10 and 16 years old. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Human Rights Forum, Philippines Human Rights Information Centre, Vol IX, No1, July-December 1999) * 132 children below 18 years were arrested and harassed by the authorities for their alleged connection with armed dissent groups. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Torture of Children in Situation of Armed Conflict, September 1997) * There are approximately 800-2,400 child soldiers below 18 years in opposition groups. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Of 415 cases of child torture from 1976 to 1996, 326 involved children between 15 and 18 years of age who were "suspected of being either members of armed dissent groups or supporters/sympathizers of rebel movements". (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces, although under-18s have been reported in government-aligned paramilitaries and are admitted to military schools. There is strong legislation protecting children from military recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A case study reported no evidence of recruitment of minors into the government armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Children have been used as soldiers by armed opposition groups, some as young as 13. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In late 2000, the government claimed at least 86 NPA child combatants, aged between 14 and 17 years of age had been captured or surrendered since last year. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It is claimed that NPA cadres are generally aged between 16 and 25 years. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In August 1999, Philippine troops captured five teenage NPA fighters: two girls and three boys aged between 13 and 17. All were armed with pistols or grenades and had documents produced by the NPA. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In February 1999, nine suspected NPA guerrillas were killed by the armed forces, most of whom were under 18, and a 17-year-old girl was wounded and captured. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The Abu Sayyaf group has been involved in a protracted series of hostage-taking incidents in the southern Philippines. Evidence of child involvement with this group emerged in September 2000 when a 15-year-old was among those captured by Philippine armed forces during a raid on a mosque on the island of Jolo. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A 15-year-old was reported to be among ten people arrested by the Philippine armed forces on 25 September, during a raid on a mosque on the island of Jolo. The army reported that they are members of the armed opposition group Abu Sayyaf. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) * In February 2000, the NPA announced that it would no longer accept recruits below 18 years of age. Jorge Madlos, a spokesperson for the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Mindinao, said the NPA regional commands had been ordered to raise the minimum age requirement for recruits from 15 to 18 years . He stated that the NDF would allow children below the age of 18 to join medical teams and non-combat operations. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing PDI Mindinao Bureau, 23 February 2000) * The Cordillera Peoples' Liberation Army: an armed group in Abra and Mountain Province is reported to recruit children. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * During their survey on the rules of war, the ICRC interviewed farmers who confirmed they had seen youths between 13 and 17 years fighting with the NPA. These allegations have been confirmed by relief workers also. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing M. Macaraig)   * Separatist Muslim guerillas in the Philippines have recruited child soldiers to their ranks. Leaders of the fundamentalist Moro Islamic Liberation Front had emptied schools and colleges to boost recruitment during recent battles. (Child soldiers in guerrilla ranks, Greg Torode, South China Morning Post, March 19, 1999) * In June 1999, Brig. Gen. Castillo, Commanding General of the Public Affairs Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that the NPA had continued to recruit minors. He claimed that those children captured had been forced to join the NPA. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "AFP alarmed over NPA recruitment of minors", Philippines News Agency, 9 June 1999) * The Moro Islamic Liberation Front includes children from 13 years of age. Teachers in the central Mindanao province of Manguindanao admitted that their male pupils were being recruited to join the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "Child Soldiers in guerrilla camp", The South China Morning Post, 19 March 1999) Poland RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * On the basis of the 1967 Law on Universal Obligation of the Republic of Poland, compulsory military service covers men and women who are Polish citizens, starting from 1 January of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 18 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as compulsory and voluntary recruitment are possible from 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Portugal RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Portugal recently made changes to its recruitment legislation: conscription is no longer practiced and the age for voluntary recruitment is firmly set at 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Voluntary military service is permitted from 17 years of age. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Portugal to the UN, 2 September 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 21 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Qatar RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for joining the armed forces in Qatar is 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Romania RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS Military service is compulsory for male Romanian citizens who have reached the age of 20, with the exception of cases defined by law. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Russian Federation GOVERNMENT FORCES STATISTICS * Less than 1% of the government armed forces are child soldiers. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Machal Case Study) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In one report, 64 fighters aged 16-18 years surrendered to Russian forces on 5 March 2000. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A press release by army counter-intelligence at the headquarters of the Combined Group of Federal forces in the North Caucasus reported of 1,500 teenage suicide bombers who were being trained at a centre in the Leninsky District of Grozny. These 'kamikaze' fighters were between 15 and 20 years of age. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing "Teenage suicide bombers trained in Grozny", ITAR TASS, 23 November 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for compulsory and voluntary recruitment is 18 years. Nobody below that age can be sent to military operations. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of the Russian Federation to the UN CRC, 20 November 1998) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum age for compulsory and voluntary recruitment is 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A recent report in Life Magazine claimed that orphans or street children have been recruited by the armed forces. "Russian Army officers all over the nation have set up units of 'youngers', children between the ages of 11 and 18 who might otherwise live on the streets. No one is sure how many kids are in these units because the programme is not official and gets no financial support". Allegedly, the first unit of youngers' was created in 1997 at the headquarters of the elite Kantemirovskaya Tank Division. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing E. Barnes, "The Kalashnikov kids. The Russians are coming and boy are they cute. Inside the children's brigade", Life Magazine, 1 July 1999) * Boys aged 10 to 14 are members of the Russian Navy Cadets. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Journal de Genève et Gazette de Lausanne, 24 February 1997) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Armed groups in Chechnya are reported to use child soldiers extensively, some as young as 12, although there are no estimates of the number of children involved. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Daghestan rebels, the Islamic separatists are said to offer money to poor youths to join their ranks. A young Muslim reported that he was asked by a militant to join the rebels in their fight and to be trained in TechNet. (CSUCS, The use of children as soldiers in Europe, 1999) * There were unconfirmed reports of the rebels planning to train teenagers to become suicide bombers. Abu Hamzah, from the Moslem organisation Supporters of Sharia, said in an interview with the Russian Newspaper, Vremya MN, that if the Russians continue to bomb Chechnya, they "will teach teenagers whose fathers died how to take revenge. They will fasten explosives onto themselves and go to blast everywhere, in Moscow and other cities". (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing "Islamic group vows teen bombings if Russia bombs Chechnya", ITAR TASS, 15 November 1999) * In March and December 1996, there were reports on the use of children as young as 12 years by the Chechen independence fighters. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) Rwanda NATIONAL STATISTICS * It has been estimated that over 20,000 children have taken part in hostilities in Rwanda. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, citing Gervais Abayeho) GOVERNMENT FORCES STATISTICS * One estimate noted that between 14,000 and 18,000 children are recruited into the armed forces every year. This claim was denounced as being "ridiculous" by Rwandan representatives. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gervais Abayeho) * During a survey carried out in 1997, 2,134 Rwandan children associated with the military were documented. Of these, 725 had an army number implying that they were soldiers. The remaining were called kadogo, simply because they were living with soldiers. It is likely that they were working as cleaners or servants. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Legislation adopted in 1977 sets the minimum age for volunteers at 16 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Arrêté présidentiel sur le régime du personnel sous contrat des Forces Armées Rwandaises" of January 3, 1977) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * While the Rwandan government today claims that there are no children remaining among government forces, reports of child recruitment continue to emerge both in the context of sporadic fighting with Hutu armed groups in Rwanda and fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of opposition forces there. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In 1999, the authorities reported that together with UNICEF the government had provided assistance to over 2,000 child soldiers, (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In 1999 the ICRC reported that approximately 570 children who were under the age of 14 when incarcerated on genocide-related charges currently remained in the prison system, and that 25 children under the age of 14 in 1999 were incarcerated. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Some of the children currently fighting the government are forcibly recruited by armed groups; others 'voluntarily' join groups Their age varies between 11 and 14 years. When first recruited they are mostly used as porters, spies or cooks. After brief training they become active soldiers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Rwanda is one of nine African countries in which children, some no more than seven years of age, are recruited by government armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of Children as Soldiers in Africa, 1999) * Child soldiers below 15 years of age are in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * In Rwanda, children are in ever-increasing danger of being recruited. Witnesses reported that children are being press-ganged or kidnapped or otherwise forced to join armed groups and RPA troops fighting President Kabila's Congolese armed forces in the DRC. In late 1998, it was reported that some street children living in the Rwandan cities and towns of Kigali, Butare, Gisenyi and Ruhengeri were being press-ganged, loaded in military lorries and sent to the battlefields in the eastern DRC. The same is now being done in villages. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gervais Abayeho) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Since 1998, children in the north-western area of Rwanda have reportedly been targeted for recruitment by the FAR and Hutu militias. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Hutu opposition forces in Rwanda (also active in the DRC and Burundi) continue to recruit children, both within Rwanda and in neighbouring countries. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Children were among rebels who attacked Kinihira displaced people's camp in Kayove commune in the northwest prefecture of Gisenyi, killing 29 people and wounding 20 others. The assailants were said to number about 1,000 but no precise figures have been given on the number of children among them. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Integrated Regional Information Network - Central and Eastern Africa, Weekly Round-up No. 24-98, 12 June 1998) * No declaration on the non-recruitment of children has been made by the armed opposition groups and militia fighting the government. It is hard to determine how many children are participating in hostilities on the side of rebels, particularly as not many children came back to Rwanda after the dismantling of the refugee camps in Eastern Zaire in late 1996. The children who belong to rebel groups have been recruited in the country and their age varies between 11 and 14 years. When first recruited, they are mostly used as porters, spies or cooks. Then, after a short training, they are used actively as soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gervais Abayeho) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * UNICEF reported there were 5,000 child soldiers in Rwanda during the war. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The Rwandan authorities claims that children or kadogos who forms the part of army were not really child soldiers since they joined the Rwandan Patriotic Army for protection. During the genocide, these children were given a military training but did not go to the frontline, and performed menial work only. In 1996, 2,922 kadogos had been demobilised and the Ministry of Defence claimed that there were no more children left in the army though this has been contested. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing the Rwandan Government Representative at the African Conference on Child Soldiers, 19-22 April 1999) * 4,500 children between the ages of 10 and 18 fought in the civil war. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing IPS, 27 May 1995) * In October 1994, when the Ministry of Defence committed itself to demobilise all child soldiers from the armed forces, it was estimated that 5,000 persons below the age of 18 were members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army. Other sources vary considerably and they estimate the number of former child soldiers to 15,000-20,000. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gervais Abayeho) Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Samoa - San Marino RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * There is no compulsory military service but citizens between 16 and 55 years may be enlisted, in certain circumstances to defend the State. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing The Europa World Yearbook, 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in San Marino's small contingent of armed forces due to lack of information on the minimum age for voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Sao Tome and Principe - Saudi Arabia NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to insufficient information about minimum voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Senegal RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Enrolment into the army is based on voluntary recruitment. According to the law, volunteers must be over 18 years to join the army, but in practice this age has apparently been raised to 19 and even 22 years by now because of the increasing demand. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing DCI-Senegal) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Sources claim that no children have ever fought during the 20-years of conflict. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The government has stated that there is no evidence of children being used as soldiers in the conflict. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Statement by the Ministry of the Family and National Solidarity, Senegal at the International Conference on War-Affected Children, Winnipeg Canada, 9/00.) * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment in Senegal. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * The MFDC, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 members, has never formally pledged not to recruit children. It has been reported that children have fought with the MFDC but no precise figures are available and there is little evidence to support this. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing DCI-Senegal op. cit. ) Seychelles RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Military service is on a voluntary basis according to the government, although the minimum age is not known. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information about minimum voluntary recruitment age. Children are encouraged to participate in a National Youth Service, however. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to most sources, there is no military conscription in the Seychelles. Military service is on a voluntary basis according to the government, although the minimum age is not known. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment in the Seychelles. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Sierra Leone COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * More than 10,000 children in the country have been serving as child soldiers with the rebels and civil militia. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Olara Otunnu, September 1999) * The percentage of child soldiers is perhaps over 50%. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * Some 5,000 child combatants serve among government and opposition forces, and a further 5,000 are estimated to have been recruited for labour among armed groups. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing AI, "Sierra Leone Childhood - a casualty in conflict", 31/08/00) * It has been estimated than one third of all underage soldiers are girls. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing M. Öttli, "Und dann töten sie mich: mit sieben Jahren ans Gewehr - die Kindersoldaten in Sierra Leone", Die Zeit, 14 January 1999) * UNAMSIL observers reported that up to 25% of soldiers fighting in the CDF, AFRC/ex-SLA and Sierra Leone Army appeared to be under 18. (CSUCS, Update 2, 9 June 2000) * Over 1,900 children have been among those demobilised since November last year. (CSUCS, Update 2, 9 June 2000, citing UNAMSIL) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * Patrick Zangalaywah, a CDF field commander estimated that their forces in the eastern Kailahun district alone numbered 3,000 child soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing L. Fofana, "Militia admits recruiting child soldiers", IPS, Freetown, 29 June 1998) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In May 2000 a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) spokesman SWB Rogers was quoted as saying: "The RUF doesn't believe in using children as soldiers. When they are 5 or 6, they are far too young to fight. We only use the older boys, from 10 or 11 upwards." (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Africa Confidential, 26 May 2000) * UNICEF estimates suggest child soldiers make up more than 30% of some of the fighting factions in Sierra Leone. (Adam Killick, "Innocence lost: New lightweight weapons make it easy for warring factions to bolster ranks with youths", National Post, 16 September 2000) * More than 3,000 children and 570 adults were reported as missing following the January offensive. Hundreds more were abducted as they moved through the villages around Masiaka. The abductees were often subjected to hard labour, forcibly recruited into the military, and compelled to become sexual partners to male combatants. (Human Rights Watch, Country Reports, 2000) * UNICEF says there are approximately 5,000 children associated with Sierra Leone's various armed groups, including the Kamajors, the Militia of Hunters loyal to President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, and the RUF. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing IRIN, 14 July 1999) * There are 2,000 children among the Kamajors. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing AFP, 14 October 1998) * As many as 80% of the rebel soldiers were between the ages of 7 and 14 in the beginning of 1997. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing "The Children's War", Towards Peace in Sierra Leone, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, March-April 1997) * A reporter for the Herald Guardian, who was captured by the ARFC/RUF in Koidu town, testified to the role of child soldiers. He said there were around 1,500-2,000 children within this group. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Human Rights Watch) * Majority of the 980 ex-child combatants who were beneficiaries of the Children Associated with the War (CAW) programme have rearmed and joined the RUF-AFRC following their summary dismissal from the programme in November 1997. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing L. N. Mboka, "Children take up arms", The Democrat, 24 February 1999) * It is estimated by one source that 3,000 children are with the RUF. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. Roberts, "Teenage warriors fight to last boy", The Independent, 24 November 1998) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * As recently as 22 March, the government, the SLA, the CDF and the AFRC had signed a declaration to end the use of children as combatants. Interim care centres for demobilised children have been kept functioning in recent weeks. (CSUCS, Update 2, 9 June 2000) * The Lomè peace agreement of July 1999 included important provisions on the demobilisation of child soldiers, however the resumption of fighting in May 2000 significantly slowed progress. To date slightly more than 1,800 children are reported to have entered disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The low rate of child demobilisation after May 2000 suggests that many underage recruits may remain among these government forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A 1997 report by the Women's Commission for Refugees Women and Children, an international NGO, documented recruitment of Sierra Leonean children from refugee camps in Guinea to join the Kamajors, the Sierra Leonean government militia organisation. (Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Abuses Against Sierra Leonean Refugee Children in Guinea, submission to the UN CRC, January 1999) * Despite promises of the Sierra Leone government to demobilise all combatants under the age of 18, recent reports indicate that the Civilian Defense Forces (CDFs) continue to recruit children on a large scale. (Human Rights Watch, New Regime, but Continued Human Rights Violations: Despite Promises, the Use and Abuse of Child Soldiers Continues in Sierra Leone) * The Civil Defence Forces (CDF) are made up of a number of tribes, namely the Kamajors in the south and east of the country, and Kapras, Donsos and Tamaboros in the North. These are societies of traditional hunters. In the case of the Kamajors, within their overall structure, male children go through an initiation process. This initiation is now used to determine that a child is entering adulthood and can be part of the fighting Kamajors. These child fighters tend to be older than 8 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) * The use of children as soldiers has become a part of deliberate military strategy as they are more trustworthy than the adults. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing L. Fofana, "Militia admits recruiting child soldiers", IPS, Freetown, 29 June 1998) * In his second report on the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone, the UN Secretary-General pointed out that "there is also continued concern about the ongoing armed deployment of underage boys and, in some locations, their continued initiation into the Civil Defence Forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UN Doc. S/1998/960, 16 October 1998) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * In Sierra Leone, both the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and pro-government forces continued to forcibly recruit children, including demobilised child soldiers, into their ranks. (HRW, World Report 2001) * In May 2000 a UN assessment mission observed children between 7 and 14 years old comprising 25 to 30% of the SLA/CDF in the town of Masiaka. Militia members claimed the children had volunteered as fighting spread through the villages. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing AI, "Sierra Leone Childhood - a casualty in conflict", 31/08/00) * The RUF is well known for its abduction and forcible recruitment of children, both boys and girls, for use as soldiers, sexual slaves and forced labour. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Armed groups typically rely on forced recruitment through abduction and drug use, and are responsible for particularly cruel and degrading treatment of children in their camps, often including the sexual slavery of girls. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Some 40 demobilised child soldiers from a demobilisation camp in Makeni were pressured by the RUF to rejoin through the use of threats, false promises, and false rumours. (HRW, World Report 2001) * The RUF forced children to carry military equipment and to loot goods and engage in fighting. (HRW, World Report 2001) * The civil defence militias also remobilized scores of child soldiers. (HRW, World Report 2001) * Most of the rebels are children not older than 14 who are under the effect of drugs and alcohol. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Le Figaro, 25 January 1999) * RUF child soldiers are as young as 8 years of age. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) * AFRC forcibly pressed teenage boys into military service. They often took boys on the streets of Freetown to expand its forces. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) * Members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Revolutionary United Front(RUF), the rebel alliance in Sierra Leone, have continued to use child soldiers. In the period of February through June 1998 alone, the AFRC/RUF abducted an unknown number of civilians, probably in the thousands, including a substantial percentage of children for use as combatants, forced labourers, or sexual slaves. (Human Rights Watch, New Regime, but Continued Human Rights Violations) * After an appeal of UNICEF for the release by the RUF of all child soldiers that they still have in their ranks, just after the signing of the Peace Agreement of 7 July 1999, Lt. Col. Olukolade, spokesman of the ECOMOG forces, announced on 20 July 1999 that the RUF had released 187 hostages the week before, among them 111 children between the ages of 11 and 17. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Rights Sierra Leone: Rebels release 111 children", IPS, 20 July 1999) * On 2 February 1999, ECOMOG soldiers handed over to UNICEF seven child soldiers they had captured during fighting. These children were aged between 6 and 10 years and were abducted by rebel forces in December 1998. By the middle of February, there were all together 34 child soldiers and street children who were handed to UNICEF by ECOMOG soldiers. They had been involved in the RUF attack of Freetown. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Sierra Leone: une cinquantaine de civils se noient en fuyant", AFP, 3 February 1999) * A journalist from the French newspaper, Le Figaro, claimed that most of the rebels are children not older than 14, who are under the effect of drugs and alcohol. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Saint-P. Paul, "Freetown: bienvenue en enfer", Le Figaro, 25 January 1999) * People who were captured by the AFRC/RUF forces reported that they had seen these forces abducting and holding young men and boys to use as child soldiers, and that child soldiers have been among their AFRC/RUF attackers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing A. Roberts, "Teenage warriors fight to last boy", The Independent, 24 November 1998) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * In the 1991-96 war between government forces and RUF rebels, an estimated 4,500 children were forced to fight on both sides. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UNICEF Newsline, 19 June 1997) * In 1995, the Revolutionary United Front has raided villages to capture children into its rank. (UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1996) * More than 60% of a group of 1,000 fighters" screened by the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Resettlement Committee before the military coup of 25 May 1997 were children. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing L. Fofana, "Sierra Leone children: young, armed and dangerous", IPS, 1 July 1997) Singapore GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The average number of servicemen between 16½ years and 18 years of age enlisted each year for both National Service and Regular Service in the last two years is about 300, which form less than 2% of the total enlisted servicemen. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Singapore to the UN, 25 February 2000) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The law of the country specifies that conscripts must normally be at least 18 years of age, though in an emergency this can be reduced to 16.5 years. Although there is no legal minimum age for volunteers, according to the authorities, 'administratively' a person must be over 16.5 years of age in order to enlist. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000) * The Singapore Armed Forces (Volunteers) Regulations allows a person "who is not less than 16 years and 6 months of age" to be eligible for enlistment as a volunteer under the "Voluntary Early Enlistment Scheme" (VEES). (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Singapore to the UN, 25 February 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruits are accepted from the age of 16. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to official figures, the average number of servicemen between 16.5 years and 18 years of age enlisted each year for both National Service and Regular Service in the last two years is about 300. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Singapore does not have "under-aged soldiers, i.e. soldiers below the minimum age of 15 years as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child." (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Mission of Singapore to the UN, 25 February 2000) Slovakia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All men who have reached the age of 18 years are called up for military service. Citizens who wish to join the army earlier may be given permission to do so as of 1 January of the year in which they turn 17. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Slovakia to the UN CRC, 17 August 1998) * A Slovakian citizen can become a professional member of the armed forces only if he is 18 years old and if he has performed his military service. This means that no underage children can become professional soldiers. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of the Slovak Republic to the UN, 22 November 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * All men who have reached the age of 18 years in a given year are called up for military service. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to official information received by the Coalition, it is likely that 17-year-olds could be called to perform compulsory military service. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic states that there are no children under 18 serving obligatory service in the year 2001. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Ministry of Defence) * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the voluntary recruitment age is 17. Attendance at military schools can start at the age of 15. The government has indicated that it will be passing legislation prohibiting military service under 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Slovenia GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In 1999, there were 6 recruits who were below the age of 18, that is to say 0.06% of the armed forces. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Young men are usually called-up to perform their military service the year during which they turn 19 (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary enlistment is possible from age 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Solomon Islands OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * The Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) is said to draw most of its fighters, estimated to number between 300 and 2,000, from impoverished villages along the rugged Guadalcanal south coast, known as the 'weather coast'. They have, at times, included at least 100 child soldiers aged 12-17. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000, citing Amnesty International, Solomon Islands: A Forgotten Conflict, September 2000) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * There have been indications of under-18s participating in armed groups involved in recent ethnic conflict. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Amnesty International recently reported on the use of child soldiers by militant groups involved in ethnic conflict between the Malaitan and Guadacanalese communities. The IFM, a collective name for armed political groups also known as "Guadalcanal militants", emerged between March and October 1998. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000, citing Amnesty International, Solomon Islands: A Forgotten Conflict, September 2000) Somalia NATIONAL STATISTICS * Boys who have joined militia groups are reported to be in the 14-18 age group, In this regard, an overall Youth Survey conducted by UNICEF in 1998 shows that only 1% of children between 14 and 18 years of age work in militia/security staff, and nearly all of them in the Central Zone. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * No functioning national government but children as young as 14 are known to volunteer. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The US State Department continues to report "boys as young as 14 or 15 years of age have participated in militia attacks, and many youths are members of the marauding gangs knows as 'morian' or 'parasites' or 'maggots'. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing US State Department, Human Rights Report 2000.) *The UN independent expert on Somalia has reported that children under the age of 15 are recruited by the militias, and some faction leaders recruit children as young as 10 years of age to serve as personal bodyguards. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) *All of the factions involved in the fighting are reported to use child soldiers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing AI, Solomon Islands: A Forgotten Conflict, 9/00) *The use of child soldiers, including some as young as 10, is widespread by all forces involved in the conflict. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Children below 18 are in the Ali Mahadi rebel group. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing All Africa Press Service, 14 July 1997) * Children below 18 are in the United Somali Congress or Aideed. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Reuters, 17 October 1995) * Some Somali Liberation Army (SLA) gunmen were as young as 11 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Reuters, 17 October 1995) * Children who are seen with militia often work as servants, cleaning, washing, buying cigarettes etc., and they are not commonly seen armed. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing UNICEF) South Africa RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment is on a voluntary basis and the minimum age is 17 years, but as the recruit is about to turn 18. Nevertheless, no recruit is deployed into combat before he/she reaches 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Mission of South Africa to the United Nations, 8 December 1998) * The minimum age for conscription is 17 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * Violence in Kwa-Zulu Natal had involved children under-18. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Spain RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Presence of child soldiers is indicated in government armed forces and armed opposition group. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * No distinction seems to be made regarding the age of recruitment and deployment in conflict situations. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Young people can volunteer to perform their compulsory military service from the age of 17. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Spain to the UN CRC, 26 October 1993) * The minimum age for conscription is 20 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It appears that 16-year-olds can and will be able to register for recruitment into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Children are known to be involved in violent activities linked to the Basque Separatist Movement. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Sri Lanka OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * An assessment of the LTTE fighters killed in combat reveals that 40% of its fighting force are both males and females between 9 and 18 years of age. Another study done by a UK-based Sinhala researcher, Dushy Ranatunge, indicates that at least 60% of the dead LTTE fighters were under 18, and of these, most are girls and boys aged 10-16 years. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing R. Gunaratna, "LTTE child combatants", Jane's Intelligence Review, July 1998) * A group of LTTE child soldiers who surrendered in October 1998 claimed that 75% of LTTE fighters are children. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing P. K. Balachanddran, "Most of the LTTE fighters are kids, say Tiger captives", The Hindustan Times, 4 October 1998) * In late 1998, the LTTE stepped up its recruitment drive among children in the eastern Batticaloa district, with at least 150-200 children being added to their ranks. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing V. S. Sambandan, "Security forces, LTTE step up recruitment", The Hindu, 18 October 1998) * Statistics from one school in Mallavi show the escalating scale of child recruitment. Before compulsory training began in April 1999, 4 children had joined the LTTE; from April 1999 to early 2000, 15 children joined; in the most recent campaign from 5 May to the end of June, 24 children had joined (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing University Teachers for Human Rights – Jaffna; Bulletin No 23, 11 July 2000) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum legal recruitment age for the armed forces is 18 years. (Official sources) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Children are used by armed groups aligned to the government. (CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000) * During the visit of Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, to Sri Lanka in 1998, opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, claimed in Parliament that the SLA had launched a campaign in schools to recruit school children. This claim was vehemently denied by the authorities. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing "SLA recruiting children – Opposition Leader", TamilNet, 8 May 1998) * There are concerns about recruitment of children into some of the paramilitary groups that fight with the armed forces, such as the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). These groups fought against the government in the 1980s, but have since shifted their alliance. The general recruitment policies of these forces are not known, though there have been reliable reports of young men, 14 to 17 year olds, being forcibly recruited. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South Asia: Securing their Rights, 1 April 1998) * The army had in the past called for applications from candidates under the age of 17 years, but desisted after receiving appeals from UNICEF and other international bodies. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Sri Lanka to the UN CRC, 5 May 1994) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * The LTTE was responsible for grave abuses, including recruitment of child soldiers for military service. Increased recruitment of children was also reported from the LTTE-controlled areas . (Human Rights Watch, Country Reports, 2000) * Security Forces in the Muthavil area at Kolombuthurai took into custody a 14 year-old female LTTE cadre during operations. The captured child said she was forcibly recruited to the LTTE in May, 1998 at the age of 12. (CSUCS- Update 5, 30 September 2000) * The University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), issued a report on 11 July warning that the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) had initiated a strong new recruitment drive for child soldiers. The UTHR reported that much of the recruitment was forced, with an estimated 5% of recruits going willingly. (CSUCS, Update 4, 11 August 2000) * The Sri Lankan military believes that half of the LTTE troops are women, called 'Birds of Freedom' by their fellow rebels. Many of them were recruited as children and chosen from ages as young as 10 to become suicide bombers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * In Sri Lanka, international media carried the story of a 14-year-old girl who had fought with the LTTE for six years before her capture in August 2000. She claims to have been eight when kidnapped by the LTTE. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) * There has been widespread press coverage on the use of children as soldiers by the LTTE throughout the civil war. Government soldiers have often described how they were forced to confront LTTE battalions of women, teenage girls, and boys as young as 10 years old. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter, No. 1/98) * Amnesty International reported children as young as 12 years being forcibly recruited by the LTTE . (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South Asia: Securing their Rights, 1 April 1998) * LTTE assurance to UN General Secretary in May 1998 of not recruiting children under 17 years for armed combat is not honoured. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * The elite Sirasu Puli (Leopard Brigade) is reportedly composed entirely of children drawn from LTTE-orphanages. (CSUCS Asia Report, July 2000, citing R. Gunaratna, "LTTE child combatants", Jane's Intelligence Review, July 1998) * Children are recruited by armed groups as messengers/cooks. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998) * Most of the LTTE soldiers killed at the Weli Oya complex in July 1995 were children, and during an assault on the Wanni defences on 1 February 1998, at least 200 child fighters were killed. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * Despite an oral commitment to Olara Otunnu in 1998 by the LTTE not to recruit children below the age of 17, and not use children below the age of 18 in hostilities, their use of child soldiers has continued unabated. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Cruez, D., "Sri Lanka shows rebel child soldiers to media", Reuters, 7 October 1998) * Hundreds of children were believed to have been recruited from around the Batticaloa area in an aggressive drive in October 1998, where they demanded that each family should provide one male to the LTTE. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Human Rights Watch, January 1999) * LTTE ignored appeals from the international community and stepped up its recruitment drive among children in the eastern Batticaloa district, by recruiting 150-200 children to their ranks (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing V. S. Sambandan, "Security forces, LTTE step up recruitment", The Hindu, 18 October 1998.) * Some adults have used young people's immaturity to their own advantage, recruiting and training adolescents for suicide bombings. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996) Sudan COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * There are 25,000-32,000 child soldiers in both government and rebel forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are an estimated 3,000-8,000 child soldiers in the Popular Defence Force, the paramilitary wing of the government. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * From 21 June 1997, some 75,000 secondary school students underwent six-week training courses at camps run by the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Horn of Africa Bulletin, May-June 1997) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * There are reports that 3,000 children were abducted from Northern Uganda, by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and were forced to become soldiers. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998) * The percentage of child soldiers in the Southern Sudan Independence Movement is 20%. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * By March 1999, about 500 child soldiers had been registered within the family unification programmes, 360 were demobilised, 288 in SSIM/A area and 72 in SPLA area. 42 were reunified with their families. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Rädda Barnen) * The SPLA has been estimated to have approximately 9,000 child soldiers in its ranks. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * In late 1997, it was reported that the government had decreed, in June of that year, that all boys, typically of ages 17 to 19, were obliged to do compulsory military service to receive the secondary school leaving certificate. Other sources mentioned the age as 16 years and upwards. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing "Government forcibly recruits youth in the army", IPS, 23 October 1997) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * At the International Conference on War-Affected Children in Winnipeg, the Governments of Sudan and Uganda on 17 September 2000, signed a Joint Communiqué on Immediate Action on Abducted Children. The Government of Sudan agreed to take "all measures to ensure the release and safe return" of the abducted children, and the Government of Uganda agreed to "take all measures to engage in dialogue with the LRA" to facilitate the return and resettlement of members of the LRA, including the children. No concrete timetable for the release of all the children has been set. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) COMBINED NOTES * There has been extensive use of child soldiers, including some as young as 10, by both government and opposition armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The government of Sudan has provided military and logistical support to the Ugandan armed group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which is estimated to hold 6,000 Ugandan children captive on government controlled territory. The LRA is infamous for forcing both boys and girls to become soldiers and to participate in acts of brutality against other children and adults. Many of the girls have been raped and become concubines of LRA fighters. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The government forcibly conscripted young men and boys into the military forces. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Child soldiers below 15 years of age have been reported in PDF(Popular Defence Forces), Military wing of the National Islamic Front. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Human Rights Watch, Children in Combat, 1996) * Children as young as 12 years of age were forcibly enrolled into the armed forces or the Popular Defence Forces; street children were an easy target for such recruitment. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Human Rights Watch, Children in combat, HRW, New York, 1996; "Editorial", Voice of America, 4 January 1999) * The minimum enlistment age for the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), a militia under the control of the army, is believed to be 16 years, but it has been reported that younger children have been recruited. There are reports that teenagers living in the camps for vagrant children are often conscripted into the PDF. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing J. Hule, "Sudanese pledge to assist in locating abducted Ugandans", Panafrican News Agency, 26 June 1998) * On April 29, 1998, Mubarak El-Mahdi, the Secretary-General of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), delivered a speech in which he condemned the practice of the Sudanese government of kidnapping school children and forcing them to serve on the front lines. This appears, to corroborate confidential reports that in Khartoum boys as young as 14 are recruited, and it is claimed that these boys are normally from the South. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Sudan News & Views, Issue No. 29, September/October 1997) * In 1997, it has been reported that security members gathered young people in the streets for the PDF and that among them there were children not older than 15 years. Witnesses also said that school girls were parading in PDF's uniforms in Khartoum and Damazine. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * Even after participating in the family reunification programme launched by UNICEF in 1992, the Southern Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIM/A) continued to recruit children into its ranks as did the SPLA, which had not formally undertaken to cooperate with UNICEF. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Human Rights Watch, Children of Sudan: slaves, street children and child soldiers) NOTES ON OPPOSITION FORCES * In early 2001, the SPLA co-operated with UNICEF and other organisations in the demobilisation of 3,200 child soldiers. The children were transported from areas in SPLA-held Bahr El Ghazal to the SPLA controlled town of Rumbek from 23 - 28 February, 2001. The SPLA have stated that there are 7,000 more child soldiers still to be demobilised. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Sudan Protests UNICEF Child Soldier Airlift, CNN.com, 7/3/01) * Armed opposition groups, including the SPLA are known to have children in their ranks. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) has instructed all its commanders in the field to demobilize all children under 18 years of age, according to a BBC report on 23 October. The SPLA - the main rebel movement in Southern Sudan further committed itself to stop recruiting child soldiers. (CSUCS, Update 7, 7 November 2000) * In 1994, Human Rights Watch report noted that SPLA maintained large camps of boys in Ethiopia and inducted these boys into battalions known as the 'Red Army'. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Suriname - Swaziland RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment and conscription is 18 years. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing the Ministry of Defence) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Commission on Human Rights, 16 January 1997) Sweden NOTES ON FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS * There are reports of child recruitment in Sweden by armed groups from other countries. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Further research by Rädda Barnen suggests that other foreign armed groups have also recruited children in Sweden. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Many families have reported their children missing to the police. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS STATISTICS * It is believed that between 50 and 150 children have been recruited by the Mujahidin from Sweden. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing a confidential source) * Between 40-50 Kurdish teenagers have been recruited from Sweden by the PKK during the last 7 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Dagens Nyheter) * During the summer of 1998, Rädda Barnen learnt of PKK recruitment drives in Swedish schools. 17 minors were invited to attend a 'summer camp' in July in northern Sweden before being recruited to serve the PKK in south-east Turkey. By mid-August 1998, only 3 of them had returned. Many families have reported their children missing. Further research by Rädda Barnen suggests that several hundred refugee or immigrant children have been recruited in Sweden for use as soldiers elsewhere during the 1990s alone. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Radda Barnen) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All Swedish men may be recruited in the armed forces from a calendar year in which they attain the age of 19. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) * Swedish legislation on recruitment to the armed forces is very strict and no one under 18 could perform military service or in any way be involved in hostilities or conflicts that might concern Sweden. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing UN CRC, Consideration of the Report of Sweden, 20 April 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no under-18s in the government armed forces, although children are known to participate in military training programs from 15. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Switzerland GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * There are between 5 -10 under-18s recruited every year. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Reply from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Bern, 2 August 1999) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The Swiss Government has strongly supported the "straight-18" position in international fora. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The minimum age for conscription is 20 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The Swiss Army has almost no full-time active combat units but is capable of full mobilisation within 72 hours. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing information provided to CSC by Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, April 2001) * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruitment is possible from 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUP NOTES * There have been reports of child recruitment in Switzerland by armed opposition groups from other countries, namely, the Kosovo Liberation Army for the conflict in Kosovo. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Syria RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 19 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on the minimum age for voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Tajikistan COMBINED NOTES * Tajikistan's civil war, which ended in 1997, reportedly involved the use of child soldiers under 18 by both sides. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * An NGO submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child estimated that some 3% of children had been involved in the armed conflict. It did not specify with which side. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Alternative NGO report on the implementation of the CRC in Tajikistan, 21/4/00) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to a lack of information on minimum voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The situation of forced recruitment of young men has improved significantly since the signing of the peace accords, and conscription has been far more orderly since. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Implementation of the Helsinki Final Act, April 1997 - March 1998, submitted to Congress on 12 August 1998) * There are consistent reports of forced conscription of young men under 18 years of age from 1992 to early 1997. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Human Rights Watch, personal correspondence) * The situation of forced recruitment of under 18s was particularly serious in 1995 and 1996. There were credible reports of young men being rounded up in public places and being sent directly to the front line, often with little or only minimal short-term training. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Implementation of the Helsinki Final Act, April 1997 - March 1998, submitted to Congress on 12 August 1998) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS   * During the civil war, armed opposition groups recruited young boys into their armed formations - according to some local traditions, majority is reached at the age of 12 and boys are considered able to fight from that age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Reliable source that requests confidentiality, 3/00) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * During the civil war, the opposition forces recruited young boys into their armed groups. According to some local tradition, maturity is reached at the age of 12 and boys are considered able to fight from that age. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Tanzania NOTES ON GOVERMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum voluntary recruitment age is 15. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) TFYR Macedonia NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as it is possible to volunteer for military service from the age of 17. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It is not known if there are any under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information about recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * There is no armed conflict in Macedonia. However, it was reported that children have left the country to join armed groups abroad. This was the case during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina during which about 500 Macedonian children joined the Bosnian army there. More recently, during the Kosovo conflict, over 500 Macedonian children joined the Serbian armed group called the Serb Tigers. In addition, about 1,000 other children joined the KLA. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * The children were recruited in to the armed groups abroad through TV announcements and promises of money in exchange for their services. They were between 14 and 18 years of age and came from poor families. A large majority were Albanians, 20% were Serbs and 5% Macedonian. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999) * 350 underage children from refugee camps in Macedonia joined the KLA and 30 of them were killed there. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Natasa Dokovska, Journalists for the Rights of Women, Children and the Environment, FYROM) Thailand RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The 1954 Military Service Act sets 18 as a minimum age for the voluntary recruitment of Thai male citizens. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * The minimum age for enlistment into the paramilitary forces is 18. According to Thai officials, the actual recruitment procedure takes place only when those registered or enlisted are 21 years of age. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC Project, 1998) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Some Malay Muslim separatist armed groups are believed to attract teenagers. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) * There is widespread recruitment of children into ethnic insurgent groups on the Thailand/ Myanmar border. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Togo RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * According to one source, the minimum age for conscription and for voluntary recruitment is 18 years. Other sources variously claim 20 as the minimum age for recruitment. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing DCI-Togo) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Little information is available about the recruitment practices of these groups but some are believed to attract teenagers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Children between 6 and 18 years of age are present in military barracks doing menial work. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * Allegations that a small number of 17-year-olds were recruited into armed forces in 1998 were categorically denied by the Representative of the Togolese Government during the African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Gen. Nabede Poutoyi, Chief of the Military Cabinet of Togo) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS   * There is widespread recruitment of children into ethnic insurgent groups on the Thailand/Myanmar border. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Opposition armed groups in the country are reported to recruit teenagers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tunisia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment into the armed forces is compulsory for all citizens once they have attained the age of 20. Nevertheless, voluntary recruitment is possible for every citizen who is more than 18, with the consent of the legal guardian, and the approval of the Ministry of Defence. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) Turkey OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In 1998, it was reported that the PKK had 3,000 children within its ranks, more than 10% of whom were girls. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Recruitment starts on 1 January of the year in which a male reaches the age of 20, i.e. when the candidate is 19. The same minimum age is applied for voluntary recruitment. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Mission of Turkey to the United Nations, 25 November 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * The youngest child witnessed with the PKK was 7 years old. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * A French magazine reported recently on the activities of the PKK in Kurdish communities living in France (about 100,000 people). The French police estimate the number of active PKK members at 300. In addition to taxes imposed on their incomes, some Kurdish families have to support the struggle by giving up their own children. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Couturier, C., "Kurdish rebels send teenagers to war: Turkish soldiers say they are gaining the initiative in the war on the south", Financial Times, 28/6/97) * From 1994 it appears that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK): started to systematically recruit more and more children and even created children's regiments. It was claimed, for example, that a children's battalion named Tabura Zaroken Sehit Agit was composed of three divisions and was, in theory at least, run by a committee of five children aged between 8 and 12 years. Both boys and girls are recruited by the PKK. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing Ismet, I. G., op. cit.) * The opposition PKK is known to recruit and deploy children under 18 years of age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Turkish Hizbullah, an Islamic armed group founded in the 1980s and operates in south-east Turkey. There is no evidence of the use of child soldiers by the Turkish Hizbullah. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * During the summer of 1998, Rädda Barnen learnt of PKK recruitment drives in Swedish schools. Seventeen minors were invited to attend a 'summer camp' in July in northern Sweden before being recruited to serve the PKK in south-east Turkey. By mid-August 1998, only three of them had returned. Many families have reported their children missing to the police. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * On 22 November 1998, the criminal police of Hanover reported that 3 children had been trained by the PKK for guerrilla warfare in camps in the Netherlands and Belgium. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing " GfbV appelliert an Bundesregierung: Sorgen Sie für die Rückkehr der von der PKK in Deutschland entführten kurdischen Minderjährigen in ihren Familien! ", GfbV, 23 November 1998) * In 1995, in a battle launched by the PKK in northern Iraq on the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), led by Massoud Barzani, the former lost as many as 1,000 guerrillas, many boys and girls were reported among them. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Rädda Barnen, Children of War, No. 2, Stockholm, 1996) Turkmenistan RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces is 18 years. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing CIA, World Factbook, 1997) Tuvalu - Uganda COMBINED NATIONAL STATISTICS * There are children below 15 years of age in both government and rebel forces totaling over 8,000. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * In November 1998, UPDF recruited 500 youths, most of them below 18 in Hoima without the consent of parents. It is believed that the recruitment was carried out by the District Security Officer with the aid of the Gombolola Security Officer. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing M. Yunus, "Angry parents protest UPDF recruits 500 secretly", The Monitor, 20 November 1998) OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In April 2001 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that about one third of the more than 26,000 cases of abduction recorded to date in Uganda involved children under the age of 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing IRIN-CEA, Update 1,161, "Uganda: One third of abductions involve children, UN Commissioner says", 20/4/01) * The LRA has abducted at least 14,000 children, as young as 7 years old, in northern Uganda, particularly in the districts of Gulu and Kitgum. About 5,000 children have since returned or escaped and thousands remain unaccounted for, of which not more than 2,000 are reportedly still alive. These children are taken to camps in south Sudan from where they are sent to fight with both the Ugandan government army in the Uganda territory and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in south Sudan. (CSUCS, Update 4, 11 August 2000, citing UNICEF) * In 2000, recruiters for the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD-ML) routinely toured villages in recruitment drives, returning with truckloads of 100 to 200 children and youth aged 13 to 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing AI, "Child recruitment in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo",4/01) * It is estimated that the ADF abducted over 441 persons in 2000, and approximately 30 children remained missing at the year's end. As with the LRA, there are credible reports that the ADF use children as guards, labourers and soldiers. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001 citing US State Department Human Rights Report, 2000) * The number of child soldiers in the Allied Democratic Front is 500. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing The Economist, 10 July 1999) * Both rebel groups, Lord's Resistance Army and Allied Democratic Forces, recruit children below 18 years of age. It is estimated that over 8,000 children were abducted in northern Uganda. The Concerned Parents Association places the figure at about 10,000. It is estimated that around 90% of LRA soldiers are abducted children, and it is widely believed that the group could not operate without them. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) * On 5 February 1999, Brigadier Katumba Wamala, who is in charge of military operations against the LRA, claimed on the Ugandan State television that his troops had rescued 2,172 people in 1998, most of them children and teenagers. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing "Uganda: thousands of children rescued from rebels", Associated Press, 6 February 1999) * In Kitgum district alone, preliminary estimates indicate that 4,000 children have been abducted over the past several years. Of the total number of children who managed to escape or were rescued by military forces, approximately 57% are between 11 and 16 years of age and 40% are between 16 and 18 years of age. Only a small proportion of children below 10 years of age managed to escape. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing UNICEF) * UNICEF has drawn up a list of 2,600 children abducted in Kitgum district between 1996-1998, according to the testimony of their parents. Most were aged 12 to 15 when they were seized in their villages in northern Uganda, near southern Sudan. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Reuters, 10 February 1998) * The total number of abductions of children during past years is estimated to be 8,000-10,000. A combination of the figure for number of troops and the percentage children given in the report (90%) gives a possible total of 10,800 child soldiers in the LRA. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * In 1997, Human Rights Watch estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 children were in rebel captivity. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Human Rights Watch, The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, September 1997) GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * At the International Conference on War-Affected Children in Winnipeg, the Governments of Sudan and Uganda on 17 September 2000 signed a Joint Communiqué on Immediate Action on Abducted Children. The Government of Sudan agreed to take "all measures to ensure the release and safe return" of the abducted children, and the Government of Uganda agreed to "take all measures to engage in dialogue with the LRA" to facilitate the return and resettlement of members of the LRA, including the children. No concrete timetable for the release of all the children has been set. Violence and abductions have continued. (CSUCS, Update 6, 19 October 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are continuing reports of government recruitment of child soldiers despite legislation to the contrary. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In February 2001, child soldiers recruited from the Democratic Republic of Congo were handed over to UNICEF by the Government of Uganda for reunification with their families. However, an agreement between the governments of Sudan, Uganda, Egypt and Canada has seen little progress in freeing children held by the LRA in camps located in Sudan. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In October 1998, Andy Williams of Tigers, an NGO running a project for street children in Kampala, said that street children had been approached by soldiers and forced to join the army in order to be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to fight on the side of the rebels. This allegation was denied by Uganda's National Council for Children and by the Minister of State for Defence. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing "Ugandan children's body denies allegation of forced army recruitment", AFP, 23 October 1998) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Several opposition forces, especially the Lord's Resistance Army, forcibly abduct children as young as 9 who are compelled to fight and to serve as domestics and sex slaves. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Both, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and LRA abducted civilians for training as guerrillas; most victims were children and young adults, whom the ADF and LRA terrorized into virtual slavery as guards, labourers, soldiers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000) * Children abducted by LRA receive rudimentary military training and are forced to fight in Uganda and in Sudan. (Human Right Watch/Africa, Children Abducted by LRA in Uganda, submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1997) * The LRA normally target children between 12 and 16 years of age for abduction, although adults and younger children are also taken. Most children, after having suffered shortage of food and water, are used first as slave labour. Girls are given to rebel commanders as 'wives'. All of the children are trained as soldiers, taught how to use guns and to march. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing UNICEF) * In April 1998, 25 boys were charged with treason and were waiting for trial. All these boys face the death sentence, even though they were abducted by rebels and were used as child soldiers by them. They are charged with failing to release information about rebel soldiers or are said to have fought with the rebel. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing C. Lees, "Boy soldier traitors face death in Uganda", Daily Telegraph, 22 March 1998) * The LRA enforces discipline through a combination of violence and threats. Once children have been trained, and sometimes even before this training, they are forced to fight in Uganda or in Sudan. Children help the LRA soldiers in looting villages or fighting against the Sudan People's Liberation Army, in Sudan, or the Ugandan armed forces, in Uganda. Moreover they take part in abductions of more children in Uganda. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing Human Rights Watch, The scars of death: Children abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, HRW, New York, September 1997) * The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) also abduct children in their schools or community. On 16 August 1997, the ADF attacked the St. John's Catholic Seminary in Kasese district, abducting 19 seminarians and two workers. One worker was later killed by having his throat cut, and the abducted children were told that a similar fate awaited them if they attempted to escape. On 19 February 1998, the ADF abducted 30 girls and 3 boys from Mitandi Secondary School outside Fort Portal. In June 1998, the ADF attacked the Kichwamba Technical School in Kasese and set dormitories on fire. More than 60 people, including 40 students, were massacred. About 100 students were still missing and it is feared that they were abducted by the rebels to bolster their forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 Citing IRIN Central and Eastern Africa, Update No. 433, 9 June 1998) * It has been reported by a confidential source that there are a number of child soldiers from the West Nile Bank Front (WNBF) who are currently in government custody, some as young as 10. In interviews with the Ugandan Human Rights Commission, these children claimed they were forcibly recruited into the WNBF. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * When the current president, Yoweri Museveni, was leading a rebel force there were approximately 3,000 children under 16 years in his ranks, and one sixth of them were girls. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, Act Against Child Soldiers in Africa, 2000) * Uganda's National Resistance Army (NRA), which took power in January 1986 after the overthrow of President Oboto, contained an estimated 3,000 children under 16, including 500 girls. (Ilene Cohn and Guy Goodwin Gill, Child Soldiers, 1994, citing Cole P. Dodge and Magne Raundalen, Reaching Children in War) * During the war in the 1980s, large numbers of children were used as soldiers by Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing J. Mujini, "Girls for special package", The New Vision, 7 December 1998) * Ms. Mukwaya, Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, underlined that conscripted children within the NRA did not go to war, "but only did light duties, say, cleaning guns, etc". (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing Hon. J. B. Mukwaya, Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development of Uganda) Ukraine RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All citizens who had reached 18 years of age might be called up for compulsory military service in time of peace. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing Report of Ukraine to the UN CRC, 18 January 1995) United Arab Emirates GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) United Kingdom GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The UK is also the only European country to send minors routinely into battle. There are currently 6,000-7,000 under-18s in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * From January 1999, there were 1,388 sixteen year-old boys, 160 sixteen year-old girls, 4,506 seventeen year-old boys, and 622 seventeen year-old girls in the armed forces, making a total of 6,676 British 'child soldiers'. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999) * Between March 1998 and March 1999, a total of 9,466 children under 18 years of age - 36.38% of the annual recruitment - were enrolled into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999) * 40% of UK army recruits are 16 or 17 years of age. In all, there are about 6,600 under 18s among 210,000 people in the armed forces. Just over 5,000 children are in the Army, 1,100 in the Navy and 500 in the Royal Air Force. (Fran Abrams, "Ban on soldiers under 18 resisted by Britain and US", The Independent (London), 18 January 1999) * The United Kingdom has more than 6,500 children in its armed forces, 800 of them girls. ("Lead by Good Example, Not by Double Standards", Child Labour News Service, 1 November 1999) *Approximately 35% of recruits enter the armed force before the age of 18. (Quaker United Nations Office-Geneva, Recruitment and use of under 18 year olds in UK Government Armed Forces, submission to the UN CRC, January 1995) * Children between 13 and 16 forms the cadet force. On 31 March 1999, there were: 19,900 Sea Cadets; 65,700 Army Cadets; and 42,700 Air Cadets, that is to say 128,300 cadets. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing DATA Tri-Service) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for enlistment into the armed forces for both girls and boys is now 16 years, with parental consent. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999) * Children between 13 and 16 and sometimes up to 18 can join the cadet forces that are linked with the regular forces. Within the Sea Cadet Corps, the minimum age is 12 and some units also have Junior Sea Cadet sections for 10 to 12 year olds. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing DATA Tri-Service) * In the Royal Navy, no under-17s are drafted to submarines and no under-18s are employed as aircrew in any of the Services. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999) * In October 1998, Doug Henderson, the former Minister of Defence, said that the Navy and the Royal Marines would no longer have 16-year-olds serving on warships in operational deployments, but admitted that in the event of a major international conflict, the ban on 16-year-olds might be lifted. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 4 September 1998) *In 1998 Ministry of Defence stated that all service personnel should undergo general and trade-specific training before being placed at their first duty unit, ensuring that personnel under 17 years and three months cannot normally be deployed operationally. However, it admitted that exceptions might have to be made in the event of a major, international conflict when all trained manpower would need to be available for use. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 4 September 1998) *The Minister of State for the Armed Forces has stated that "soldiers will not be posted to any area of armed conflict until they have reached a minimum age of 17 years and 3 months". (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Minister of State for the Armed Forces, 3 November 1997) * The Government had assured, without giving proper evidence, that the type of duties of under-18 recruits is determined according to their age and that under-18s are less likely to take part in hostilities than over-18s. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Report of the UK to the UN CRC, 23 March 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * The United Kingdom has persistently objected to raising the international minimum age for voluntary recruitment and participation in hostilities to 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Within Europe the UK has the (equal) lowest minimum age for recruitment, the highest recruitment of under-18s into the regular armed forces and the lowest deployment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Deaths, injury and ill-treatment of young recruits has been reported. While the UK has signed the Optional Protocol, an 'interpretive declaration' on deployment runs counter to its spirit and purpose. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The Ministry of Defence announced a project aiming to recruit ex-offenders who had been sentenced to a maximum of 2 years, and who were under 18 when sentenced. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999) * The recruitment of minors in the armed forces has increased dramatically since 1996; the total for 1998 was more than 12 times that for 1996. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999) * Some 40% of the total current military personnel joined when they were just 16 or 17 years of age. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Communication of the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva, 19 October 1999) * The UK has the largest recruits of under-18s into the regular armed forces .The United Kingdom is the only European country to send minors routinely into battle. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS * There were 51 British peacekeepers under 18 years of age in the Balkans. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing "Challenges of peace", The Guardian, 12 June 1999) * Minors were used by the UK armed forces in both the Falklands and the Gulf conflicts and in 1997, the Government admitted that children below 18 years were also serving in Northern Ireland. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing J. D. Gray, "The UK's appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the Child", 27 April 1995) * Over 200 British soldiers under 18 years of age participated in the Gulf War. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing UK Agenda for Children, Children's Rights Development Unit, London) * The UK had deployed under-18s as peacekeepers in the conflict areas of the Former Yugoslavia. There were 10 in 1993, 5 in 1994 and 14 in 1995. (CSUCS, Europe Report October 1999, citing Ministry of Defence, 18 July 1995) NOTES ON OPPOSITION FORCES * There have been recent reports of under-18s being recruited by armed groups and paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) United States of America GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * The total number of child soldiers is 6,745. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * National recruitment legislation permits the entry of 17-year-olds into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Volunteers are recruited from 17 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * Recent US military practice has been to assign soldiers to units, including combat units, after completion of their basic and technical training. Any soldier who is still 17 after completion of his or her training may therefore be assigned to a combat unit and deployed into combat operations. Although, the number of such seventeen-year old troops is extremely small, less than one-quarter of one per cent. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * In June 1999, the Defence Department reported that less than 100 17-year-olds served in combat units at that time, and that these soldiers were stationed primarily in the Balkan region. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The United States has acknowledged that 17-year old soldiers served in US operations in the Gulf War, in Somalia, and in Bosnia. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * Only an extremely small percentage are ready for deployment under the age of 18. Nevertheless, 17-year-olds have served in US operations in the Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia. Harassment and intimidation of young people in the military have been reported. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The involvement of children from a very young age in military school programmes is a matter of concern. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Uruguay RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment into the armed forces. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999, citing Mission of Uruguay to the UN, 3 August 1999.) Uzbekistan OPPOSITION GROUP STATISTICS * In the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, there are more than 1,000 fighters "accompanied by several hundred family members - women and children. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing BBC monitoring reports, 1 March 2000) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on voluntary recruitment age. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is a very large standing army of regular soldiers and conscripts in Uzbekistan but no children are serving as soldiers in the armed forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing UNICEF, 25 June 1999) * The recruitment of boys is not considered as a problem by those who participate or their families and on the contrary, it can be seen as an "honour" to give a son to the cause. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It has been reported that a large number of youths study annually at the Samarkand Higher Military School, but their ages or the conditions under which they join are not known. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * There are reportedly boys under 18 in the ranks of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * It is generally difficult to investigate recruitment by opposition groups as the government discourages foreign monitoring in the Ferghana Valley area where opposition is strong. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) Vanuatu - Venezuela GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS * An estimated 2,500 child soldiers are in the armed forces. (CSUCS website, www.child-soldiers.org) RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age for voluntary recruitment is 18 years. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES *There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces but numbers are believed to be very small. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * According to Amnesty International , in a very small number of cases 17-year-olds present themselves for recruitment, and they have to pass more demanding tests in order to be admitted. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) *According to Amnesty International, the requirement of 18 years of age for compulsory military service is respected. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * An NGO, Provea, reported in 1998 that military officers forcefully recruited young people from public areas without verifying their documents. According to War Resisters' International, the officers are paid for each young man they recruit. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing CSUCS, Use of children as soldiers in Latin America, May 1999) NOTES ON FOREIGN OPPOSITION GROUPS * Although there is no armed conflict in Venezuela, it has been reported that Venezuelan children have been abducted by the Colombian guerillas - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and used as soldiers. (CSUCS, Americas Report, July 1999) Vietnam RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * All citizens of 18 years of age or more are required to serve in the military. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Vietnam to the UN CRC, 22 October 1992) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as 17-year-old trainees in military schools are considered to be part of the armed forces. The minimum age for voluntary recruitment is not known. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment into the Vietnamese armed forces. (CSUCS, Asia Report, July 2000) Yemen GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Military age is 14 years of age. (CIA, The World Factbook, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook, 2001) Yugoslavia RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * Volunteers from 17 years of age are taken in the armed forces. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database) * The minimum age for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994) OPPOSITION STATISTICS * Some 1,000 children from Macedonia were said to have joined the KLA. This claim was supported by the FYROM Minister of Interior, Mr Pavle Trajanov, who declared in April 1999 that the KLA wanted to destabilize the FYROM by recruiting people on its territory. He also said that teenagers were among those recruited. Some recruits from other countries also were under 18. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces, but recruitment legislation is vague and appears to allow such recruitment with the consent of parents or guardians. There have been no reports of underage recruitment. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There is evidence that Serb paramilitaries used minors in the recent Kosovo crisis. One report suggests 100 ethnic Serb children were recruited from FYROM. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES ON OPPOSITION GROUPS * Further confirmation of the participation of child soldiers came when KFOR detained 16 juveniles aged 15-17 in the first two months of 2001 for alleged involvement in the conflict. The degree of "involvement" is however not clear. The international media claim that there is forced recruitment of juveniles into this group but this is not verified and numbers are small. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * There was considerable evidence of the use of child soldiers by armed opposition groups, especially the KLA, UCPMB and Free Montenegro group, during the past conflict. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The participation of children in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was confirmed in October 2000 when details of the registration of 16,024 KLA soldiers by the International Organisation for Migration in Kosovo became known. 10% of this number were children. The majority of them were 16 and 17 years old. Around 2 % were below the age of 16. These were mainly girls recruited to cook for the soldiers rather than to actually fight. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) * The UCPMB, an Albanian armed group operating in southern Serbia whose operations are reportedly controlled by the Political Council for Presovo, recruits include children in their mid teens to men in their forties. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001) NOTES FROM PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICT * Reports mentioned that KLA recruited girls as young as 16 years. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing B. Koleka, "KLA needs more than volunteers to hit at Serbs", Reuters, 8 April, 1999) * There were reports that 1,000 children from Macedonia joined the KLA (UShtria çlirimtare e Kosovës - Kosovo Liberation Army) and this was confirmed by the FYROM Minister of Interior. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing G. Paris, "Les autoritées macédoniennes redoutent les agissements de l'UCK sur leur sol", Le Monde, 22 April, 1999) * In June 1999, British soldiers of the KFOR had found evidences of children as young as 14 years of age within the ranks of the KLA. (CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing B. Williams, "Une salle de torture serbe à Pristina", JCP, 17 June, 1999) *A journalist, who interviewed a KLA soldier reported that most of the young KLA recruits had only a few days training .(CSUCS, Europe Report, October 1999, citing "Amateur army learns on the job: the KLA guerrillas are now a force to be reckoned with but lack the tools to carry out their grand design", The Guardian, 12 May, 1999) * The Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission came across two cases of child combatants both of whom were about 13 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Report to the UN General Assembly, 1998) * In the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Croatia, Serb militias included children as young as 10 years of age. (Rädda Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN, Graca Machel, Case Study on Yugoslavia, 1994-1995) Zambia NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no report of underage recruitment in the country, but there is a chance of arbitrary assessment of age as only less than 10% of Zambian children are registered at birth. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Afronet and UNICEF) Zimbabwe RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS * The minimum age is 18 years whether service is done on a voluntary basis or according to a call-up. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999) NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES * There is no evidence of any underage recruitment in Zimbabwe. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Mission of Zimbabwe to the UN, 13 November, 1998) * The Zimbabwean authorities have stated that they did not send children when troops were deployed to the DRC to back the government armed forces. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing S. Kunjeku, Principal Administrative of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe)