Bokelskere.no

UN:

Recruiting or using children under the age of 15
as soldiers is incontrovertibly prohibited under
international humanitarian law.
Furthermore, international human rights law
clearly states 18 years as the minimum legal age
for participation in hostilities.

Recruiting and Using Children Under 15 Years

Recruitment and use of children under the
age of 15 is prohibited by the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the Additional
Protocols to the Geneva Conventions.
The rule that children must not be recruited into
armed forces or armed groups and that children must
not be allowed to take part in hostilities
is considered customary international
law, applying equally in situations of interna-
tional and non-international armed conflict,

and to both Government armed forces and
non-State armed groups.

Judicial affirmation came in 2004, when the
Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) ruled in
the Hinga Norman case that the recruitment and use
of children in armed conflict is a war crime
under customary international law.

In addition, the statutes of the international
tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and
Sierra Leone also declared that the recruit-
ment and use of children under the age of
15 years in armed conflict is a war crime.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (ICC) echoes this stance.

The criminal cases before the SCSL and the
ICC are evidence of the position the inter-
national community has taken regarding
recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.

Individual commanders and political leaders
are being increasingly held accountable
for the recruitment and participation of
children under the age of 15 in hostilities.

Recruiting and Using Children under 18 years

International human rights law has further
strengthened the acceptable minimum age
for direct participation in hostilities and
raised it to 18 years.

support-your-local

/ /

On 26 April 2012, the SCSL found former
President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, guilty of
aiding and abetting war crimes committed
by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during
the 1991-2002 civil war in Sierra Leone.

The Special Court sentenced Taylor
to 50 years in prison
and this sentence was upheld
by the Appeal Chamber in September 2013.
The Court’s judgement against Charles Taylor
marks the first time that a former Head
of State has been convicted of war crimes
against children that were committed
by an armed group found not to be under his
direct command and control but to which he
gave his practical assistance, encouragement
and moral support.

( fra UN-dokument )

nå kan en vel spørre seg hva for 'humanitær institusjon'
som kan dømme et menneske til 50 years in prison
(ring dem og spør!)

"Children are easy targets for military recruitment

due to their greater susceptibility to influence compared to adults."

ok Vindforhold i Gaza