[child-rights] Latin America meeting on child soldiers highlights the need for the OAS to turn promises into practise

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

24 June 2002
IOR 30/006/2002


(Asunción) The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
(including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch) welcomes
a declaration on the use of children as soldiers made by the
General Assembly of the Organisation of American States at its
32nd session on 2-4 June in Barbados. However, the urgency of the
problem affecting children in the region, including direct and
indirect participation in armed conflict, forced displacement and
the growth of organised armed gangs, requires a more forceful
response. The needs of thousands of children currently serving in
armed forces and groups in Latin America in particular were
highlighted at a regional meeting between UNICEF and the
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers on 13-14 June.
Representatives from Paraguay, Panama, Colombia, Peru, El
Salvador, Venezuela met in Asunción, Paraguay, to discuss the
development of a regional strategy to end the use of children as
soldiers.

       Our children need immediate assistance, including
national and regional programmes to prevent their use in armed
conflicts, organised gangs, irregular armed forces and
paramilitaries, and to prohibit recruitment and military training
before the age of 18. Governments should protect and assist
displaced children, criminalize recruitment of minors, ensure
their demobilisation and reintegration, and respect the right of
conscientious objection to military service.

       At its 32nd session, the OAS reinforced its June 2000
resolution (Res. 1709), stating,  "the particular protection and
assistance needs of women and children in situations of armed
conflict must be effectively addressed," and welcoming in this
regard the adoption, in May 2000, of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict.

       The majority of governments in the region have indicated
their support for addressing the problem. However to date, only
seven of the 34 countries in the region have ratified the
Optional Protocol, and even fewer actually implement its
provisions. Resolution 1709 stressed the importance of improving
security in the Americas. If the region is to be a safe place for
children, the use of children as soldiers must stop.

       Now is the time to take concrete steps and turn promises
into practice. The Coalition urges governments to ratify and
implement the Optional Protocol, to support programmes for
prevention and assistance, and to establish 18 as the minimum age
for recruitment.  The OAS should also develop stronger and more
systematic mechanisms for governments to report on their
implementation and actions in this regard.

Additional Information

OAS Resolution 1904 (AG/RES. 1904, XXXII-O/02) on the promotion
and respect of international humanitarian law, states the
following:

"CONVINCED that the particular protection and assistance needs of
women and children in situations of armed conflict must be
effectively addressed, and welcoming in this regard the adoption,
in May 2000, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed
conflict;

RESOLVES: (...) 6. To urge those member states that have not yet
done so to consider becoming Parties to the 1989 Convention on
the Rights of the Child, and to its Optional Protocol on the
involvement of children in armed conflicts, which includes the
participation of children in hostilities, as well as their
recruitment into armed forces and armed groups."

For more information please contact the Coalition to Stop the Use
of Child Soldiers, Latin America Coalition, (Tel/fax: +595 21 66
16 56), or the International Secretariat (Tel: +44 207 226 0606).


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