[child-rights] Burma: Demobilize child soldiers

U.N. Committee Finds Burma in Violation of International Law

(New York, June 4, 2004) — The Burmese government should take immediate 
steps to
demobilize child soldiers from its national army, Human Rights Watch said 
today. Earlier today,
a U.N. committee found that Burma is violating international law by 
recruiting and using
children as soldiers.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, which includes 18 child 
rights experts from
around the world, stated that is was "extremely concerned" at the use of 
children as soldiers by
both governmental armed forces and armed ethnic opposition groups.  Meeting 
in Geneva, the
committee issued its findings following a formal review of Burma's 
compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified treaty in 
the world.

The Committee issued specific recommendations urging the Burmese government 
to demobilize
and reintegrate of all combatants under 18, ensure that all military 
recruits are at least 18 and
enlist voluntarily, and provide educational and other assistance to 
children affected by the
conflict.

"Burma's use of children as soldiers is unacceptable," said Jo Becker, 
advocacy director for the
Children's Rights Division. "Rangoon should act immediately on the U.N. 
recommendations and
end this terrible practice."

A 2002 investigation by Human Rights Watch found widespread forced 
recruitment of children
as young as 11 by government forces and concluded that Burma has the 
largest number of child
soldiers in the world. According to accounts of former government soldiers 
interviewed by
Human Rights Watch, 20 percent or more of its active duty soldiers may be 
children under the
age of 18. Burma is believed to have an estimated 350,000 soldiers in its 
national army.

Armed opposition groups in Burma also recruit child soldiers, although on a 
much smaller scale.
Human Rights Watch documented the use of child soldiers by 19 different 
armed opposition
groups.

In an October report to the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan identified the
Burmese government and armed opposition groups in Burma as violators of 
international laws
prohibiting the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. In response, 
Burmese authorities
announced a new Committee to Prevent the Recruitment of Child Soldiers.

"The government's action to form a committee to prevent child recruitment 
is a positive step,"
said Becker. "But the government must do more. It should immediately 
demobilize all children
currently in its forces, and remove all incentives for recruiters to target 
children."

Recruiters for Burma's army frequently apprehend boys at train and bus 
stations, markets and
other public places, threatening them with jail if they refuse to join the 
army. Former child
soldiers interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that recruiters 
frequently receive cash and
bags of rice in exchange for each new recruit. After brutal training, child 
soldiers are deployed
into units, where some are forced to fight against ethnic armed opposition 
groups. Many are also
forced to commit human rights abuses against civilians, including rounding 
up villagers for
forced labor, burning villages, and carrying out executions.

"The Burmese government is seeking to improve its image and gain 
international recognition,"
said Becker. "If the government is really serious about its promised reform 
agenda, it urgently
needs to improve its record on child rights."

The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits any recruitment of 
children under the age of
15 or their use in armed conflict. It also upholds stronger applicable 
national laws. Because
Burma's national law sets a higher age limit of 18 for any recruitment into 
the military, this age
limit also applies under international law.

Human Rights Watch urged the government of Burma to ratify the Optional 
Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in 
armed conflict, which
sets 18 as the minimum age for participation in armed conflict, for 
compulsory or forced
recruitment, and for any recruitment by nongovernmental armed groups. 
During the
government's appearance before the Committee on May 26, the delegation 
indicated that the
government was reviewing the protocol and considering ratification.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child assesses states' compliance with 
the Convention on
the Rights of the Child approximately every five years. Governments are 
required to submit
written reports and also send delegations to appear before the Committee.

Burma ratified the Convention in 1991, and was last examined by the 
Committee in 1997.

Human Rights Watch's 2002 report, My Gun Was as Tall as Me: Child Soldiers 
in Burma, can
be found online at www.hrw.org/reports/2002/burma/

The Committee on the Rights of the Child's concluding observations on Burma 
can be found at
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/docs/crc-observations2004.pdf


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