How effective are the provisions of international humanitarian law relating to the protection of children from recruitment in armed conflict?

Abstract

Children are seen as holders of special rights and privileges, yet children are still abused in one form or another. One of the worst forms of abuse today is the desire of adults to use children as soldiers. In this research, special emphasis will be placed on the legal framework for this problem, based on the various conventions, protocols and international instruments involving the recruitment of children. Practically, due focus is placed on the position of international humanitarian law and how it relates to the rights of the child, especially in matters concerning the recruitment of children into armed forces and their use in the front lines of hostilities. Particularly, attention is drawn to international humanitarian legal instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Labour Organization, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Geneva Conventions and the different Protocols established as supplementary laws that add to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as looking into practical cases that have impacted on the recruitment of children into armed forces. The research also includes non-international armed conflict as part of the study to understand how children are affected within the boundaries of their countries and the role played by international humanitarian law touching on the rights of the child. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of children participating in armed conflicts and review the possible solutions for reducing and eliminating this violation of children’s rights