Community | September 15, 2008 | 26 comments

US: Congress acts to prosecute recruiters of child soldiers

source: http://hrw.org/

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New legislation adopted on September 15, 2008 will permit the United States to prosecute foreign military commanders who recruit child soldiers abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The Child Soldiers Accountability Act passed the House of Representatives unanimously on September 8 and was adopted by the Senate today.

The law makes it a federal crime to knowingly recruit or use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to bring charges under the law against both US citizens and non-citizens who are in the United States. The law imposes penalties of up to 20 years, or up to life in prison if death results, and allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers.

“The exploitation of children as soldiers persists in many armed conflicts because child recruiters are rarely held accountable,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate for Human Rights Watch. “This law tells military commanders worldwide that they cannot recruit children into their forces and then seek safe haven in the United States.”

Children are currently used in armed conflicts in at least 17 countries. Recruiters prey upon children, who are often the most vulnerable potential recruits and the most susceptible to threats and coercion. Child soldiers are used as combatants, porters, guards and spies, and for other duties.

The recruitment and use of children as soldiers was recognized in 1998 as a war crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In 2007, four former military commanders from Sierra Leone were convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for recruiting and using children as soldiers. Rebel and military commanders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have also been charged under the International Criminal Court with recruiting and using child soldiers, though none have yet gone to trial.

“International tribunals are beginning to prosecute individuals for recruiting child soldiers, but almost no national governments have done so,” said Becker. “The United States is giving real leadership to efforts to end the use of child soldiers.”

Senator Richard Durbin authored the bipartisan bill, which he introduced together with Senators Tom Coburn, Russell Feingold, and Sam Brownback.

Countries in which children are known to have been used in hostilities between 2004 and 2007 include: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Nepal, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda.
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26 comments // US: Congress acts to prosecute recruiters of child soldiers

  • Nephwrack
    • 0
      Nephwrack  

    • wow never noticed just how effective the current.com database was but you'll see a list of most of the countries thart use child soldiers at the right of your screen. why do governments only start the wars? they should have to fight them.

      EDIT

      Child soldiers are used as combatants, porters, guards and spies, and for other duties.

      what fing part of CHILD SOLDIERS do they not understand here???

      and no, the United Slog to Armageddon is no better.

    • 3 years ago
  • kennymotown
  • ChainChomper
  • blood77
  • pantott
  • KJR
    • 0
      KJR  

    • Foreign policy is an essential cornerstone to our country and our government.
      As someone else said: BRAVO
      These human needs are high on the top of the heirarchy of gravity. That alone should be enough reason to get involved.

      “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    • 3 years ago
  • Path_o_Logic
    • 0
      Path_o_Logic  

    • Maybe now that this important legislation is out of the way, perhaps our representatives could move on to the more important issue of how America's trade and foreign policies have contributed to the unrest in Africa for most of this century.

    • 3 years ago
  • dontipo
  • pantott
  • pantott
    • 0
      pantott  

    • Meanwhile, here, the Saturday cartoon shows teach kindergarten children to use ''teenage mutant ninja, power ranger brute force to get what they want... creating the biggest army of peddlers, liars, deceivers and killers on this earth.

    • 3 years ago
  • dontipo
  • Path_o_Logic
  • dontipo
  • dontipo
  • Neghie
    • 0
      Neghie  

    • I don't know what to think of this. These children grow up to be adults, so I can see how it would be a great idea to tackle the problem at the head. However, we went to war in the wrong place on the pretense that we were going to help and catch the bad guys. Seems like that has exploded in our face. Still, I don't think crimes against humanity should be left alone to figure out who should deal with it. Stepping up to the plate doesn't necessarily mean we're over stepping our boundaries. If some didn't step in, imagine what Hitler would have done.

    • 3 years ago
  • kadugen
    • 0
      kadugen  

    • Although I believe recruiting child soldiers is wrong, we have NO right to judge other people around the world according to United States laws. This is a horrible waste of congress' time and resources. Reminds me of that legislation passed not too long ago condemning China on human rights issues... pure politics.

    • 3 years ago
  • rainbowryan420
    • 0
      rainbowryan420  

    • i know child solders is not a good thing but America has no right to police the world

      i think we should mind our own damn business because we have a lot of other thing so focus on right now

      maybe we should think about this stuff after the election
      or even after the Iraq Afghanistan Iran
      i don't know where the war is exactly but we should wait till its over before we even think about playing TEAM AMERICA

      "AMERICA F*CK YEAH"

    • 3 years ago
  • Nephwrack
  • dkincheloe
  • iloveravi
  • myowndesignjf
  • dkincheloe
    • 0
      dkincheloe  

    • Asherp! Bravo! Kudos! I couldn't agree more!

      I don't see much difference between recruiting a 14 year old African soldier and an 18 year old African-American soldier.

      And, it's a bit ironic that our great Senators and Representatives, themselves war criminals for going along with Bush in invading a country without cause (preemptively!), should vote to prosecute anyone for anything.

      We need to bind our own wounds, as the great Mr. Lincoln once said (before he was assassinated by a "conservative").

    • 3 years ago
  • nufsenuf
    • 0
      nufsenuf  

    • Children are our future, and no matter what country they inhabit, they will ultimately be the leaders of the future. it behooves us all to protect and uplift children everywhere because when you're old, they'll be deciding your future, and the future of the world.

    • 3 years ago
  • asherp
  • iloveravi
  • Nephwrack
    • 0
      Nephwrack  
    • asherp:

      usually asherp you're a little to the center of my viewpoint but this time i agree, you can die for your country as an american citizen, at age 18, but in order to drink you have to be age 21. ridiculous. they're only 8 years past ten.

    • 3 years ago
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