Child Soldiers, International Law and DDR
Mar 2007
By Dana Landau for ISN
The Use of Child Soldiers
© Milton Diaz Guillermo, Diario El Tiempo, 2000
Children join armed groups in conflict zones for various reasons and by various methods. The different recruitment methods can be described as compulsory, forced and voluntary recruitment.
Recruiting children to serve in their ranks proves beneficial for commanders, among whom children are seen as cheap, effective and obedient fighters.
The proliferation of small arms, such as handguns, light machine guns, revolvers and rifles has contributed significantly to the use of child soldiers.
Child soldiers assume a number of different duties within armed forces and groups. Girl soldiers often share the duties of their male counterparts, in addition to being used for sex and as commanders or rebel leaders’ wives.
The root causes of child soldiering can be found in such factors as poverty, lack of opportunity, high orphan rates and displacement.
More on the use of child soldiers
International Law
© Coalition, 2002
Since Graça Machel’s seminal report "The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children," which was published in 1996 at the request of the Secretary General of the UN, there has been unprecedented progress in the UN’s agenda for the protection of children affected by and involved in armed conflict. There has been a strengthening of the international child protection infrastructure and the birth of a legal framework, international consensus and commitment to end the use of child soldiers. However, this legal framework does not prevent children from being recruited and serving in armed forces and groups, mainly because there are, thus far, no effective measures to enforce compliance with international legal standards while the conflict is underway. The existing legal standards most notably enable post-conflict courts and tribunals to prosecute the use of child soldiers. Nevertheless, in the course of cease-fire negotiations those responsible are often granted immunity and therefore go unpunished.
When post-conflict tribunals prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a different dimension of the question of child soldiers arises. Child soldiers are often perpetrators of such crimes, while at the same time victims of child recruitment, which in itself represents a war crime. Most child soldiers are coerced to commit atrocities and they subsequently suffer from trauma. Child soldiers should therefore be understood first and foremost as victims in need of support and rehabilitation.
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programs are part of the formal procedure following a peace agreement. The three stages aim to facilitate former combatants successful return to civilian life.
With few exceptions, DDR programs are available only to a small percentage of children who need them. In some conflicts, both parties (governmental and other forces) deny their use of child soldiers. As a result, children are not included in the formal demobilization process and miss out on any kind of support for their re-entering civilian life.