US to prosecute recruiters of child soldiers
US: New legislation adopted on Monday will permit the United
States to prosecute foreign military commanders who recruit child
soldiers abroad, Human Rights Watch said.
The Child Soldiers Accountability Act passed by the House of
Representatives unanimously on September 8 was adopted by the Senate on
Monday.
In announcing this passage of the legislation in the United States
Senate the New York-based Human Rights Watch singled out Sri Lanka,
among several other countries, as one that has child soldiers.
The United Nations and international rights organisations often
document and accuse the LTTE of using child soldiers. The legislation
gives the United States Government to prosecute U.S.
citizens and non-citizens living in the United States who knowingly
recruit or use child soldiers for combat purposes.
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.
Senator Richard Durbin authored the bipartisan bill, which he
introduced together with Senators Tom Coburn, Russell Feingold, and Sam
Brownback.
Asian Tribune |