Mere children or weapons of war : child soldiers and international law

Young boys and girls, who under international law are regarded as "children," volunteer or, more frequently, are forcibly "recruited" into government forces or militia groups and subsequently involved in the commission of serious-sometimes heinous-crimes. This gives rise to difficult and complex international legal issues, both in terms of dealing with those who are responsible for the involvement of these children, but also in terms of what can/should be done in relation to the child him/herself. While the use of children in armed conflict is not necessarily a new concept, it is only relatively recently that international law has been specifically directed towards addressing it. Since 1977, a number of international legal instruments have attempted to set standards to prevent the recruitment and use of children in this way. The term "Child Soldier" has now become a common part of the vernacular in relation to many international and internal conflicts throughout the world. This article discusses the current situation under international law relating to Child Soldiers in three principal areas: 1. How international law prohibits and/or restricts the recruitment of the Child Soldier; 2. How international law criminalizes the recruitment of the Child Soldier; 3. How international law deals with and/or criminalizes the actions of the Child Soldier. The analysis in this article reveals that the standards that have been established under conventional international law have largely been weak and ineffective in curbing the problem. As a result, it is necessary not only to "upgrade" these standards but to use criminal sanctions in an effort to provide a more efficient legal regime to com-bat the issue. In this regard, there have, as indicated above, recently been a number of criminal prosecutions instigated by both the ICC and the SCSL against persons accused of recruiting and using children in armed conflict. This represents a positive development. However, this article concludes that there is much more that still needs to be done. As well as more effective specific legal standards and criminal sanctions, the underlying reasons for conflict and its impacts on children- which include their use as participants-must be acknowledged and addressed.