<<previous  | index  |  next>>

Legal Standards

The government of Liberia, LURD and MODEL are all in violation of international standards that prohibit the use of children as soldiers. Further, Liberia is a party to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which together with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, obligates states to provide for the protection, care, and recovery of child victims of conflict, including child soldiers. Finally, Liberia has recently ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which stipulates that states shall make primary education compulsory and free to all.

Liberia acceded to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 in 1954 and to Protocol II in 1988 which together make up the body of international humanitarian law. The Conventions accord special protection to children in armed conflict. Protocol II to the Geneva Convention forbids the use of child soldiers under the age of fifteen in internal armed conflict.⁸² This Protocol is binding on state parties and armed opposition groups as well. Government forces, LURD and MODEL are all in violation of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child also forbids the participation of children under fifteen years of age in hostilities. Article 38 of the convention prohibits the recruitment of children under the age of fifteen while Article 39 obliges that state parties take appropriate measures, “to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of. . .armed conflicts.”⁸³

Since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, other international standards have been adopted that strengthen protections for children affected by armed conflict. These standards reflect a growing international awareness that children under the age of eighteen should not participate in armed conflict. Human Rights Watch takes the position that no child under the age of eighteen should be recruited-either voluntarily or forcibly-into any armed forces or groups, or participate in hostilities.

In the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, states pledge to take all necessary measures to ensure that no child takes part in hostilities and to refrain from recruiting children. The charter defines a child as every human being below the age of eighteen years. Liberia signed and ratified the charter in 1990. It further states that “Parties. . .shall take all feasible measures to ensure the care and protection of children who are affected by armed conflicts.”⁸⁴

The United Nations General Assembly adopted an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict in May 2000. Although Liberia has yet to ratify the protocol, like the African Charter, it raises the standards set in the Convention on the Rights of the Child by establishing eighteen as the minimum age for any conscription or forced recruitment. It further calls on armed groups distinct from state forces not to recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of eighteen and on other state parties to assist with rehabilitation where possible. Human Rights Watch urges the new Liberian Government to sign and ratify this important protocol.

In October 2003, Liberia ratified the Statute for the International Criminal Court. The statue defines the recruitment or use of children under fifteen as a war crime whether carried out by members of the government or non-governmental forces. At the time of writing, children under the age of fifteen were still active in some fighting units in Liberia.

Also in October 2003, Liberia ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Together with the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Liberia has recognized the right of the child to the highest attainable standard of education. The new government should prioritize education, both for child soldiers and all children affected by the conflict, to ensure its compliance with its recognition to achieve free and compulsory primary education.⁸⁵