Minister deplores ‘human scandal’ of child soldiers

Many of the 250,000 children serving in armies around the world – like this boy leading the Islamist Al Shabab fighters in Somalia in 2010 – are recruited at a young age because they can be easily indoctrinated Keystone

Switzerland should play a more active role in the protection of children who are victims and perpetrators in armed conflicts, said Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, citing the country’s commitment to peace, democracy and human rights.

About 250,000 children under 18 are currently estimated to be serving in armed groups, 40% of them girls, Burkhalter said at the annual conference of the foreign ministry’s Human Security DivisionExternal link on Tuesday. Thousands of children worldwide are forced to join the army, to kill or maim; often their victims are other children. Thousands of girls are enslaved and raped during conflicts.

During the conference in Bern, young people from Switzerland and abroad had an opportunity to talk about their experiences. About 600 interested parties – including international experts such as Fatou BensoudaExternal link, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague – attended the meeting.

Victoria Nyanjura from Uganda, now aged 32, told the audience how she had been kidnapped, abused and forced into marriage by the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan armed group, and how she finally managed to escape eight years later, in 2004.

In Uganda alone, between 24,000 and 38,000 young people and children are estimated to have been exploited as fighters, assistants and sex slaves since 1984, Burkhalter said.

“It is a human scandal,” he said. “It is up to us to defend human dignity through the dignity of these children, who did not choose their fates.”

The current situation with regard to combating and prosecuting offences against children was among the issues discussed at the conference by Bensuda as well as Juvénal Munubo Mubi, a member of parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Better compliance

Both experts wished to see more effective and systematic enforcement of existing laws. To achieve this goal, both are working to bring about cooperation between public prosecutors, civil society and the UN with the aim of raising awareness of crimes against girls and boys.

As part of the action plan, Burkhalter presented on Tuesday aims to ensure that states and non-state groups better comply with international legal norms on child protection and that the commitment to child protection is strengthened at a multinational level, for example within the United Nations.

Burkhalter called for the introduction of an international norm defining the minimum age of 18 for people participating. Today, only the drafting of children below the age of 15 is considered a war crime by international humanitarian law.

Switzerland particularly wants to tackle impunity to ensure that perpetrators stand trial for their crimes. One problem is that armed groups cannot adopt international agreements and do not feel the law applies to them. As many as 51 of the 59 armies violating children’s rights are non-state groups.

At the same time, in collaboration with partner organisations Switzerland will offer psychological and physical recovery and social integration programmes to former child soldiers in conflict areas and provide young people with education and training to give them better prospects in life.