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| February 14, 2002 |
Child Soldiers Treaty Enters into Force
Rachel Stohl, Senior Analyst, rstohl@cdi.org
On February 12, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict entered into force. The Treaty requires states parties to “take all feasible measures” to ensure that members of their armed forces under the age of 18 years do not participate in hostilities; prohibits the conscription of anyone under the age of 18 into the armed forces; requires states to raise the age of voluntary recruitment from 15 and to deposit a binding declaration of the minimum age for recruitment into their armed forces; prohibits the recruitment or use in hostilities of children under the age of 18 by rebel or other non-governmental armed groups and requires states to criminalize such practices.
The Protocol was adopted by the General Assembly on May 25, 2000. Ninety-four states have signed the Treaty, and 14 have ratified it. President Clinton signed the Treaty on July 5, 2000. It now awaits Senate ratification.
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (www.child-soldiers.org) estimates that 300,000 children under the age of 18 are actively participating in conflicts in more than 30 countries. According to the Coalition, the most affected countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sri Lanka.
The use of child soldiers has received increased attention during the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The first U.S. soldier killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan, Army Sergeant 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, was reportedly shot by a fourteen-year old. In Afghanistan, as with many other countries at war, children have been used as combatants for decades.
To mark the Protocol’s entry into force, the U.S. Campaign to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (www.us-childsoldiers.org) held an event on the Capitol Steps on February 12. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was joined by Assistant Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, Michael Southwick, in calling for prompt ratification of the Protocol. Senator Boxer announced that a hearing on the Protocol is scheduled for February 26, 2002. A vote on ratification should occur in the next few months, and the Treaty is expected to face little, if any opposition. The Bush Administration has placed the Protocol at the top of its list of treaties it recommends for ratification. The Department of Defense had signed off on the Protocol’s provisions during the Protocol’s negotiations. Ambassador Southwick was optimistic that the Protocol, once brought up for a vote, would be ratified.
The Washington gathering was part of a series of similar events that took place on February 12 in more then twenty countries, including Bangladesh, Belgium, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, Switzerland, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. At the United Nations in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, joined a former child soldier from Sudan and other youth and political leaders in planting cardboard red hands symbolizing child soldiers on the grounds of the Palais des Nations.
Ratifying the Protocol will not end the use of children as soldiers. Long-term, comprehensive disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs are necessary in post-conflict societies. Moreover, preventive programs, in countries and regions where children are at risk, are a crucial aspect of curbing this abuse. Universalizing the Optional Protocol will reinforce the emerging international norm that children should be protected in times of conflict, not used as front line combatants.
Military Activity Increases in the Horn of Africa
Emily Clark, Research Analyst, eclark@cdi.org
On the heels of discussions aimed at improving ways for the United States, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti to strengthen cooperative security agreements to guard against terrorism in the Horn of Africa, the United States and Kenyan militaries began joint exercises on Feb. 4.
Two thousand Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit are working with 250-300 Kenyan soldiers from the 15th Kenyan Rifles and the Engineers Battalion (based at Thika) in intensive ground and air maneuvers as part of “Edged Mallet.” The military component of the exercise focuses on increasing the military’s ability to respond to natural disasters, carry out humanitarian assistance programs and peacekeeping tasks, and work with American military personnel. While the United States “shows the flag” in East Africa, the troops will construct two classrooms, repair a bridge in one of the country’s coastal villages, drill a public well, restore a medical clinic, and provide basic medical services to people living in the area.
The United States is not the only foreign military operating in the region—East Africa has piqued the interest of other nations allied with the United States in the war on terrorism. Currently, about one hundred coalition naval vessels patrol the waters between Pakistan and the Horn of Africa to prevent al-Qaeda fighters from fleeing Afghanistan. In addition to a permanent British military presence (300 officers support the Kenyan armed forces and lead joint training exercises), at least three British ships have recently docked in Mombasa. The HMS Scott, a British marine survey ship, arrived in February; the Trafalgar (a submarine capable of launching missiles at both land and sea targets) and a supply ship, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Diligence, docked in December at Kilindini. While French naval presence in Djibouti dates back to the nineteenth century, not so the seven German warships—constituting Germany’s largest naval deployment since World War II—that are also there. Germany also dispatched a 26-soldier team to examine whether or not a base for three aircraft could be established at Mombasa.
The official explanation for the increased military presence in East Africa is to interdict vessels bearing fleeing al Qaeda militants back to their old stomping grounds. However, there is speculation that not only will U.S. and allied presence in the region be used to increase surveillance of suspect Somali terrorist cells—two Islamic Unity bases on the mainland, and a number of islands off the coast near the Kenyan border—but that action against terrorist cells in the area may be forthcoming. In a recent trip to Somalia, U.S. military officers toured military facilities, the airport, and the town of Baidoa, meeting with the governor, a commander in the Rahanweyn Resistance Army who controls the areas of Bay and Bakol.
“Edged Mallet” was planned by U.S. Central Command in the summer of 2001, long before the war on terrorism rekindled U.S. interest in Somalia. But the utility of some parts of military-to-military training were underscored by Uzbekistan’s relative familiarity with American operations and their subsequent approval to base U.S. forces there (training and joint exercises have been ongoing since 1995), and highlight the pragmatic—as well as the strategic and even diplomatic—reasons operations like “Edged Mallet” have immediate and long-term benefits.
It is widely speculated that Kenya and Ethiopia offer potential staging grounds for covert or small unit operations aimed at eradicating terrorist activity in Somalia; at the very least, operating so close to the Somali border will allow commanders to increase surveillance and possibly collect new intelligence on terrorist activity there. Soldiers will gain experience working with Kenyan locals in the African theater. Training native military personnel in missions with civil support and peacekeeping functions could even provide a handy example of good deeds in a region where terrorist attacks against the United States have been particularly deadly. In the case of “Edged Mallet,” it may provide a forum for negotiations -- and an understanding of regional culture and challenges -- if military action against terrorism in Somalia is indeed on the radar screen.
Afghanistan Operations Will Require Additional Funds – In testimony on Feb. 13 before the Senate Budget Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and DoD Comptroller Dov Zakheim told Congress that they would be requesting additional funds in fiscal year 2002 to support military operations in Afghanistan. Mr. Zakheim said that based on information provided by the Joint Chiefs, he expected that the Pentagon would run out of money “as early as April.” Neither official would speculate about how much money would be requested because of the uncertain nature of the operations, but Mr. Zakheim stated that $5.5 billion would be a “baseline” minimum, because that was the amount of operations and maintenance shortfall in the fiscal year 2002 defense appropriations bill passed by Congress in December.
U.S., Philippines Agree on Rules for U.S. Forces – The U.S. and Philippine governments have agreed to rules for controversial joint military exercises involving over 600 U.S. special forces troops. The rules state that the U.S. forces will not be able to “operate independently” during training exercises aimed at helping the Philippine military combat the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, and that the U.S. troops will fall “under the authority” of the Philippine Chief of Staff during the six month exercise. Opponents of the deployment of U.S. forces said that it violated the Philippine constitution.
Air Force Would Welcome Airbus Tanker Bid – In Feb. 12 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Secretary of the Air Force James Roche said the service would “be more than willing to look at” a bid issued by Airbus that competes with a proposal by Boeing to upgrade the service’s fleet of airborne tankers. The statement came in response to a question by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been highly critical of language included in the fiscal year 2002 defense appropriations legislation that permits the Air Force to negotiate the lease of 100 modified Boeing 767s as replacements for the current fleet of KC-135 tankers. Sen. McCain has questioned whether the proposed lease agreement will cost as much, if not more, than actually purchasing the replacement aircraft.
Russian Power Company Cuts Off Army – Unified Energy Systems, Russia’s national electricity monopoly, shut off power to some army installations earlier this month for failure to pay their power bills. The installations, located along the Pacific coast, include military offices and a satellite control center. The company says the military owed it $85 million as of Jan. 1. The region’s power rates are reported to have grown by as much as 45 percent last year. According to Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, “We simply do not have the cash to pay such prices.”
Quotation of the Week – “We will continue to cancel things that aren’t making it. We have no choice. We will do it again, and again, if we have to,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on the Pentagon’s decision to the Navy’s Area missile defense program because of cost overruns, testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, February 5, 2002.
This Week on America’s Defense Monitor: “The U.S. and U.N. in Somalia”
On December 4, 1992, President George Bush announced he was sending up to 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia to help provide humanitarian relief in a strife-torn country where hundreds of thousands of people had died of starvation. Not quite a year later, shortly after a failed raid that took the lives of 18 American servicemen, President Bill Clinton announced an exit strategy for the United States. In less than a year, the United States went from welcomed savior to embattled occupier.
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