Public Law Studies Quarterly

The International Criminal Court's Approach to Criminalization of Child Recruitment in Armed Conflict

Document Type : Article

Authors

Yalda Naghizadeh 1
Seyed Hesamoddin Lesani 2

1 Department of International law, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran,

2 Associate Prof, Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Hazrat-e-Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2022.327293.2832
Abstract
In recent decades, violations of children's rights, especially in armed conflicts, have overshadowed the implementation of norms related to this vulnerable groups. Children are exposed to murder, forced conscription, sexual exploitation and other abuses during conflicts. Examples of such violations can be found in Sierra Leone, Congo and Rwanda. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this paper seeks to examine the case-law established in the International Criminal Court regarding the criminalization of child recruitment and how to achieve criminal justice in this trespect. The results of the study show that by convicting Thomas Lubanga of child abuse in armed conflict, the ICC reached a turning point in the fight against impunity for violation of chidren rights. On the other hand, the issue of assigning criminal responsibility to children in the event of a crime during conflicts, especially against the civilian population, is another dimension of the issue that, with the wise leadership of the international judiciary, can put an end to this phenomenon and prosecute its real culprits.

Keywords

International criminal court
criminalization
child recruitment
armed conflict
Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) Articles
    2. Abitria, R. A. (2012). The Contribution of the Case of Thomas Lubanga to the Development of International Law on the Protection of Child Soldiers. University of Kent, Kent Law School, 1-26.
    3. Amann, D. M. (2019). The Policy on Children of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor: Toward greater accountability for crimes against and affecting children, International Review of the Red Cross, 101(911), 537-549.
    4. Andvig, J. C., & Gates, S. (2010). Recruiting Children for Armed Conflict. ResearchGate, 77-92.
    5. Blattman, C., & Annan, J. (2010). The Consequences of Child Soldiering. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4), 882-898.
    6. Coleman, J. (2008). Showing Its Teeth: The International Criminal Court Takes on Child Conscription in the Congo, but Is Its Bark Worse than Its Bite. Penn State International Law Review, (26), 764-785.
    7. Drumbl, M. A. (2012). Child Soldiers and Clicktivism: Justice, Myths, and Prevention. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 4(3), 481-485.
    8. Drumbl, M. A. (2012). Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy. Oxford University Press, 724-727.
    9. Du Plessis, M. (2004). Children under International Criminal Law. African Security Studies, (13), 103-111.
    10. Freeland, S. (2008). Mere Children or Weapons or War-Child Soldiers and International Law. Western Sydney University, School of Law,(29), 19-55.
    11. Kononenko, L. (2016). Prohibiting the Use of Child Soldiers: Contested Norm in Contemporary Human Rights Discourse. Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 34(2), 89–103.
    12. McQueen, A. (2019). Falling Through the Gap: The Culpability of Child Soldiers Under International Criminal Law. Notre Dame Law Review Online, 94(2), 99-127.
    13. Quenivet, N. (2017). Does and Should International Law Prohibit the Prosecution of Children for War Crimes?. The European Journal of International Law, 28(2), 433-455.
    14. Rosen, D. M. (2007). Child Soldiers, International Humanitarian Law, and the Globalization of Childhood. American Anthropologist, 109(2), 296-306.
    15. Takahashi, Y. A. (2019). War Crimes Relating to Child Soldiers and Other Children that are Otherwise Associated with Armed Groups in Situations of Non-International Armed Conflict. An incremental step toward a coherent legal framework?. QIL, Zoom-in, 25-48.
    16. Talbert, M., & Wolfendale, J. (2018). The Moral Responsibility of Child Soldiers and the Case of Dominic Ongwen. Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace, 1-5.
    17. Waschefort, G. (2010). Justice for Child Soldiers? The RUF Trial of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. International Humanitarian Legal Studies, (1), 189-204.
    18. Webster, T. (2007). Babes with Arms: International Law and Child Soldiers. CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, (39), 226-254.
    19. Yuvaraj, J. (2016). When Does a Child ‘Participate Actively in Hostilities’ under the Rome Statute? Protecting Children from Use in Hostilities after Lubanga. UTRECHT JOURNAL OFINTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW, 32 (83), 69-92.

     

    1. B) Documents & Reports
    2. Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. A/44/49 (1989) (entered into force on 2 September 1990) Article 38 [Hereafter ‘CRC’].
    3. Democratic Republic of the Congo v Uganda (Judgment)(2005), General List No. 116, ICJ Reppara, 192 & 185
    4. Dissenting Opinion of Judge Anita Ušacka (2014), available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/RelatedRecords/CR2014_09850.PDF
    5. Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, Report of the expert of the Secretary-General (1996), Ms.Graca Machel, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/157 (A/51/306).
    6. Norman Child Recruitment case (2004), supra note 16, Judge Robertson's dissenting opinion, para. 5
    7. Prosecutor v Samuel Hinga Norman (2004), Appeals Chamber, Special Court for Sierra Leone, decision on preliminary motion based on lack of jurisdiction (child recruitment, para. 17.
    8. Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Decision on Sentence (2010), ICC-01/04-01/06 (Trial Chamber I), para.12.
    9. Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute, ICC-01/04-01/06-2842, T.Ch. I, 14 March 2012, para. 14 ii).
    10. Report of the Secretary-General, Children and Armed Conflict (2019), Available at: https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/document/2018-secretary-general-annual-report-on-children-and-armed-conflict.
    11. Situation in Democratic Republic of Congo in the Case of Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (2012),(Separate and Dissenting Opinion of Judge Odio Benito: Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute) ICC-01/04-01/06-2842 (ICC Trial Chamber I) (Benito Dissenting) para 18.
    12. Sndoz, C.Swinarski and B.Zimmerman (eds.)(1987), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.

     

    1. C) Websites
    2. Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Global Report on Child Soldiers (2001), London available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/global-report-child-soldiers-2001-launch-child-soldiers-overview.
    3. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment (2007), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4670fca12.html.
    4. Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949), available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/INTRO/380.
    5. Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1924 –Text (1924, available at: https://www.humanium.org/en/text-2/.
    6. International Committee on the Red Cross, The Paris Commitments to Protect Children from Unlawful Recruitment or Use by Armed Forces or Armed Groups (2007),(available at http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/the-paris-commitments.pdf.
    7. Lubanga Case, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (2009), available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/drc/lubanga Case, ICC-01/04-01/06.
    8. Office of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children Armed conflicts (2000), available at: http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/mandate/opac.
    9. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002), available at: http://legal.un.org/icc/index.html.
    10. Siatitsa, Ilia and Titberidze, Maia (2010), “Human Rights in Armed Conflict from the Perspective of the Contemporary State Practice in the United Nations: Factual Answers to Certain Hypothetical Challenges”, available at: http://www.rulac.org/assets/downloads/State_practice_human_rights_in_armed_conflict.pdf.
    11. UN Doc, A/69/926-S/2015/409, UN General Assembly, “Annual Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflicts” (2015), available at: http://watchlist.org/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads.
    12. UN SCOR (2000), SC Res 1315, 4186th meeting, UN Doc S/RES/1315 (14 August 2000) available at: https://research.un.org/en/docs/sc/or
    13. UNICEF, The Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (2007), available at: http://www.unicef.org/emerge/files/ParisPrinciples310107English.pdf,

     

    References in Persian

    - Articles

    1. Fakheri, N., & Salehi, J. (2013). quot; The Procedure of the International Criminal Court's Trial Chambers and Appeals in Amending Lubanga's Charges: From Coordination to Conflict between the Statute of the Court and the Rome Statute&quot. Journal of International Law, (51), Fall-Winter, 183-204 (In Persian).
    2. Lasani, S. H. (2015). quot; States' obligation to review the legal status of new weapons in international law&quot. Public Law Studies Quarterly, 46(1), 91-113 (In Persian).
    3. Mirkamali, S. A., & Pourhasan Ziveh, S. (2013). quot; The crime of recruiting children from the perspective of international criminal law&quot. Criminal Law and Criminology Research Journal, (4), second semester, 126-97 (In Persian).
    4. Ranjbarian, A. H., & Malek-El-Katab Khaibani, M. (2013). " The Special Court of Sierra Leone: Formation Process, Jurisdiction and Dealing with Impunity&quot. International Legal Journal, 27(43), 123-167 (In Persian).
    5. Taghizadeh, Z., & Hadavandi, F. (2012). quot;Combating the crisis of child recruitment in armed conflicts: the first judgment of the International Criminal Court in the balance of international law&quot. Legal Research Journal, 22, second semester, 224- 187 (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 54, Issue 2 - Serial Number 38
Summer 2024
Spring 2024
Pages 1279-1301

  • Receive Date 18 July 2021
  • Revise Date 21 December 2021
  • Accept Date 18 April 2022

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