U.S. Military Assistance to Governments and Government Supported Armed Groups Using Child Soldiers

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1 U.S. Military Assistance to Governments and Government Supported Armed Groups Using Child Soldiers In accordance with the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of FY 2003, the U.S. Department of State s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices include a description of the nature and extent of the compulsory recruitment and conscription of individuals under the age of 18 by all armed groups in every country, and the steps that have been taken by the governments of the respective countries to eliminate such practices. The reports are also supposed to list which countries have ratified the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Released on March 11, 2008, the State Department s 2007 human rights reports on 196 countries contain information on past or current use or recruitment of child soldiers, disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) programs for former child soldiers, and other child soldiers-related issues in 30 different countries. The full text of the 2007 Country Reports can be found at CDI s excerpts of the 30 reports containing information on child soldiers can be found at The country reports include favorable information where tangible, positive results have been accomplished, such as DDR programs for child soldiers in nine countries: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. However, they also include information on violations of established international standards on child soldiers. For example, the report highlights the continued use and recruitment of child soldiers by governments and government-supported paramilitaries, militias and other armed groups in eight countries. Some of the most egregious violators remain Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. The United States continues to provide these countries millions of dollars in Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), Excess Defense Articles (EDA), International Military Education and Training (IMET) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF). More specifically, CDI s analysis of the 2007 human rights reports found that: The most egregious cases of child soldier use by government forces continue in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sri Lanka. The reports reveal use and recruitment of child soldiers by government forces or government supported groups in eight countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, DRC, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. In 2006, government use was found in nine countries: Burma, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d Ivoire, DRC, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. The United States provides military assistance to six of those eight countries: Afghanistan, Chad, DRC, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. Below, are excerpts from the U.S. Department of State s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices demonstrating government or government-supported armed group use and recruitment of child soldiers and the amounts of Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), Excess Defense Articles (EDA), International Military Education and Training (IMET) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) provided by the United States since The State Department has not yet made the actual amounts for FY07, the estimated amounts for FY 08 and the requested amounts for FY 09 for DCS and FMS publicly available. In addition, the estimated FY 08 amounts and FY 09 requests for EDA have also not been released.

2 Afghanistan A 2003 presidential decree prohibited the recruitment of children and young persons under the age of 22 into the army; in the middle of 2006 the government changed the legal recruitment age to 18. There were unconfirmed reports of children under 18 falsifying their identification records to join the national security forces, which was a large-scale source of new employment opportunities. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) and the AIHRC [Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission] reported that children younger than 18 were being recruited and in some cases sexually abused by the ANP [Afghan National Police] and militias. U.S. Department of State 2007 Human Rights Report FY 02 $0 $50,000,000 $0 $1,451,000 $0 FY 03 $387,000 $191,000,000 $12,000 $17,037,000 $31,057,500 FY 04 $376,000 $414,077,000 $3,472,000 $109,532,000 $20,272,842 FY 05 $945,000 $396,800,000 $708,793,000 $169,518,000 $0 FY 06 $979,000 $0 $532,178,000 $1,727,000 $0 FY 07 $1,193,000 $0 N/A $0 $0 FY 08 (est.) $1,618,000 $0 N/A $6,358,000,000 N/A FY 09 (req.) $1,400,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A Total $6,898,000 $1,051,877,000 $1,244,455,000 $6,657,265,000 $51,330,342 Burma (Myanmar) In her November 16 report on the use of child soldiers in Burma, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict [Radhika] Coomaraswamy cited evidence that the both the government army and several armed insurgent and ceasefire groups recruited child soldiers. The use of child soldiers remained a problem, although the number of child soldiers was not known. The official age of enlistment in the army is 18 years. The government stated that its official policy is to avoid conscripting child soldiers; however, numerous recruiters reportedly ignored the policy. U.S. Department of State 2007 Human Rights Report FY 04 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 05 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 06 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 07 $0 $0 N/A $0 $0 FY 08 (est.) $0 $0 N/A $0 N/A FY 09 (req.) $0 $0 N/A $0 N/A Total $0 $0 N/A $0 $0

3 Chad The law prohibits the use of child soldiers; however, child soldiers were used by the ANT [Chadian National Army] U.S. Department of State 2007Human Rights Report FY 02 $216,000 $0 $0 $472,000 $0 FY 03 $253,000 $5,000 $0 $362,000 $0 FY 04 $573,000 $0 $0 $608,000 $0 FY 05 $331,000 $2,200,000 $0 $42,000 $0 FY 06 $342,000 $0 $43,000 $1,816,000 $0 FY 07 $392,000 $0 N/A $100,000 $0 FY 08 (est.) $95,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A FY 09 (req.) $275,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A Total $2,477,000 $2,205,000 $43,000 $3,400,000 $0 Congo, Democratic Republic of Security forces and armed groups continued to recruit and maintain child soldiers in their ranks. According to a UN independent expert's report in August, there was continued recruitment and use of children in security forces and by armed groups during the first six months of the year. Perpetrators included government security forces U.S. Department of State 2007 Human Rights Report FY 04 $321,000 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 05 $180,000 $150,000 $0 $0 $0 FY 06 $306,000 $0 $0 $1,255,000 $0 FY 07 $263,000 $0 N/A $1,464,000 $0 FY 08 (est.) $477,000 $397,000 N/A $0 $0 FY 09 (req.) $500,000 $600,000 N/A $0 $0 Total $2,047,000 $1,147,000 N/A $2,719,000 $0 Sri Lanka Credible reports cited child soldier recruitment by paramilitary forces associated with the government. U.S. Department of State 2007Human Rights Report FY 02 $259,000 $0 $6,000 $0 $0 FY 03 $307,000 $0 $110,000 $123,000 $33,080,000 FY 04 $551,000 $2,495,000 $1,650,000 $393,000 $0 FY 05 $389,000 $496,000 $466,000 $260,000 $0 FY 06 $529,000 $990,000 $1,334,000 $1,400,000 $0 FY07 $483,000 $990,000 N/A $310,000 $0 FY 08 (est.) $571,000 $422,000 N/A $0 N/A FY 09 (req.) $600,000 $900,000 N/A $0 N/A Total $3,689,000 $6,293,000 $3,566,000 $2,486,000 $33,080,000

4 The government's human rights record remained poor, and there were numerous serious abuses, including forced military conscription of underage men [and] recruitment of child soldiers. Sudan Recruitment of child soldiers remained a serious problem in Darfur. In August the UN issued the Report of the Secretary-General on Children in Armed Conflict in the Sudan, which cited credible reports that the SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces], [and] government-aligned Popular Defense Forces (PDF), recruited child soldiers. There were reports that government and government-aligned militias conscripted children and accepted children as soldiers. U.S. Department of State 2007 Human Rights Report FY 04 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 05 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 06 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 FY 07 $96,000 $0 N/A $0 $0 FY 08 (est.) $287,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A FY 09 (req.) $300,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A Total $683,000 $0 N/A $0 $0 Uganda The government denied allegations of underage recruitment into the army, including that of the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict who estimated that 5,000 children were serving in the armed forces in June U.S. Department of State 2007 Human Rights Report FY 03 $170,000 $60,000 $200,000 $35,000 $0 FY 04 $371,000 $2,290,000 $794,000 $859,000 $0 FY 05 $293,000 $1,984,000 $5,706,000 $972,000 $0 FY 06 $340,000 $0 $3,302,000 $3,017,000 $0 FY 07 $283,000 $0 N/A $0 $0 FY 08 (est.) $477,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A FY 09 (req.) $500,000 $0 N/A $0 N/A Total $2,434,000 $4,334,000 $10,002,000 $4,883,000 $0 Figures for IMET, FMF, DCS, and FMS from FY 90 through FY 05 are from the DSCA Facts Book. Figures for these categories from FY 06 through FY 08 are from the FY 08 congressional budget justification for the Foreign Operations budget. EDA figures are from the DSCA EDA Database. Prepared by Rachel Stohl and Doug Tuttle March 31, 2008

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