On Red Hand Day or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, February 12 each year, pleas are made to political leaders and events are staged around the world to draw attention to child soldiers: children under the age of 18 who participate in military organizations of all kinds. The aim of Red Hand Day is to call for action to stop this practice, and for support for children affected by it.
*Child soldiers and the law*
Children aged under 15
The Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (1977, Art. 77.2), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) all forbid state armed forces and non-state armed groups from using children under the age of 15 directly in armed conflict (technically “hostilities”). This is now recognised as a war crime.
*Children aged under 18*
Most states with armed forces are also bound by the higher standards of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) (2000) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999), which forbid the compulsory recruitment of those under the age of 18. OPAC also requires governments that still recruit children (from age 16) to “take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities”. In addition, OPAC forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting children under any circumstances, although the legal force of this is uncertain.
*Movement to end the military use of children*
The military use of children has been common throughout history; only in recent decades has the practice met with informed criticism and concerted efforts to end it. A number of international organizations are active against the use of children as soldiers. These organizations include, for example, Amnesty International, Child Soldiers International, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Terre des hommes, and the United Nations Child Fund (UNICEF).
*Red Hand campaign*
Since 2002, nations and regional coalitions from around the world have been holding events on February 12, Red Hand Day, to draw attention to the issue and encourage steps to end the use of children for military purposes. The date reflects the entry into force of the OPAC treaty.