The Right of Child Victims of Armed Conflict to Reintegration and Recovery

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2012/v15i1a2456

Keywords:

Convention on the Rights of the Child, child victims, armed conflict

Abstract

Article 39 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the right to recovery and reintegration of child victims of armed conflict. In this publication an explanation is tendered of when children are considered to be victims of armed conflict. Specific reference is made to the question of whether or not a former child soldier may be viewed as such a child victim. In addition the question is addressed of how a monist or dualist approach in terms of which treaty law is incorporated into municipal law influences the rights of child victims in terms of article 39 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Thirdly, article 39 is discussed against the background of the international human rights instrument, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

   1_ScienceOpen_Log03432110.png

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bibliography

Abatneh Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration

Abatneh AS Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Rwandan Child Soldiers (LLM dissertation UNISA 2006)

Aldrich and Baarda Rights of Children in Armed Conflict

Aldrich GH and Baarda ThA The Rights of Children in Armed Conflict (International Dialogues Foundation The Hague 1994)

Alfredson 2002 Disarmament Forum

Alfredson L "Child Soldiers, displacement and human security" 2002 Disarmament Forum 17-27

Alston and Crawford Future of UN Human Rights

Alston P and Crawford J The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2000)

Aust Modern Treaty Law

Aust A Modern Treaty Law and Practice 2nd ed (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2007)

Awodola 2009 Peace & Conflict Review

Awodola B "Comparative International Experience with Reintegration Programmes for Child Soldiers: The Liberian Experience" 2009 Peace & Conflict Review 1-10

Boothby 2006 Intervention

Boothby N "What happens when child soldiers grow up? The Mozambique case study" 2006 Intervention 244-259

Breen 2007 Human Rights Review

Breen C "When is a Child Not a Child? Child Soldiers in International Law" 2007 Human Rights Review 71-103

Brett 1996 Int'l J Children's Rts

Brett R "Child Soldiers: Law, politics and practice" 1996 Int'l J Children's Rts 115-128

Brownlie Principles of Public International Law

Brownlie I Principles of Public International Law 7th ed (Oxford University Press Oxford 2008)

Cassese International Law

Cassese A International Law 2nd ed (Oxford University Press Oxford 2005)

Cohn 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ

Cohn I "Progress and hurdles on the road to preventing the use of children as soldiers and ensuring their rehabilitation and reintegration" 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ 531-540

Cohn 1991 IJRL

Cohn I "The Convention on the Right of the Child: what it means for children in war" 1991 IJRL 100-111

Cohn and Goodwin-Gill Child Soldiers

Cohn I and Goodwin-Gill GS Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts (Oxford University Press Oxford 1994)

Custer 2005 Temp Int'l & Comp LJ

Custer M "Punishing Child Soldiers: the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Lessons to be learned from the United States Juvenile Justice System" 2005 Temp Int'l & Comp LJ 449-476

De Berry 2001 Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci

De Berry J "Child Soldiers and the Convention on the Rights of the Child" 2001 Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 92-103

Detrick Commentary on the UN Convention

Detrick S A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (The Hague Kluwer Law International 1999)

Dinstein "Human Rights in Armed Conflict"

Dinstein Y "Human Rights in Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law" in Meron T (ed) Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues (Clarendon Press Oxford 1984) 345-368

Doek 2003 U Fla JL & Pub Pol'y

Doek JE "The UN Convention on the rights of the child: Some observations on the monitoring and social context of its implementation" 2003 U Fla JL & Pub Pol'y 125-136

Dugard International Law

Dugard J International Law: A South African Perspective 3rd ed (Juta Lansdowne 2005)

Fonseka 2001 APJHRL

Fonseka B "The Protection of Child Soldiers in International Law" 2001 APJHRL 69-89

Fortin Children's Rights and the Developing Law

Fortin J Children's Rights and the Developing Law 2nd ed (LexisNexis Butterworths London 2003)

Fox 2005 Human Rights Review

Fox MJ "Child Soldiers and International Law: Patchwork Gains and Conceptual Debates" 2005 Human Rights Review 27-48

Gislesen Childhood Lost?

Gislesen K A Childhood Lost? The Challenges of Successful Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of Child Soldiers: The Case of West Africa (NUPI Oslo 2006)

Godfrey 2005 African Human Rights Law Journal

Godfrey MM "Challenges in establishing the accountability of child soldiers for human rights violations: Restorative justice as an option" 2005 African Human Rights Law Journal 321-334

Grossman 2006-2007 Georgetown J Int'l L

Grossman N "Rehabilitation or revenge: Prosecuting child soldiers for human rights violations" 2006-2007 Georgetown J Int'l L 323-361

Grover 2008 IJHR

Grover S " 'Child Soldiers' as 'Non-Combatants': The Inapplicability of the Refugee Convention Exclusion Clause" 2008 IJHR 53-65

Hamilton and El-Haj 1997 Int'l J Children's Rts

Hamilton C and El-Haj TA "Armed conflict: The protection of children under international law" 1997 Int'l J Children's Rts 1-44

Hampson Legal Protection Afforded to Children

Hampson FJ Legal Protection Afforded to Children under International Humanitarian Law University of Essex Colchester 1996)

Happold 2000 NILR

Happold M "Child Soldiers in International Law: The Legal Regulation of Children's Participation in Hostilities" 2000 NILR 27-52

Hodgkin and Newell "Rehabilitation of Child Victims"

Hodgkin R and Newell P "Rehabilitation of Child Victims" in Hodgkin R and Newell P Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child 3rd ed (UNICEF Geneva 2007) 579-588

Jesseman 2001 African Human Rights Law Journal

Jesseman C "The protection and participation of the child soldier: An African and global perspective" 2001 African Human Rights Law Journal 140-154

Kalshoven 1995 AJIL

Kalshoven F "The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts" 1995 AJIL 849-852 (Review of Cohn I and Goodwin-Gill GS)

Kargbo 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ

Kargbo FB "International Peacekeeping and Child Soldiers: Problems of Security and Rebuilding" 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ 485-496

Kuper International Law

Kuper J International Law concerning Child Civilians in Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press Oxford 1997)

Levi Contemporary International Law

Levi W Contemporary International Law: A Concise Introduction (Westview Press Boulder 1991)

Liebenberg and Pillay Socio-economic Rights

Liebenberg S and Pillay K Socio-economic rights in South Africa (Community Law Centre University of the Western Cape Belville 2000)

Liefaard Deprivation of Liberty of Children

Liefaard T Deprivation of Liberty of Children in Light of International Human Rights Law and Standards (Intersentia Antwerp 2008)

Machel Impact of Armed Conflict on Children

Machel G Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (United Nations New York 1996)

Maher 1983 BC Third World LJ

Maher CC "The Protection of Children in Armed Conflict: A Human Rights Analysis of the Protection Afforded to Children in Warfare" 1983 BC Third World LJ 297-322

Malan 2008 De Jure

Malan K "The nature of human rights treaties: Minimum protection agreements to the benefit of third parties" 2008 De Jure 81-92

Malan 2000 African Security Review

Malan M "Disarming and Demobilising Child Soldiers: The Underlying Challenges" 2000 African Security Review 35-49

Marques "Rehabilitation and reintegration"

Marques FN "Rehabilitation and reintegration of the former child soldiers in Mozambique" in Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Fifth Symposium on Global Issues in Public Administration 24 & 26 October 2001 1-40

Maslen 1996 Transnat'l L & Contemp Probs

Maslen S "Relevance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to Children in armed conflict" 1996 Transnat'l L & Contemp Probs 329-352

Maslen Reintegration of War-affected Youth

Maslen S The Reintegration of War-affected Youth: The Experience of Mozambique (ILO Geneva 199)

McCoubrey International Humanitarian Law

McCoubrey H International Humanitarian Law: The Regulation of Armed Conflicts (Dartmouth Aldershot 1997)

McCoubrey and White International Law and Armed Conflict

McCoubrey H and White ND International Law and Armed Conflict (Aldershot Brookfield 1992)

McIntyre 2002 International Humanitarian Law

McIntyre A "African children in armed conflict: Bridging rights and reality" 2002 International Humanitarian Law 5-11

Mulira International Legal Standards

Mulira DB International Legal Standards Governing the Use of Child Soldiers (LLM thesis University of Georgia 2007)

Musila 2005 African Human Rights Law Journal

Musila GM "Challenges in establishing the accountability of child soldiers for human rights violations: Restorative justice as an option" 2005 African Human Rights Law Journal 321-334

Nylund 1998 Int'l J Children's Rts

Nylund BV "International Law and the child victim of armed conflict – Is the 'First Call' for children?" 1998 Int'l J Children's Rts 23-53

Olivier 1999 SAYIL

Olivier M "Children in armed conflict: Draft optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child" 1999 SAYIL 246-255

Pictet 1951 AJIL

Pictet J "The new Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims" 1951 AJIL 462-475

Pictet Development and Principles

Pictet J Development and Principles of International Humanitarian Law (Martinus Nijhoff Dordrecht 1985)

Plattner 1984 International Review of the Red Cross

Plattner D "Protection of children in international humanitarian law" 1984 International Review of the Red Cross 140-152

Ramos-Horta 1998 Fam & Concil Cts Rev

Ramos-Horta J "International Perspectives on Children: Children of War" 1998 Fam & Concil Cts Rev 333-344

Renteln 1999-2000 Whittier L Rev

Renteln AD "Child soldier: The challenge of enforcing international standards" 1999-2000 Whittier L Rev 191-206

Rios-Kohn 1998 Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty

Rios-Kohn R "The convention on the rights of the child: Progress and challenges" 1998 Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty 139-160

Robinson 2002 TSAR

Robinson JA "Children in armed conflict: An overview of relevant humanitarian law and human rights law" 2002 TSAR 697-712

Robinson 1997 Global Legal Studies

Robinson LJ "The globalization of female child prostitution: A call for reintegration and recovery measures via article 39 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" 1997 Global Legal Studies 239-261

Roodt 1987-88 SAYIL

Roodt C "National law and treaties: An overview" 1987-88 SAYIL 72-94

Rosa "Interpretative Use of the Convention"

Rosa S "The Interpretative Use of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Judicial Decisions Affecting Children's Socio-economic rRghts in South Africa" (Unpublished paper delivered at the 4th World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights in Cape Town March 2005)

Russell and Gozdziak 2006 Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

Russell L and Gozdziak EM "Coming home whole: Reintegrating Uganda's child soldiers" 2006 Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 57-65

Sainz-Pardo 2008 IJHR

Sainz-Pardo PV "Is Child Recruitment as a War Crime Part of Customary International Law?" 2008 IJHR 555-612

Sandoz "Implementing International Humanitarian Law"

Sandoz Y "Implementing International Humanitarian Law" in International Dimensions of Humanitarian Law (Martinus Nijhoff Dordrecht 1988) 259-282

Shearer Starke's International Law

Shearer IA Starke's International Law 11th ed (Butterworths London 1994)

Shepler 2005 Journal of Human Rights

Shepler S "The Rites of the Child: Global Discourses of Youth and Reintegrating Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone" 2005 Journal of Human Rights 197-211

Singer 1986 International Review of the Red Cross

Singer S "The protection of children during armed conflict situations" 1986 International Review of the Red Cross 133-167

Singh 2007 African Human Rights Law Journal

Singh D "When a child is not a child: The scourge of child soldiering in Africa" 2007 African Human Rights Law Journal 206-224

Sloss Role of Domestic Courts

Sloss D The Role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement: A Comparative Study (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2009)

Van Alstine "Role of Domestic Courts"

Van Alstine MP "The Role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement: Summary and Conclusions" in Sloss D The Role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement: A Comparative Study (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2009) 555-613

Van Bueren 1994 Int'l & Comp LQ

Van Bueren G "The International Legal Protection of Children in Armed Conflicts" 1994 Int'l & Comp LQ 809-826

Van Bueren International Law

Van Bueren G The International Law on the Rights of the Child (Martinus Nijhoff Dordrecht 1995)

Vandewiele "Optional Protocol"

Vandewiele T "Optional Protocol: The Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts" in Alen A et al (eds) A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Martinus Nijhoff Leiden 2006)

Wessells 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ

Wessells M "Psychosocial issues in reintegrating child soldiers" 2004 Cornell Int'l LJ 513-525

Williams 2007 Legal Studies

Williams J "Incorporating children's rights: the divergence in law and policy" 2007 Legal Studies 261-287

Zack-Williams 2006 Social Work Education

Zack-Williams TB "Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone and the Problems of Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration into Society: Some Lessons for Social Workers in War-torn Societies" 2006 Social Work Education 119-128

Register of international instruments

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990)

Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (1949) (Geneva Convention I)

Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (1949) (Geneva Convention II)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1950)

Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1924)

Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1959)

Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) (Geneva Convention IV)

Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) (Geneva Convention III)

ILO Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) (Optional Protocol)

Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (2007) (Paris-Principles)

Rome Statute of the International Court (1998)

Statute of the International Court of Justice (1945)

United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990)

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (1985) (Beijing Rules)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) (Vienna Convention)

Register of United Nations documents

Commission on Human Rights Report on the Rights of the Child

Commission on Human Rights Report on the Rights of the Child in Armed Conflict 12 March 1998 UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/119

Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations on Spain

Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations on Spain UN Doc A/51/41

Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 5

Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 5: General Measures of Interpretation for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (2003)

UN Secretary-General Report on the Establishment of a Special Court

UN Secretary-General Report on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone 4 October 2000 UN Doc S/2000/915

Register of case law

S v Harksen, Harksen v President of the Republic of South Africa, Harksen v Wagner 2000 1 SA 1185 (CPD)

Register of Internet sources

Amnesty International [date unknown] web.amnesty.org

Amnesty International [date unknown] Child Soldiers: One of the Worst Abuses of Child Labour http://web.amnesty.org/library?Index/engIOR420011999 [date of use 18 Nov 2010]

Published

22-05-2017

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Robinson, R. J. (2017). The Right of Child Victims of Armed Conflict to Reintegration and Recovery. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 15(1), 45-101. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2012/v15i1a2456

Similar Articles

11-20 of 1109

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.