Russian Federation: Ratify the Optional Protocol
Note: This action is no longer active and is provided for information and archival purposes only. The Russian Federation ratified the Optional Protocol in September 2008.
Updated: 19 March 2009
Moscow, RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Boris Gryzlov Speaker of the Russian State Duma, 4 October 2006.
YURI KOCHETKOV/AFP/Getty Images
It is estimated that over 300,000 children are involved in armed conflicts in over 30 conflicts around the world. Boys and girls are recruited as child soldiers by armed forces and groups, either by force, or voluntarily. They may be abducted at school, on the streets, or at home. Others join armed forces or groups because of poverty or discrimination. Once recruited or forced into service, children are used for many purposes. While many are combatants and actively fight in the conflict, others are used as spies, messengers, to carry supplies, servants, or to clear landmines. Many experience sexual and other forms of violence.
On February 12, 2002, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force. This Protocol raises the minimum age for direct participation in conflict to 18 years, from the previous minimum age of 15 years. It prohibits forced recruitment by government forces of anyone under 18 years of age. In the case of non-state armed groups, the treaty prohibits all recruitment, voluntary or forced, under the age of 18.
As of May 2, 2006,107 states were parties to the Protocol including three (France, UK and USA) of the five permanent members of the Security Council, but not the Russian Federation and China.
The Russian Federation signed the Protocol on February 15, 2001 and has supported many Security Council resolutions that urge states to ratify it. However, despite these positive actions, the Russian Federation has yet to ratify it and to incorporate the Protocol into national law.
To mark the sixth anniversary of the Protocol's adoption, AI, together with the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, is calling on the Russian Federation to ratify it without any further delay.
TAKE ACTION:
Write to the Russian authorities using this sample letter:
Dear
Every year thousands of children continue to fight and die in conflicts around the world, with thousands more left deeply scarred both physically and emotionally. The Optional Protocol on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict is a key tool in the campaign to end this practice, one that strengthens the legal protection of children and helps prevent their use in armed conflict. As of May 2, 2006, 107 countries had become parties to the Optional Protocol, including three of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
The Russian Federation signalled its support of the rights of children in armed conflict by signing the Optional Protocol on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict on February 15, 2001. Since that time, the Russian Federation, as a permanent member of the Security Council, has also supported numerous resolutions passed by the Security Council that have urged member states to ratify the Optional Protocol. However, despite these actions the Russian Federation has still not ratified the Optional Protocol.
I urge the Russian Federation to demonstrate leadership by ratifying the Optional Protocol without delay, and without reservation, and to deposit a binding declaration on ratification that sets 18 as the standard minimum age for voluntary recruitment into its armed forces. I also urge the Russian Federation to implement the Protocol's provisions in its national legislation.
Yours sincerely,
WRITE TO:
Boris Gryzlov
Speaker of the Russian State Duma
Okhotnyi Ryad, 1
103265
Moscow
Russian Federation
Fax: (7 495) 692 85 08
Konstantin Iosifovich Kosachev
Chairperson of State Duma Committee for International Affairs
Okhotnyi Ryad, 1
103265
Moscow
Russian Federation
Fax: (7 495) 692 10 81