The Protection of Children in Armed Conflicts

Abstract

International humanitarian law provides broad protection for children. In the event of armed conflict, either international or non-international, children benefit from the general protection provided for civilians not taking part in the hostilities. Non-combatant civilians are guaranteed humane treatment and covered by the legal provisions on the conduct of hostilities. Given the particular vulnerability of children, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (hereafter GCIII and GCIV) and their Additional Protocols of 1977 (API and APII) lay down a series of rules according them special protection. Children who take direct part in hostilities do not lose that special protection. The Additional Protocols, the 1989 Convention on the rights of the child and its recent Optional Protocol, in particular, also set limits on children's participation in hostilities. General protection In the event of an international armed conflict, children not taking part in the hostilities are protected by GCIV relative to the protection of civilians and by API. They are covered by the fundamental guarantees that these treaties provide, in particular the right to life, the prohibitions on coercion, corporal punishment, torture, collective punishment and reprisals (Art. 27-34 GCIV and Art. 75 API) and by the rules of API on the conduct of hostilities, including both the principle that a distinction must be made between civilians and combatants and the prohibition on attacks against civilians (Art. 48 and 51). In the event of non-international armed conflict, children are also covered by the fundamental guarantees for persons not taking direct part in the hostilities (Art. 3 common to the GC and Art. 4 APII). They are further protected by the principle that «the civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack » (Art. 13 APII).