Northern Ireland off UN war zone list

The UN Security Council called for tough measures to stop the recruitment of child soldiers, but only after Britain and Russia got Northern Ireland and Chechnya struck off the list of war zones.

Both countries, which wield veto power in the Security Council, maintained that the troubles were strictly internal and succeeded in getting the resolution adopted unanimously without listing them among the “armed conflicts” of concern.

The resolution calls for armed groups in six civil wars – Afghanistan, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Congo, Liberia and Somalia – to prepare specific plans within three months in cooperation with UN experts to halt the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

The Security Council said it would consider imposing measures such as an arms embargo or ban on military assistance to armed groups that refuse to cooperate.

The resolution is based on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report last November that children were being recruited and used as soldiers “on a massive scale” around the world, with groups in 15 conflicts handing weapons to youngsters.

Despite international efforts to ensure that children under the age of 18 do not join hostilities, the report named 22 new groups found to be recruiting or using children as fighters, along with three dozen previously identified groups.

In addition to the six civil wars, it had listed nine other “armed conflicts” where parties recruit or use children – Chechnya, Colombia, Myanmar, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda.

To satisfy British demands, a correction to Annan’s report was issued on February 20 stating that the situation in Northern Ireland “is not an armed conflict within the meaning of the Geneva Conventions”. The same correction was issued on Monday at Russia’s insistence.

The correction on Northern Ireland noted, however, that despite UN attempts to get armed groups in the North to stop using children, “continuing competitive recruitment of young people by all paramilitary groups has been reported in the context of various feuds and the emergence of dissident groups”.

The resolution makes no general call for an end to the use of child soldiers. The US military allows enlistment at age 17.