“Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime” - Global Coalition to Protect ...

The Naxalites do not deny the recruitment and use of children in hostilities—it is part
of their policy and practice.
There are no clear estimates of the number of children used by these different
parties.
India is party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). 376 It is also party to
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (Optional Protocol), which was adopted by
the UN in 2000. 377 The Optional Protocol raises the standards set in the CRC by
establishing 18 as the minimum age for any conscription, forced recruitment, or
direct participation in hostilities. It also places obligations upon non-state armed
groups—article 4 states that “armed groups that are distinct from the armed forces of
a state should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons
under the age of eighteen.”
The Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed
Groups (Paris Principles), a set of international guidelines adopted in February 2007,
reiterate that states have a duty to respect the humanitarian character of camps, and
ensure that displaced children are not recruited for combat. The Paris Principles
recommend individual registration and documentation for all displaced children as a
preventive measure. 378
The Paris Principles also provide guidance for release, protection, and reintegration
of children. Children who have been associated with armed forces or armed groups
376 India became a party to the CRC on December 11, 1992.
377 India ratified the Optional Protocol on November 30, 2005, and made the following declaration: "Pursuant to article 3 (2) of
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, the
Government of the Republic of India declare [sic] that:
(i) The minimum age for recruitment of prospective recruits into Armed Forces of India (Army, Air Force and Navy) is 16 years.
After enrollment and requisite training period, the attested Armed Forces personnel is sent to the operational area only after
he attains 18 years of age;
(ii) The recruitment into the Armed Forces of India is purely voluntary and conducted through open rally system/open
competitive examinations. There is no forced or coerced recruitment into the Armed Forces.
378 The Paris Principles: Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (“The Paris
Principles”), January 30, 2007, http://www.unicef.org/protection/files/ParisPrinciples310107English.pdf (accessed March 25,
2008), para. 6.14.
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