Abstract:
Based on advice given to the Ministry of Defence of Colombia, this paper aims to analyse how international humanitarian law deals with actions in which the State attacks children illegally recruited by armed groups when there are internal armed conflicts. The article analyzes the dilemma when an armed group compels minors to participate in war, considered an international crime under international criminal law, versus the role assigned to these minors as combatants by the Geneva Conventions and Protocols. Furthermore, the paper studies various judicial decisions regarding child soldiers as civilian participants in hostilities. Also, the article shows the practical limitations of considering children either as combatants or civilians that participate in hostilities. In that regard, a significant burden is how the particular context and the jus in bello impose obligations on the parties to act proportionately. Finally, the paper concludes that, although there is legal vagueness when targeting child soldiers in international humanitarian law, it is necessary to address the multiple consequences of this fact and propose solutions to limit it.
René Provost has published widely on public international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, legal theory and legal anthropology. He is particularly interested in human rights, international criminal law, the law of armed conflict, and the intersection of law and culture and his ground-breaking book Rebel Courts: The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents (OUP 2021) was awarded the ICON-S Book Prize by the International Society of Public Law.