Us on Thursday added Pakistan and Turkey to its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list, a designation that would cause strict sanctions on military assistance and listed countries’ participation in peacekeeping programmes.
The designation is included within the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which ranks countries in various tiers in accordance with their efforts for eliminating trafficking.
The US Child Soldiers Prevention Act requires publication within the annual TIP report of an inventory of foreign governments that have recruited or used child soldiers during the previous year (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021). The entities reviewed for this designation include soldiers, police, other security forces and government-supported armed groups.
The 2021 CSPA list includes governments of the subsequent countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela and Yemen.
Designation can elicit sanctions on military aid, country’s participation in peacekeeping missions
Three of those countries — Congo, Somalia, and Yemen — have appeared on every CSPA list since 2010, when the designation started. Nine others — Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Burma, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria — have appeared quite once over the last 10 years.
Six governments were identified on the primary CSPA list in 2010.
Ten years later, the list quite doubled to 14 countries and to fifteen in 2021 — the very best number of nations ever identified during a single year. This year’s list includes repeat offenders, two new additions — Pakistan and Turkey — and a few renewed appearances that were previously removed.
The statement, issued by the State Department in Washington, defines the term “child soldier” as a person under 18 years aged who takes an immediate part in hostilities as a member of governmental soldiers, police, or other security forces.
Those compulsorily recruited into governmental soldiers, police, or other security forces also are included as are those under 15 years aged who are voluntarily recruited into governmental soldiers, police or other security forces.
Any person under 18 years of age who has been recruited or utilized in hostilities by soldiers distinct from the soldiers of a state is additionally considered a toddler soldier.
The term “child soldier” is additionally applied to an individual who is serving in any capacity, including during a support role, like a “cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave”.
The CSPA prohibits listed governments within the following US programmes: International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles, and Peacekeeping Operations. Some programmes undertaken pursuant to the Peacekeeping Operations authority, are exempted.
The CSPA also prohibits the issuance of licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment to such governments.
Beginning October 1, 2021, and effective throughout the financial year 2022, these restrictions will apply to the listed countries, except those that receive a presidential waiver, applicable exception, or reinstatement of assistance pursuant to the terms of the CSPA.
The determination to incorporate a government within the CSPA list is informed by a variety of sources, including first-hand observation by United States government personnel and research and credible reporting from various UN entities, international organisations, local and international NGOs, and international and domestic media outlets.
