Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Papua New Guinea

Population: 5.9 million (2.8 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 3,100
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 16
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: not signed
Other Treaties: CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182

The minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces was 16. In practice, there were no reports of under-18s being recruited.

Context:

Following the end of a nine-year secessionist conflict in 1997, and the withdrawal of Papua New Guinea troops from the island province of North Solomons (known as Bougainville) in 2003, the Papua New Guinea government approved a constitution for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in December 2004.

In May 2005 the UN Observer Mission on Bougainville (UNOMB) declared the weapons disposal program provided for in the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement to be complete and verified the situation as conducive to holding elections, which took place in May – June 2005. The first Bougainville president and Autonomous Bougainville government were sworn into office in June 2005. The peace agreement also provided for a referendum on the province's independence to be held after 10-15 years.¹

There were high levels of violent crime across the country, and a state of emergency was declared in August 2006 in the Southern Highlands. In Bougainville there were reports that former combatants who had remained outside the peace process had rearmed, contributing to the high level of gun crime on the island.²

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

The 1974 Defence Act, which provided the legal basis for voluntary recruitment, stated that a person aged 16 or 17 could be enlisted, but not without "the written consent of his parents or guardians or, where the parents or guardians are dead or unknown, or where it is unreasonable in all the circumstances that their consent be obtained, of a Provincial Administrator". A person under 16 years of age could not be enlisted (Article 30). Members of the armed forces under 18 could be exempted from military discipline if this was provided for by regulations or defence council orders (Schedule 1.C3). There were no provisions to protect under-18s from involvement in hostilities. The Defence Act also established a reserve force, consisting of volunteers discharged or transferred from the regular force, or persons enlisted directly into the reserves (Article 14). In times of war or "defence stand by" the head of state could order the whole or any part of the reserve force to be on continuous full-time military service (Article 41).³

Although there was no conscription, in the 1975 constitution's prohibition of forced labour there was a specific exclusion from this of "labour of a reasonable amount and kind (including in the case of compulsory military service, labour required as an alternative to such service in the case of a person who has conscientious objections to military service) that is required in the national interest" (Article 43).

Child recruitment and deployment

There were no reports of under-18s being recruited in practice into the military. Current military policy was to recruit only those with a certificate of completion of school grade 12, and hence over 18.⁴ It was not known whether this practice was reflected in any updated legislation, defence council orders or other military regulations.

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR):

Efforts for the rehabilitation of former combatants, including child soldiers, continued in Bougainville province. After UNOMB withdrew, UNICEF increased its presence in Bougainville in order to help improve the situation of women and children. Many UNICEF-supported programs were designed to contribute to the reintegration of ex-combatants and reduce the likelihood of further armed conflict.⁵ The UN Development Programme (UNDP) was implementing the Bougainville Planning and Community Support Project in co-operation with the Autonomous Bougainville government, the Papua New Guinea government and other agencies and non-governmental organizations. The project included support for establishment of a youth network, and promotion of human rights awareness and enhancement of conflict resolution skills through training in civic education, human rights, conflict resolution and trauma healing.⁶ During the Bougainville conflict, thousands of young men and children as young as 14 had been deployed to fight by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army or in front line positions by the "resistance force" established by the Papua New Guinea military.⁷

Developments:

Human rights organizations continued to criticize severely the treatment of under-18s by law enforcement officials, in particular ongoing patterns of beatings, rape and torture in police custody. Although some progress was made in establishing a juvenile justice system, there was yet to be a demonstrable change in police treatment of children.⁸

New child protection legislation was drafted. In 2007 a submission was being drafted by the Minister for Community Development to recommend ratification of the Optional Protocol.⁹

1 Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bougainville Peace Process, www.dfat.gov.au/ .

2 Amnesty International Report 2007.

3 Defence Act, 1974.

4 Confidential Child Soldiers Coalition correspondence, June 2007.

5 Confidential source, October 2007.

6 UNDP, Bougainville Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Development, www.undp.org.pg/ .

7 Initial report of Papua New Guinea to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/28/Add.20, 21 July 2003.

8 Human Rights Watch, "Still making their own rules: Ongoing impunity for police beatings, rape, and torture in Papua New Guinea", 30 October 2006.

9 Confidential source, above note 5.