Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Germany
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 2001 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Germany, 2001, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/498805f8c.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.
- Population:
– total: 82,178,000
– under-18s: 15,587,000 - Government armed forces:
– active: 321,000
– reserves: 364,300 - Compulsory recruitment age: 18
- Voluntary recruitment age: 17
- Voting age (government elections): 18
- Child soldiers: indicated in government forces
- CRC-OP-CAC: signed on 6 September 2000; does not support "straight-18" position
- Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II
- There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as the minimum recruitment age is 17.
GOVERNMENT
National Recruitment Legislation and Practice
Article 12(a) of the Basic Law deals with compulsory military or alternative service. Its first paragraph states that "[M]en who have reached the age of 18 may be required to serve in the Armed Forces, the Federal Border Guard or civil defence organisation". The legal basis of conscription is the 1956 Law on military service.749 All men from the age of 18 are liable for military service (Article 1) which lasts 10 months (Article 5(1)), but this period can change in case of wartime. Recruits are usually called up the year during which they turn 19. Various types of 'special services' are referred to in Article 13(a) and 13(b), and alternative service for is regulated by the 1986 Law on civilian service.750 Many young men opt for alternative service, some 30 to 40 per cent of potential recruits each year being conscientious objectors.751
In time of war women between 18 and 55 years of age may be assigned to civil service in the civilian health system or in a stationary military hospital if there are needs which cannot be met on a voluntary basis. Until 2000 women could on no account be assigned to military service involving armed combat; they may now volunteer for combat positions.752
According to the Military Career Regulations753 and Article 5(1) of the Law on Military Service, volunteers may be recruited into the armed forces at the age of 17 with authorisation from a legal representative. Boys of 16 may enrol in the police forces and border guards.754 In its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child the government reported that 17-year-olds are prohibited from participating in hostilities.755 Debate about conscription was renewed following the announcements of defence budget cuts in early 2001.756
CHILD RECRUITMENT BY ARMED GROUPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
See Turkish entry for information on the recruitment of children by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in Germany and the country profile of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for information on the recruitment by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Germany
DEVELOPMENTS
International Standards
Germany signed the CRC-OP-AC on 6 September 2000 but does not support the "straight-18" position. Germany made a declaration upon ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) regretting the fact that under Article 38(2) of the CRC even fifteen-year-olds may take part in hostilities as soldiers, because this age limit is incompatible with the consideration of a child's best interest protected under Article 3(1) of the Convention. It declared that it will not make any use of the possibility afforded by the Convention to set the national age limit at 15.
A number of proposals have been made in Parliament to raise the minimum age of recruitment into the armed forces to 18 years or to support 18 as the minimum age in negotiations on the Optional Protocol.757 During the European Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, hosted by Germany in October 1999, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joschka Fischer, declared his personal support for 18 as the minimum age in Germany for all military recruitment and participation in armed conflict. The Minister of Defence, Rudolf Sharping, also expressed his support for 18 as the minimum age for deployment, however he did not refer to recruitment.758
749 Wehrpflichtgesetz, BGBl. 1995 I 1756, 1757.
750 Zivildienstgesetz, BGBl. 1994 I 2811.
751 Manfrass-Sirjacques, F. "Entre restructuration interne et normalisation internationale, La défense en Europe: les adaptations de l'après-guerre froide", Notes et études documentaires, December 1997.
752 Blaustein and Flanz op. cit.
753 Article 7(1), No.1; Article 11(1) No.1; and Article 18(1), No.1 of the Military Career Regulation (Soldatenlaufbahnverordnung – SLV), BGBl. 1994 I 2404, 2405.
754 Letter of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations, Geneva to the QUNO, 8/12/97.
755 Summary record of the 245th meeting of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, consideration of the report of Germany, UN Doc. CRC/C/SR.245, 13/11/95.
756 Information from German Coalition in 3/01 op. cit.
757 For example, Antrag der Fraktion des PDS, Ausschluss des Eintritts Minderjähriger in die Bundeswehr, 14/551, 17 March 1999. Antrag der Fraktion der PDS, Einsatz von Kindern als Soldaten wirksam verhindern, 14/552, 17/3/99. Antrag 14/806, 22/4/99.
758 ARD, Tagesthemen, 19/10/99.
