Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - United States of America

Population: 298.2 million (74.9 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 1,506,800
Compulsary Recruitment Age: 18 (conscription not currently in force)
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 17
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: 23 December 2002
Other Treaties: ILO 182

The total number of 17-year-olds enlisting in the armed services dropped by nearly 50 per cent between 2002 and 2005. The USA detained under-18s suspected of participating in armed activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under-18s were also detained in Guantánamo Bay.

Context:

In late 2006, US troops were stationed in 146 countries worldwide. The largest foreign deployment was to Iraq, where US armed forces were engaged in military operations following the fall of the Iraqi government in April 2003. As of October 2007, approximately 198,000 US troops were stationed in and around Iraq.¹ According to the US Department of Defense, between March 2003 and 24 October 2007, 3,833 US soldiers and Defense Department civilian workers died in the conflict, and over 28,000 were wounded.²

US forces were also engaged in military operations in Afghanistan, with approximately 26,000 US troops stationed in the country in 2007.³ Between October 2001 and 24 October 2007, 383 US soldiers were killed and 1,707 wounded in or around Afghanistan, as part of "Operation Enduring Freedom". An additional 62 US soldiers were killed in other locations as part of the operation.⁴

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

The USA currently maintained an all-volunteer military force, and accepted both male and female recruits from the age of 17 (US Code, Title 10 Section 505(a)). Parental consent was required for under-18s. The present law regulating conscription (50 USC App 454.455) allowed for it at the age of 18, although conscription had not been activated since 1973, at the end of the Vietnam war.

In 2002 the US Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, which required secondary-schools to provide military recruiters with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all juniors and seniors (typically ages 16-18), and to conduct recruiting activities on school premises. Following enactment of the law, the number of schools denying access to the military dropped from 8-10 per cent in 2001 to less than 1 per cent in 2005.⁵ In March 2007 proposed legislation entitled the Student Privacy Protection Act of 2007 was introduced into Congress. Its provisions would amend the No Child Left Behind Act to allow a student's personal information to be provided to the military only if his or her parent or guardian provided explicit, written consent.⁶In the year ending 30 September 2005, 13,793 recruits aged 17 joined the US armed forces – 6,780 into the active armed forces (5,387 boys and 1,393 girls), representing 4.46 per cent of all new active duty recruits, and 7,013 into the reserve forces (5,013 boys and 2,000 girls), representing 15.3 per cent of the total reserves. The total number of 17-year-olds enlisting in the armed services dropped by nearly 50 per cent between 2002 and 2005. The steepest decrease was in the number of 17-year-olds entering the reserves; in 2002, 16,885 boys and girls had joined the reserve forces, more than double the figure for 2005.7

Child Recruitment

The US armed forces spent approximately US$1.5 billion on recruiting each year, and maintained approximately 14,000 "frontline" recruiters, who were assigned monthly recruitment goals.⁸ Approximately 55 per cent of US youth aged 16-21 said that they had spoken to a US military recruiter.⁹

A June 2006 Defense Department poll of US youth aged 16-21 found that declines in the propensity of young people to join the military "were unprecedented in magnitude". The survey found that the proportion of youth that "probably" or "definitely" planned to join the military dropped from 14.5 per cent in December 2005 to 10.1 per cent in June 2006. The steepest drops were among African-Americans and Hispanics.

To meet 2006 recruitment goals, the armed services added additional recruiters and increased enlistment bonuses. From March 2007 bonuses of up to US$14,000 – a US$2,000 increase – were offered to new infantry soldiers.¹⁰ According to media reports, bonuses for highly valued specialties, such as special operations forces, were as high as US$40,000. In 2005 the armed forces also lowered recruitment standards to accept a higher number of recruits with low aptitude scores. In previous years the Army had allowed only 2 per cent of its recruits to have aptitude scores in the lowest 30 per cent, but raised this limit to 4 per cent in 2005. In fiscal year 2006, 2,600 enlistees (3.8 per cent) with low aptitude scores were accepted for service.¹¹ The proportion of recruits holding a high-school diploma was 81.2 per cent as of August 2006, for the second year in a row falling below the Defense Department's benchmark of 90 per cent.¹²

In 2006, 486,594 high-school students were enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), an elective program for students from the age of 14, with more than 3,300 units based in secondary-schools across the country.¹³ The program's stated goal was to "motivate young people to be better citizens". Courses were taught by retired military personnel, and included military drills with both real and dummy firearms. Total enrolment in the program grew by 8 per cent between 2001 and 2006, fuelled by a 57 per cent increase in federal funding for the program. An estimated 40 per cent of students who graduated from high school with two or more years in the JROTC eventually enlisted in the military.¹⁴

Child deployment

Nearly all 17-year-olds who enlisted in the US military were still attending school, and were placed in a delayed entry program (the Future Soldiers Training Program) until they had finished their secondary education. Approximately 7,500 were still 17 when they began their basic training program. On average, initial training lasted from four to six months, and the government reported that nearly 80 per cent of 17-year-olds turned 18 during this period; approximately 1,500 soldiers each year were still 17 when they completed their basic training and were ready for operational assignment.¹⁵

In 2003 each of the US armed services adopted an implementation plan regarding the deployment of 17-year-old soldiers, in order to fulfil the USA's obligations under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol. The US Army policy, issued in January 2003, was not to "assign or deploy soldiers, less than 18 years of age, outside the continental US, Puerto Rico, or territories or possessions of the United States".¹⁶ The US Navy assignment policy, issued on 28 February 2003, stipulated that "At no time will an enlisted member under the age of 18 be issued orders that require reporting to an operational command," including in a commissioned vessel or deployable squadron.¹⁷ In April 2007 the navy added a further review on final orders for sailors under age 18 to ensure that they were not being ordered to an operational unit.¹⁸

Initial guidance sent to Marine Corps commanders in January 2003 did not preclude deployment of 17-year-olds; however, on 22 April 2007 the Marine Corps issued a new policy, stating that with immediate effect Marines younger than 18 were prohibited from being operationally deployed.¹⁹

The Air Force policy was not to assign airmen who had not reached their 18th birthday to hostile fire or imminent danger zones.²⁰

In 2004 the Director of Military Personnel Policy for the US Army acknowledged in a letter to Human Rights Watch that nearly 60 17-year-old US soldiers had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.²¹ The Department of Defense subsequently stated that "the situations were immediately rectified and action taken to prevent recurrence".²² Human Rights Watch sent written requests in April and August 2007 for updated information regarding possible deployment of 17-year-old US troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, but as of October 2007 had not received a response.

Recruiter misconduct

In 2005 more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined for sexual misconduct with potential enlistees. An investigation conducted by the Associated Press concluded that one out of every 200 frontline recruiters was disciplined for sexual misconduct in 2005, and that most victims were girls between the ages of 16 and 18 who were considering enlistment in the military.²³ The incidents of misconduct included groping, sexual assault and rape.

Developments:

From 2001 the USA contributed US$34 million to support programs to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to demobilize and reintegrate child combatants, including US$10 million through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and US$24 million through the US Department of Labor. It supported programs in Angola, Afghanistan, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda.²⁴

In April 2007 the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 was introduced into Congress.²⁵ It would restrict US military assistance to governments involved in the recruitment or use of child soldiers. Research by the Center for Defense Information found that of nine governments involved in child recruitment and use, eight received some form of US military assistance in 2007.²⁶

In April 2007 the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held a hearing to consider the Child Soldier Prevention Act, obstacles facing former child soldiers seeking asylum in the USA, and ways for the USA to address child recruiters from other countries who came to the USA.²⁷

On 3 October 2007 the Child Soldier Accountability Act was introduced into Congress. It would amend the US criminal code to allow the prosecution of individuals who have recruited or used child soldiers, whether in the United States or elsewhere.²⁸

Detention of suspected child soldiers

Children suspected of participating in armed activities were detained in US-run detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq and in its naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba. In 2006 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered 59 children in detention during 16 visits to five places of detention or internment controlled by the USA or the UK in Iraq.²⁹ US soldiers stationed at the detention centres and former detainees described abuses against child detainees, including the rape of a 15-year-old boy at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, forced nudity, stress positions, beating and the use of dogs.³⁰ Following US troop increases in Iraq in early 2007, US military arrests of children there rose from an average of 25 per month in 2006 to an average of 100 per month.³¹ Military officials reported that 828 were children held at Camp Cropper by mid-September, including children as young as 11. A 17-year-old was reportedly strangled by a fellow detainee in early 2007.³²

In August 2007 the USA opened Dar al-Hikmah, a non-residential facility intended to provide education services to 600 detainees aged 11-17 pending release or transfer to Iraqi custody. US military officials excluded an estimated 100 children from participation in the program, apparently on the grounds that they were "extremists" and "beyond redemption".³³

As of October 2007 it was not clear whether children in US custody in Iraq were subject to the same detention review process as adults (who had no access to lawyers when presenting their case to a review board that routinely decided 20 cases an hour, and who had to sign pledges of good behaviour and produce a guarantor in order to be released).³⁴ In addition, as of September 2007 between 50 and 60 children aged 15-17 had been turned over to Iraqi custody for trial.³⁵

US forces in Afghanistan also detained children, a number of whom were transferred to the military detention facility at Guantánamo. Omar Ahmed Khadr, a Canadian national, was taken into US custody in Afghanistan in late July 2002 when he was 15 years old, and subsequently transferred to Guantánamo. In November 2005 he was charged for trial by military commission under a military order signed by President George W. Bush in November 2001. The military commission system was replaced by a revised system under the 2006 Military Commissions Act (MCA). In April 2007 Omar Khadr was charged for trial under the MCA with murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.³⁶ In June 2007 a military judge dismissed the charges against Khadr on a jurisdictional question.³⁷ On 24 September 2007 a newly established Court of Military Commission Review overturned the ruling, allowing proceedings against Khadr to continue.

On 11 October 2007 another Guantánamo detainee, Mohammad Jawad, was charged with attempted murder for allegedly throwing a grenade at a US military vehicle. He was 17 at the time of the attack.³⁸

1 "US ground forces end strength," Global Security, www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq.

2 US Department of Defense, www.defenselink.mil.

3 "US will keep troop levels steady in Afghanistan", Associated Press, 9 February 2007.

4 Department of Defense, above note 2.

5 "Charges fuel debate over military recruiters' access to students", Associated Press, 16 April 2006.

6 House Resolution 1346, Student Privacy Protection Act of 2007.

7 Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, "Population Representation in the Military Services, Fiscal Year 2005".

8 US Government Accountability Office, "Military recruiting: DoD and services need better data to enhance visibility over recruiter irregularities", August 2006.

9 Department of Defense, Defense Human Resources Activity, Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies, "Department of Defense: Youth Poll Wave 9 – June 2005: Overview Report", JAMRS Report No. 2006-001, January 2006, www.jamrs.org.

10 "New army jobs qualifying for enlistment pay", Stars and Stripes, 8 March 2007.

11 "Lower standards help army recruit more", Associated Press, 10 October 2006.

12 Department of Defense, Defense Human Resources Activity, Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies, "Department of Defense: Youth Poll Wave 11 – June 2006: Overview Report", JAMRS Report No. 2006-008, November 2006, www.jamrs.org.

13 US Army Junior ROTC website, www.usarmyjrotc.com/; Human Rights Watch e-mail communication from Marine Corps Junior ROTC operations manager, 9 August 2007; US Air Force, "Fact Sheet: Air Force Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps", December 2006, www.afoats.af.mil/; "JNROTC Basic Facts", Navy Junior ROTC website, www.njrotc.navy.mil.

14 "Junior ROTC takes a hit in LA", Los Angeles Times, 19 February 2007.

15 US Department of State, Initial Report of the United States of America to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 14 September 2002, www.state.gov.

16 Ibid.

17 Navy Personnel Command, First-Term Personnel Assignment Policy, 28 February 2003.

18 "Marines under 18 no longer will deploy to combat zones", Stars and Stripes, 26 April 2007.

19 US Marine Corps, Revised 17 Year Old Marine in Combat Policy, 22 April 2007, MARADMIN 272/07.

20 US Department of State, above note 15.

21 Brigadier General Sean J. Byrne, Director of Military Personnel Policy, US Army, letter to Human Rights Watch, 2 April 2004.

22 Department of Defense, Information Paper regarding application of child soldiers protocols, provided to Senator Barbara Boxer, November 2004.

23 "Military recruiters cited for misconduct", Associated Press, 20 August 2006.

24 US Department of State, above note 15.

25 Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007, S. 1175, HR 2620, HR 3028.

26 Center for Defense Information, "US military assistance to countries using child soldiers, 1990-2007", www.cdi.org.

27 US Senate, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, "Casualties of war: child soldiers and the law", hearing, Washington, DC, 24 April 2007, http://judiciary.senate.gov.

28 Child Soldier Accountability Act, S. 2135.

29 International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC Annual Report 2006, "Iraq", 24 May 2007, www.icrc.org.

30 Amnesty International, "USA: Human dignity denied: Torture and accountability in the 'war on terror'", October 2004.

31 "US detains nearly 800 juveniles in Iraq", Agence France-Presse (AFP), 19 August 2007.

32 Martin Fletcher , "They have planted bombs and shot soldiers – now it is time for school", The Times, 15 September 2007, www.timesonline.co.uk.

33 "US detains juveniles", above note 31; Fletcher, above note 32.

34 "US command in Baghdad launches bid to rehabilitate Iraqi detainees", Inside the Air Force, Vol. 18, No. 29, 20 July 2007; Nancy Montgomery, "Board decides fate of thousands of Iraqi detainees: panel of Iraqis and American military has released more than 14,000 in 18 months", Stars and Stripes, 23 February 2006.

35 Walter Pincus, "US working to reshape Iraqi detainees: moderate Muslims enlisted to steer adults and children away from insurgency", Washington Post, 19 September 2007.

36 Charge sheet available at www.defenselink.mil.

37 At his arraignment proceedings in Guantánamo on 4 June 2007, the military judge dismissed the charges against him because, while Omar Khadr had been designated as an "enemy combatant" in Guantánamo, nowhere was there a record of his designation as an "unlawful enemy combatant", the label which (when attached to a non-US national) is a prerequisite for trial by military commission under the MCA.

38 "Guantánamo captive charged", Miami Herald, 12 October 2007.