Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Peru

Population: 28.0 million (10.7 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 80,000
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 18 (16 as cadets)
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 8 May 2002
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182, ICC

Although there was no evidence of children serving in the armed forces, in some indigenous areas children from the age of 12 served in self-defence committees.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

The Congressional National Defence Commission was considering a new military service law in late 2006.¹ In September 2006 it was proposed in the Congress that compulsory military service, which had been dropped in 1999,² be reinstated, since the number of voluntary recruits was falling.³ It was also proposed to reinstate compulsory pre-military education in all secondary-schools to "promote in students their love and respect for national values [and] the protection of [Peru's] interests in order to raise better citizens".⁴ The proposals were still before the Congress in October 2007.

According to the Law on Voluntary Military Service, men and women aged 17-45 had a duty to do military service and had to register with military authorities the year they turned 17. Forcible recruitment was prohibited.

After registering, those volunteering to do military service joined active service units at 18, while all the others went into the reserves, although certain groups were exempted. If quotas were not filled with volunteers, the executive could order the conscription of other individuals from the military register. Service was for a maximum of 24 months. Those choosing to stay on longer signed a renewable two-year contract and could join the non-commissioned officer hierarchy after four years. Students in military and police schools who had spent at least one year at school were considered to have fulfilled their military duty.⁵

Military training and military schools

In April 2004 the Ministry of Defence introduced education in international humanitarian law for all military personnel.⁶ Each branch of the armed forces was responsible for its own schools and entry was by selection. Officer and NCO cadets were on average between 16 and 21.⁷

The selection procedure for entry into the army's Military School at Chorrillos included extensive tests as well as a home visit and an interview. Candidates had to pay around US$130 to register.⁸ On graduating, officers received the rank of second lieutenant.⁹ Candidates for the Army Technical School (Escuela Técnica del Ejército) had to have completed the fifth year of secondary education and be at least 16 years old.¹⁰

Navy School graduates were given the rank of naval second lieutenant (alférez de fragata de comando) and a degree in naval-maritime sciences. The Navy Recruits School (Escuela de Reclutas) trained recruits in military, technical and general subjects and offered them a vocational diploma.¹¹

The air force had five training centres and schools, including the Officers' School (Escuela de Oficiales de la Fuerza Aerea del Perú), where cadets could choose to specialize in one of 11 areas, such as flying, special operations and aerial defence.¹²

Military secondary-schools accepted children from the age of 13. Candidates and parents had to sign an honour pledge (compromiso de honor) on application.¹³ The Army Intelligence School (Escuela de Inteligencia del Ejercito) offered short courses on self-defence to children between seven and 15 and prepared candidates for entry into military schools.¹⁴

Armed Groups:

Comités de autodefensa

Self-defence committees, which had emerged during the 1980s as a response by small communities to the internal armed conflict, continued to operate. In 1991 Legislative Decree 740 allowed peasant rondas (self-defence groups) to carry weapons, while Legislative Decree 741 standardized their name as comités de autodefensa (CADs).¹⁵

Article 88 of the decree regulating the Law on Military Service (Supreme Decree 004-DE-SG) established that CADs were recognized rural or urban organizations freely and spontaneously constituted, authorized to carry out self-defence activities to counter crime, to stop terrorist and drug trafficking activities and to defend themselves against irregular groups. They also supported the armed forces and the police in the development and "pacification" of their regions. Those wishing to do active military service in a self-defence committee had to be aged 18-30 and serve in their own community for a period of two years. Volunteers received a stipend, land, priority to receive agricultural or other credits and preferential conditions for entry into military or police schools.¹⁶

In November 2005 members of an international non-governmental organization visited several indigenous communities near the Ene River in Ayacucho, where they found children as young as 15 taking part in CADs. Community leaders interviewed stated that everyone aged 12-60 was expected to defend their village in case of attack by armed groups, drug traffickers or illegal woodcutters.¹⁷ The Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported that these groups remained in existence for fear of a return of armed opposition groups such as Sendero Luminoso, but that such fears were in most cases unjustifiable.¹⁸

Developments:

At a February 2007 ministerial meeting in Paris, Peru and 58 other states endorsed the Paris Commitments to protect children from unlawful recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups and the Paris Principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups. The documents reaffirmed international standards and operational principles for protecting and assisting child soldiers and followed a wide-ranging global consultation jointly sponsored by the French government and UNICEF.

1 Instituto de Defensa Legal, "Editorial", En la Mira: Boletín de Seguridad y Defensa, No. 37, Jan – March 2007, www.defensaidl.org.pe.

2 See Child Soldiers: Global Report 2004.

3 Congreso de la República, Proyecto de Ley 275/2006-CR, Que modifica los artículos 31,34, 45 y 49 e incorpora el artículo 49a de la Ley No 27178, Ley del Servicio Militar, 18 September 2006.

4 Congreso de la República, Proyecto de Ley 223/2006-CR, Que propone restituir en la curricula educativa la instrucción premilitar en los centros de educación de nivel primaria y secundaria de todo el país, 15 September 2006, www.defensaidl.org.pe.

5 Dirección de Movilización, Ley del Servicio Militar Voluntario del Perú, 29 February 2000, www.serviciomilitar.mil.pe.

6 Resolución Ministerial Nº 536-2004-DE-SG, Aprueban la Directiva Nº 001 MINDEF/CEA-DIH, con la finalidad de integrar el Derecho Internacional Humanitario en la doctrina e instrucción de los institutos armados, 4 May 2004, www.mindef.gob.pe. See also International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Regional delegation in Lima, Annual Report 2006, 24 May 2007, www.icrc.org.

7 Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Programa Seguridad y Ciudadanía, Reporte del Sector Seguridad en América Latina y el Caribe, Informe Nacional: Perú, August 2006, www.flacso.cl.

8 Escuela Militar de Chorrillos, Admisión, www.ejercito.mil.pe.

9 FLACSO, above note 7.

10 Escuela Técnica del Ejército, Requisitos, www.ejercito.mil.pe.

11 FLACSO, above note 7.

12 Ibid.

13 Colegio Militar Francisco Bolognesi (Arequipa), Condiciones de admisión, www.cmfb.edu.pe.

14 Escuela de Inteligencia, www.ejercito.mil.pe.

15 Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, "Los comités de autodefensa", Informe Final, Tomo II, Capítulo 1.5, www.cverdad.org.pe.

16 Reglamento de la Ley No. 27178, "Ley del Servicio Militar", Decreto Supremo Nº 004-DE-SG, 17 March 2000, at www.defensaidl.org.pe.

17 Save the Children, "Child Soldiers in Local Self-Defence Patrols in Peru", 6 November 2005, http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=1174230518302730264&q=ni%C3%B1os+....

18 Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, above note 15.