Red Flag Day!
February 12 is the annual commemoration day to draw attention to the use of children in armed conflict and war. The Optional Protocol, Article 4, 6.3, adopted by the General Assembly in 2002 stipulates that state parties “shall takes all feasible measures to ensure persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities and that they are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces…to prohibit and criminalize such practices… and demobilize children within their jurisdiction who have been recruited or used in hostilities, and to provide assistance for their physical/psychological recover and social reintegration.”
In July of 1998, the ICC (International Criminal Court) adopted article 8.2.26—it was not entered into law until July 1, 2002. This law forbids the “conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the national forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities” and therefore see’s such abuses as a war crime.
UN Security Council Resolution 1612 was passed on July 26, 2005. It is the first comprehensive monitoring and reporting system for enforcing compliance among those groups using child soldiers in armed conflict.