The German Federal Armed Forces Recruit Child Soldiers

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DFG-VK: https://www.dfg-vk.de/thematisches/kindersoldaten/2014/925

The municipalities and youth welfare offices as willing helpers of the military
By Joachim Schramm

The problem has been known for a long time now ­– but the scandal found its way into the media thanks to an answer given by the German Federal Government when questioned by the political Left party: “Minors in the German Federal Armed Forces” made the headlines in various newspapers and the new Minister of Military von der Leyen appeared on TV to attempt to play down the matter. The year before last, 1,216 under 18 year olds pursued to join the army and they were, amongst other things, trained to handle weapons, according to the reply given by the Federal Government.

As a matter of fact, this news does not come as a surprise. For many years now, the German Federal Armed Forces have particularly strived towards recruiting new members of the younger generation. Youth officers operate under the guise of political education in schools and gladly acted as the army’s careers advisor, who also comes to schools to give an account of a military career. Even at career fairs especially held to present possibilities of later careers to students, the army is represented nationwide, as if being in the army were as normal a job as a baker, electrician or mechanic. Furthermore, the Federal Armed Forces advertise in media specifically aimed at minors. In 2012, a promotion advertising army “adventure camps” made the headlines in the youth magazine “Bravo”.

Protest against military presence
Many politicians and people responsible in schools, youth offices and other positions turn a blind eye to this questionable operation being conducted by the army. In the October edition of ZivilCourage, we reported activity around the “Careers Fair in the Middle Ruhr Area” in Bochum. For years, the freedom movement has been protesting the presence of the Federal Armed Forces at the annual fair targeted at students from the 8th grade. The hope that the armed forces would be uninvited in 2013 was eventually dashed. After being uninvited by the hosting youth welfare offices, the council of elders of the city of Bochum decided in September that the armed forces were allowed to take part in the fair, however should only advertise “civil” jobs. In reality, however, although the stand of the Federal Armed Forces held information on the civil side of the army, martial posters were displayed in the background showing exactly what the army was about: supporting the armed forces’ military engagements. It was also confirmed by the deployed member of the army at the stall when asked by WDR TV: being trained in “civil” jobs means you agree to take part in deployments overseas. Those employed in “civil” positions therefore support soldiers who find themselves in combat.

The beginning of October saw renewed protest aimed directly at the army’s stall among other things from the Bochum freedom movement against the retracted decision of the city of Bochum and against the presence of the Federal Armed Forces at the careers fair. These protests were massively broken up by the security personnel and the police, and even left-wing council members were banned from a fair held by several of their own youth welfare offices. This repeated time of disproportionate proceedings by the security forces and the youth welfare office as host has therefore encouraged the armed forces critics in Bochum in their stance.
For them and everyone else, the question remains as to whether the armed forces are allowed to advertise to under 18 year olds for positions in the army. Schools which send their students to such career fairs should thoroughly check whether they will meet their duty of care if the Federal Armed Forces will also be present. And there, where the municipal facilities and above all the youth welfare office co-organisers of such fairs are, are council representatives but call on all citizens to keep an eye on the respective authorities.

“We want the best”
The now large number of minors in the armed forces is currently an important starting point. In 2004, the Federal Government ratified the additional protocol to the UN children’s rights convention that should prevent the recruitment of minors. Unfortunately, the United Nations were unable to reach an agreement about forbidding the recruitment of minors on principle. This ban currently only applies to non-governmental conflict parties, whereas government troops are allowed to hire under 18 year olds on a voluntary basis. To protect this voluntary participation, extensive protection conditions were passed. This includes a regular control system which is to be put into practice in the individual countries. In 2008, the UN committee responsible for this requested the government to affiliate the majority of the undersigned states, 150 altogether, and to not draft in any volunteers under the age of 18 themselves, for example. This was denied by the Federal Government. The “Deutsche Bündnis Kindersoldaten” (German Alliance Child Soldiers) reproaches the German government in its “Shadow report 2013” for neglecting important aspects of voluntary participation. In this way, only voluntary conscripts, and only those in their first six months, can quit their service without any problems. Real voluntary participation must consist of allowing under 18 year olds to quit their service whenever, regardless of whether they are voluntary conscripts or regular soldiers. On the homepage of the German Foreign Office, the Federal Government gloats that “Germany advocates worldwide for the implementation of an optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts”. This is far from the truth.

The new Minister of Military von der Leyen acts as though she is not aware of the dimension of the problem. Although the government’s signing of the optional protocol is ultimately an acknowledgement that this will be respected in the Federal Armed Forces and minors must particularly be protected here, the Minister acts as though she cannot at all understand this commotion with regards to the high number of minors in the army. “We want to gather all the best women and men of all respective ages. (...) As in all other skilled jobs which require training, young adults can start at the age of 17.” (Focus online, 25 January). Only, in other skilled jobs, young people are not trained to kill other people. An exception in this case is policemen who may only kill for their own protection or for the protection of others in self-defence or in emergency situations. In the army, however, this is allowed regardless of the concrete danger in reaching this tactical objective, as drastically shown by the bomb attack in the Kunduz airstrike. In light of the lingering needs of the armed forces and the fact that more minors are passing their A levels in 8 years instead of the normal 12 due to a change in the German education system, the number of minors in the army is threatening to rise. We must consider taking a stand against the army’s advertising measures to under 18 year olds and criticising and preventing these measures – in schools, at events aimed at students, in public places and in media tailored to young people.

Joachim Schramm is the Managing Director of the DFG-VK
The article has been taken from Zivilcourage 1-2014 in February 2014 
For more information: http://www.schulfrei-fuer-die-bundeswehr.de

Translation: Laura Guthrie

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