A 12-year-old boy committing suicide in Paktika province in Afghanistan last May in a crowded marketplace, killing four people in the process and wounding dozens, is just one the latest incidents of children’s participation in deadly acts of war. The act is in itself a severe indictment of adults using children for such actions, and the need to further control children’s participation in war, thus depriving them of a normal childhood.

That same month, Afghan security forces arrested three boys, all under 14, as they attempted to cross into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out suicide attacks. Using children as suicide bombers is a new and dangerous act by the insurgents in Afghanistan -aimed at both Afghan and American forces- where children are used as pawns in acts of war.

Many children may ‘voluntarily’ take part in warfare, probably not realizing the dangers involved in this participation. Most children, however, are forcibly recruited. They are driven to join in other cases by poverty and abuse, and in some cases to seek revenge for violence carried out against their families.

Using children as soldiers is probably as old as war itself, which doesn’t make it less regrettable. It was customary for youths in the Mediterranean basin to act as aides, charioteers and armor bearers to adult warriors, examples of which can be found in several writings and artistic features.

In more recent times, the Khmer Rouge exploited thousands of children to commit mass murders and other inhuman acts during the Cambodian genocide. During the conflict in Sierra Leone (1993-2002) thousands of children were recruited and used by all sides involved in hostilities. In Uganda, stating that he had “received a message from God” Joseph Kony organized the Lord’s Resistance Army in 1987 that forcibly recruited thousands of children and forced them to commit criminal acts.

Although it is difficult to assess the real numbers, it is estimated that some 300,000 children –both boys and girls under 18- are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. Africa has the largest number of child soldiers, who are used in armed conflicts in Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan.

There is important legislation against children’s participation in war. In 2002, the Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in conflict entered into force. The Protocol outlaws the participation of children under 18 in hostilities, raising the previous standard of age (15 years) set by the Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols.

In addition, in July 2002, the Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force, making a war crime the conscription, enlistment or use of children under 15 in hostilities by national armed forces or armed groups. Important as these laws are, however, violations of the laws of war regarding children need to be properly monitored and reported. This will allow that perpetrators can be held accountable before appropriate tribunals.

The US Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 prohibits governments using child soldiers from receiving US military financing, military training and several other ways of US military assistance. Last October, President Barack Obama issued national waivers to allow Chad, Congo, Sudan and Yemen to continue receiving military aid despite their use of child soldiers.

Issuing those waivers is to send those countries the wrong signal on an issue of critical humanitarian importance. As long as countries continue receiving military assistance, they will not feel any constraint in recruiting children. As Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch stated, “Last year the administration gave these governments a pass. It shouldn’t do so again.”

Dr. Cesar Chelala is a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award for an article on human rights.