Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in advance of the examination of Egypt’s initial report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in advance of the examination of Egypt’s initial report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in advance of the examination of Egypt’s initial report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

EXCERPT FROM INTRODUCTION: 

“The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (the Coalition) submits this report for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in view of its examination in June 2011 of Egypt’s initial report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC). This report was compiled through desk-based research of available secondary sources. Very limited information was publicly available in relation to the relevant issues. Requests for a meeting with the Defense Attaché to the Egyptian Embassy in London were unanswered. On the basis of the information gathered, this report summarizes the Coalition’s concerns about Egypt’s implementation of its obligations under OPAC, including in relation to:

  • The possibility for deployment into hostilities of under-18s in the Egyptian armed forces. The lack of legislation criminalizing recruitment and use of children by armed groups.
  • The risk of refoulement and subsequent human rights abuses including unlawful recruitment and use in hostilities of child asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and the inadequate assistance for former child soldiers seeking asylum in Egypt.
  • The potential for detention and prosecution of children under security legislation and their prosecution by military tribunals.
  • The export of small arms and light weapons to countries where children are known to be participating in hostilities.”