International humanitarian law gives children general protection as civilian persons taking no part in hostilities and special protection as particularly vulnerable beings. That special protection is conferred by numerous rules, inter alia on:

(a) the treatment of new-born babies on the same footing as the wounded;

(b) a child’s right to care and aid;

(c) the reception of children under the age of fifteen years in hospital and safety zones and localities;

(d) the reunion of families dispersed by an international or internal armed conflict;

(e) the temporary evacuation of children for imperative reasons of their safety, especially from a besieged or encircled area;

(f) the prohibition, in case of occupation, of compelling protected persons under the age of eighteen years to work;

(g) the protection of the child’s cultural environment and of their education;

(h) the protection of the rights of children arrested, detained or interned;

(i) the prohibition of applying the death penalty to children under the age of eighteen years at the time the offence was committed;

(j) the protection of the family and the inviolability of the status of child;

(k) the prohibition of recruiting children under the age of fifteen years into the armed forces;

(l) the protection of orphans or children separated from their parents.

Cases

Outline

Bibliographic resources