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Finland - Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under Article 8(1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict: Initial reports of States parties due in 2004 [2005] UNCRCSPR 3; CRC/C/OPAC/FIN/1 (10 March 2005)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/OPAC/FIN/1 10 March 2005
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLE 8 (1) OF THE OPTIONAL
PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON
THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF
CHILDREN IN
ARMED
CONFLICT
Initial reports of States parties due in 2004
FINLAND
[1
June 2004]
GE.05-40732 (E) 270405
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. INTRODUCTION 1 - 2 3
II. INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES 1-7
OF THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL 3 -
23 3
Article 1 3 - 6 3
Article 2 7 - 8 4
Article 3 9 - 10 4
Article 4 11 - 14 4
Article 5 15 5
Article 6 16 - 17 5
Article 7 18 - 23 5
I. INTRODUCTION
- The
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict took effect in
Finland on 10 May 2002
(Finnish Treaty Series 31/2002). In this report, Finland
submits to the Committee on the Rights of the Child the information on the
implementation of the provisions
of the Protocol referred to in article 8
of
the Protocol.
- Finland
ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention
No. 182 (1999) concerning the prohibition and immediate action
for the
elimination of the worst forms of child labour on 17 January 2000.
Finland submitted its first periodic report on the implementation
of the
Convention in 2002.
II. INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES 1-7
OF THE OPTIONAL
PROTOCOL
Article 1
Legislative measures to prohibit the involvement of children
in direct hostilities
- In
Finnish legislation, the obligation to participate in national defence is laid
down in the Constitution. According to section 127 of the Constitution of
Finland (731/1999), every Finnish citizen is obligated to participate or assist
in national defence, as provided by a legislative
act. Chapter 7 (a) of the
Military Service Act (1728/1991) lays down provisions on non-armed service, and
a separate Civilian Service
Act (1723/1991) has been issued concerning civilian
service.
- By
virtue of section 1 of the Military Service Act, all Finnish men are liable
for military service to defend their native country
and the legal social order.
The Act on Women’s Voluntary Military Service (194/1995) lays down
provisions concerning the requirements
that have to be met by women who want to
do voluntary military service that corresponds to conscription.
The minimum
age of conscripts, stated in the Military Service Act, was amended by an
Act (364/2000), according to which voluntary
military service can also
start when the person
has attained 18 years of age
(sect. 31). A similar amendment was made to section 1 of the Act on
Voluntary Military Service for Women
(365/2000).
- Since
a person must have attained 18 years of age before he/she can
start conscript service or service on a voluntary basis, the Finnish
Defence
Forces do not have members aged under 18 years, as specified in
article 1 of the Protocol. The full age of conscripts is
ensured by a
system, based on personal data obtained directly from the population register,
according to which persons of a certain
age group are called up. In the
call-up, the person’s identity is checked either from an official identity
card or by asking
certain identifying questions, based
on the information in
the population register. A person’s identity is also verified at the
start of military service.
- In
accordance with chapter 11, section 1, paragraph 3 (578/1995) of
the Finnish Penal Code, a person who in an act of war violates
the
provisions of an international agreement binding on Finland or the generally
acknowledged and established rules and customs of
war under public international
law, shall be sentenced for a war crime. By virtue of the Finnish Penal Code,
recruitment of a person
under the age of 18 years during hostilities would
be deemed a war crime.
Article 2
Compulsory recruitment
- Finnish
legislation does not allow, even in a state of emergency, the recruitment of
persons under 18 years of age into the armed
forces, as referred to in this
article.
- In
Finland, the provisions concerning offence against a person’s liberty,
issued in chapter 25 (578/1995) of the Penal Code,
can be applied to
possible cases of compulsory recruitment.
Article 3
Minimum age for voluntary recruitment
- In
connection with the submission of the instruments of ratification, Finland
deposited a declaration according to which it requires
that all persons
recruited in to the national armed forces must have reached at least
18 years of age and that the minimum age applies
to both
men’s compulsory military service and women’s voluntary military
service.
- The
Finnish Defence Forces do not operate or have under their control the type of
schools referred to in paragraph 5 of this article.
Article 4
Armed groups and legislative provisions
- Finnish
legislation restricts the recruitment of armed persons. Penal provisions to
this effect include provisions concerning the
preparation of high treason
(chap. 13, sect. 3 of the Penal Code), unlawful military
operations (chap. 13, sect. 4), and the preparation
of an armed breach
of public order (chap. 17, sect. 5 of the
Penal Code, 563/1998).
- If
the restriction on recruitment did not satisfy the objectives referred to in the
aforementioned sections of the Penal Code, the
provisions of the
Associations Act (503/1989) concerning prohibited associations
(sect. 3), terminating of associations (sect. 43) and penal provisions
related to unlawful association activity (sect. 62) could apply at least to
an armed organization functioning like an association. According to
section 3 of the Associations Act, associations which are fully or partly
organized militarily due to the obedience required of members or to the division
into units
or groups, or because the members are equipped with arms, shall be
prohibited. An association which operates in essential ways against the
law and good manners, can be discontinued (sect. 43). A person who
maintains an unlawful association shall pay a fine (sect. 62).
- One
non-governmental organization, the Peace Union of Finland-Association for the
United Nations, wants to point out that it is concerned
about the
non-compliance of national defence organizations and reserve organizations with
the obligations set out in this article.
The focus on its concern lies in the
organizations’ recruitment policy and campaigns. However, the principal
target of criticism,
the National Defence Training Association, is not an armed
group but an umbrella organization arranging training for different voluntary
organizations. It organizes, for example, security training, preparedness
training, supplementary military training and training
for leaders and
instructors. Some of the training entities concentrate on the improvement of
civic skills and provide training related
for personal security and skills
concerning security at home and first aid, and some are also designed to develop
military skills.
Moreover, the underlying principle of the training is that
only conscripts are to attend the socalled military components (Government
Bill
242/2001). Gun and firearms training using military arms and other arms over
22-calibre is not given to persons who are younger
than
18 years of age.
- The
planned local defence forces belong to the wartime organization of the
defence forces. In the future, staff for these forces
will be recruited
from among local volunteers when they are released from their first wartime
tasks, for example, in the Rapid Deployment
Force, and assigned to other units.
This means that these persons would at least
be 35 years of age.
Article 5
Other international instruments and international
humanitarian law
- The
Government does not have any comments concerning this article.
Article 6
Paragraphs 1 and 2
Implementation and enforcement of the Optional
Protocol
- This
article concerns measures within the jurisdiction of the State party and
therefore has not required amendment of chapter I (626/1996)
of the Penal Code
concerning the scope of application of the criminal law of Finland or the Decree
on the application of chapter
1, section 7 of the
Penal Code (627/1996).
- Peacekeepers
are given, among other things, humanitarian law training and information about
international agreements that are binding
on Finland. Persons employed
by the Defence Forces can obtain information about the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and about provisions
concerning the minimum age requirement,
binding on the call-up authorities, for example, by accessing the electronic
statute book
that is available to all.
Article 7
Technical cooperation and financial assistance
- The
Government of Finland’s report on human rights policy, released in
March 2004, states that children in the midst of international
conflicts
and civil wars require special protection. Child soldiers, like other
children affected by war, are victims.
- The
Government supports all United Nations activities through which boys and
girls who have become victims of armed conflict are taken
into account
(so-called mainstreaming). It gives its full support to the
United Nations mechanisms and organizations that strive to improve the
position of all child victims
of armed conflict and help their post-conflict
recovery. It supports a comprehensive approach when child victims of armed
conflict
are helped. Children should be our special concern even before
any conflict erupts and, during conflict, their rehabilitation and mental
recovery
should also be taken care of after the end of hostilities.
- The
European Union (EU) Council Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM) prepared a
report on the promotion of the EU’s present
policy on human rights and
democracy
in autumn 2002. The report suggests, for example, that
opportunities were studied concerning
a strategy or guidelines on children
in armed conflict. The Government regarded the initiative
as
excellent and strongly supported its implementation. The EU General
Affairs and
External Relations Council adopted the EU Guidelines on Children
and Armed Conflict
on 8 December 2003.
- The
Government considers it important that the guidelines be implemented soon and in
their entirety. It regards the idea of an EU Special Representative to
take care of the EU strategy on children in armed conflict as worth
exploring. The implementation of the guidelines also calls for the
arrangement of training for national actors, EU staff and persons participating
in peacekeeping and crisis-management operations. Close cooperation with
NGOs is also important. Organizations that are active in the actual
conflict areas function as essential channels of information and providers of
field reports.
- The
Government of Finland report on human rights policy of March 2004 states that
both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
the final document of the
twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly on children of 2000,
“A world fit for children”,
challenge the Finnish development
cooperation programmes that it supports and to evaluate the development
cooperation budget from
the point of view of the promotion of the rights of the
child. The Government considers that all development cooperation
projects should be grounded on a justice-based approach. This creates
additional challenges for both the bilateral and NGO-led development
cooperation.
- Finland’s
most important channel of support for children is the United Nations
Children’s Fund, UNICEF. Finland has also supported IPEC (the
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour) of ILO. A
greater amount of support has been earmarked for the education and basic
health-care sectors in many of the long-term partner countries. The
Government also supports several projects carried out by Finnish, international
and developing countries’ own NGOs, which
focus on the improvement of the
position of the child. Indirect support for the promotion of the
position of the child has increased, which hopefully also improves
children’s position
during armed
conflicts.
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