Commonwealth of the Bahamas

Covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004.

Population: 310,000 (108,000 under 18)
Government armed forces: 860
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: not known
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: not signed
Other treaties ratified (see glossary): CRC, GC AP I and II, ILO 138, ILO 182

No information was available on the minimum age for voluntary recruitment or on whether there were under-18s in the security forces. There was no conscription.

Government

National recruitment legislation and practice

Defence and the maintenance of law and order are the responsibility of the armed forces and police respectively, both reporting to the Ministry of National Security.

There is no conscription in the Bahamas.1 The 1973 constitution prohibits forced labour, but excludes from the definition of forced labour, "in the case of a person who has conscientious objections to service in a naval, military or air force, any labour which that person is required by law to perform in place of such service" (Article 18).2 No information was available on the minimum age for voluntary recruitment.

1 Civil and political rights, including the question of conscientious objection to military service, Report of the UN Secretary-General to UN Commission on Human Rights, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2000/55, 17 December 1999, http://www.ohchr.org.

2 Constitution, http://www.bahamas.gov.bs.

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