Population: 84.2 million (30.5 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 455,000
Compulsary Recruitment Age: 18
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 18 (17 for training)
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 20 December 2001
Other Treaties: GC AP I, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182

Only male citizens over the age of 18 could be recruited for military service and under-18s could not be directly involved in hostilities. Under-18s could participate directly in military operations in an emergency situation. Male citizens turning 17 could be accepted into military schools and were recognized as servicemen on active service.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

The 1992 constitution states that "It is the sacred duty and the noble right of the citizen to defend his motherland. The citizen must fulfil his military obligation and join in the all-people national defence" (Article 77), and "The entire people shall endeavour to defend the socialist Vietnamese motherland and ensure national security" (Article 44).

In its declaration on ratifying the Optional Protocol in December 2001, and in subsequent reporting and other responses to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the government stated that by law only male citizens over the age of 18 would be recruited for military service and that under-18s would not be directly involved in hostilities. Viet nam's December 2005 initial report to the Committee on the Optional Protocol stated that male citizens aged 18 could enlist in the armed forces. However, the government maintained its position that under-18s could directly participate in military battles in the case of "an urgent need for safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity".1

The 1981 Military Service Law, as amended in 1994, provided the legal basis for conscription. People's Committees and other local officials had to submit annually to the regional military commander a list of boys who would turn 17 in that year (Article 19), and the resulting call-up took place "once or twice" a year (Article 19).2 In June 2005 an amendment to the Law on Military Compulsory Service was adopted by the National Assembly. Article 12 provided that the age for military compulsory service for men was from 18 to 25 years of age. A representative of the government reported that the number of qualified citizens called up for military compulsory service was very small in comparison with the total population.3

The recruitment of child soldiers was not specifically criminalized under national legislation. However, there existed several potential avenues for prosecution, in particular the 1999 Penal Code, which stipulated that those who abused their position and power to act against the regulations governing military service registration, orders for military service or regular training would be punished by up to three years' "non-custodial reform", a form of community-based service, or six months to three years' imprisonment (Article 261).4

Military training and military schools

Article 13 of the 1981 Military Service Law stipulated that male citizens turning 17 and meeting necessary qualifications could be accepted into military schools and be recognized as servicemen on active service; the government stated that application for such schools was voluntary.5

The government has stated that only students aged over 18 could participate in direct military training. For those aged under 18, military training was given to improve their knowledge of national defence, and physical training limited to learning how to march, stand in line and salute. Following graduation from military schools students were sent to serve in the army. Permission to retire from military service was at the discretion of military authorities.6

The government also stated that there existed certain schools set up in remote areas under the direction of the army, created for children who would otherwise have no access to education.7 It is unclear whether attendance at such schools was voluntary, what age limits were set for students and whether military training was given.

Armed Groups:

Viet Nam maintained a paramilitary self-defence militia force, whose operation was governed by the 1996 Ordinance on Self-Defence Militia. Article 2 of this Ordinance stipulated that persons selected to join the self-defence militia force had to be 18.8

Developments:

Viet Nam ratified the Optional Protocol in December 2001 and in December 2005 submitted its initial report, which was examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in September 2006. The Committee recommended among other things an explicit prohibition by law on recruitment to and use in armed forces or groups of under-15s and their direct participation in hostilities. It also noted its concern that uncertainty about the age of young recruits could occur due to lack of birth registration in the past. Where birth certificates were lacking, the Committee recommended that the age of the recruitment intake should be determined by other reliable means, including medical examinations. The government stated its intention to amend the Law on Military Service, the Ordinance on Self-Defence Militia and other relevant legal documents to ensure compliance with the Optional Protocol.9

1 Declaration of Viet Nam on ratification of the Optional Protocol, 20 December 2001, www2.ohchr.org.

2 Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Military Service Duty, 22 June 1994.

3 Viet Nam, Country presentation at the "Workshop to Mainstream the OP-CRC-AC in the SEA Region", November 2007, Quezon City, Philippines, sponsored by the Southeast Asian Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (SEACUS), Coalition copy.

4 Initial report of Viet Nam to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on implementation of the Optional Protocol, UN Doc. CRC/C/OPAC/VNM/1, 12 December 2005.

5 Ibid.

6 State party examination of Viet Nam's initial report on the OPAC, 43rd Session of the CRC, 22 September 2006, www.crin.org.

7 Ibid.

8 Initial report of Viet Nam, above note 4.

9 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of report submitted by Viet Nam, Concluding observations, 17 October 2006, UN Doc. CRC/C/OPAC/VNM/CO/1; Initial report of Viet Nam, above note 4.

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