Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Austria

REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA

Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.

• Population:
  – total: 8,177,000
  – under-18s: 1,705,000
• Government armed forces:
  – active: 42,000
  – reserves: 75,000
• Compulsory recruitment age: 18
• Voluntary recruitment age: 17
• Voting age (government elections): 19
• Child soldiers: indicated in government armed forces; 594 17 year olds in 1998
• CRC-OP-CAC: signed on 6 September 2000; does not support "straight-18" position.
• Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II; ICC; ILO 138

• There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as voluntary recruitment at 17 years of age is possible with parental consent. New legislation has been passed prohibiting direct participation in hostilities of those who have not reached 18.

GOVERNMENT

National Recruitment Legislation

Article 9 (a)(3) of the Constitution states that "[E]very male Austrian citizen is liable for military service. Whoever refuses to fulfil his defence obligation on the grounds of reasons of conscience and is exempted from it, is to render alternative service [Ersatzdienst]. Details will be determined by law".¹³⁷ The legal basis for conscription is the 1990 Defence Law¹³⁸ according to which every male citizen is liable for military service from the age of 17.¹³⁹ However, a man cannot be called up for military service before he turns 18.¹⁴⁰ Voluntary recruitment on the other hand is possible from the age of 17.¹⁴¹ This minimum age was originally initiated for children who graduate from high-school at the age of 17 years instead of 18¹⁴² or who finish vocational training before 18.

Until recently, if a person between 17 and 18 was recruited, the approval of the legal representative was not required.¹⁴³ This legislation was changed with effect of 1 January 2001 when the Austrian Parliament passed an Amendment to the Defence Act.¹⁴⁴ Now, voluntary service is only allowed with the explicit consent of the legal representative.¹⁴⁵ As stated in the official annotations to the Bill,¹⁴⁶ the intention of this amendment was to bring national legislation into line with international standards, with ratification of the Optional Protocol to the CRC-OP-CAC by Austria already pending. The Amendment also brought legal clarification by explicitly declaring that "direct participation in hostilities in the course of military action of soldiers not having completed 18 years of age is not allowed".¹⁴⁷ However, the Amendment did not raise the age of voluntary enlistment to 18 (see below for more information on the Bill).

Military service lasts 8 months.¹⁴⁸ Recent reforms have impacted negatively on the possibility of doing alternative service.¹⁴⁹ In 1998, women were allowed for the first time to join the armed

forces.¹⁵⁰ Ministry officials confirmed that girls may join the armed forces at the age of 17, as indicated on the official website of the Ministry of Defense.¹⁵¹

Child Recruitment

Recent years have seen a significant increase in under-18s volunteering for the armed forces.¹⁵² A Ministry of Defense official stated that the average number of under-18s who volunteer each year is 400-430.¹⁵³ Indeed, during the last nine years, the number of recruits under age 18 has more than doubled and the per centage of underage recruits in the armed forces has almost tripled.

As of January 2001, there were a total of 150 women in the armed forces, compared to 135 in 2000.¹⁵⁴ According to the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in September 1999, no females under the age of 18 had ever applied for military service.¹⁵⁵

Military Training and Military Schools

Military schools in Austria provide education for officers but admission is not possible below the age of 18. There is a high-school with special focus on military training in which pupils may be under 18, but a military career is not mandatory upon graduation.¹⁵⁶

DEVELOPMENTS

International Standards

Austria signed the CRC-OP-CAC on 6 September 2000 but does not support a "straight-18" position. Upon ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Austria made a declaration which states that "Austria will not make any use of the possibility provided by Article 38, paragraph 2, to determine an age limit of 15 years for taking part in hostilities as this rule is incompatible with Article 3, paragraph 1, which determines that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration".

A parliamentary resolution adopted unanimously in May 1999 called on the government to support international efforts to stop the use of child soldiers, but stopped short of declaring a "straight-18" position.

In 2000, Austria made children and armed conflict issues a major priority for its term as chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). A proposed OSCE framework document on children and armed conflict unfortunately failed to be adopted however at the Ministerial Council meeting in November 2000.

137 Blaustein A. P. and Flanz, G. H., Constitutions of the countries of the world, Oceana Publications, New York.

138 Wehrgesetz, BGBl No. 305/1990,: http://www.bmlv.gv.at/gesetze/wg/ges_wg_ges_10.shtml.

139 Article 16.

140 Article 15 (1).

141 Article 15 (2).

142 Letter of the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Vienna, to the CSC, 16/9/99.

143 See for previous legislation the initial report of Austria to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/11/Add.14, 26/6/97, para. 435.

144 Federal Law Gazette BGBl. I 140/2000, see http://www.parlinkom.gv.at/pd/pm/XXI/I/his/003/I00300_.html.

145 (New) Article 65c.

146 See http://www.parlinkom.gv.at/pd/pm/XXI/I/his/003/I00300_.html.

147 (New) Article 47 (2).

148 Article 28 of the 1990 Defence law. See http://www.bmlv.gv.at/download_archiv/pdfs/Ausbm.pdf.

149 "Amnesty International wird zukünftig keine Zivildiener aufnehmen", Der Standard, 10/7/0.

150 In accordance with Article 46a of the 1990 Defence Law.

151 Ministry's web site at http://www.bmlv.gv.at/karriere/frauen/information.shtml; confirmed by a Ministry official, telephone call on 26/2/01.

152 Ibid.

153 Information provided by Ministry official on 26/2/01.

154 http://www.bmlv.gv.at/karriere/frauen/information_aktuell.shtml.

155 Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 16/9/99, op. cit.

156 Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 16/9/99.