Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Peru

Republic of Peru

Covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004.

Population: 26.8 million (10.6 million under 18)
Government armed forces: 100,000
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: 18
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 8 May 2002
Other treaties ratified (see glossary): CRC, GC AP I and II, ICC, ILO 138, ILO 182

Since the ending of conscription in 1999, a number of reforms have been introduced in the armed forces. While ill-treatment of recruits diminished, cases of forcible recruitment of children were reported.

Context

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 2001 to investigate human rights abuses by the state and armed opposition groups between May 1980 and August 2000. It delivered its final report in August 2003, concluding that, of the estimated 69,000 people who were killed or "disappeared" during those 20 years, more than half were the responsibility of the armed opposition group Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and the rest were the responsibility of the armed forces. In January 2003 the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that life imprisonment and the use of military courts to try civilians were unconstitutional.¹

Government

National recruitment legislation and practice

Compulsory military service was replaced by a system of voluntary military service under the Law on Military Service, Law 27178 of 29 September 1999, which also prohibits forced recruitment (Article 6). A transitional provision applicable from 2000 to 2002 permitted compulsory recruitment of individuals registered for military service in previous years (Fourth transitional provision). Those who volunteer for military service are offered incentives including a monthly salary, a bank account on completion of service, health insurance and help with education (Article 46). Active military service is carried out by women and men between the ages of 18 and 30, for a maximum of 24 months (Articles 42 and 45). Although there is no conscription, 17 year olds are required to register at the Military Institute, to obtain a military certificate (Boleta Militar) and later a military passbook (Libreta Militar) (Articles 11, 12 and 17). The passbook is required to obtain national identity documents (Article 24).²

In its declaration on ratification of the Optional Protocol in May 2002, Peru confirmed that the minimum age for voluntary recruitment is 18 years.³

In January 2002 the Commission on the Restructuring of the Armed Forces recommended modification of the Law on Military Service to allow for a mixed system of professional soldiers and conscripts to fill the quota of soldiers required for the armed forces.⁴

Military training and military schools

Ill-treatment of recruits has diminished since the ending of compulsory military service, but has not completely disappeared. In December 2002, the Ombudsman's office (Defensoría del Pueblo) reported on investigations into complaints about conscript deaths and alleged torture and ill-treatment of conscripts between April 1998 and August 2002. Out of 174 cases, 56 were deaths; 155 (90 per cent) were from the army, 12 (seven per cent) from the air force and seven (four per cent) from the navy. In 2003, in response to recommendations by the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Defence announced, as part of the continuing reform of the armed forces, the creation of a Recruits' Military Instruction School and the establishment of regulations, rights and duties in relation to recruits.⁵

Child recruitment and deployment

The Ombudsman's office received numerous complaints of the recruitment of under-18s in the towns of Iquitos, Huancayo and Ayacucho. At the end of 2002, several Congressional representatives visited the Alfredo Vargas Guerra Military Barracks in Iquitos, and later reported that they had seen at least 15 underage irregular conscripts, including one 14 year old.⁶

1 Amnesty International Report 2004, http://web. amnesty.org/library/engindex.

2 Ley del Servicio Militar, No. 27178, http://www.ejercito.mil.pe/transpar/dispos_legales/ley27178.doc; Ejército del Perú (Army), http://www.ejercito.mil.pe (Servicio Militar Voluntario).

3 Declarations and reservations to the Optional Protocol, http://www.ohchr.org.

4 Ministry of Defence, Comisión para la reestructuracion integral de las Fuerzas Armadas, Informe final, January 2002, Recommendation 2(e), http://www.mindef.gob.pe (Normatividad; Leyes y reglamentos).

5 Ombudsman's Office, Sexto Informe al Congreso de la República 2002-2003, Chapters 3 and 4, http://www.ombudsman.gob.pe.

6 Ombudsman's Office, op. cit, Chapter 3; Correo de Perú, "Perú: detectan niños soldados en cuartel de Iquitos", 11 February 2003, at http://www.rebelion.org/ddhh/peru110203.htm.