Convention on the Rights of the Child

Overview and Full Text

Convention on the Rights of the Child (full text from UN website)

• Article by Article Summary from Amnesty International
• Topical Overview from UNICEF

Select Bibliography and Interpretation

Humankind owes the child "the best it has to give" (from Amnesty International)
AI Index: ACT 76/14/99 - September 1, 1999

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child meets the American Constitution: Towards a supreme law of the world. Almog, Shulamit; Bendor, Ariel L.
International Journal of Children's Rights, Jul2004, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p273, 17p

Placing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in an American Context. By: Kilbourne, Susan. Human Rights: Journal of the Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities, Spring99, Vol. 26 Issue 2, p27, 5p

The United States' concerns about the Convention on the Rights of the Child. By: Gregory, David L.
Education & the Law, Sep2002, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p141, 12p

Oh, and Somalia too.
Economist; 5/4/2002, Vol. 363 Issue 8271, p32, 1/2p

Pro/Con Should the United States Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?
CQ Researcher, Vol. 11, Issue 29, August 31, 2001.

The International Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Catalyst for Innovative Childcare Policies. By: Davis, Martha F.; Powell, Roslyn. Human Rights Quarterly, Aug2003, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p689, 31p

See also AI NEWS ITEMS and more AI REPORTS related to children.

See also Books about the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

First Optional Protocol: On the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

Overview and Full Text

First Optional Protocol: On the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (full text from UN website) Adopted by UN General Assembly on May 25, 2000 (pdf version)
(current status of ratification | reporting guidelines)

• Guide to the first Optional Protocol
  Extensive guide published by the UN

Select Bibliography and Interpretation

Child Soldiers: Criminals of Victims? (from Amnesty International)
AI Index: IOR 50/002/2000 - December 22, 2000

RIGHTS, ROOT CAUSES AND RECRUITMENT. By: McIntyre, Angela. African Security Review, 2003, Vol. 12 Issue 2, p91, 9p

Reclaiming Child Soldiers' Lost Lives. By: Lamberg, Lynne. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 8/4/2004, Vol. 292 Issue 5, p553, 2p

Children in Crisis by Brian Hansen. 11p, 4 charts, 5bw.
CQ Researcher, Vol. 11, Issue 29, August 31, 2001.

The use of children as soldiers: the right to kill and be killed? By: Maslen, Stuart. International Journal of Children's Rights, Oct98, Vol. 6 Issue 4, p445, 7p

Search Academic Search Premier using DE "CHILD soldiers" to access an array of popular and scholarly articles on the subject.

AI Reports about Child Soldiers in the following countries:

• BRIEF: Childhood denied: Child Soldiers in Africa
• Congo AFR 62/009/2004 - June 2004
• Congo AFR 62/034/203 September 9, 2003
  Children at War (Tell their story)
• Liberia AFR 34/006/2004 - May 17, 2004
• Burundi AFR 16/014/2004 - March 24, 2004
• United Kingdom EUR 45/057/2000 - November 7, 2000
• More available at the AI documents library

Forthcoming:

Child Soldiers Global Report 2004

See also AI NEWS ITEMS and more AI REPORTS related to children.

See Human Rights Watch: Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

Second Optional Protocol: On the Sale of Children, Child Prostitiution and Child Pornography

Overview and Full Text

Second Optional Protocol: On the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (full text from UN website) (pdf version)
Adopted by UN General Assembly on May 25, 2000
(current status of ratification | reporting guidelines)

Select Bibligraphy

U.S. Ratification of Protocols to Rights of the Child Convention. By: Murphy, Sean D.. American Journal of International Law, Apr2003, Vol. 97 Issue 2, p443, 2p

See also AI NEWS ITEMS and more AI REPORTS related to children.

Capital Punishment for Children

Stop Child Executions! Ending the Death Penalty for Child Offenders
AI Index: ACT 50/015/2004 - September 15, 2004

Open Letter from Medical Experts to Governments Sentencing to Death ... Child Offenders
AI Index: POL 30/034/204 - September 2004

Out of step: Juvenile death penalty in the United States. By: James, Anne; Cecil, Joanne. International Journal of Children's Rights, Jul2004, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p291, 13p

Missouri Supreme Court Holds that the Juvenile Death Penalty Violates the Eighth Amendment -- State ex rel. Simmons v. Roper, 112 S.W.3d (Mo. 2003) (en banc), cert. granted, 124 S. Ct. 1171 (2004). Harvard Law Review, May2004, Vol. 117 Issue 7, p2456, 6p

RELYING ON ATKINS V. VIRGINIA AS PRECEDENT TO FIND THE JUVENILE DEATH PENALTY UNCONSTITUTIONAL: PERPETUATING BAD PRECEDENT? By: Bogdanski, Audra M.. Marquette Law Review, Spring2004, Vol. 87 Issue 3, p603, 34p

Capital punishment: The execution of child offenders in the United States. By: James, Anne. International Journal of Children's Rights, Apr2001, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p181, 9p

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: a basis for Jus Cogens prohibition of juvenile capital punishment in the United States By: Walker, Nancy B.. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Feb2001, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p143, 27p

See also Global Views and Voices library resource - Browse to Child Soldiers and Children at War. Several first person stories included.

• Take Online Action:
  • Stop Child Executions in Iran (AI USA)
  • Help Save the Children of Northern Uganda Child Soldiers (AI USA)
  • Jordan: Ratification of the Optional Protocol to Convention on the Rights of the Child (AI Worldwide)
• AI's Children's Rights Network: (AI USA)
  • Join the Children's Human Rights Network

Other Conference Issues

• Juarez: Stop Violence Against Women in Ciudad Juarez (Online Action)
• Trafficking / Children: Protect Rights of Trafficked Girls in Kosovo (Online Action)
• HIV/AIDS: Ask the Swaziland Authorities to Protect Women from Domestic Violence and HIV/AIDS (Online Action)
• HIV/AIDS: Continuing persecution of HIV/AIDS workers in China
• Indigenous Peoples' Rights: Stop Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada (Online Action)
• Indigenous Peoples' Rights: Indigenous Peoples' Rights (AI Canada)
• Immigration: Support the International Migrant Workers Convention (pdf)
  
• All Above Petitions (pdf)

• Petitions from AI at ASUW
• Letter Writing Guides
• Current Campaigns (Amnesty International Worldwide)
  

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • First Optional Protocol: On the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
  • Second Optional Protocol: On the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
    
    
• United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• More: UN Instruments Related to Adminstration of Justice
  

• Armed and Innocent  (Requires Windows Media Player / wmv file)
  (from US Marine Corps, Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities)
• Child Soldiers in Congo - FLASH animation (from AIUSA)
• Imagine Video (from AIUSA)
• Videos related to Child Soldiers (from ASU Libraries)
• Videos related to Juvenile Death Penalty (from ASU Libraries)
• Stop Child Exectutions Leaflet - PDF (from AI Worldwide)
• AP Photo Archive (ASU West | Phoenix Public) - Search on Child Soldiers
• Global Views and Voices library resource - Browse to Child Soldiers and Children at War. Several first person stories included.
• Witness.org
• Try the following Search Engines:
  • Google Advanced Search
  • Google Advanced Image Search
  • Alta Vista Video search.