Committee on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of Armenia, adopted by the Committee at its pre-sessional working group for the sixty-second and sixty-third sessions (8–12 October 2012)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (15 pages maximum), if possible before 1 February 2013.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State p arty.

1.Please indicate which body is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Optional Protocol, specifying its allocated budget.

2.Please provide information on measures taken to disseminate information on the Optional Protocol among the general public and children, and the training of professionals, in particular those working in schools, the armed forces and immigration.

3.With reference to paragraph 12 of the State party report, please inform the Committee whether “pre-draftees” can be recruited by the armed forces before the age of 18.

4.Please provide information on steps taken by the State party to ensure that children under the age of 18 are not voluntarily recruited into military service in the State party.

5.Please provide updated and detailed information concerning the use of military training in schools, including mandatory military subjects in the national curricula and courses including the handling of weapons.

6.With reference to military schools, pleaseprovide data, disaggregated by sex, age, rural/urban origin, socioeconomic background and ethnic origin on the number of pupils enrolled in military schools. In addition, please provide updated and detailed information on:

(a)The minimum age of admission to military schools;

(b)The proportions of academic and military training in the curricula;

(c)Whether pupils are subject to military discipline and punishment;

(d)Whether pupils attending military schools have access to an independent complaints and investigation mechanism;

(e)Whether pupils are classified as members of the armed forces; and

(f)Whether pupils can be called into active service in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.

7.Please provide updated information on the pilot military training for pre-adolescents introduced in 2006 by the Ministry of Education and Science, including information concerning the number of institutions and children involved, the age of the children and whether children below the age of 18 have been trained in the use of firearms.

8.With reference to military training in higher education military institutions, as discussed in paragraphs 14–19 of the State party report, please provide updated and detailed information on:

(a)The minimum age of admission to such institutions;

(b)The number of cadets below the age of 18 enrolled;

(c)Whether cadets under 18 are subject to military discipline and punishment;

(d)Whether cadets attending military higher education institutions have access to an independent complaints and investigation mechanism; and

(e)Whether cadets can be called into active service in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.

9.In view of the absence of a specific law on non-State armed groups in the State party, please clarify what measures have been taken to prevent the possible recruitment or use in hostilities of persons under the age of 18 by non-State armed groups, including the adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize such practices, in accordance with article 4 of the Optional Protocol.

10.Please provide information on procedures to identify, at the earliest stage, refugee, asylum-seeking or migrant children who may have been or who are at risk of being recruited and/or used in hostilities. In addition, please identify what rehabilitation services are available to these children.

11.In accordance with article 7, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol, please indicate whether the State party’s legislation prohibits the export of arms, including small arms and light weapons, as well as military assistance to countries where children are known to be or may be recruited or used in armed conflict and/or hostilities.

12.Please provide information on whether there is extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes covered under the Optional Protocol.