Stop Child Executions!
Which International Treaties Forbid Child Executions?
International opposition to the execution of child offenders has been made explicit through the adoption of human rights treaties and humanitarian law treaties, in statements by intergovernmental bodies, and in comments by international treaty monitoring bodies (see international law).
The international community has adopted four human rights treaties that explicitly exclude child offenders from the death penalty. Nearly all states in the world are now parties to one or more of these treaties and are therefore legally obliged to respect the prohibition.
Two of the human rights treaties are of worldwide scope – any state may join them:
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the primary human rights treaties, states in Article 6: Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age. . .” The ICCPR had been ratified by 151 states at mid-November 2003.
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child states in Article 37: “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age”. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified by 192 states – all countries except Somalia and the USA. Both Somalia and the USA have signed the Convention, indicating their intention to ratify it at a later date.
Two of the human rights treaties are regional – they may be ratified by countries in those regions (Africa and the Americas respectively):
- The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child states in Article 5(3): “The death sentence shall not be pronounced for crimes committed by children”. Article 2 of this treaty specifies that the term “child” refers to anyone under the age of 18. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child has been ratified by 31 African countries.
- The American Convention on Human Rights states in Article 4(5): “Capital punishment shall not be imposed upon persons who, at the time the crime was committed, were under 18 years of age. . .” Twenty-four states in the Americas have ratified the American Convention on Human Rights.
International humanitarian law treaties, also known as the laws of war, also exclude child offenders from the death penalty:
- The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 (the Fourth Geneva Convention) states in Article 68: “In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced against a protected person who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence”.
- The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Additional Protocol I of 1977) states in Article 77(5): "The death penalty for an offence related to the armed conflict shall not be executed on persons who had not attained the age of eighteen years at the time the offence was committed."
- The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Additional Protocol II of 1977) states in Article 6(4): "The death penalty shall not be pronounced on persons who were under the age of eighteen years at the time of the offence. . ." (Article 6(4))
Alongside these treaties, intergovernmental bodies – organizations composed of states – have adopted many statements endorsing the prohibition.
- In 1984 the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted the Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty (“ECOSOC Safeguards”). Safeguard 3 of this instrument states: “Persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime shall not be sentenced to death. . .” The ECOSOC Safeguards were endorsed by the UN General Assembly in resolution 39/118 of 14 December 1984. This resolution was adopted without a vote, a sign of strong consensus in that no state wished to go on record as opposing it. More recently, in April 2003 the UN Commission on Human Rights called upon states in which the death penalty has not been abolished “to abolish by law as soon as possible the death penalty for those aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence”.
- The European Union has endorsed the prohibition of use
of the death penalty against child offenders and has agreed to make diplomatic
approaches to countries in cases where the prohibition is violated.