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CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT
LIST 2022 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT, U.S Dept. of State, p.50 https://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/HT-2022-TIP-Report.pdf Section
402 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, as amended (CSPA) requires
publication in the annual TIP Report of a list of foreign governments
identified during the previous year as having governmental armed forces,
police, or other security forces, or government-supported armed groups that
recruit or use child soldiers, as defined in the CSPA. These determinations
cover the reporting period beginning April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. For the
purpose of the CSPA, and generally consistent with the provisions of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict, the term “child soldier” means: i. any person
under 18 years of age who takes a direct part in hostilities as a member of
governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces; ii. any person under 18 years of age who has been compulsorily recruited
into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces; iii. any person under 15 years of age who has been voluntarily
recruited into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces;
or iv. any person
under 18 years of age who has been recruited or used in hostilities by armed
forces distinct from the armed forces of a state. The
term “child soldier” includes any person described in clauses (ii), (iii), or
(iv) who is serving in any capacity, including in a support role, such as a
“cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave.” Governments
identified on the list are subject to restrictions, in the following fiscal
year, on certain security assistance and commercial licensing of military
equipment. The CSPA prohibits assistance to governments that are identified
in the list under the following authorities: International Military Education
and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles, and
Peacekeeping Operations, with exceptions for some programs undertaken
pursuant to the Peacekeeping Operations authority. The CSPA also prohibits
the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment to
such governments. Beginning October 1, 2022, and effective throughout Fiscal
Year 2023, these restrictions will apply to the listed countries, absent a
presidential waiver, applicable exception, or reinstatement of assistance
pursuant to the terms of the CSPA. The determination to include a government
in the CSPA list is informed by a range of sources, including first-hand
observation by U.S. government personnel and research and credible reporting
from various UN
entities, international organizations, local and international
NGOs, and international and domestic media outlets. 2022
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT | 51 The 2022 CSPA List
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