Durbin, Coburn Bill to Deny Safe Haven to War Criminals Who Exploit Child Soldiers Goes to the Floor

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Durbin, Coburn Bill to Deny Safe Haven to War Criminals Who Exploit Child Soldiers Goes to the Floor

United States Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) announced today that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would make it a crime and a violation of immigration law to recruit or use child soldiers. The bill will be sent to the full Senate for consideration.

Last month, Durbin and Coburn introduced the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007, which would give the government the authority to prosecute, deport or deny admission to an individual who recruited or used child soldiers under the age of 15. This bill would close a loophole that was identified during a hearing Senator Durbin chaired in April, "Casualties of War: Child Soldiers and the Law," that dealt with the persistent use of child soldiers.

"The law provides special protections to children, the most vulnerable members of our society and often the first to be abused during war," Durbin said. "This bill's purpose is simple: it ensures that the United States will not be a safe haven for those who've exploited children as soldiers. I'm pleased the committee has unanimously approved this important bill and I hope that my colleagues will quickly pass it to show, once and for all, that the U.S. will in no way tolerate this abhorrent practice."

"It's tragic anyone would exploit children as soldiers," Coburn said. "Children should never participate in hostilities. This bill will help put an end to this tragedy by ensuring those who recruit or use child soldiers will not be able to seek shelter in the United States."

Children are currently fighting as soldiers in over twenty countries. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers and participate in all aspects of warfare. Many are recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death.

Earlier this year, Durbin introduced the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2007, which would ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to support governments or government sanctioned military and paramilitary organizations that use children as combatants. The bill would allow for U.S. military assistance to continue but only if the assistance is used to remedy the problem by helping countries successfully demobilize their child soldiers and professionalize their forces.

Senator Durbin became the Chairman of the first ever congressional committee dealing specifically with human rights this January. Senator Coburn is the committee's Ranking Member. The Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law has jurisdiction over all human rights law and polices, including genocide, human trafficking, war crimes and torture. The committee's next hearing will examine the enforcement of criminal and immigration laws that make certain human rights violations federal crimes and grounds for deportation or inadmissibility. This will be the first-ever Congressional hearing focused on the US government's enforcement of human rights laws.

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