Sign on-line Petition.
January 2015: The children’s commissioner for England has accused the armed forces of breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by recruiting soldiers from the age of 16.
In an interview with The Sunday Times to mark the imminent end of her five-year term, Maggie Atkinson said: “You are too young to join the armed forces at 16. The convention says you shouldn’t be a child soldier . . . If you were serious about the convention, you would not expect them to join the armed services until they are 18.”
What better way to commit our country to peace during the commemoration of World War One and remember the hundreds of thousands who died from the UK alone, including boy soldiers like Rifleman V J Strudwick who was killed at 15? Why is it that in 2014 the UK is the only country in Europe – and the only country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council – to recruit 16 year olds into its armed forces? Download paper copy of petition. To date we have 2,000 signatures on paper and around 1,700 on-line. Help us reach 10,000
Initiated by Pax Christi and supported by:
Baptist Peace Fellowship, Child Soldiers International, Christian CND, Columban Justice Peace & Integrity of Creation, Conscience, Fellowship of Reconciliation, ForcesWatch, Movement for the Abolition of War, National Justice & Peace Network, National Union of Teachers, Network for Peace, Northern Friends Peace Board, Peace Education Network, Peace Pledge Union, Quaker Peace & Social Witness, Student Christian Movement, URC Peace Fellowship,War Resisters International, Woodcraft Folk, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom
