Children in Armed Conflict Law (Law No. 11 of 2013)

This law was enacted following Syria’s ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict on October 17, 2003.[1] The Law adds Article 488 to the Penal Code, prohibiting the recruitment of children or their involvement in combat operations of any kind. The law also applies to persons recruiting a child to use the child as a human shield or for any purpose relating to criminal conduct (Article 1 (1)). Punishment will be a lifetime of forced labour if the child suffers from a permanent disability as a result of the child’s participation in the hostilities or if the child was sexually abused or given drugs while being recruited.

Despite the enactment of this law, during the armed conflict, reports suggest that children were paid to fight for salaries of up to US$400 per month. The payment of relatively large salaries by Al-Nusrah Front, Free Syrian Army, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant created incentives for children and their parents under difficult economic circumstances.[2]

[1] For more information about the issues relevant to this law, see “Guide to Child’s Rights in Syria,” Norwegian Refugee Council and Syria Trust for Development, July 2023, https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/guidelines/legal-protection-of-children/syria-child-rights-guide_english.pdf.

[2] See, for example, “Northeast Syria: Military Recruitment of Children Persists,” Human Rights Watch, October 2, 2024, https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/02/northeast-syria-military-recruitment-children-persists; and “Despite Promises, The Recruitment of Children Continues in Syria,” Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, November 29, 2018, https://syriaaccountability.org/despite-promises-the-recruitment-of-children-continues-in-syria/.