The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified by the United Nations in 1948 under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. It was a great achievement of a war weary world, but it was simply a declaration. It has been given force by a number of international conventions which have the force of treaties. In the United States, once ratified, an international convention has the force of law.
One of the key conventions giving life to the Universal Declaration is the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are now 193 parties to this Convention, making it the most widely ratified international treaty in history.
The United States has not ratified the treaty. The principle reservation appears to be that were we to ratify it, we would no longer be able to recruit children under the age of 18 into the military. The Department of Defense, with an all volunteer policy, claims that it would be seriously handicapped in recruitment were in not able to recruit new school leavers, many of whom are under the age of 18.
In recent years we have learned more about the trauma of war. Not only do our soldiers suffer physical wounds and even death, but a significant portion of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from psychological problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; many wind up victims of substance abuse.
Do we really want to live in a society that subjects 17 year olds to those conditions. I do not! If we can not recruit enough adults to fight the wars that our leaders choose to fight, then let us tell those leaders to choose fewer wars.
The United States is coming to be viewed as a pariah state in refusing to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Let us at this new year resolve as a nation to do the right thing in this obvious case and as individuals to campaign for ratification.
Go the website of the Campaign for Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and sign its petition to President Obama!
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