To the Ambassadors of Colombia, Cuba, and Indonesia:

Your Excellency,

I am deeply concerned that, according to recent reports, parties to armed conflict in at least 22 countries may be recruiting or using children as soldiers, or are at serious risk of doing so. The United Nations Security Council, of which your state is a member, has taken decisive action to end this practice. However, to date, your government has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, an essential step toward stopping child recruitment.

The Optional Protocol, which came into force on 12 February 2002 and by October 2004 had been signed by 117 states and ratified by 85, sets 18 as the minimum age for participation in hostilities and for compulsory recruitment by government forces, and for any recruitment or use in hostilities by non-governmental armed groups. It also calls on states to raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment, and to implement strict safeguards for voluntary recruitment under 18.

I urge your government to ratify the Optional Protocol, without reservations and to setting 18 as the minimum age for all forms of military recruitment, as an essential step toward ending the use of children as soldiers.

Sincerely,

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