Good News? Part One

Yeah, pretty good as these things go. Human Rights Watch reports that

[u]nder a new law signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States.... The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts.

Child Soldiers Accountability Act makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were recruited or served as soldiers outside the United States. The law imposes penalties of up to 20 years, or up to life in prison if their action resulted in the child’s death. It also allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers.

The law, of course, only applies to people who are in the US. Which is good under the "we shouldn't be cops of the world" argument, but still I can't help but remember that when it came to drugs, the fact that Manuel Noriega was in Panama was no bar to an invasion there to "arrest" him. The official policy was, literally and in so many words, "we will come get you" if you violate US law. I guess it says something about priorities.

Still, as noted by HRW's children’s rights advocate Jo Becker, the law is at least symbolically significant

"because it no longer leaves the prosecution of child recruiters to international tribunals and the national courts of conflict-affected countries.... The United States is stepping up to hold these war criminals accountable in its own courts.”

While I seriously doubt there will be any such prosecutions in the foreseeable future, it's still nice to see the US on the morally correct side for once.

(Link via WorldPress.org.)