Enlisting child stone throwers and soldiers is war crime

by MAURICE OSTROFF, Jerusalem Post
April 16, 2013

http://www.childrensrightsinstitute.org/233/enlisting-child-stone-throwers-and-soldiers-is

As stone-throwing Palestinian children have been in the news lately it is relevant to observe that enlistment of children to carry out these violent acts is in effect no different than enlisting child soldiers, which is a war crime in terms of Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The time has come to recognize that encouraging children to hurl stones and firebombs, as well as using them as human shields, as practiced by Hamas, cannot be described as anything but enlisting them to participate actively in hostilities and therefore a war crime.