A treaty effectively banning anyone under 18 from being drafted into an army or rebel force, or taking part in fighting, comes into force Tuesday following its ratification by the required number of signatory states.

But the treaty, signed by 94 countries, including Britain and the United States, lets states recruit youths below that age providing they offer their services voluntarily.

"The hypocrisy of the United States and Britain is one of the most disappointing aspects of this question," said Rory Mungoven, coordinator of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

Mungoven, who was in Geneva to attend a ceremony Tuesday to mark the treaty's taking effect, said London and Washington had played a key role in ensuring the 18-year rule did not apply across the board when the pact was approved after long negotiation in 2000.

He said that in some parts of the world, the distinction between voluntary and forced recruitment was difficult to draw and this would make it harder to monitor the treaty.

"It weakens the force of the...protocol. The line between voluntary and forced can be blurred," he told reporters.

The new pact is a protocol because it takes the form of new commitments attached to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child under which the minimum fighting age was 15.

Britain, Belgium, Canada, India and Australia are among states allowing young people to join their armed forces at 16, even if they are bound by their treaty obligations to do their utmost to keep them away from any fighting.

The United States is one of a number of states that will take volunteers at 17.

"They say that it is alright for us to recruit because we will do it responsibly. But there has to be one standard for all," Mungoven said.

He added that around 100 members of Britain's armed forces under the age of 18 had been killed in the past decade. Most of the deaths were in training, but some had come in fighting.

The Coalition, an umbrella alliance of human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and regional non-governmental organizations (NGOs), estimates that half a million children -- those below 18 -- currently form part of armed forces.

Of this total, some 300,000 are involved in fighting, much of it in Africa, according to figures released last June.

The protocol, which has been ratified by 14 countries, comes into force three months after being ratified by the 10th signatory state.

Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited

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