Botswana
Republic of Botswana
SUMMARY
CRC-OP-CAC:Declaration: / Signed
Other treaties ratified: / CRC; ILO 138; ILO 182; ICC; GC/AI+II
Legal minimum recruitment age:
Conscripts:
Volunteers: / n/a
18
Government Armed Forces: / Army: 8,500
Air Wing: 500
Police Mobile Unit: 1,500[1]
RECRUITMENT AND USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS:
No information received on recruitment of under-18s.
GOVERNMENT
The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was created in March 1977 as a result of the increasing militarization of the region (namely attacks from Rhodesia). Previously, Botswana had only a small paramilitary police in charge of internal security – the Police Mobile Unit or PMU. The BDF is under the political jurisdiction of the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, housed in the office of the President. On occasion, it has been called to assist the police in maintaining law and order.[2]
National Recruitment Legislation
Recruitment into the Botswana Defence Forces is on a voluntary basis.[3] Enlistment is regulated in Chapter 21(5) of the Botswana Defence Force Act, April 15, 1977. Section 17 states that "a person offering to enlist in the Regular Force shall be given a notice in the prescribed form setting out the questions to be answered on attestation and stating the general conditions of the engagement." An officer shall recruit a person only if he has been given such a notice, understands it and wishes to be enlisted.
The only formal age qualification is that the volunteer have the apparent age of 18. Section 26(1) of the Botswana Defence Force Act states that "if a person appearing before a recruiting officer for the purpose of being enlisted in the Regular Force knowingly makes a false answer to any question contained in the attestation paper and put to him by or by the direction of the recruiting officer, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P100 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both." However, it is not known if the attestation paper contains questions pertaining to the applicant’s age.
Military Training and Military Schools
The National Service programme (Tirelo Setshaba) established in 1980 consists primarily of community service and is not linked to the military. All O-level students between the ages of 16 and 20 are required to serve for 12 months.[4]
International Standards
Botswana signed the CRC-OP-CAC in September 2003. It acceded to the Convention in March 1995. It ratified ILO 138 in June 1997 and ILO 183 in January 2000. Botswana has acceded to the Rome Statute which established the ICC and is party by accession to the Geneva Conventions (March 1968) and both Additional Protocols (May 1979).
QUESTIONS TO STATE REPRESENTATIVES
· Can the government clarify the laws, regulations and practice relating to national service and conscription – especially those relating to the establishment of actual age of volunteers into the Botswana Defence Force?
· Can the government provide up to date figures on the numbers of under-18s currently serving in government military and paramilitary forces?
· Are girls under the age of 18 currently being recruited into government military or paramilitary forces?
RECOMMENDATIONS
· The government of Botswana should ratify the CRC-OP-CAC and declare its commitment to a straight-18 standard for recruitment.
· The government should take steps to ensure that domestic legislation and military regulations do not permit the recruitment and use of under-18s.
[1] International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2003-2004, October 2003, p.206.
[2] Molomo, M.G., 2001. "Civil-Military Relations in Botswana's Developmental State." African Studies Quarterly 5(2): 3. [online] - URL: http://web.africa.ufl.edu
[3] Report of the Secretary-General, UN doc. E/CN.4/2000/55
[4] Glaletsang Maakwe, Director of Tirelo Setshabe, "National service programs and proposals, Botswana", paper submitted for the conference on National youth service: a global perspective (Wisconsin, June 1992), Revised 22 September 1997. See http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/ahugu/NCYS/first/1-Bostwana.html