22 U.S.C. § 2370c–1 — Prohibition
submitted 18 years ago by Pub. L. 110-457 to r/title-22-FOREIGN-RELATIONS-AND-INTERCOURSE · 691 words · no verdicts yet
The United States generally may not provide specified military assistance or licenses to governments that recruit or use child soldiers. The President may waive or restore assistance under certification rules, and limited exceptions cover child-soldier programs, military professionalization, and peacekeeping.
(a) Subject to (b)–(f), the authorities in §§ 2321j, 2347, and 2348 or § 2763 may not provide assistance, and direct commercial military-equipment sales licenses may not be issued, to a government identified for the most recent year as having government forces, police, security forces, or supported armed groups—including paramilitaries, militias, and civil-defense forces—that recruit or use child soldiers.
(b)(1) The State Secretary must list violating governments subject to the prohibition in the § 7107(b) report. (2) Within 45 days after that report, the Secretary must notify each listed government; as soon as practicable after doing so, the Secretary must notify the appropriate congressional committees.
(c)(1) The President may waive the prohibition if it is in the United States national interest and the President certifies that the government is taking effective, continuing steps to address child soldiers. (2) Within 45 days after each waiver, the President must notify the committees and explain it.
(d) The President may restore otherwise prohibited assistance after certifying that the government has an action plan and actual steps toward compliance and policies and mechanisms to prevent future government or supported use of child soldiers and ensure children are not recruited, conscripted, or otherwise compelled to serve.
(e)(1) The President may provide § 2347 assistance through the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies or the Naval Post-Graduate School’s Center for Civil-Military Relations, and nonlethal supplies as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 2557(d)(1)(B), after certifying that the government is reasonably demobilizing child soldiers, reasonably providing demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration help within its resources, and the United States assistance will directly support military professionalization. (2) This exception may last no more than five years for a country.
(f) The § 2348-related limitation does not apply to programs supporting military professionalization, security-sector reform, greater respect for human rights, peacekeeping preparation, or child-soldier demobilization and reintegration.
Subject to subsections (b) through (f), the authorities contained in sections 2321j, 2347, and 2348 of this title or section 2763 of this title may not be used to provide assistance to, and no licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment may be issued to, the government of a country that is clearly identified, pursuant to subsection (b), for the most recent year preceding the fiscal year in which the authorities or license would have been used or issued in the absence of a violation of sections 2370c to 2370c–2 of this title, as having governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces, or government-supported armed groups, including paramilitaries, militias, or civil defense forces, that recruit or use child soldiers.
The Secretary of State shall include a list of the foreign governments that have violated the standards under sections 2370c to 2370c–2 of this title and are subject to the prohibition in subsection (a) in the report required under section 7107(b) of this title.
Not later than 45 days after the date on which each report is submitted under section 7107(b) of this title, the Secretary of State shall formally notify each government included in the list under paragraph (1) that such government is included in such list.
As soon as practicable after making all of the notifications required under subparagraph (A) with respect to a report, the Secretary of State shall notify the appropriate congressional committees that the requirements of subparagraph (A) have been met.
The President may waive the application to a country of the prohibition in subsection (a) if the President determines that such waiver is in the national interest of the United States and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the government of such country is taking effective and continuing steps to address the problem of child soldiers.
Not later than 45 days after each waiver is granted under paragraph (1), the President shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of the waiver and the justification for granting such waiver.
The President may provide to a country assistance otherwise prohibited under subsection (a) upon certifying to the appropriate congressional committees that the government of such country—
has implemented measures that include an action plan and actual steps to come into compliance with the standards outlined in subsection (b); and
has implemented policies and mechanisms to prohibit and prevent future government or government-supported use of child soldiers and to ensure that no children are recruited, conscripted, or otherwise compelled to serve as child soldiers.
The President may provide assistance under section 2347 of this title through the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies or the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Post-Graduate School, and may provide nonlethal supplies (as defined in section 2557(d)(1)(B) of title 10), to a country subject to the prohibition under subsection (a) upon certifying to the appropriate congressional committees that—
the government of such country is taking reasonable steps to implement effective measures to demobilize child soldiers in its forces or in government-supported paramilitaries and is taking reasonable steps within the context of its national resources to provide demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration assistance to those former child soldiers; and
the assistance provided by the United States Government to the government of such country will go to programs that will directly support professionalization of the military.
The exception under paragraph (1) may not remain in effect for a country for more than 5 years.
The limitation set forth in subsection (a) that relates to section 2348 of this title shall not apply to programs that support military professionalization, security sector reform, heightened respect for human rights, peacekeeping preparation, or the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 110–457, title IV, § 404, Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5089; Pub. L. 113–4, title XII, § 1208, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 142; Pub. L. 115–425, title II, § 212(b), Jan. 8, 2019, 132 Stat. 5485.)
- 2008Enacted · Pub. L. 110-457 · 122 Stat. 5089
- 2013Amended · Pub. L. 113-4 · 127 Stat. 142
- 2019Amended · Pub. L. 115-425 · 132 Stat. 5485
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 110-457 on 2008-12-23.
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