Oman

National recruitment legislation and practice

The Basic Law (constitution) of Oman stated that “No institution or group may set up military or paramilitary organizations. The Law regulates military services, general or partial mobilization and the rights, duties and disciplinary rules of the Armed Forces, the public security organizations and any other forces the State decides to establish” (Article 14). Oman stated in its declaration to the Optional Protocol that “the minimum legal age for enlistment in the Ministry of Defence and the Sultan’s armed forces is eighteen years; that a birth certificate or a certificate of ascertainment of age from the competent governmental authorities constitutes the precautionary measure for ensuring compliance with that requirement; and that enlistment is optional, not compulsory”.1 However, this appeared to be at variance with Oman’s May 2006 Second Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which the government stated that children between the ages of 15 and 18 could volunteer for the armed forces. The report said that preference was usually given to those who were oldest, who were considered for “an extremely limited number of branches of the armed forces”. The report further stated that “the current law does not permit the direct involvement of children under 15 years of age in any war”.2