Practice Relating to Rule 135. Children
Section A. Special protection
France’s LOAC Teaching Note (2000) provides: “Particular attention shall be paid to the protection of … children”.
France’s LOAC Manual (2001) provides: “With concern about protection, … new-born babies … are assimilate to wounded and sick under humanitarian law.”
It further states: “The law of armed conflicts provides for special protection of the following persons: … children”.
According to a statement by the permanent representative of France before the UN in 1999, France considers that the age limit to be protected as a child (15 years) in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child is not satisfactory and that it should be raised to 18 years to ensure a better and more effective protection of children during conflicts.