32 114. Furthermore, international humanitarian law calls for the adoption of restrictions regarding the recruitment of children into the armed forces. In that respect, Article 38, paragraph 3, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets forth that “States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years, States Parties shall endeavor to give priority to those who are oldest.”49 115. The International Red Cross and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights have made recommendations to eradicate the recruitment of people under the age of 18 into the armed forces.50 116. On May 25, 2000, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict was approved.51 Said Protocol was ratified by Paraguay on September 27, 2002, through Law No. 1897 of May 22, 2002. 117. Article 2 of said Protocol prohibits the compulsory recruitment of minors under the age of 18 into the armed forces.52 In exceptional cases of recruitment of minors between 15 and 18 years of age, Article 3 of the Protocol sets forth: 1. 2. 3. States Parties shall raise the minimum age for the voluntary recruitment of persons into their national armed forces from that set out in article 38, paragraph 3, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, taking account of the principles contained in that article and recognizing that under the Convention persons under the age of 18 years are entitled to special protection. Each State Party shall deposit a binding declaration upon ratification of or accession to the present Protocol that sets forth the minimum age at which it will permit voluntary recruitment into its national armed forces and a description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced. States Parties that permit voluntary recruitment into their national armed forces under the age of 18 years shall maintain safeguards to ensure, as a minimum, that: a. Such recruitment is genuinely voluntary; b. Such recruitment is carried out with the informed consent of the person’s parents or legal guardians; c. Such persons are fully informed of the duties involved in such military service; 49 Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of November 20, 1989. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Paraguay in 1990, through Law No. 57/90. 50 In September 1999, the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent established the need to exclude minors under the age of 18 from armed hostilities. The UN Commission on Human Rights, through Resolution 1999/80 on the rights of the child, established “[t]he urgent need to raise the current minimum age limit set by article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the recruitment and participation of any person in armed conflicts.” 51 UN, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, supra note 17. 52 UN, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, supra note 17.