33 d. Such persons provide reliable proof of age prior to acceptance into national military service. 118. The State ratified said Protocol on September 27, 2002. Upon said ratification, as established in Article 3(2) of said treaty, the State deposited an instrument whereby it established that the minimum age for recruitment into the Paraguayan military service was 16. Nevertheless, on March 14, 2006, the President of the Republic signed a declaration that would replace the one deposited with the ratification instrument, whereby it was established that voluntary or compulsory military service in Paraguay would not apply to minors under the age of 18. 119. In 1999, the Inter-American Commission issued a general recommendation for eradicating the recruitment of children and their participation in armed conflict.53 In said general recommendation, the Commission set forth that “[a]lthough laws in most member countries [of the Organization of American States] establish a minimum age of 18 for conscription; practices violating the human rights of children persist. The Commission finds such practices comparable to slavery and forced servitude.”54 120. Pursuant to these considerations, Article 3 of Convention No. 182 of the International Labor Organization concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor, sets forth that forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict will be considered a form of slavery or practice similar to slavery, which must be eradicated.55 121. Similarly, the Rome Statute of the International Court of Justice prohibits recruiting minors under the age of 15 into the armed forces and their active involvement in hostilities.56 122. The foregoing considerations reflect a trend in international law to avoid the incorporation of minors under the age of 18 into the armed forces and to guarantee, in all circumstances, that minors under the age of 18 do not participate directly in hostilities. 123. Despite this international trend, the domestic legislation of Paraguay prohibits recruiting minors under the age of 18 into the armed forces. 124. Law No. 569/75 of December 24, 1975, which provides for compulsory military service in Paraguay, in force at the time the minor Vargas-Areco was recruited, sets forth that compulsory military service must be fulfilled by males aged 18 to 19.”57 53 ICHR, Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1999, Chapter 6, Recommendation for eradicating the recruitment of children and their participation in armed conflicts, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106Doc. 3, of April 13, 2000, page 1619. 54 ICHR, Recommendation for eradicating the recruitment of children and their participation in armed conflicts, supra note 53, page 1620. 55 WTO, Convention on the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor, approved on June 17, 1999, ratified by Paraguay on March 7, 2001, Article 3(a). 56 Rome Statute of the International Court of Justice, approved on July 17, 1998, in force since July 1, 2002, Articles 8(2)(b)(xxvi) and 8(2)(e)(vii). 57 Law No. 569/75, supra note 13, section 3(a) and 15.