11     ensuring that such recruitment is genuinely voluntary.13 Unlike the OPAC that sets a minimum age of 16 for voluntary recruitment, the African Children’s Charter is the first regional treaty to establish 18 as the minimum age for all [compulsory] military recruitment and participation in hostilities. Fortunately, there is no room within the provisions of the African Children’s Charter to accommodate the concept of voluntary recruitment.. As a result, all voluntary recruitments constitute a violation of Article 22 of the Charter. 43. The Complainants allege that children were recruited into the UPDF. In addition it was contended that some children who escaped or were captured or rescued from LRA captivity, were sometimes recruited into the armed forces or forced to take part in military operations. Furthermore, it was alleged that, against its own guidelines of not keeping rescued children in military barracks for more than 48 hours, sometime for the purpose of intelligence gathering by the UPDF, children are kept for more than 48 hours before being released to child protection agencies/NGOs. Furthermore, some children were allegedly used as guides to indicate LRA positions or weapons caches. It was also argued by the Complainants that the criteria established by law that was meant to verify the age of a person was not always followed, and even in instances where systemic irregularities in the recruitment process that allowed children to be recruited was found out, commensurate disciplinary and other appropriate measures were not taken on perpetrators. 44. The UPDF Act of 2005 explicitly introduced for the first time a legislative framework establishing 18 as the minimum age for enrollment/recruitment in the armed forces. In this respect, Section 52 of the UPDF Act states that “….no person shall be enrolled into the Defence Forces unless he or she has attained 18 years of age.” This is indeed a commendable legislative measure by the respondent State. However, as a result of its obligations under Article 1(1) read with Article 22, for the time between ratification of the Charter and 2005 that the Government of Uganda did not have a specific provision banning the recruitment of children. This constitutes non-compliance with the State’s obligations under the African Children’s Charter in particular Article 1(1) of the Charter. 45. As far as legislative gaps are concerned, the Committee also wants to draw the attention of the Government to Article 34 (4) of the 1995 Constitution which states that, “ Children...shall not be employed in or required to perform work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with their education, or to be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” Though this provision would have gone a long way to ensure that children are not involved in the army, there are certain set-backs in the same provision i.e. article 34 (5) states that the children being referred to in article 34 (4) are those below 16 years. This implies that those children                                                                                                                 13 By requiring informed consent of the person's parents or legal guardians; by informing recruits of the duties involved in military service; and by requiring reliable proof of age prior to acceptance into military service.