Sri Lanka must investigate allegations that its military helps a militia fighting separatist Tamil Tiger rebels conscript child soldiers, or allow an independent international investigation, a human rights group said Wednesday.New York-based Human Rights Watch said the government's alleged complicity in the child abductions show...

Prosecutors charged a soldier Wednesday in connection with the death of a conscript who was allegedly beaten by two drunken officers and left overnight in a dog kennel.Monday's death of Pvt. Sergei Sinkonen from injuries inflicted two weeks ago again highlighted troubles in the Russian...

Russian military prosecutors pledged Monday to investigate allegations that young conscripts were forced into prostitution by fellow soldiers _ the latest claim of rampant abuse in the nation's armed forces. Andrei Gavrilyuk, a spokesman for St. Petersburg's military prosecutor, said his office would launch an...

South Korea's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it would seek to allow conscientious objectors to engage in social service instead of mandatory military terms.Conservatives reacted with concern, arguing the moves would undermine the country's conscription system, which is aimed at deterring aggression from communist North Korea.Under...

A military draft is a system where people are required to serve the military involuntarily. The first military draft in the United States took place during the Civil War. During the Civil War a man who was drafted had the choice to hire a replacement to fight for him. The draft was not seen again in the United States until 1948 when President Truman got congress to sign the Selective Service Act. The act called for all men to register for the draft.