Child Soldiers

I specifically began my essay with this pertinent question to set into play what I am to debate, that being: should child soldiers in various conflict areas throughout the world stand on trial for crimes against humanity? In order to fully understand the issue at hand we must first understand the concept of a “child soldier”, their function and motives. Secondly, the idea of Human Rights needs to be incorporated into the issue. Thirdly, what are considered crimes against humanity and do they apply in this particular issue? Then once all the above criteria has been carefully analysed, a clear, logical and in depth answer can be provided as well as possible alternatives or solutions regarding this very serious and prevalent concern.

So, what exactly are “child soldiers”? A definition from the United Nations Organisation terms it as follows: While there is no precise definition, the UN considers a child soldier any person under the age of 18 who is a member of or attached to government armed forces or any other regular or irregular armed force or armed political group, whether or not an armed conflict exists. Child soldiers perform a range of tasks including participation in combat, laying mines and explosives; scouting, spying, acting as decoys, couriers or guards; training, drill or other preparations; logistics and support functions, portering, cooking and domestic labour; and sexual slavery or other recruitment for sexual purposes.

It has become apparent that in our modern-day world Children under 15 years of age are known to be serving in government or opposition forces in at least 25 conflict zones. Generally, however, child soldiers are statistically invisible as governments and armed opposition groups deny or downplay their role. But they are indeed used, and widely used at that. A series of 24 case-studies on child soldiers, covering conflicts over the past 30 years, makes it clear that tens of thousands of children, a number of which who are under the age of 10, have been recruited into armies around the world. The problem is most prevalent in Africa, in countries such as Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan to name a few. Children are also used as soldiers in various Asian countries (Nepal, Sri Lanka) and in parts of Latin America (Colombia), Europe and the Middle East (Iraq). So now we have a basic understanding of a child soldier, let us link it with Human Rights.

Do you know what Human Rights are? According to the Wikepedia Dictionary human rights can be defined as follows:

“Human rights are the idea that people should have just because they are . These rights are seen as universal, which means they are meant for everyone, no matter what their , , , , , , beliefs (or any other kind of beliefs), , , , or .”

This means that everyone is entitled to certain rights – simply because they are human beings. They are rights because they are things you are allowed to be, to do or ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Do you know what Human Rights are? According to the Wikepedia Dictionary human rights can be defined as follows:

This means that everyone is entitled to certain rights – simply because they are human beings. They are rights because they are things you are allowed to be, to do or to have. These rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you. They are also there to help people get along with each other, to diminish evil and hurt, and live in peace.

BUT. When human rights are not followed, wrongdoings such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery occur.

Every country has slightly different ideas and forms of basic human rights, but the most common and agreed upon are:

Right to live, exist.

To work for anyone (not be a )
To own property
Speech
Security
Safety from violence
Protection from the law
Not being arrested unless there is reason to think someone has committed a crime
Having a fair
To be seen as innocent, even if a person is arrested, until the person is found to be guilty by a fair court
To be a citizen of a country
To vote
To seek if a country treats you badly
To think freely
To believe and practice the religion a person wants
To (speak against) a government or group
To a basic standard of living (food, shelter, clothing, .)
Education
Health care ( care)

So now, are child soldiers infringers of, or victims, in Human Rights? I believe that they are both. They are infringers of this right for the mere fact that they are tools of terror, used to commit atrocities by rebel organizations and groups, puppets on strings that are used to do the dirty work of fanatic radicals. In doing so, they violate or infringe other people’s lives, such as the right to have safety from violence, security, not being arrested unless there is reason to think someone has committed a crime, and of course, man’s right to LIFE. They loot, pillage, steal and murder hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians simply because they were ordered to, often ignorantly unaware of the consequences of their actions.

These child soldiers are predominantly found in countries known as conflict areas. These are areas where tension, struggle, and dispute are rife, mostly stemming from political discord amongst inhabitants of the countries, leading to civil war. They fight for the control of these countries or the trade/commerce of these nations, and the supposed “liberation” and “freedom” of its people. Child soldiers are used as a large part of the offensive units of these political movements, but are these justified reasons to send kids who are barely beyond the age of reason, into wars, killing hundreds of people and committing horrific crimes against humanity? No, most certainly not! It appears as though these child soldiers are as much a victim of child infringement as the innocent who suffer their death at the hands of these unaware kids. Children are often “press-ganged” from their own neighbourhoods where local militia or village leaders are forced to offer a number of soldiers to the militia. In the Sudan, children as young as 12 have been rounded up from buses and cars. In Guatemala, youngsters have been grabbed from streets, homes, parties, and even violently removed from churches. In the 1990s, the Ethiopian military practiced a 'vacuum cleaner' approach, recruiting boys, sometimes at gunpoint, from football fields, markets, and religious festivals or on the way to school.

Often censured is the fact that children are often deliberately brutalized in order to harden them into more ruthless soldiers. In some conflicts, children have been forced to commit atrocities against their own families. Here is an extract from an interview with a twelve year old boy named Martin, in Uganda:

“Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers couldn’t serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old.”
Who in fact is the real devil in this issue!? In Sierra Leone, for example, the Revolutionary United Front (as shown in our studied film “Blood Diamond”) forced captured children to take part in the torture and execution of their own relatives, after which they were led to neighbouring villages to repeat the slaughter. Elsewhere, before battle, young soldiers have been given amphetamines, tranquillizers and other drugs to "increase their courage" and to dim their sensitivity to pain.

Then again, some children become soldiers simply to survive. In war-ravaged lands where schools have been closed, fields destroyed, and relatives arrested or killed, a gun is a meal ticket and a more attractive alternative to sitting home alone and afraid. A child does not fully understand the effects their actions have, simply because they do not have the EQ (emotional quotient) to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions. These children therefore, are victims too, and at the hands of their leaders or superiors, are seriously denied many basic human rights that they are entitled to. Rights such as freedom of thought are disposed of, as the children are brainwashed into believing ideals and ideas that are not their own. They are also denied the right to an education, being drafted into a regime which cares not for a child’s educational well-being, only concerned for their ability to pull a trigger, take lives and create terror in order to push a point or get what they want.

This leads me to the third idea that needs to be addressed. Are these children committing crimes against humanity? I believe not. According to the International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity include crimes such as the extermination of civilians, enslavement, torture, rape, forced pregnancy, deportation, persecution on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender grounds, and enforced disappearances—but only when they are part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. The "widespread or systematic" qualification for crimes against humanity is very important, as it provides a higher threshold and differentiates it from random acts of violence—such as rape, murder, or even torture—that could be carried out, perhaps even by soldiers in uniform, but which may not actually qualify as crimes against humanity. One could say that by pure definition, child soldiers are accountable for their actions of violence and terror, but I believe this would be an incorrect judgement to make. These people are child soldiers. The word child is the key in my point. Certainly, they are guilty of murder, theft, corruption and other atrocities, but these kids are not to be punished as an average soldier or adult would be. I believe their punishment should not be as severe as it would be for one who is over the age of 18 and therefore legally responsible. These children have been brainwashed into believing what they have been told, and because young children are very easily influenced or swayed, they are often mislead without them fully realizing their horrific actions. They are also pushed into it, with the alternative being a near certain life of fear and struggle, often leading to a gruesome and untimely death.

Therefore, after careful analysis of the facts and ideas given, I believe that these child soldiers should stand trial for the atrocities they had committed, child or not, they have committed crimes. Just as a juvenile delinquent must face trial after having transgressed, these children must stand trial. But I believe, that even though these children have committed crimes against humanity, they should receive different treatment to that of a normal transgressor, because being children, they are not fully and wholly aware of their errors. I believe they should receive treatment and counseling at a facility similar to that of a juvenile hall, where they may be re-taught about the morals and ethics of life, about right and wrong, and to be brought back into a world where they no longer have a machine gun as their comfort, but rather a teddy bear. Where their most important tool is not an automatic weapon, but their imaginations. Where their goal is not to kill, but to learn and love. And finally, where they are not just another faceless puppet under the control of fanatics, but rather a face, a name, an identity devoted to the promotion of peace and harmony in a struggling world.

Child Soldiers

This is a preview of the whole essay

Document Details

Related Essays

Child poverty

Child development introduction

Introductory visit child development

child development coursework visit 2