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Recruitment of child soldiers
Human rights violations against children in wartime
Guy goodwin-gill and ilene cohn, child soldiers, the role of children in armed conflicts, a study on behalf of the henry dunant institute, clarendon p...
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A child soldier is anyone under the age of eighteen who is a member of government armed forces or any other armed group. Child soldiers should not be given amnesty, therefore, they should be prosecuted. This is because they have as much responsibility for their actions as everyone else, and most kids volunteer to become soldiers out of patriotism or desire to average the death of their families. Initially, child soldiers are no different than child criminals, they have as much responsibility as everyone else and they should be held responsible for their own actions. Debatewise.org explains that, “If a child can be convicted for murder under national law, they should also be held responsible for international crimes.” (http://debatewise.org/debates/3002-child-soldiers-prosecution/).
In the novel All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque one of the major themes he illustrates is the effects of war on a soldier 's humanity. Paul the protagonist is a German soldier who is forced into war with his comrades that go through dehumanizing violence. War is a very horrid situation that causes soldiers like Paul to lose their innocence by stripping them from happiness and joy in life. The symbols Remarque uses to enhance this theme is Paul 's books and the potato pancakes to depict the great scar war has seared on him taking all his connections to life. Through these symbols they deepen the theme by visually depicting war’s impact on Paul. Paul’s books represent the shadow war that is casted upon Paul and his loss of innocence. This symbol helps the theme by depicting how the war locked his heart to old values by taking his innocence. The last symbol that helps the theme are the potato pancakes. The potato pancakes symbolize love and sacrifice by Paul’s mother that reveal Paul emotional state damaged by the war with his lack of happiness and gratitude.
As defined by Timothy Webster, author of Babes with Arms: International Law and Child Soldiers, a child soldier is “any person under the age of eighteen who is or has been associated with any kind of regular or irregular armed group, including those who serve as porters, spies, cooks, messengers and including girls recruited for sexual purposes (Webster, 2007, pp.230). As this definition reveals, a child soldier is more than simply a child with a gun. It is estimated that there are approximately 300,000 children under the age of 18, being used as soldiers in 33 conflicts currently, and this figure continues to rise (Webster, 2007, pp.227). Similarly, in 1999 it was estimated that more than 120,000 children, under the age of 18, were used as soldiers to fight ...
The first reason these kids shouldn’t be prosecuted or punished in any way is because it wasn’t their choice to be a soldier to begin with. According to Child Soldiers, Prosecution, most kids were forced to fight and had no choice of weather to enlist or not. There are about 200,000 child soldiers worldwide state's Armed and Underage, (Gettleman) and these kids are doing things their adolescent brains
In the early 1990s, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone, led by former military agents invaded Sierra Leone from Liberia. The RUF initially said they were leading a political movement. Their main goals were to promote liberation, democracy, and freedom. They said they wanted justice and equality for all civilians living in Sierra Leone. In spite of what the RUF said they were doing, they were forceful and left trails of murder in their path. When civilians lacked support for the “political revolution”, the RUF started a decade long war that ravaged the country as a whole. The RUF developed a sense of structured, militarized violence. It created a climate of opportunities for average civilians to obtain cheap weapons. With the greater access to weapons for civilians and the RUF, the politics became more militarized also. As the war waged on, poverty rose and people began to resort to looting of national resources. Laws diminished and seemed to lack any strength against the brute force of the RUF and their civilian followers (Denov, 2010).
“This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs, and wielding AK-47s” (Beah). Innocent, vulnerable, and intimidated. These words describe the more than 300,000 children in nations throughout the world coerced into combat. As young as age seven, boys and girls deemed child soldiers participate in armed conflict, risking their lives and killing more innocent others. While many individuals recollect their childhood playing games and running freely, these children will remember “playing” with guns and running for their lives. Many children today spend time playing video games like Modern Warfare, but for some children, it is not a game, it is reality. Although slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago, the act of forcing a child into a military position is considered slavery and is a continuously growing trend even today despite legal documents prohibiting the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict. Being a child soldier does not merely consist of first hand fighting but also work as spies, messengers, and sex slaves which explains why nearly 30 percent of all child soldiers are girls. While the use and exploitation of these young boys and girls often goes unnoticed by most of the world, for those who have and are currently experiencing life as a child soldier, such slavery has had and will continue to have damaging effects on them both psychologically and physically.
Children are usually viewed as young people that do not have very much to think about, or have much responsibility. That is not the case for these individuals. In fact, child soldiers/suicide bombers are almost the exact opposite. A child soldier is defined as “anyone under the age of 18 who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity” (Human Rights). They are put through hardship in which they do not deserve. Kids should not have these images in their head this young. They should not have to go through this abuse either. Children are abused and mistreated all around the world, and child soldiers/suicide bombers are one of the worst circumstances.
A child soldier is a child who has been abducted and forced to fight in a conflict in which they would not typically be involved in. Child soldiers have their relatively normal childhood taken away if they are abducted. Instead of playing with the other children, they are forced to murder them. Many are forced to watch the people they once knew be tortured and they may even take part in the act. Child soldiers are internationally banned, yet many countries still utilize them to this day. Uganda is one country in which they are used. The use of children in armed combat in Uganda sheds light on the fact that the concept of power is indeed a double-edged sword.
Before it can be decided whether or not to forgive child soldiers, the question, “What is a child soldier?” must be asked. A child soldier, is a person under the age of 18 who is being used, and most often being forced, to fight other people. Some may ask, “How can you force a child to fight if they do not want to?” A better question to ask would be, “Who wants to?” you may think that no child would want to fight, but in their shoes it might be a different story. They have probably lost everything; their homes, food, water, and their safety, so when they see the opportunity to have these things again- they are going to take it. Which is my first reason child soldiers should be forgiven and given amnesty on certain levels. Also, after
Imagine being given a gun and drugs and forced to kill on demand or be killed. This is the life of a child soldier in a nutshell. There is no question that child soldiers should be given amnesty because they are being forced to do things against their will and hardly have a choice of what they are doing. A child in a village doesn’t get to decide if their village is attacked and they are made a soldier. It is wrong that someone, especially a child, should be held accountable for something they can’t control except to lose their own life instead.
Shockingly, many of them have often been spotted carrying very sophisticated weapons, and many weapons that can take down planes. child soldier is detrimental to peace and to children who are the future (British Job p6). most people are wondering why children are used as soldiers. the most basic reason is children are more obedient than adults, they can almost carry out every order from their commander.... ...
Though the use of child soldiers is a global concern, the highest numbers have been reported mainly in Africa and Asi...
A child soldier is defined as someone who is under eighteen years of age and is actively fighting in war. It is estimated by UNICEF that some 300,000 child soldiers, both boys and girls, are currently fighting in wars. A majority of children are turned into child soldiers through recruitment or force while others join because they live in a poverty stricken area or a war zone. (UNICEF) Most child soldiers range ...
By definition, a child soldier is any person below 18 years of age who is recruited or used by an armed force in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, coo...
The awareness of the international community needs to be fostered to press that child soldiers are wrong and would eliminate a generation in the process. Up until now, the international public pressure has experience several successes, some countries and armed rebel groups have agreed and committed themselves to return the children and not to recruit them as soldiers or part of hostilities anymore. Even so, monitoring of the commitments need to be done seriously. Education and rehabilitation program can also start to enter the conflicting regions. All in all, the children’s rights movement against child soldiers needs the support from the international public to press the armed groups to stop recruiting
Under international law, the use of children under 18 in any armed conflict is illegal, and under 15 is considered a war crime. This is to preserve the children's human rights, by protecting them from involvement in armed combat are ensuring their wellbeing and freedom. However, children in 30 different conflicts are sent to fight in various armed forces, some as young as 8 being put into life threatening and mentally damaging situations. By internationally agreed definition, a child soldier is a "...