1a.) In 1987 a small group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) emerged in Northern Uganda. The leader of the group is currently Joseph Kony, who declares himself as a “prophet” and “messenger of the spirits”cite your source. The goal of Kony and the LRA is unclear as they claim they are looking for “peace” yet their actions continue to contradict what they are saying. Over the course of the last twenty years, groups under Konys command have killed thousands of innocent people, and displaced up to 40,000 (Johnson). When the LRA was at its prime, it had multiple thousands of active troops throughout countries such as Northern Uganda, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, as well as Asas, South Sudan, where they …show more content…
Over the course of 20 plus years, Uganda has relied mostly on their army to keep the LRA under control, however, this was not always successful. Outside of the war, their help with former soldiers has been somewhat effective. Programs such as Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GSCO) was created to help former soldiers recover and get back on their feet. This center provides rehabilitation and therapy for women and children affected by the LRA. These centers have been said to help allow ex soldiers to become mentally stable once more. One of the employees at these centers said that “We are [happy] because these centres are still relevant and doing the good work of receiving, counselling and even treating the injured children and older returnees, [and fostering amicable co-existence with these people [former rebels] who once tormented them” (Alobi). Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, several of these centers have been shut down. Besides GSCO, the only said the former soldiers receive is from the Ugandan government. The items given to these victims include a small amount of money, a mattress, blanket, hoe, cups, and growing seeds (Now people call me killer). This has been seen as ineffective because the soldiers still lack the rehabilitation they require, and the country is wasting money on a temporary fix …show more content…
All the crimes he commited where while he was still considered a minor. At age ten Ongwen was abducted from his home and forced to fight with the LRA. After several years he gained the respect of his superiors and was promoted a commander. Ongwen argues that he should not be prosecuted as he was forced to fight, and because he was a victim of child abduction, he has already been thoroughly punished (Nzwili). Many people, including Ongwen agree that children who have been appropriated by the LRA should not be held responsible for the misconducts they have committed under
The Sierra Leone Civil War was a savage conflict that would rage for over a decade, claiming the lives of 300,000 and displacing 2.5 million civilians. The Bite of the Mango and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier are firsthand accounts of children affected by the war. Mariatu Kamara had her hands severed and was left for dead. Ishmael Beah was conscripted by the government army to fight the rebel forces. Ishmael and Mariatu were both victims of the bloody Sierra Leone civil war, however their journeys to safety were vastly different.
“Child Soldiers Global Report 2001- Sierra Leone.” refworld. Child Soldiers International, 2001. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
The consequences of Sierra Leone civil war are children like Ishmael and his friends “by pass villages by walking through the nearby bushes” (Beach 37). By hiding behind bushes and sneaking by villages that is how they “would be safe and avoid causing chaos” (Beah 37). This civil war consequences were having people not only to be living in fear but fear of being caught or be in a village that gets under attack. Another consequence was losing loved ones, friends, and neighbors. But the final consequence was turning children and teenagers into child soldiers. (word count
Since Burundi’s independence in 1962, there have been two instances of genocide: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated government, and the 1993 mass killings of the Tutsis by the Hutu populace. Both of these events in Burundi received different levels of attention by the international community and the western media due to a lack of foreign governmental interest, political distraction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge the severity of these atrocities in Burundi. Interestingly, events of genocide occurring at times without these distractions received more foreign attention than those ignored due to these factors. Because of this, much of the western world is unaware of the Burundian genocide and events similar to it.
"Life after death: Helping former child soldiers become whole again." Haravrd School of Public Health. Harvard School of Public Health, 6 Oct 2011. Web. 22 Nov 2013. .
The acts of violence that were performed by rebels in Africa were horrific. Adults and children were murdered, mutilated, tortured, and raped. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone performed despicable acts of cutting off a people's body parts with machetes to instill fear in the community. If you were working in the diamond mines and not performing up to the standards of the rebels you would lose a body part as punishment. Rebels would continue to do this from one village to another in order “to take control of the mines in the area” (Hoyt). It is estimated that in Sierra Leone that over 20,000 people suffered mutilation. The acts that the rebels performed to these innocent victims was clearly a violation to their human rights. The RUF collected 125 million a year to fund their war on the government and the people of Sierra Leone.
Child soldier is a worldwide issue, but it became most critical in the Africa. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by some rebel groups and used as fighters, cooks, messengers, human shields and suicide bombers, some of them even under the aged 10 when they are forced to serve. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers. Most of them are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. As society breaks down during conflict, leaving children no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children feel that rebel groups become their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to avenge family members who have been killed by the war. Sometimes they even forced to commit atrocities against their own family (britjob p 4 ). The horrible and tragic fate of many unfortunate children is set on path of war murders and suffering, more nations should help to prevent these tragedies and to help stop the suffering of these poor, unfortunate an innocent children.
UNICEF locates the children who have been enlisted in rebel groups and frees them primarily through negotiation with governments of these countries and providing alternate opportunities for these children, such as education or paid labor.
“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.
Capturing children and turning them into child soldiers is an increasing epidemic in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah, author of the memoir A Long Way Gone, speaks of his time as a child soldier. Beah was born in Sierra Leone and at only thirteen years old he was captured by the national army and turned into a “vicious soldier.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) During the time of Beah’s childhood, a civil war had erupted between a rebel group known as the Revolutionary United Front and the corrupt Sierra Leone government. It was during this time when the recruitment of child soldiers began in the war. Ishmael Beah recalls that when he was only twelve years old his parents and two brothers were killed by the rebel group and he fled his village. While he and his friends were on a journey for a period of months, Beah was captured by the Sierra Leonean Army. The army brainwashed him, as well as other children, with “various drugs that included amphetamines, marijuana, and brown brown.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) The child soldiers were taught to fight viciously and the effects of the drugs forced them to carry out kill orders. Beah was released from the army after three years of fighting and dozens of murders. Ishmael Beah’s memoir of his time as a child soldier expresses the deep struggle between his survival and any gleam of hope for the future.
These are the words of a 15-year-old girl in Uganda. Like her, there are an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers in about thirty-six conflict zones (Shaikh). Life on the front lines often brings children face to face with the horrors of war. Too many children have personally experienced or witnessed physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, forced displacement, destruction of home, and massacres. Over the past ten years, more than two million children have been killed, five million disabled, twelve million left homeless, one million orphaned or separated from their parents, and ten million psychologically traumatized (Unicef, “Children in War”). They have been robbed of their childhood and forced to become part of unwanted conflicts. In African countries, such as Chad, this problem is increasingly becoming a global issue that needs to be solved immediately. However, there are other countries, such as Sierra Leone, where the problem has been effectively resolved. Although the use of child soldiers will never completely diminish, it has been proven in Sierra Leone that Unicef's disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program will lessen the amount of child soldiers in Chad and prevent their use in the future.
The newest country in the world is South Sudan, which gained its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, as a result of a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote. South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in Africa, although it has the third largest oil reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa. Though it is currently a sovereign state, South Sudan still faces issues that can disrupt its stability and eventually lead into the new nation’s first civil war.
The people of the Congo faced physical, psychological damage due to the violation of their human rights and the rape and other sexual violence, which contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The health care, education and legal systems are in shambles due to the ongoing violence of the war and are still a factor today. The UN still aid in trying to end the ongoing war that’s now in its thirteenth year it is the largest and longest lasting war to date with the uncontrollable attacks from the rebels. The rebels continue to kill and plunder the natural resources with impunity. The international and political support continues but their efforts have proven futile.
Life in other countries is worse than life in the United States and many other countries in the world. A country in Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world and the worst places to live. The country in Africa is Uganda. R ural Uganda is the worst part of the country which is where about 85 percent of the population lives. Uganda is a small country with a population of around 36,000,000, and half are under the age of 15. Uganda borders Lake Victoria, Kenya, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The capital of Uganda is Kampala and the President is Yoweri Museveni. Uganda is a very interesting country with how the life, health, education, and climate is which is why it’s one of the poorest countries and the worst place to live (Geography About.com).
Clearly, the country of Uganda is growing despite the many challenges it has faced over the years. From being a country of many spiritual trials to becoming a country where many missionary nurses would like to go Uganda has a come a long way. Although the people of Uganda are viewed as poor in the eyes of the world, they are spiritually rich in more ways than anyone can imagine. Now around most of Uganda is Christian and “Christianity is the largest religion.” (“Uganda.” Operation World)