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CyberDodo and child soldiers (2-30)

No to child soldiers 2/2

How can we prevent children from engaging in battle ?

In addition to the family-related factors indicated above, there are a number of other facilitating factors influencing the participation of children in armed conflict, among them drugs. It is a shocking situation whereby enlisted children are frequently drugged in order to muddle their comprehension of the inacceptable reality which has become their life, including the daily risk of death an addiction provides them, once and again, with the will to fight.

There is another factor contributing to the participation of children in war : arms themselves ! There are hundreds of millions of arms dispersed throughout the world, facilitating the relatively easy use thereof by children. According to Unicef, there were over 500 million arms in free circulation in 2000.

Finally, cultural factors may also play a defining role in the emergence of child soldiers in societies that are largely militarised and/or deeply bellicose (From latin bellum = war or bellicosus = warrior). In these countries, a cult of violence and the prevalence of army-worship practically incite children to « naturally » fight, and as such, legitimate recourse to their participation during conflict. What's more, insofar as schools exist, their curriculum is largely destined at the indoctrination of children a volatile snare is laid bare at their feet.

Can a child soldier return to a normal life ?

It is possible to save these children ! The process which has been employed to traumatise and make combatants of children can be reversed. In a suitable environment in which they will be looked after, understood, supported and educated, these children are able to regain their confidence and sense of self that they lost and engage in rehabilitation on both the psychological and physical levels.

The above implies the engaged will of States and the adults running these countries, often times with links to those with whom they are going into battle. It moreover depends upon the economic capacity of these countries that often emerge ruined and ravaged after years at war. A viscious circle now complete, we once again encounter the very poverty that created conditions rife for the emergence of child soldiers.

Weapons, war : words impossible to associate with « child »

How can we prevent the existence of child soldiers ?

Each country is free to decide the minimum age for the recruitment of « voluntary » soldiers. For example, the United States and France have set the age at 17, albeit the majority of countries subscribing to 17 as the minimum age for recruitment as a soldier.

This despite the fact that the International Convention on the Rights of the Child have set the minimum age for armed combatants at 15, which is widely accepted as being much too young.

What are the consequences of wars on children and civilians ?

A French writer and poet by the name of Paul Valéry provided the following definition of war, which responds to this haunting question :

« War, killing among individuals who do not even know each other, for the profit of individuals who do know each other, but who do not kill » Paul Valéry

This report is dedicated to the children of Gaza, Israel, Iraq, Congo, Sudan, Lebanon, Africa, Tibet, Burma, Asia, etc., in other words, all of the children who suffer, live the madness that is the wars of adults.

Draft Text for Cyberdodo on OPAC

23 June 2009

Even though the Convention on the Rights of the Child says that no child under 15 years old can fight in a war, many people thought that 15 was still too young to fight. That is why, on 12 February 2002, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict was adopted. The Optional Protocol is an add on to the Convention on the Rights of Child that amends Article 38.

The Optional Protocol says that you must be 18 years old or over to fight in a war. This is now the international standard.

The Optional Protocol also contains some other important amendments to try and protect children from being exploited and harmed in wars. It prohibits the recruitment and use of children (anyone under the age of 18) by any armed group that is outside the government, for example rebel groups.

It also says that no-one under 18 can be forced to join government armed forces. Voluntary recruitment into national armed forces is still allowed but voluntary recruits must be above the age of 15 and they must not be forced in anyway, they must understand what they are volunteering for, they must have the consent of a parent or guardian and they must be able to prove their age.

Even if someone under the age of 18 volunteers to join the army, they are not allowed to be sent into war until they are 18.

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldier