Child Soldiers Should child soldiers be prosecuted or should they be given amnesty? There are thousands of child soldiers committing war crimes around the world in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, India Iraq, Israel, and more. For many reasons I believe that yes they SHOULD be prosecuted. Many child soldiers willingly join the armed forces. In their eyes, it is to follow in their families footsteps. In “ Child Soldier.Some words don't belong together.” It states that, “Children join for ideological reasons or to avenge the death of a family member,” Also, “Contrary to popular belief, a large portion of child soldiers volunteer,” And finally, “ did not turn them away when they came eager to fight,” However, children join willingly to avenge the death of a family member. Children would do anything to get revenge or save their family. Thus, makes them dangerous because they won't stop until they succeed in what they set out to do. …show more content…
An example in, “Analysis: should child soldiers be prosecuted for their crimes?Pg 1” states that, “ If minor children who have committed serious war crimes are not prosecuted, this could be an incentive for their commanders to delegate them to the dirtiest orders, aiming at impunity.” Also, “Summaative Essay Pg 2,” states that “ Child soldiers have been responsible for some of the most brutal acts in wartime such as rape, mutilation, and mass killings of innocent people,” First of all I would like to direct you to the second piece of evidence. Child soldiers are responsible for man unthinkable actions. These actions change the lives of many people. I believe that the commanders benefit most of all from child soldiers not being prosecuted. If child soldiers are not prosecuted this gives the commander, and the children, reason to think these crimes are okay. And they're
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
Over the past month or two we have been reading many articles and even the book “ Along Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah. These articles and this book have taken us into some child soldiers stories and what it was like having to participate in the war. These children were forced to take part in these crimes, they were brutally tortured, and many were shot because they didn’t obey their commanders. In my opinion I believe that child soldiers should be granted amnesty.
First of all the child soldiers/suicide bombers are located in many different continents all around the world. The majority is based in the Middle East and Africa: Burma, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Congo, Liberia, and also Sierra Leone (British Broadcasting Corporation World Watch). Being poor, disconnected from their families, or get a poor to no education make them more likely to become victims (Human Rights Watch). Girls make up an estimated 10-30% of the child soldiers in Uganda and Nepal (Do Something). Some join because they are too young to realize the consequences that war may bring upon them, and want to be a part of the army because of the weapons they use and uniforms they wear. Being bathed, fed, and properly clothed is another reason for them wanting to be a part of these groups, in which they would not receive during their every-day lives (British Broadcasting Corporation World Watch). The children that survive the war are captured by the rebel groups and are then converted into child soldiers, along with the kids who had just...
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
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.... ...
Although not everyone knows it, there is a huge tragedy that is, and has been, going on even in this exact moment. That tragedy is children being taken out of their ordinary lives, whether by force or not, away from their families and into battle. No matter how much these children went through in the wars, the question still remains: once the war is over, should they be granted amnesty, or be prosecuted? The answer to this comes from thorough research. Child soldiers should be granted amnesty because they are unaware of what they are doing, they need help rather than prosecution, and many are forced to fight.
“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.
Democracy is about choices, and conscription gives us no room to make a choice. Scientists have proven that teenagers haven’t fully develop their mental capacities and brains. If you ever wonder why something you couldn’t fully comprehend in sixth grade, “suddenly” made sense in 10th grade it might be because your brain was and still is developing. You see, there is a region in the brain called the frontal cortex, and it controls reasoning. This area doesn’t develop until later on. This is actually known as one of the reasons as to why teenagers are usually more impulsive than adults. Teenagers tend to act before they think (since the frontal cortex is in charge of this!). Where am I going with this? What effects could the experience of war have in such young undeveloped brains? How can we send these young minds out onto a battlefield when they can’t fully grasp the concept of war and its effects? If they aren’t reasoning and having an idea of what killing another person does to a human being, then they will not be able to understand the
As an example, in the article Child Soldiers it states “ More often than not, children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children have become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol” (Child Soldiers) As you can see, this shows how children have no control if they kill or not from either being threatened with death or being drugged. In addition, in the article The Child Soldier on Trial at Guantanamo it talks about how a child soldier got interrogated by guards where they told him he would be gang-raped and murdered if he didn’t obey (Prasow). This is another example of how these kids have to choose between life and death at such a young age. This is just one main reason why these kids deserve
There are more than 300,000 child soldiers in the world which is an astonishing number. They are forced into war, are criminals and do crimes such as forcing rape, killing, and recruiting other children. But the question is, should these child soldiers be given amnesty? No, and i'm going to tell you why.
Dear (to be determined) Child soldiers are fighting everywhere across the world as we speak, and I am writing to you, the International Criminal Court, to share my opinion on why child soldiers should be granted amnesty. While i respect your opinion on why they should be prosecuted, remember that they are still only kids. Some children like Ishmael Beah of Sierra Leone, Africa (who is not a child now, he is 37) who was 12 when he was forced to become a child soldier.
It is also a geostrategic and development issue. Child soldiers are usually depicted as victims. That’s accurate: Exploited, torn from their families, deprived of their education, and forced into battle, child soldiers are truly casualties of war.” (gates)They are then taken as a broken down child and ordered to do kill and them not knowing what there doing, they
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines “child” broadly as “every human being below the age of 18 years. This means that most of the “child soldiers are younger than the age of 18. International Criminal Court Article 26 prohibits the court from prosecuting anyone under the age of 18. “The Court shall have no jurisdiction over any person who was under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged commission of a crime.” (Article 26, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).
Child Soldiers: The use of children in the military. Child Soldiers have three different roles in armed conflict. They can take a direct part in hostilities, or they can be used for support, such as sexual slaves, lookouts, messengers, and spies. Also, they can be used in the political aspect of war. Because many children have been physically or mentally damaged by their participation in armed conflict, children should not have any involvement in any armed conflict and should be removed indefinitely from warfare. Every child has the right to go to school, free from violence. Children have been used in the military for hundreds of years.