Child Soldiers and Rights
Child Soldiers are an emerging issue. It is not new, it is slowly recieving more attention. The United States permits enlistments at 17 years. Many fighters clandestinely in many areas as the Congo are much younger and bear a high casualty rate.
Amnesty International
Child soldiers abandoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo
"When the mayi-mayi attacked my village, we all ran away. In our flight, the soldiers captured all the girls, even the very young. Once with the soldiers, you were forced to "marry" one of the soldiers. Whether he was as old as your father or young, bad or nice, you had to accept. If you refused, they would kill you. This happened to one of my friends. They would slaughter people like chickens. They would not even bury the bodies they slaughtered... I even saw a girl who refused to be "married" being tortured…”. - Jasmine, a 16 year-old girl who was recruited by the mayi-mayi armed group in South Kivu when she was 12. She now has a four-month-old baby.Under international law, the recruitment and use of children under 18 is prohibited, and the recruitment and use of children under 15 is a war crime.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it is estimated that children constitute up to 40 percent of some forces engaged in conflict - with girls making up about 40 percent of these children. At least 11,000 children are still with armed groups or unaccounted for - including the majority of girls taken by armed groups that remain unaccounted for - more than two years after the government launched a country-wide programme to release and reintegrate child soldiers into civilian life.The implementation of this programme for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) into civilian life of an estimated 150,000 fighters - including an estimated 30,000 children - has been hampered by a lack of political and military will, serious management and technical problems, and ongoing insecurity in the east of the country.
In some areas girls make up less than two percent of the children released from armed groups and passing through the DDR programme, as they are either abandoned or misidentified as "dependants" of adult fighters.Commanders and adult fighters often do not feel obliged to release girls, whom they consider as their sexual possessions. This discrimination is perpetuated by some government DDR officials, who uncritically regard such girls as "dependants", rather than as girls who are entitled to entry into the child DDR programme. Girls associated with armed forces and groups are often traumatised by years of abuse and sometimes have children of their own. However, little is being done to ensure that they have the necessary support and assistance to which they are entitled. Whether boys or girls - the majority of children released and reunited with their families or communities have received little or no support to return to civilian life, including adequate educational or vocational opportunities. Some were as young as six when they were first recruited.
Read more Read the full report: Children at War: Creating hope for their future
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Corporate History
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Amnesty International
Child soldiers abandoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo
"When the mayi-mayi attacked my village, we all ran away. In our flight, the soldiers captured all the girls, even the very young. Once with the soldiers, you were forced to "marry" one of the soldiers. Whether he was as old as your father or young, bad or nice, you had to accept. If you refused, they would kill you. This happened to one of my friends. They would slaughter people like chickens. They would not even bury the bodies they slaughtered... I even saw a girl who refused to be "married" being tortured…”. - Jasmine, a 16 year-old girl who was recruited by the mayi-mayi armed group in South Kivu when she was 12. She now has a four-month-old baby.Under international law, the recruitment and use of children under 18 is prohibited, and the recruitment and use of children under 15 is a war crime.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it is estimated that children constitute up to 40 percent of some forces engaged in conflict - with girls making up about 40 percent of these children. At least 11,000 children are still with armed groups or unaccounted for - including the majority of girls taken by armed groups that remain unaccounted for - more than two years after the government launched a country-wide programme to release and reintegrate child soldiers into civilian life.The implementation of this programme for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) into civilian life of an estimated 150,000 fighters - including an estimated 30,000 children - has been hampered by a lack of political and military will, serious management and technical problems, and ongoing insecurity in the east of the country.
In some areas girls make up less than two percent of the children released from armed groups and passing through the DDR programme, as they are either abandoned or misidentified as "dependants" of adult fighters.Commanders and adult fighters often do not feel obliged to release girls, whom they consider as their sexual possessions. This discrimination is perpetuated by some government DDR officials, who uncritically regard such girls as "dependants", rather than as girls who are entitled to entry into the child DDR programme. Girls associated with armed forces and groups are often traumatised by years of abuse and sometimes have children of their own. However, little is being done to ensure that they have the necessary support and assistance to which they are entitled. Whether boys or girls - the majority of children released and reunited with their families or communities have received little or no support to return to civilian life, including adequate educational or vocational opportunities. Some were as young as six when they were first recruited.
Read more Read the full report: Children at War: Creating hope for their future
technocrati tags:
Censorship
Corporate History
Ethics
Homeland Security
Human Rights
Journalism
Krishna
Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Law
Logic
posted by Kronin at 1:29 PM
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