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The international community had for many years ignored the issue of child soldiers. There are a number of treaties and conventions that address the issue to some extent; however, have loopholes on important subjects such as, defining the age of which one is considered a child. These treaties are in regards to international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and the international labor law. On June 21st 2000, it was established that children should not be recruited as child combatants by the government or any other rebel groups.
The more recent child soldiers’ protocol was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May 2000. What this protocol does is basically add on to international law, stating that it is important to establish an age below which one is considered a child - 18 years was the resulting consensus. The Convention on the Rights of a Child, which was the previous treaty to this protocol, had established a child to be anyone under 18 years of age, but had a clause stating that in armed conflict, the minimum age of recruitment can be as low as 15 years. Not all countries have signed this treaty, and so this is part of the reason why child soldiers are still being recruited. This protocol addresses and forces governments to be more diligent in enforcing laws against child soldiers. Nonetheless, it is not the only way to help implement these laws. Most of the positive change that has taken place to date has been as a result of pressure groups and advocacy from the people, i.e. the government will not bother signing a protocol unless there is pressure coming from the international community, as well the individuals composing it.
A key to understanding the dynamics of child soldiers is to understand war and conflict. There is a significant tie between war and poverty. Many of these conflicts in Africa that recruit child soldiers are fought over specific resources. Conflicts over these resources carry high profits for not just the war lords, but the international market as well. Perhaps if international diamond and gold companies stopped buying their materials from these sources, these conflicts would not be as rapidly growing as they presently are. This rapid growth means rapid recruitment. Not just recruitment, but cheap recruitment. Many of these children grow up into these structures and they themselves become the recruiters.
Another key aspect in understanding and trying to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers is arms trades. When reporting news from regions facing war and conflict, reporters often use the term “small arms” to describe the weapons used to carry out these operations. Using such a term bears serious implications for everyone involved in this fight against war and conflict. The term “small arms” does not give a sense of urgency and undermines the bloody realities of these arms. The international community continues to participate in arms trading with governments and regimes in Africa and around the world.
These small arms are not that small in real life and neither is their capacity to successfully carry out an operation to kill. Children as young as 8 years old are forcefully groomed to pick up these arms and use them against their masters’ enemies. Governments and the producers of these arms need to realize that they have a moral responsibility to make sure that these weapons are not illegitimately use. International law needs to openly address and discuss how better to regulate arms trade. This body has to come up with concrete solutions on how to deal with the governments and producers that fail to comply with the set regulations. At this point in time, with so much weaponry all over the place in the wrong hands, there should be a ban or confiscation of all of these arms that are already out in the hands of innocent children. A program like this one can be carried out by local governments to help keep child soldiers numbers decreasing.
There is a lot that can be done in the fight against the recruitment of child soldiers:
a) Sign petitions to stop child soldier recruitment still going on in places like Uganda.
b) Raise awareness in the media, at work, at school and at home.
c) Observe children’s days such as, the International Children’s Day, or the African Child Day.
d) Most importantly, find out if your government has signed the protocol.
The practice of recruiting and exploiting children is one that is unfortunately too common in our world. Innocent children in Africa and around the world are being subjected to armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS. The treatment of child soldiers in different African conflicts shares the same patterns, making it easier to detect and curb. One of the major reasons why these atrocities are still taking place is because the international community does not pressure these African governments to take serious action on this important matter. Many governments believe as a result that they can get away with this exploitation of children: others use international law’s neglect as a justification for continuing with thier recruiting.
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