Child Soldiers
Aaron Hosszu
6054878
Professor L. Reidel
Conestoga College
INTRODUCTION Child Soldiers International (2015) defines child soldiers as any person who is below eighteen years of age or younger that has been recruited by a military force for the purpose of fighting. The child soldiers are also forced to act as cooks, porters, messengers, plant or remove land mines, act as spies, indulge on suicide missions, or forced into sexual slavery (Child Soldiers International, 2015). Hundreds of thousands of boys and girls are abducted or forced by government, rebel groups, or paramilitaries to participate in armed conflicts around the world. Other children elect to join out of fear, to escape poverty, or to guarantee …show more content…
Human rights have been established to protect children from being manipulated into warfare without knowing the dangers and abuses of war. International Human Rights law states that the legal minimum age for recruitment is eighteen years of age (Child Soldiers International, 2015). The recruitment of children below the age of eighteen is prohibited and is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court. These children’s human rights are being tarnished when they are forced from their home or school and directed to participate in hostilities. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into affect in May of 2000 (United Nations, 2015). This international treaty was established by the international community to provide protection for children’s rights. Anyone who violates this treaty is subjected to punishment under the Rome Statute and will be tried by the International Criminal …show more content…
Though the recruitment of child soldiers is an egregious violation, rebel groups target children because they can serve a variety of different purposes that can result in them being militarily effective. These purposes range from being more aggressive and obedient, to cheaper to maintain, and easy to manipulate (Haer & Bohmelt, 2015). After analyzing data from 1989-2010, they found that rebel forces increase ‘fighting capacities’ from the recruitment of children. In Canada, legislations and human rights are enforced and upheld to the absolute fullest of the law to ensure that everyone, no matter their age, is treated fairly. In certain undeveloped countries, corruption overtakes government officials in the form of rebel groups, leaving it impossible to enforce legislations. The Human Rights Watch has confirmed the illegal use of child soldiers in at least fourteen different countries worldwide (Human Rights Watch, 2015). The most well-known extremist group in the world ISIS, recruits children by offering them education in return of performing extremely dangerous tasks while encouraging children to volunteer for suicide missions. Worldwide there has been documentation from at least fourteen different countries who have exploited children as soldiers (Human Rights Watch, 2015). In Afghanistan children are used as suicide bombers and in Bruma they are abducted
Aaron Hosszu
6054878
Professor L. Reidel
Conestoga College
INTRODUCTION Child Soldiers International (2015) defines child soldiers as any person who is below eighteen years of age or younger that has been recruited by a military force for the purpose of fighting. The child soldiers are also forced to act as cooks, porters, messengers, plant or remove land mines, act as spies, indulge on suicide missions, or forced into sexual slavery (Child Soldiers International, 2015). Hundreds of thousands of boys and girls are abducted or forced by government, rebel groups, or paramilitaries to participate in armed conflicts around the world. Other children elect to join out of fear, to escape poverty, or to guarantee …show more content…
Human rights have been established to protect children from being manipulated into warfare without knowing the dangers and abuses of war. International Human Rights law states that the legal minimum age for recruitment is eighteen years of age (Child Soldiers International, 2015). The recruitment of children below the age of eighteen is prohibited and is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court. These children’s human rights are being tarnished when they are forced from their home or school and directed to participate in hostilities. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into affect in May of 2000 (United Nations, 2015). This international treaty was established by the international community to provide protection for children’s rights. Anyone who violates this treaty is subjected to punishment under the Rome Statute and will be tried by the International Criminal …show more content…
Though the recruitment of child soldiers is an egregious violation, rebel groups target children because they can serve a variety of different purposes that can result in them being militarily effective. These purposes range from being more aggressive and obedient, to cheaper to maintain, and easy to manipulate (Haer & Bohmelt, 2015). After analyzing data from 1989-2010, they found that rebel forces increase ‘fighting capacities’ from the recruitment of children. In Canada, legislations and human rights are enforced and upheld to the absolute fullest of the law to ensure that everyone, no matter their age, is treated fairly. In certain undeveloped countries, corruption overtakes government officials in the form of rebel groups, leaving it impossible to enforce legislations. The Human Rights Watch has confirmed the illegal use of child soldiers in at least fourteen different countries worldwide (Human Rights Watch, 2015). The most well-known extremist group in the world ISIS, recruits children by offering them education in return of performing extremely dangerous tasks while encouraging children to volunteer for suicide missions. Worldwide there has been documentation from at least fourteen different countries who have exploited children as soldiers (Human Rights Watch, 2015). In Afghanistan children are used as suicide bombers and in Bruma they are abducted