Should Child Soldiers Be Granted Amnesty?
Desolate, barren wastelands. The blistering heat of the blazing sun directly above. Scorching sand sinking between your toes. You are forced to be armed and alert at all times, and if you don’t fight, your family is as good as dead. These are no conditions for anyone to live in, right? Since 2001, child soldiers have been recruited in 21 armed conflicts worldwide, especially in African countries. Many people believe that child soldiers should be tried as adults and to the fullest extent for their crimes, but it is often not the children’s fault. Child soldiers should be granted amnesty, as long as they have been forced into the war if they are 16 or younger, if they will freely state that they did not enjoy, nor willingly join the war and violence, be seen by a certified psychologist so that the child may be given the “all clear”, and …show more content…
Another article, Should Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted For Their Crimes? states, “Children are often desired as recruits because they can be easily intimidated and indoctrinated. They lack the mental maturity and judgment to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions...and are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities” Therefore, children are recruited without their right-minded consent, and then are coerced into committing unspeakable crimes by their commanders, whom know right from wrong. Jeffrey Gettleman, the author of Armed & Underage, also states, “It is well-known that Somalia’s radical Islamist insurgents are plucking children off soccer fields and turning them into fighters, just as rebel groups in a number of African countries and elsewhere in the world do.” This shows that children are being abducted from places that are typically known to be safe, and are forced to serve in the
Desolate, barren wastelands. The blistering heat of the blazing sun directly above. Scorching sand sinking between your toes. You are forced to be armed and alert at all times, and if you don’t fight, your family is as good as dead. These are no conditions for anyone to live in, right? Since 2001, child soldiers have been recruited in 21 armed conflicts worldwide, especially in African countries. Many people believe that child soldiers should be tried as adults and to the fullest extent for their crimes, but it is often not the children’s fault. Child soldiers should be granted amnesty, as long as they have been forced into the war if they are 16 or younger, if they will freely state that they did not enjoy, nor willingly join the war and violence, be seen by a certified psychologist so that the child may be given the “all clear”, and …show more content…
Another article, Should Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted For Their Crimes? states, “Children are often desired as recruits because they can be easily intimidated and indoctrinated. They lack the mental maturity and judgment to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions...and are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities” Therefore, children are recruited without their right-minded consent, and then are coerced into committing unspeakable crimes by their commanders, whom know right from wrong. Jeffrey Gettleman, the author of Armed & Underage, also states, “It is well-known that Somalia’s radical Islamist insurgents are plucking children off soccer fields and turning them into fighters, just as rebel groups in a number of African countries and elsewhere in the world do.” This shows that children are being abducted from places that are typically known to be safe, and are forced to serve in the