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Childsoldiers–Childrencaughtintheviolenceofwar… ““If there is any lesson we can draw from the experience of the past decade, it is that the use of child soldiers is far more than a humanitarian concern - its impact lasts far beyond the time of actual fighting.” (Kofi Annan) Whatisachild?Suchdefinitionrangesdifferentlyfromculturetoculture.However,theUNConventionontheRightsoftheChilddefines“child”as“everyhumanbeingbelowtheageof18years.”In relationswith childrenassociatedwitharmed forcesorarmedgroup, the2007ParisPrinciplesdefinesachildsoldieras:

“Anypersonbelow18yearsofagewhoisorwhohasbeenrecruitedorusedbyanarmedforceorarmedgroupinanycapacity,includingbut not limited to children, boys and girls used as fighters, cooks,porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not onlyrefertoachildwhoistakingorhastakenadirectpartinhostilities.”

Unfortunately,theworldisabundantwithchildrenthatfulfillthesecriteria.Civilwarsnotonlybringpain,povertyandsuffering,butalsoanincreaseinnumberofchildrencaughtupintheconflict.Therefore,itisessentialtounderstandthescopeandcharacterofthisphenomenononaccountofwhichsomanychildrenintheworldbecamesoldierswhileloosingtheirinnocence.

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Facts:

• AccordingtoAmnesty International,approximately250,000childrenundertheageof18areestimatedtobefightinginconflictsaroundtheworld,andhundredsofthousandsmorearemembersofarmedforceswhocouldbesentintocombatatanytime.

• Nowadays there are said to be an approximate number of 300 000 childsoldiersaroundtheworldinover30countries.

• Theyoungestamongthemareonlysixtosevenyearsold.• Eventhoughchildsoldierscanbefoundthroughouttheworld,WestAfricais

theforerunnerinthisrespect.• Sierra Leone brought the problem of children soldiers to the international

spotlight and made it an urgent matter to be addressed by the UnitedNations.

ChildSoldiersinSierraLeoneThebreakoutofthecivilwarinSierraLeonein1991broughtanimmediateshocktotheinternationalcommunityduetothelevelofbrutalityinvolvedintheconflict

tothepointthatitwaslabelledbysomescholarsasanewepicenterof“barbarism”. ItalsodiffersfromothercivilwarsthatAfricanregionalreadywitnessed because the conflict was neitherethnicallynorreligiouslymotivated.Theabsenceofthesetwocomponentsmadetheuniquenessofthe civil war in Sierra Leone. Scholars haveconcluded that the war was driven solely byeconomic motives – namely the control overdiamondresources.

Asinmanycivilwarconflicts,childrenwereusedasatoolinthewar,andthecivilwar in Sierra Leone was not an exception. There are numeral reasons for therecruitment of children during the Civil War in Sierra Leone. Mostly, childrenusually possess more energy, they are easily manipulated and at least at thebeginning, they show excitement. Their minds are easily influenced and formed.According to Rachel Brett ‐ the author of “Girl Soldiers Challenging theAssumptions” – children aremore likely toobey their commandants andwill notquestiontheorders,astheydonothaveamoralconsciousness.Also,childrenposeagreater danger to the adversary in an attacksince theyaremorequick, sneakyandmobileincarryingouttheirtask.In the early 90s, theworldwas inundated byimagesof children fromSierraLeone,holdingguns and being merely about 7 years old. Inspite of the fact that it is an offense against

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customaryinternationallaw,thesechildrenwere recruited by all sides of the conflict(fromTheRevolutionaryUnitFront(RUF),the Sierra LeoneArmy (SLA) and the CivilDefense Force (CDF)). Out of 19.000demobilized combatants half werechildren. It ishighlycontroversialwhethermost of themwere recruited forcefully orparticipatedvoluntarily.However,fromthepartthatwererecruitedforcefully,mostofthese childrenwereabductedduring raids carriedoutonvillages.Theywerealsorandomlyselectedandpickedupfromthestreets,playgroundorschools.Once recruited, the children underwent a thorough “initiation procedure” whichincluded their beatings, long parades and showing to them depressing scenes ofkillings in order to introduce them to the culture of violence and terror. Theexposure to such terrible scenes usually affected the children in away that theyweremorelikelytocommitcruelties.BymakingthechildrenwatchWesternhorrormovies like Rambo and also applying drugs, the commandants created theconditionstoformamercilesskilleroutofaninnocentchild.By the time the children were demobilized, many of them had been so heavilybrainwashedandabusedthattheyforgotwheretheycamefromandalsothereasonfor fightingwith theirunit. Simultaneously, themilitaryunit literally replaced thechildren’slostfamily.

Thus, it is not surprising that childrenwere the ones that committed theworstatrocities during the war. In some casesbefore theexecutionof certain tasks, thechildren were given specific drugs toenhance their performance. Refusal totakethedrugswasconsideredasabotageand therefore resulted in a severepunishment.Oncethrowninto the fights,children usually did not receive anydifferenttreatmentthanadults.

Childsoldiersarelargelyusedthroughouttheworldconflictsasaweaponofchoiceforwar.Themovie“BloodDiamond”depictstheissueofinvolvingchildsoldiersinSierra Leone. It shows how children, either orphaned or kidnapped, end up

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accepting the rebel soldiers as their new familieswhile becoming "drug‐addictedkillers, without pity or fear." These children are caught up in the war and thusbecomevictimsoftheconflictthemselves.Insteadoflearninghowtoreadorwriteorevenhowtoenjoytheirchildhood,childrenintheseconflictsarelearninghowtofightanduseanAK47. Editors:KatiuskaLaurencoDaSilvaandRoswithaKernUnfortunately survival became especially hard for former female childsoldiers due to their stigmatization as sex­slaves during the conflict orbecauseoftheviolentactstheydidcommit.ButwithyourdonationwewillbeabletohelpformerfemalechildsoldiersinTeluChiefdomtohaveafuture!

Bibliography

Books

1. J.PeterPham;ChildSoldiers,AdultInterests:TheglobaldimensionoftheSierraLeoneTragedy;NovaSciencePublishersInc.;NewYork;(2005)

2. ChrisCoulter;BushwivesandGirlSoldiers:WomenslivesthroughwarandpeaceinSierraLeone;CornellUniversityPress;London;(2009)

3. AbduhlK.Koroma;SierreLeone:Theagonyofanation;AndromedaPublications;Freetown;(1996)

4. Victims,Perpetratorsorheros?ChildsoldiersbeforetheInternationalCriminalCourt;Redresstrust;(2006)

5. RachelBrett,MargaretMcCallin;Childrentheinvisiblesoldiers;RäddaBarnen;Växjö;(1998)

6. LansanaGberie;AdirtyWarinWestAfrica:theRUFandthedestructionofSierraLeone;HurstandCompany;London;(2005)

7. Ed.AmaduSesay;Civilwars,childsoldiersandPostConflictPeaceBuildinginWestAfrica;AfricanStrategicandPeaceResearchGroup;2003

8. PaulRichards;FightingfortheRainForest­War,youthandresourcesinSierraLeone;VilliersPublications;London;(1996)

9. DavidKeen;ConflictandCollusioninSierraLeone;Palgrave;NewYork;(2005)10. AlpastanÖzerdem;Postwarrecovery­disarmamament,demobilizationand

reintegration;I.B.Tauris;NewYork;(2009)11. RachelBrett,IrmaSpecht;Youngsoldiers­Whytheychoosetofight?;LynneRienner

Publishers;London;(2004)12. IshmaelBeah;Longwaygone­MemoriesofaBoySoldier;FourthEstateLondon;

(2007)

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Articles

1. A.B.Zack‐Williams;ChildSoldiersintheCivilWarinSierraLeone;ReviewofAfricanPoliticalEconomy,Vol.28,No.87(Mar.,2001)

2. YusufBangura;StrategicPolicyFailureandGovernanceinSierraLeone;TheJournalofModernAfricanStudies;Vol.38,No.4(Dec.,2000)

3. SteveRiley,MaxSesayandMaxA.Sesay;SierraLeone:Thecominganarchy?;ReviewofAfricanPoliticalEconomy;Vol.22;No.63(Mar.,1995)

4. WillReno;NoPeaceforSierraLeone;ReviewofAfricanPoliticalEconomy;Vol.27,No.84;(Jun.,2000)

5. HansVeeken;SierraLeone:PeopledisplacedbecauseofDiamonds;BritishMedicalJournal;Vol.309,No.6953(Aug.,1994)

Internet

1. http://www.afrol.com/News/sil007_civil_war.htm2. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5475.htm3. http://www.afrol.com/News/sil007_civil_war.htm4. http://www.unicef.org/graca/a51‐306_en.pdf5. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/guinea/guine997‐

08.htm#P854_1780076. http://www.cdi.org/dm/1997/issue4/7. http://www.dcaf.ch/publications/kms/details.cfm?lng=en&id=26088&nav1=48. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childr

enofconflict/soldier.shtml9. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4500358.stm10. http://daccess‐dds‐

ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/315/02/PDF/N9931502.pdf?OpenElementDocumentary

1. CryFreetownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwj0c599M4shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLeqV8WLmNQ&feature=PlayList&p=CAE286EB49FA5CBD&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_M68BryPHY