Opinion divided over prosecution of child soldiers
Close to 10,000 children linked with armed groups have been released since 2009, according to the United Nations.
They’ve been caught up in conflicts around the world in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone
But even where children have been released, justice systems are finding it difficult to assess whether a child is a victim or a perpetrator.
Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.
“I was 11, I was thrown into a conflict I did not cause to happen but I suffered the most.”
Messeh Kamara is a survivor of the brutal 11-year Sierra Leonean civil war. Working now to advance the rights of children in Sierra Leone, he says the recruitment of children into armed conflicts robs them off their dignity and humanity.
“Justice and accountability for us is very important, but then it is also mostly important when our rights are given back to us. They stole our rights from us and when you steal something from someone it is most important that you return that which you stole. Our right to education, health, our basic rights, our fundamental rights as enshrined in international humanitarian laws.”
While the forcible recruitment of child soldiers is considered a war crime, opinion is currently divided whether children should be prosecuted for committing war crimes. United Nations Envoy for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy says states are using this loophole to detain and prosecute children associated with armed groups often under the pretext that they were a threat to national security.
“Children who are captured and placed in detention are sometimes kept in conditions which do not meet the minimum standards set out in various international legal instruments. These children are often detained for long periods without being granted access to a lawyer or other legal safeguards.”
She says children are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses when deprived of their liberty. Experts on Children’s rights are of the view that some form of judicial mechanism is needed to ensure children who participated in an armed conflict are made aware of the consequences of their actions. However according to Pernile Ironeside from the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, traditional justice systems may provide a better opportunity for children to have their voices heard and to have the wrongs done to them recorded.
“There is truth telling, there is traditional healing ceremonies, there is truth and reconciliation mechanisms. What the aim is when a child returns to the community into the family that there is not a public shaming, the child is able to reintegrate as part of a society and participate in that society including through community service peace building activities, but in a way that does not stigmatize or shame that child because of his or her former association.”
A key challenge to the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces or groups is the lack of economic opportunities especially in poor post conflict communities. Messeh Kamara says poverty makes children vulnerable to re-recruitment.
“The emphasis must really be that they have to be able to continue their lives even after war and have a say and play a significant role in the society.”
The United Nations advocates for 18 years as the minimum age for recruitment and participation in hostilities.
Patrick Maigua United Nations
Duration: 2’59”