Prosecuting Child Soldiers

At a young age it’s difficult to grasp the concept of death, but as time passes, the youth turn into the old and the old turn into the deceased. Whether people like it or not, death plays a role in their lives and it’s something no one can escape. Child soldiers are forced to kill, and if they don’t then they too are killed. Young children are trained into fierce warriors every day, and stopping this action has proven to be difficult. It can be argued from a recruiter that brings in children that children are disposable, easy to train, and almost infinite. Most of these kids never receive a chance to do what they want in life, furthermore it seems like children, especially in Africa, are being picked off the streets they’re grapes on a grapevine. The International Justice System appeals to cases like this everyday, as it can be a struggle to understand if a child is truly remorseful, and if they deserve amnesty. Children who are forced into crime should be given a chance to redeem themselves, as they generally have no intention to cause harm.

First off, child soldiers are often forced to be recruited. “Often they are abducted at school, on the streets or at home.” ("From Cradle to War." Amnesty International. Amnesty International USA, Web. 3 May 2016.) Almost all child soldiers are forced to do things as a soldier that they wouldn’t actually do, such as hurt or kill others. So although some child soldiers want to hurt or kill, most don’t want to. So obviously, most child soldiers are forced to do bad things that they don’t want to do, and wouldn’t do if they hadn’t become a soldier.

Child soldiers have killed too many people to just let them go in the open world, whether it is America, London, etc. Child soldiers are no different from child and even adult criminals. According to Child Soldiers, Prosecution, child soldiers are responsible for acts of rape, mutilation and mass killings of civilians. Some people never fully heal from traumatic experiences like mass killings and just individual child soldiers killing dozens of people during war. Therefor, even child soldiers can and should be responsible for the worst of crimes.

Most child soldiers are brainwashed by use drugs and alcohol. ”the drugs and alcohol make the children become more compliant enabling them to commit atrocities which they never would have before” said Child Soldiers: Victims or Perpetrators? Article. The children became over reliant on the commander for food, shelter, money, water, drugs,alcohol they find it extremely hard to leave. “The section of the brain known as the frontal lobes controls decision making and only fully develops well into your 20’s. Children simply lack the ability to think of the long term consequences of their actions” said Child Soldiers: Victims or Perpetrators Article.

Some say that these children will never change and will always want war and therefore they should be prosecuted. But these children had no idea what they were doing, they were drugged, threatened and afraid. Some child soldiers are tortured and raped(Leaphy 1). Also “if a child under 15 is considered too young to fight, then he or she must also be considered too young to be held criminally responsible for serious violations of IHL while associated with armed forces or armed groups”(Should Child

These kids are truly in danger and need to be given amnesty. It says in the article Should Child Soldiers be Prosecuted for Their War Crimes?, that “Child soldiers are not morally responsible for their actions, children are often forced into fighting and have little choice over whether or not they enlist. After that, they are following orders of adults rather than acting of their own free will. The recruiters of child soldiers also use drugs and alcohol to make children more compliant and to enable them to commit acts they would not ordinarily commit. Child soldiers should therefore not be held responsible for actions they were forced to commit and had little understanding of.”.

The side that argues prosecuting the child soldiers says kids were given the option to stay or leave, and most chose to stay. That is only partly true. It is true that they are given the option. Yet, the children indirectly forced to stay. Because they have become addicted to the drugs the warlords gave them, they are now dependent on them for those drugs and simply cannot leave, as it reads on debatewise.org. Also, Ishmael Beah points out that through the war, they have gained a connection to their commanders and fellow soldiers. For some, including Ishmael, it is the only family they have left. So, they may, indeed, choose to stay, but not for the reason the many believe. Instead of staying for the fighting, the stay for of family. Those who argue that child soldiers should be considered the perpetrators also say that if we grant amnesty to the soldiers, there would be no justice for the victims they killed. This is completely agreeable and understandable. It is agreeable that there should be punishment given in order to fulfill justice for the victims. However, in order for justice to be fully satisfied, the children should not be the ones punished, but rather, the warlords who wish to come to the US from their country of origin. The warlords drug the child soldiers and kill those who do not follow orders. They also force some to join. If child soldiers were

Child Soldiers should be given amnesty because they are brainwashed and manipulated. According to Victims or Perpetrators, “The drugs and alcohol

For example, child soldiers join through family loss. They have nowhere else to go after they lose their family, besides joining the army. According to the article “Tales from Uganda's female former child soldiers”, the child soldiers have been attacked and so have their families, leaving them no other choice but to join the army since that’s would’ve been a safer place. It states “Grace was only 14 when she was torn away from her family” (Marc Ellison, 2016). This reveals that most of the child soldiers have mainly joined through family loss. This also reveals that not only boys are made into child soldiers, but girls as well. From what Grace says, it is obvious child soldiers don’t join the army without a justified reason. Additionally, people may argue that child soldiers are just murderous people and should be prosecuted, however, they don’t comprehend the situations they have gone through. Additionally, child soldiers don’t have any choice rather than becoming a child soldier to survive. According to “Summative Essay: Child Soldiers”, child soldiers have nowhere else to go and try to do what they can to gain a family and to survive. It states “They kill to stay alive and those who try to escape are killed.” (, ). This demonstrates that child soldiers are innocent and are like any other children at their age. They want to survive and be

Did you know in war torn countries millions of kids are being kidnapped and ripped away from their families by terrorist leaders to fight? Hundreds of kids each day are being torn away from their homes and the people they love. The kids are forced to fight for terrorist groups and are brainwashed,with drugs and alcohol, to believe it's the right thing to do.Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they are forced and brainwashed into violent crimes.

It is believed by many, that child soldiers should be granted amnesty because the children only join the army to avoid being killed. There are also situations where kids join because they see being in the army safer and more enjoyable than not being in the army. In the article “Child Soldiers, Prosecution”, it is argued that the children may not have thought through their decision to join the army very well, and therefore shouldn’t be held accountable since it is near impossible to back out once you have joined. But, making ill considered decisions is a part of everyday life, and under any normal situation where a kid makes a bad

All around the world there are nearly 300,000 child soldiers. Should they all be prosecuted as criminals, or given the chance to change in rehab facilities? This is a very touchy topic for many people, as they may have been personally affected by child soldiers involved in violent conflicts all over the world. There are many ways the children could get into these awful wars. They could be forced into it via poverty, loss of parents, loss of home, or they join the army on their own accord, believing that they are helping the rebel cause. Child soldiers are becoming more and more common in poverty or war stricken countries. Should these children be prosecuted for doing things they have no interest in doing or be treated as victims and be allowed

While this is a valid point, it fails to account for those who were forcefully drugged and/or addicted to the drugs available to them. From the article To What Extent Should Child Soldiers Be Held Accountable for their Crimes, it explains “The drugs and alcohol make the children become more compliant enabling them to commit atrocities which they never would have before.(Child Soldier-Summative Essay )” These soldiers were not in their right minds to make a serious decision like the one mentioned

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.

A very real and debatable situation that is a problem all around the world, is child soldiers. Should they be treated as victims or criminals? Now thousands of kids and teens around the world are in these bad situations, while it may be true that kids and teens are being forced in these situations, but it turns out there is as much volunteers are there are kids being forced into these groups. All of these kids are making the decisions whether or not to do a task. Everyone has decisions to make and these kids do to. They are the ones who decide to join these groups, they are the ones who decide to stay with the group, and above all they are the ones to pull the trigger. This is why I ask you to have an open mind on why child soldiers should