One topic that has been debated recently is whether child soldiers from other countries are victims or perpetrators, and whether they should be given amnesty or not. Many believe that child soldiers are the victims, since they have no choice but to join or else they would be killed, and should also be given amnesty since they don’t know what they are doing because they are filled up with drugs. However, those child soldiers should be mentally sane to be given amnesty and earn their citizenship the way immigrants earn their citizenship. One significant piece of evidence to support the claim that child soldiers are both the victims and be given amnesty is Ishmael who is a former child soldier who has been given amnesty and he tells others about his experience as a child soldier. He was taking refuge in a camp and forced to be a soldier. Before, he and other child soldiers went on missions they were given drugs and he does not remember much of what he had done. This piece of evidence supports the claim that child soldiers are the victims and should be given amnesty, because it shows that they do not have a choice in becoming a soldier and are given drugs so they are not are thinking clearly and they don’t know what they are doing. Another piece of evidence …show more content…
One of the people who take this stance is a forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner. He has argued that Khadr, a child soldier in Guantanamo should not be given amnesty since he has killed a U.S soldier and spent years in prison being influenced by other radical jihadis. However, child soldiers should still be given amnesty since they have been forced to fight, and have only been taught by terrorists, and the U.S should take time to help those child soldiers because they are only children and have endured fighting in wars which even many adults choose not to
Child soldiers are victims because they were drugged with cocaine and marijuana so then the kids will do what they were told, but i think child soldiers should get amnesty because they had no control of going into war or staying out of war. These kids were drugged and threatened to do all of these things and if the kids didn't do it then they would be shot or most likely killed.
To begin with, child soldiers deserve amnesty because they don’t choose or are manipulated into becoming a child soldier.When children are put into a war most of the time they don’t have a choice or are manipulated into thinking what they are doing is okay.One
Child soldiers do deserve amnesty, as long as they go through therapy and mental rehabilitation. Child soldiers are often forcibly recruited, so most of them don’t want to hurt or kill. Although some say child soldiers don’t deserve amnesty, most of the child soldiers don’t want to kill or harm others. And although some child soldiers want to hurt and/or kill others, all child soldiers deserve amnesty because they are just kids; so they should have therapy or mental rehabilitation before total forgiveness, so in all, all child soldiers deserve amnesty somehow.
Letting children soldiers receive amnesty would show that the government doesn’t enforce the law for everyone. In the United States, children who have committed a crime can take responsibility for that act at the age of fourteen. Shouldn’t the same law be in place for people who have fought in a war over fourteen? Aren’t they committing a crime too, like killing soldiers. In Child Soldiers it says, “...Many believe that child soldiers are mere replicas of child criminals; child criminals are prosecuted...If a child can be convicted for murder under these domestic laws there should be no exception for child soldiers just because their crimes occurred in wartime.” This shows that children soldiers should not be forgiven because everyone should have equal consequences for equal acts, which means children soldiers should not be given
Children are forced by commanders through false promises. Many believe that child soldiers are not morally responsible for the actions they perform. I think that is unfair for kids my age to be dealing with this situation and having to deal with this every day their commanders. And i agree child soldiers should not be blamed they are not responsible for their actions only if someone is telling them do or something bad will happen to you or his family. This type of situation is called amnesty because you are dealing with some commanders and some horrible living conditions.
Child soldiers are victims to an unfortunate outcome when viciously stolen from reality and their childhoods. Drugged, brainwashed,and armed these kids are taught at an impressionable age that in war it's kill or be killed. They are given no other option than to participate in this war, so child soldiers should be granted amnesty.
Child soldiers should not be granted amnesty because in some cases the soldier is in control of his or her actions. In paragraph 4 of “ Prosecuting Child Soldiers For Their Own Safety” it says “But there are cases of child soldiers clearly in control of their actions. “ who were not coerced, drugged or forced into committing
Among those many child soldiers, there are a handful of them who have committed acts of murder. But should they be forgiven of their crimes, bad deeds or actions? Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they have very little say in their decisions, they are drugged with many drugs and are
They don’t deserve rehabilitation, let alone amnesty. People have expressed this belief with phrases such as, “child soldiers are no different from child criminals” (Debatewise) or, “these children knew exactly what they were doing and should not be excused from their actions simply because they are thought to be too young to take responsibility” (Debatewise). It cannot be denied that these statements have some truth to them, however harsh they may be. A nine-year-old in America who commits a crime shouldn’t be treated differently than a nine-year-old in Iraq with an army alongside him and a gun on his shoulder. And yet, if a juvenile American offender can be rehabilitated, child soldiers should be granted the same
Although Children should be rehabilitate, Some people disagrees. According to “ gov.uk” says that Punishment is very important to the justice system. What they only believe is what the law thinks and not what works. “gov.uk” said, “ Punishment is an essential part of the justice system”,What their motto is law is more important then what works. What do I think?, I still think that child soldiers should be rehabilitated and they need to understand that it is not about the law, it is about how the child soldier is gonna turn out. Children are too young to go to a prison. When children goes to prison they may not understand what is going on; and they need to go to rehab to let them know that this is bad and they should not be killing and taking
Overall, this subject is a huge part of politics today and should be taken seriously by people everywhere. Child soldiers should be given amnesty for their crimes because they were forced to fight in wars that were not theirs. Opposition to this argument would say that they are the perpetrators of these awful war crimes. This is false because they are forced to do these things even of they don’t want to. Keep this in mind next time you hear about a child soldier being arrested
Imagine being taken from your house and your family and being forced to fight in a war. This is what some child soldiers have to go through. Not to mention after they are taken they have to risk their lives and be forced to kill. Some are even as young as 5. Child soldiers should receive amnesty if they were young when they were taken, were forced, and show remorse after they were rescued and understand what they did.
For many years, countless children have been used in wars. These kids are forced by their scheming commanders with drugs, false obligations, and threats. They are told to kill innocent people, destroy homes and buildings, act as spies, and so much more. According to child-soldiers.org, “two million children have been killed in conflict. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma.” Child soldiers endure many unimaginable sights, sounds, and actions that are very harmful to their young, developing minds. While child soldiers are accountable for many crimes, they should still be given a second chance instead of
Some people may say that child soldiers are not morally responsible for their actions due to many reasons. Normally, child soldiers are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. This means that they were not in the right state of mind when they made their decisions. A child's brain isn't
When hearing the term child soldiers, it brings up different images for everyone. Some may think of children as young as five years old, while others might think of teenagers in their later years. Child soldiers, as defined by the Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 2007, are “a child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes”.