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Should Child Soldiers Be Given Amnesty

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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

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