Rescue and Rehabilitation Of Child Soldiers:  A Continuing Predicament | Author : Aishwarya Panchapakesan | Volume I Issue III |

ABSTRACT

John F. Kennedy, the 35^th President of the United States stated that “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”. This gives the impression that children being the country’s future, must be accorded a very vital status and all efforts must be undertaken to ensure that they are being brought up in a wholesome environment where they are imbibed with education of the finest quality and provided infrastructure for the development of various skills. However, this is rarely the truth and children are often the victims of whims and fancies of a few persons. A recent Child Soldiers World Index in 2018 revealed a shocking scale of recruitment indicating an estimate of 250,000 Child Soldiers in the world currently in at least 20 countries majorly being led by Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan. Further research reveals that around 40% of the armies in the world employ child soldiers. Often children from poor and marginalized sectors of the society are made prime targets as they are easily manipulated and more resilient. Such children may be victimized by a country’s armed forces, militias, terrorist organizations and others by using them as helpers, slaves, fighters and subjecting them to brutal injuries and sexual offences. Thus, a need arises to establish a Child Soldier Rescue and Rehabilitation Mission (CSRRM) to reconcile these children with the community. The present Article focuses on the legal safeguards that are available for the release of child soldiers, measures that can be incorporated in their rehabilitation programme and the role other partakers can play to alleviate the situation; to give these children hope for a better future and to avert such unethical practices worldwide.

Key Words: Child Soldiers, Legal Protection, Release, Rehabilitation

INTRODUCTION

The term ‘child soldiers’ has varying definitions across different countries and cultures, but almost all concur that it includes a person below the age of 18 years, who is recruited to a country’s armed forces, militias, gangs, terrorist organizations and resistance forces. The term being heterogenous, comprises children who are legally conscripted, voluntarily enlisted or recruited by force. The numbers are quite astonishing in today’s world, which is estimated somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000. It is also a common feature that these children from appalling conditions are preferred;^[1] as most of them come from the poor and marginalized sectors of the society or from the actual conflict zones themselves,^[2] owing to their better adaptability to cope with the crisis involved.

Over 40% of the armed forces in the world engage children in child soldiering and in them 30% armed organizations use girls as wives, mistresses, slaves, cooks, helpers and fighters, who are often subjected to physical and psychological wounds and brutal sexual violence.[3] At a tender age where the children must attend school and develop themselves, they are subjected to brutal conditions which adversely impact them. Thus, there is a need to release and rehabilitate these young child soldiers. This article focuses on the legal safeguards that are available for the release of child soldiers and further recommends a rehabilitation programme to reintegrate such children with the society.

LEGAL PROTECTIONS AVAILABLE FOR RELEASE

Firstly, the child soldiers need to be released from the clutches of the armed forces within a country.Thus, a Child Soldier Rescue and Rehabilitation Mission (CSRRM) must be launched to reunite these children with the community.

Perpetrators of child soldiers can be in varying degrees. Some perpetrators themselves have been victims at a tender age as early as nine years and have been lured to become child soldiers. They perceive child soldiering to be a normal way of life. Peaceful negotiations must first beconducted with such persons to make them understand the ill effects of child soldiering and to enable them to understand that it is not a celebrated practice worldwide.

With the advent of the problem of child soldiers coming into foray, several provisions have been developed and legislations enacted in the International domain to provide for their release. Following is a summarized version of the International Conventions protecting the rights of children in situations of armed conflict.[4]

Where the perpetrators are part of a nation’s government forces, the government must be ordered by the International Court of Justice to release such children with the help of the aforementioned provisions. Further, the respective government must be threatened with a severance of foreign economic and political relations with the country and any monetary donations to the country by International Organizations must cease in the occasion of disobedience of the ICJ’s order. This will pressurize the government and make them realize that releasing the child soldiers is the best option that is put forth before them; hence resulting in the release of these children.

SUGGESTED REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

Once the children are released from the clutches of the army, there is a requirement for them to be rehabilitated in the society. Presently, depending on the age, boys are often used as porters, cleaners, or are trained to fight while the girls are taken as “wives” and often return to their community with children. Of the few children who have been released, several suffer frommental illnesses due to the trauma faced by them. To reunite these children with the society, a proper rehabilitation programme must be constituted. Some suggestions have been given that can be implemented in the plan.

1. The children must first be reunited with their parents so that the child feels satisfied that he/ she is in safe hands and will no longer experience the trauma of war and is once more emotionally reconciled with his/ her family.
2. Where the children have lost their families in the war, they must be reconciled with some close relatives or family friends and the child’s family inheritance must be safeguarded by such family. In the absence of any close relative or friend, the child must be transferred to an orphanage.
3. Psychologists must be employed to visit every child after its release and must conduct and give a detailed report of the child’s mental health.
4. Based on these reports, Psychiatrists must be immediately appointed for children who are said to suffer from severe mental illnesses and the children must be given the required treatment for the required duration.
5. Children who are deemed to be mentally fit must also have psychologist visits for at least a period of three months so that proper rehabilitation of the children can be ensured and any sign of indoctrination can be reversed.
6. As the children who are recruited as child soldiers often come from poor and marginalized backgrounds, they cannot bear the cost of such expensive treatments and the Psychologists’ fee. Thus, the cost is to be borne by the government of the country in which such child had been employed as a soldier, which can be shared by NGOs who wish to aid such children.
7. The family of every child who has served as a soldier must be given additional monetary damages by the respective government, causing them severe economic losses that act as a deterrent so they refrain from indulging in such practices in the future.
8. Where girls have been impregnated while serving these militant groups and they are not being accepted by the society, they may be transferred to NGOs that are willing to take care of such children and in such cases, the monetary compensation awarded by the government will be diverted to the NGO instead of the girl’s family.

In such cases, the government must bear additional financial expenses that are incurred during the maternity period of the girl till she delivers her baby. Where the girl is mature to take care of her child, the NGO will support both the mother and child; where she is incapable of taking responsibility of a child, the child may be given for adoption in its best interest.

Here, the vesting of the girl in safe hands is of preliminary importance, and must be done at the earliest. All the required legal documentation and other necessities must be arranged as soon as possible, but it must not be the cause of detriment to any child.

Apart from the legal institution, government and NGOs, there are other moderately significant partakers who can contribute in the prevention of the practice of child soldiering.

EDUCATION

Educating children can make them independent and free. Children need to be sent to schools so that they can gain knowledge about the world’s happenings and to help them pursue their hobbies and skills. Their curriculum must also include ‘Value Education’, to inculcate morals in the students. With proper education, children rarely engage in disruptive activities. Even though it might not be feasible to build schools with well developed infrastructure all the time, focus should be placed on at least allocating certain spaces where educational activities may be conducted andpeople volunteering to teach children would always be welcomed.

CORPORATIONS

Corporations, as part of their socially responsible activities may aid in schooling such children by encouraging their employees and giving them incentives to volunteer for this purpose. They are also capable of making huge donations thereby monetarily benefiting these children. It can gauge their interests and aptitude and equip them with the technical skills and knowledge required to employ them in the future. Also, children who have been proven to be too difficult to be reintegrated with the society may be engaged by the corporation in physically exhausting tasks so that he/ she is occupied in performing such challenging activities and does not have time to engage in destructive activities.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is one of the most widespread platforms used to spread information like wildfire. The ‘Kony 2012’[5] Movement can be described as one of the most iconic revolutions in the history of mankind that not only aimed at creating awareness on a social dilemma, but also proposed to change it. The whole world was enlightened about Joseph Kony and his misdeeds and came together to achieve the purpose of liberating child soldiers in Uganda and South Sudan. This movement gained momentum and soon grabbed the attention of the White House, which unconditionally supported the people and advanced finance and technology to these states to capture the perpetrators.

Though Kony was never caught, the movement soon made him powerless as he had to flee time and again to avoid conviction and a time came where the number of child soldiers in his power were so insignificant that the search operation was closed. Thus, this platform has proven to be a successful measure of spreading messages all over the world and to gain momentum to make a change and if each perpetrator were to be targeted the way Koney was, a noteworthy change can soon be observed. Also, the entertainment industry can produce more movies highlighting the social issues of the world and deliver a message to the people telling them their role as an individual in making a difference.

ROLE OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

It is often an incorrect interpretation of a religious text that is the root cause of civil strife. Thus, Religious institutions in every country must play a significant role in instilling moral values in the minds of people. They must give people space to derive their own interpretations of the verses but at the same time, give proper guidance to people in terms of absolute rights and wrongs to prevent people from indulging in hostile activities. This will prevent brainwashers from wrongly deceiving innocent people into committing atrocities amounting to crime against humanity and genocides.

INDIVIDUALS

Though the usual presumption is that individuals are too insignificant to be capable of bringing about a revolution, it is they who are capable of creating an impact and bringing a suppressed issue in limelight with the help of social instruments. Also, they can make donations to NGOs andaid them financially. They can help in schooling such children and some can even go as far as adopting these children to give them hope for a bright future.

CONCLUSION

There are about 200,000 to 500,000 child soldiers in the world today. Often subjected to appalling conditions, these children are easy targets to manipulate and mould into committing hostilities. Over 40% of the armed forces in the world engage children as helpers, slaves, fighters and subject them to physical, psychological wounds and brutal atrocities. Thus, a Child Soldier Release and Rehabilitation Mission (CSRRM) must be given effect to reintegrate these children with the society. Firstly, the children must be released using the legal safeguards in International Law such as the Geneva Conventions, 1949 and its Additional Protocols, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, etc. Further, they must be rehabilitated in the society by taking the help of psychologists and psychiatrists who must be sponsored by the government of the country which has employed such child as a soldier in an armed conflict. Other partakers such as NGOs, Corporations, Schools, Social Media, Religious Institutions and Individuals can make significant contributions in ensuring that such practices do not ensue in the future.

REFERENCES

• Capital Flows, For Child Soldiers, Every Day Is A Living Nightmare Forbes (2012), https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/12/09/for-child-soldiers-every-day-is-a-living-nightmare/ (last visited Apr 10, 2019).
• Childsoldiersin, CHILD SOLDIERS WORLD INDEX REVEALS SHOCKING SCALE OF CHILD RECRUITMENT AROUND THE WORLD CHILD SOLDIERS INTERNATIONAL, https://www.child-soldiers-world-index-reveals-shocking-scale-of-child-recruitment-around-the-world (last visited Apr 10, 2019).
• KONY 2012, INVISIBLE CHILDREN, https://invisiblechildren.com/kony-2012/ (last visited Apr 10, 2019).
• Philista Onyango, The impact of armed conflict on children, 7 Child Abuse Review 219–229 (1998).
• Stéphane Jeannet, Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The invisible soldiers, RäddaBarnen (Swedish Save the Children), Stockholm, 1996, 257 pages, 37 International Review of the Red Cross 460 (1997).
• Volker Druba, 48 International Review of Education/ Internationale ZeitschriftfrErziehungswissenschaft/ Revue inter 271–278 (2002).

¹Philista Onyango, The impact of armed conflict on children, 7 Child Abuse Review 219–229 (1998).

[2]Stéphane Jeannet, Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The invisible soldiers, RäddaBarnen (Swedish Save the Children), Stockholm, 1996, 257 pages, 37 International Review of the Red Cross 460 (1997).

[3]Capital Flows, For Child Soldiers, Every Day Is A Living Nightmare Forbes (2012), https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/12/09/for-child-soldiers-every-day-is-a-living-nightmare/ (last visited Apr 10, 2019).

[4]Volker Druba, 48 International Review of Education/ Internationale ZeitschriftfrErziehungswissenschaft/ Revue inter 271–278 (2002).

[5]KONY 2012, INVISIBLE CHILDREN, https://invisiblechildren.com/kony-2012/ (last visited Apr 10, 2019).