Military use of children

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April 20, 1945. On his 56th birthday, Hitler awards Iron Cross to Hitler Youth outside his bunker during the Battle of Berlin.
April 20, 1945. On his 56th birthday, Hitler awards Iron Cross to Hitler Youth outside his bunker during the Battle of Berlin.

The military use of children refers to children being placed in harm's way in military actions, in order to protect a location or provide propaganda. This is sometimes referred to as child sacrifice, though not equivalent to the religious variety. It may also refer to the use of children as child soldiers or saboteurs.

Red Hand Day on February 12 is an annual commemoration day to draw public attention to the practice of using children as soldiers in wars and armed conflicts.

Contents

[edit] History

Illustrative bas-relief of Greek warrior accompanied by his charioteer. From the pediment of a kouros statue, ca. 490 BC.
Illustrative bas-relief of Greek warrior accompanied by his charioteer. From the pediment of a kouros statue, ca. 490 BC.

Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns even when such practices were supposedly against cultural morals.

The earliest mentions of minors being involved in wars come from antiquity. It was customary for youths in the Mediterranean basin to serve as aides, charioteers and armor bearers to adult warriors. Examples of this practice can be found in the Bible (such as David's service to King Saul), in Hittite and Egyptian art, and in Greek mythology (such as the story of Hercules and Hylas), philosophy and literature. In ancient Greece the practice was formalized as part of the pederastic educational tradition, and man/boy couples were considered to make an especially effective fighting force. See Sacred Band of Thebes

A child soldier in the American Civil War
A child soldier in the American Civil War

Also in a practice dating back to antiquity, children were routinely taken on campaign, together with the rest of a military man's family, as part of the baggage. This exposed them to harm from rearguard attacks, such as the one at the battle of Agincourt, where the retainers and children of the English army were massacred by the French.

The Romans also made use of youths in war, though it was understood that it was unwise and cruel to use children in war, and Plutarch implies that regulations required youths to be at least sixteen years of age.

In medieval Europe, young boys from about twelve years of age were used as military aides ("squires"), though in theory their role in actual combat was limited. The so-called Children's Crusade in 1212 recruited thousands of children as untrained soldiers under the assumption that divine power would enable them to conquer the enemy, although none of the children actually entered combat; according to the legend, they were instead sold into slavery. While most scholars no longer believe that the Children's Crusade consisted solely, or even mostly, of children, it nonetheless exemplifies an era in which the entire family took part in a war effort.

Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising.
Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising.

Young boys often took part in battles during early modern warfare. One of their more visible roles was as the ubiquitous "drummer boy" – the film Waterloo (based on the Battle of Waterloo) graphically depicts French drummer boys leading Napoleon's initial attack, only to be gunned down by Allied soldiers. During the age of sail, young boys formed part of the crew of British Royal Navy ships and were responsible for many important tasks including bringing powder and shot from the ship's magazine to the gun crews. These children were called "powder monkeys". During the Siege of Mafeking in the Boer War, Robert Baden-Powell recruited and trained 12-15 year old boys as scouts, thus freeing up the limited number of men for the actual fighting. The boys' success led indirectly to Baden-Powell founding the Boy Scouts, a youth organisation originally run along military lines.

By a law signed by Nicholas I of Russia in 1827, a disproportionate number of Jewish boys, known as the cantonists, were forced into military training establishments to serve in the army. The 25-year conscription term officially commenced at the age of 18, but boys as young as eight were routinely taken to fulfill the hard quota.

Mexico honors its heroic cadets who died in the battle of Chapultepec (1847).
Mexico honors its heroic cadets who died in the battle of Chapultepec (1847).

In World War II, children frequently participated in popular insurrections like the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 and other anti-fascist resistance movements across Nazi-occupied Europe.

On the opposite side, Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend or HJ) was an official organization in Nazi Germany that trained youth physically and indoctrinated them with Nazi ideology. By the end of WW2, members of the HJ were taken into the army at increasingly younger ages. During the Battle of Berlin in 1945 they were a major part of the German defenses.

In some cases, youth organizations were, and still are, militarized in order to instill discipline in their ranks, sometimes to indoctrinate them with propaganda and prepare for subsequent military service.

[edit] International law

12 year old ARVN soldier with M-79 grenade launcher, Tan Son Nhut, 1968 (Vietnam War)
12 year old ARVN soldier with M-79 grenade launcher, Tan Son Nhut, 1968 (Vietnam War)

[edit] International human rights law

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 38, (1989) proclaimed: "State parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities." The Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict to the Convention that came into force in 2002 stipulates that its State Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities and that they are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1261 "strongly condemns... recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in violation of international law." (UN Sec. Council Res. 1261 (1999), art. 3, 8, 13.)

[edit] International humanitarian law

According to the Additional Protocol I and Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1977, children who have not attained the age of 15 years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities. For persons older than 15 but younger than 18 years, the State Parties to the Geneva Conventions shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest. (Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977, art. 77; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts), June 8, 1977, art. 4)

The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids the use of any civilian as a shield. (Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 U.S.T. 3516, 75 U.N.T.S. 287, art. 28).

[edit] International labor law

Forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, is one of the predefined worst forms of child labour in terms of the International Labour Organisation's Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, adopted in 1999.

In terms of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation ratifying countries should ensure that forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict is a criminal offence, and also provide for other criminal, civil or administrative remedies to ensure the effective enforcement of such national legislation (Article III(12) to (14)).

[edit] Child soldiers in the world today

According to Amnesty International,

“ An estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen are currently participating in armed conflicts in more than thirty different countries on nearly every continent. While most child soldiers are in their teens, some are as young as seven years old. ”

Children have been used as spotters, observers, message-carriers, and even as human shields. The last case is particularly problematic: if the hostage value of the child is respected, children will be increasingly used as human shields, and the soldier is placed at a tactical disadvantage. If not, soldiers must suffer the morale effects of wounding and killing children in self-defence. In any case, a great deal of propaganda value can be gained from publicizing different (and often false) accounts of such events. Usually, girls are made to perform as sex slaves and aides, while the fate of boys is that of combat, although recent reports indicate that girls have been forced to perform combat as well, and that boys are routinely used for sexual purposes. To counter their reluctance, the children are dulled by forcing them to commit brutalities and to take drugs like marijuana, amphetamines and "brown-brown" that inhibit guilt and fear. Propaganda, revenge and fear of being left alone influence children to "voluntarily" stay in the army. Children have been both participants in and victims of atrocities. The recruitment of children as soldiers is a practice that has survived into modern times.

[edit] Africa

As of 2007, Africa has the largest number of child soldiers with up to 200,000 believed to be involved in hostilities. Child soldiers are being used in armed conflict in Burundi, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army is particularly notorious for its use of child soldiers.The Uganda People's Defense Force also allows children from the age of 13 to join, but only with parental consent.

[edit] Asia

In Asia thousands of children are involved in fighting forces in active conflict and ceasefire situations, although government refusal of access to conflict zones has made it impossible to document the numbers involved. Laos and Myanmar are unique in the region, as they are the only countries where government armed forces forcibly recruit and use children between the ages of 12 and 18. Child soldiers also exist in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, where they are mainly associated with armed opposition groups, factional or clan-based groups or groups composed of ethnic or religious minorities.

In Chechnya, under-18s are believed to be involved in a range of armed groups in the war against Russia, although the numbers are impossible to establish given a virtual ban on media and human rights organizations from operating in the region.

[edit] Sri Lanka

Main article: Military use of children in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, thousands of children are believed to be in the ranks of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a rebel group banned as a terrorist organization by a number of countries including the United States, Canada, India and the European Union.

Since signing a ceasefire agreement in 2001, the latest available UNICEF figures show that the LTTE has abducted 5,666 children until July 2006, although the organization speculates that only about a third of such cases are reported to them. Sri Lankan soldiers nicknamed one unit the Baby Battalion, due to the number of children in it. In response to widespread international condemnation of alleged children recruitment practices, the LTTE informed that they have made (taking effect in Oct. 2006) child recruitment illegal for its groups. [1].

More recently, the para-military group known as the Karuna Group, which is apparently splinter group from the LTTE, has been held responsible for the abduction of children according to UNICEF and Human Rights Watch.[2]

[edit] Vietnam

Main article: Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers reported (and US military sources documented) a number of incidents where Vietnamese children were given hand grenades and/or explosives and used as weapons against American troops. In one variation, a young girl is instructed to throw a hand grenade (with or without pulling the pin to activate it first, depending on whether direct or psychological casualties are intended.) In another variation, children had explosives strapped to their bodies and were encouraged to mingle with American soldiers, with detonation either by a mechanical device or by remote control. The frequency of such incidents, and whether deadly force was necessary as often as it was actually used, is hotly debated; critics claim the military cited such incidents to justify use of deadly force against children.

[edit] Middle East

In the Middle East child soldiers are reportedly used in Iran, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories, and in tribal groups in Yemen.[citation needed]

[edit] Iran

During the later stages of the Iran-Iraq War, both sides were accused of using teenaged children to fill out the ranks of soldiers depleted by years of warfare. During that war, Iran was accused of using children to clear minefields by having them run or bicycle through the fields.

[edit] Palestinian-Occupied Territories

Child soldiers have also been used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers' "2004 Global Report on the Use of Child Soldiers", [3] there were at least nine documented suicide attacks involving Palestinian minors between October 2000 and March 2004: "There was no evidence of systematic recruitment of children by Palestinian armed groups. However, children are used as messengers and couriers, and in some cases as fighters and suicide bombers in attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. All the main political groups involve children in this way, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine." [4]. According to Israeli security forces, there have been 229 cases of minors involved in militant activity.

Arab journalist Huda Al-Hussein wrote in the London newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: "While UN organizations save child-soldiers, especially in Africa, from the control of militia leaders who hurl them into the furnace of gang-fighting, some Palestinian leaders… consciously issue orders with the purpose of ending their childhood, even if it means their last breath." (Oct. 27, 2000, translated by MEMRI, Arab Journalist Decries Palestinian Child-Soldiers Special Dispatch 146, Nov. 1, 2000). In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Azzaman (June 20, 2002), Mahmoud Abbas condemned the practice, saying that he opposed "that little children go to die", stating that "[i]t is a horrible thing. At least 40 children in Rafah became cripples after their hands were blown off by pipe bombs. They received 5 shekels [slightly over $1] to throw them" (Quoted in the Jordanian newspaper Alrai) [5]

On May 23, 2005, Amnesty International reiterated its calls to Palestinian armed groups to put an immediate end to the use of children in armed activities: "Palestinian armed groups must not use children under any circumstances to carry out armed attacks or to transport weapons or other material." [6]

[edit] Latin America

In Latin America, more than 11,000 children are estimated to be involved with left-wing guerrilla groups and right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia. According to Human Rights Watch, "Approximately 80 percent of child combatants in Colombia belong to one of the two left-wing guerrilla groups, the FARC or ELN. The remainder fights in paramilitary ranks." [7]

Bolivia is known to recruit children as young as 14 in times when few volunteers join the armed forces. About 40% of the Bolivian army is under the age of 18, with half of them under the age of 16.

[edit] The military use of children by developed countries

[edit] United Kingdom

The minimum age to join the British Army is 16 and a half; parental permission is required for those under the age of 18. Soldiers are not allowed to take part in Operations until the age of 18. Approximately forty percent of Britain's military forces joined when they were just sixteen or seventeen years of age. This military service is voluntary, leading some to suggest that the argument turns on whether a teenager has the free will and clear mind to consent to join the army. Children's rights advocates claim that children should not be exposed to the risks of military life even if they appear to be willing to do so.

[edit] Other Commonwealth countries

The voluntary minimum age of 16 is also standard for former British colonies like Australia, Canada and Singapore. Minimum voluntary age is 17 in New Zealand, but troops cannot be deployed overseas until age 18.

[edit] Israel

Seventeen-year-old Jews and Druzes of both sexes are conscripted for 21(women) - 36(men) months of service in the armed forces. People from other beliefs can voluntarily join the IDF from age 17.

[edit] United States

In the United States seventeen-year-olds may join the armed forces, but may not be deployed in combat situations. The United States military is based on voluntary recruitment, though minors also must have parental permission to enlist (or permission of one's legal guardian in the absence of parents). Males under eighteen years of age are not draft eligible, and females are not eligible for conscription at any age. The United States military requires all soldiers to possess a high school diploma or equivalent; this requirement may be waived for young soldiers for up to 180 days from the date of enlistment. In spirit, these policies ensure soldier maturity similarly to laws that would explicitly ban the use of minors in combat. The human rights organization Human Rights Watch reported:

"The United States has emerged as the most vigorous opponent of establishing eighteen as the minimum age for military service, although less than 3,000 members of its 1.3 million active duty force are minors."[1]

[edit] Movement to stop military use of children

Recently, a strong international movement has emerged to put an end to the practice. See, for example, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

After the war, bringing children or former child soldiers into civil society is difficult, as they have received little education, are accustomed to the use of violence, and often the children have lost ties to their families.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Promises Broken. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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