The past three days have seen noteworthy efforts at achieving justice for former child soldiers from South Asia to central Africa.
Yesterday, it was announced that approximately 3 000 child soldiers serving in the Maoist group that formed one side of Nepal’s civil war will be released. The children will receive special care and training from the United Nations on how to integrate back into civilian life—how to start their lives as children and youth, once again. The release of the child soldiers was made possible by an agreement signed by Nepal’s government, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal–Maoist (UCPN-M) and the United Nations over a year ago. The civil war in Nepal has lasted a decade and has killed 16 000 people.
United Nations workers will continue to check on the former child soldiers for one year, in order to ensure that none re-join military or rebel groups. This is often viewed as a necessary precaution, as many children—once they have been recruited into armed groups—internalize the cause the group fights for. As a result, they may feel intense loyalty to the group, which has replaced their civilian community. Consider that, for many years, the armed group in question would have been their source of food, protection, and social activity.
Today, over 700 rehabilitated child soldiers (formerly recruited into the Tamil Tigers) were returned to their communities in a ceremony presided over by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Many of the children have since come of age, however nearly 100 graduates of the rehabilitation program are still under the age of adulthood. During the time of their rehabilitation, the children were living in a displaced person camp that housed 80 000. Rehabilitation activities included language training, skills training and recreational activities.
There are moral and important arguments behind the international prohibition on the use of child soldiers. Not only are children impressionable and easily exploited, but they also possess a “underdeveloped notion of death,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. This, especially when combined with the drugs they are often given, makes them fearless when they run out to battle. Coomaraswamy spoke on Thursday at the International Criminal Court’s trial of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who stands accused of the use of child soldiers, in explicit and direct contravention of internationally-binding human rights law. Children have been used as soldiers and sex slaves, among other things, in the Congo’s long-standing civil conflicts.
Said Coomaraswamy, "Give them justice for the cacophony of abuse they suffered."