Dominick Fleres
Professor Jamie Fleres
17 April 2011
I swear by God this Holy Oath: I will render unconditional obedience to the Führer of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, the supreme commander of the Armed Forces and will be ready as a brave soldier, to stake my life at any time for this oath.
-Oath taken by Hitler Youth
-Oath taken by Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth were young boys who had received a kind of “boy scouts” military training as part of a political program to maintain Nazi rule through indoctrination at a young age. According to war historian Guido Knopp; “During most of World War II, the boys only joined German military forces (including the SS) once they reached the age of maturity. However, when Allied forces invaded German territory in the final months of the war, Hitler’s regime ordered these boys to fight as well”. According to Knopp these actions appear as a desperate hope to hold off the invasion of Berlin until a new “miracle” weapon could turn the war back in the favor of the Germans. “Lightly armed and mostly sent out in small ambush squads, scores of Hitler Youth were killed in futile skirmishes, all occurring after the war has been essentially decided”(Knopp 57). The example of Hitler’s Youth is only one of a few limited examples of children being conscripted into war as actual combatants. Not until fairly recently, the use of child soldiers has been limited to a few unique cases in history. It has been since the 1980’s and Africa’s bloody civil wars that children have been brought into fighting at the very start, and not at some later point when adult soldiers were running short.
Over the course of this paper I will first explain this more modern problem of child soldier recruitment as a whole, seen through the eyes of various international aid organizations. I will also discuss the various forms of international law that have differing views of what classifies a child soldier: the regional and cultural differences in defining childhood from adulthood, versus the UN definition of what exactly constitutes a child soldier. Secondly, I will examine the opposing attitudes and approaches towards the use of child soldiers in Uganda’s 20-year civil war through the actions of Uganda’s most prolific recruiter of child soldiers, Joseph Kony. The end of my paper will discuss the physiological damage that has been inflicted upon, these children of war. Lastly, and most important is keeping these children from being abandond by society through the help of organizations like WarChild.org.
The very first time the United Nations conducted a global study of the prevalence of child soldiering was in 1996. It was a UN study titled Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, and stated that there were approximately a quarter of a million child soldiers, with the largest numbers found in Africa and Asia.
According to the UN:
"A 'child soldier' is defined as any child - boy or girl - under 18 years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including, but not limited to: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members. It includes girls and boys recruited for sexual purposes and/or forced marriage. The definition, therefore, does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or has carried weapons" (UN).
Later reports by the UN’s specific children’s fund, or UNICEF titled Children and Armed Conflict 2005 (UNICEF), have estimated that there are approximately three hundred thousand child soldiers at any point in time. UNICEF also estimated that children serve as combatants in over two-thirds of the (37 out of 55) currently or recently ended conflicts all over the world.
Although most child soldiers are boys, girls still constitute a significant amount of child soldiers in particular counties or armed groups (Hubertus et al). As many as 40 percent, or 120,000 child soldiers are believed to be girls (Save the Children UK 2005). Although many more organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch agree upon the estimate of three hundred thousand child soldiers, I think that number is probably best taken with a grain of salt. Because of the numerous difficulties in what constitutes a child soldier, there can be no definitive estimate.
In my studies I found one particularly active armed group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda, they relied almost exclusively on the use of child soldiers. In Peter Singer’s book, Children at War, he states: “The LRA have abducted more than fourteen thousand children to turn into soldiers, and also holds the record for having the world’s youngest reported combatant, age five” (Singer 20). Such armed groups as these often seem to operate like revolving doors. As child soldiers die or leave military life, commanders recruit other children to replenish the ranks. Also, that these recruiters are not only governments but also a whole host of characters; self-proclaimed leaders that have no affiliation with official governments. Over the length of the 20 year war, the LRA’s activity in Uganda from 1985 till 2005, total number of child soldiers is likely far more than three hundred thousand. Still, I believe that the global issue of a child’s right to be safe from war should not be controlled by a single UN estimate. In all honesty, it is up to military commanders on how many child soldiers there is at one time.
As child soldiers die or leave military life, commanders recruit other children to replenish the ranks. These commanders are not just limited to those in governments, but they can be a whole host of characters. These can be self-proclaimed leaders that have no affiliation with official governments. One notorious example is the Lord Resistance Army’s (LRA) leader, Joseph Kony. In this case, a man who in was just an unemployed young relative of a tribal shaman. Kony, and men like him across the globe, realized that arming children could serve as a means to gaining military capacity. Their vying for military conquest through any means necessary has not only sucked children into war, but is also responsible for much of global unrest after the Cold War. Children are chosen for recruitment because they represent a quick, easy, and low-cost way for armed organizations to generate force. Any organization willing to use children as fighters will usually be able to create a force well beyond what they would be able to do without them. Because of this larger child-based force, the balance of potential battles in a war is shifted to the most vicious that have capitalized on their youth. For example, the LRA was nothing more than a cabal that numbered as few as two hundred men, and enjoyed no popular support among the civilian population. But through the abduction and transformation of fourteen thousand children into soldiers, the LRA has been able to engage the Ugandan army in a bloody civil war for the last 20 years.
According to Matthew Green’s book, The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa’s Most Wanted, “Joseph Kony emerged at the age of twenty-eight claiming to be possessed by the Christian Holy Spirit”(Green). And with the help of a few loyal followers, he took to the bush and launched his war. Green alleges that Kony’s group is “fighting to bring back respect for the biblical Ten Commandments”. Through Kony’s interpretation, however, this includes the abduction, torture, rape, and killing of children, the use of sex slaves. In fact, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged Kony with as many as 33 counts of war crimes. Kony also has the dubious distinction of being the ICC’s first test case (Burgis). Almost ironically, the LRA’s closest ally has been the militant Islamic government of Sudan, so it once even amended its ‘Christian’ doctrine to include the requirements that prayers be made toward Mecca and that pig farming be banned (Singer 57). The LRA would appear to lack any sustainability due to its seemingly mad leaders and contradictions. But unlike rebel groups of the past, by using child soldiers, Kony has been the force behind a 25year war that has killed more than 100,000, recruited around 30,000 children, and displaced approximately 80% (1.8 million people) from northern Uganda. (US State Department). Currently the government and the LRA are in peace talks.
Kony also has allowed himself to have sixty-seven wives, mostly abducted girls (Debut), because he says, “King Solomon had more than six hundred” (Green). In Beatrice Debut’s Mail & Guardian article, she interviews some of Kony’s ‘wives’. It is with these interviews you start to see what life is like with the mysterious leader. “He doesn’t kill, he gives orders to the commanders and the commanders give the orders to the small children,” says Nancy (16) who served as a babysitter for Kony’s prolific brood before being freed in a Ugandan army raid (Debut). “He says he has spiritual powers and I believed it,” says Nancy, who speaks with difficulty since being shot in the jaw during the attack that freed her.
“I grew a kind of love for him,” says now 23-year old Evelyn who married Kony in 1994. “But when I came back, I realized that a war took place in my village: two of my brothers, two aunties and my dad had been killed. I grew a lot of hatred”(Debut). This “hatred” and mental trauma has been recently documented in many mental profiles of former child soldiers.
One of the more recent studies by the University Medical Center Hamburg is documented in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, and took place in October of 2010. The study, titled; Multiple Trauma and Mental Health in Former Ugandan Child Soldiers, admits that “child soldiers are one of the most complex traumatized populations of children and adolescents” This is no doubt due to large range of trauma inflicted on these children; ranging from “beatings, torture, witness of killings, the act of killing, and sexual abuse” (Hubertus 573).
The Hamburg study examined the effects of war and domestic violence on the mental health of child soldiers in a, “sample consisting of 330 former Ugandan child soldiers in 2006 (age: 11-17 years, [with 49% being] female)”. Participants were recruited from Laroo Boarding Primary School for War Affected Children in Gulu Town. Since most child soldiers were deprived of any education, “The foremost aim of the school is to ready children for the curriculum of the public school system”. This study is important because,” it was the only school of its kind in the entire country [thus], admission priority was given to extremely war-affected children”. It was the purpose of this study to gauge their levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder.
So, “all children had experienced at least one war-related event and 78% were additionally exposed to at least one incident of domestic violence”. According to the study 33% of the children exhibited signs of PTSD and 36% were effected by major depressive disorder. “Behavioral and emotional problems above [the] clinical cutoff were measured in 61%. [And] no gender differences were found regarding mental health outcomes”. Once the data from the questionnaire was analyzed it was found that, 290 (87.9%) children witnessed killing and 171 (52.6%) admitted to killing someone. Alarming still, was the finding that suicidal ideations during the past month were reported by 99 (30%) of the children (Hubertus 577-578).
So, “all children had experienced at least one war-related event and 78% were additionally exposed to at least one incident of domestic violence”. According to the study 33% of the children exhibited signs of PTSD and 36% were effected by major depressive disorder. “Behavioral and emotional problems above [the] clinical cutoff were measured in 61%. [And] no gender differences were found regarding mental health outcomes”. Once the data from the questionnaire was analyzed it was found that, 290 (87.9%) children witnessed killing and 171 (52.6%) admitted to killing someone. Alarming still, was the finding that suicidal ideations during the past month were reported by 99 (30%) of the children (Hubertus 577-578).
Even though aggression scores were low on average, it is noteworthy that aggression and other mental health problems were significantly related. Recent studies also indicate that former child soldiers with more posttraumatic symptoms are less open to reconciliation, having higher feelings of revenge, and favor violent forms of behavior to resolve conflicts (Bayer et al.) Therefore, clinical interventions are urgently needed to prevent children from engaging in aggressive and violent behavior in order to brake a potential cycle of violence.
The worst thing that can happen to these children, after surviving the torments of war, is abandonment. If abandoned to their own devices you will see a continuing in the cycle of violence. Few villages want anything to do with them, and in most cases the childs parents have been killed or disappeared. That is why it is imperative that aid organizations are emplaced to give these children the support they need to grow up into well-adjusted adults, with opportunities to become productive members of society. One such organization I found that is helping children right now is War Child (warchild.org).
War Child is a multinational charity that partners with local organizations. It is these organizations then employ local people to help in specific communities around the world. This makes sure that the people doing the work know the culture, the community and the people better than anyone else; the program creates local jobs and creates legitimate connections between people rather than just outsiders coming in to ‘fix’ everything. I find War Child to be one of the best charities because of 90 cent of every dollar is allocated directly to international projects. This isn’t some lofty exercise in fundraising where money donated just disappears into an administrative abyss or corrupt government pocketbooks, nor is it a system of hand-outs that fosters crippling dependencies. Financial help from you is used so that local organizations can build their own skills and long-term capabilities in helping former child soldiers. By working with War Child employees; local humanitarian organizations build programs that can eventually become self-sustaining on a local level.
The humanitarian problem of child soldiers is not just that of countries engaged in conflicts. As members of the United Nations we are responsible for the rehabilitation of these children. The psychological rehabilitation of former child soldiers is an international obligation according to Article 39 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It’s up to us to restore their futures.
Works Cited
Breen, Claire. "When Is a Child Not a Child? Child Soldiers in International Law." Human Rights Review 8.2 (2007): 71-103. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.
Burgis, Tom. "Uganda seeks end to ICC charges against Kony. " London Times 11 Mar. 2008: ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Debut, Beatrice. “Portrait of Uganda’s rebel prophet, painted by wives.” Mail & Guardian. 10 Febuary 2006. Web. 25 Febuary 2011. <http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-02-10- portrait-of-ugandas-rebel-prophet-painted-by-wives>
Green, Matthew. "Africa's Most Wanted. " FT.com 8 Feb. 2008: ProQuest News-stand, ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Hubertus Adam, et al. "Multiple trauma and mental health in former Ugandan child soldiers." Journal of Traumatic Stress 23.5 (2010): 573-581. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.
Ilse Derluyn, Eric Broekaert, Gilberte Schuyten, and Els De Temmerman. "Post-traumatic stress in former Ugandan child soldiers. " T he Lancet 363.9412 (2004): 861-863. ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source, ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Singer, P. W. Children at War. New York: Pantheon, 2005. Print.
Tait, Robert. (2011, March 13). Iran accused of using child soldiers as riot police. The Observer,15. Retrieved March 21, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2294707641).
UNICEF, et al. "Children and Armed Conflict." UNICEF, Feb. 2005. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_childsoldiers.html>.
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