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Overview
In conflict-torn countries such as Myanmar and Uganda, the use of child soldiers in military and paramilitary operations continues to occur despite widespread condemnation and the efforts of organizations such as the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. This book will allow readers to grasp the impact of this issue for both individuals and nations worldwide.
Child Soldiers: A Reference Handbook traces the evolution of child soldiers from approximately 1940 onwards, covering important historical to modern conflicts. The subject is discussed from a global perspective, with particular attention given to areas where the use of child soldiers is most prevalent. The book covers the complex underlying reasons for the continued use of child soldiers in the modern world, examines the political and psychological consequences of using children—both male and female—in military and paramilitary organizations, and describes how this subject has been addressed by international law and various human rights organizations.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781598845266 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publication date: | 04/23/2012 |
| Series: | Contemporary World Issues |
| Pages: | 344 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.81(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
1 Background and History 1
Defining the "Problem" of Child Soldiers 1
Where Are the Child Soldiers? 1
A New International Problem but a Very Old Situation 3
Curbing Child Recruitment: The Problem of Armed Groups 4
Using Law to End the Use of Child Soldiers 6
First Steps: The Geneva Conventions 7
Protecting Child Combatants: The 1977 Additional Protocols 10
The Rome Statute: Setting Equal Standards 12
Child Soldiers and International Customary Law 13
Who Is a Child? 14
Straight-18: The Human Rights Position in the Convention on the Rights of the Child 14
Moving toward Age 18 15
International Treaties, Children's Rights, and the Definition of Childhood 18
Common Assumptions about Child Soldiers 19
Assumption 1: Children Are Vulnerable 19
Assumption 2: All Child Soldiers Are Abused and Exploited 20
Assumption 3: Child Soldiers Are a Product of the New Barbarism of War 22
The Role of Humanitarian Groups and "Civil Society," 24
References 27
2 Problems, Controversies, and Solutions 33
Ending the Used of Child Soldiers: Problems and Solutions 33
The Issue of Exceptions: Wars of National Liberation 35
The Complexities of Treaties and International Law 37
When Treaties Bind Nonsignatories 38
Using Customary Law: The Case of Sierra Leone 39
Captured Child Combatants 40
Children's Rights and the Straight-18 Position 41
Inventing a Universal Definition of Childhood 41
Human Rights and the Realities of International Law 42
Who Is a Child? 42
International Law and Local Understandings of Childhood 43
The Boundaries between Childhood and Adulthood 44
Civil Society and Social Change 46
Child Soldiers in Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspective 47
Who Is a Child Soldier? Expanding the Definition 50
Putting Child Recruiters on Trial 52
The ICC: Cases from the Congo and Uganda 53
The Special Court for Sierra Leone: The Meaning of Recruitment 53
Voluntary Enlistment or Forcible Recruitment? 54
Local Customs, International Interpretations 55
What Constitutes Enlistment? 58
The Implications of an Expanded Definition of Enlistment 60
Putting Children on Trial 62
Age and the Culpability of Children 64
Wrestling with Children's Culpability 66
Age and Culpability in Domestic Courts 67
DDR: Disarming, Demobilizing, and Reintegrating Child Soldiers 69
References 76
3 Special U.S. Issues 85
Grappling with the Child Soldier Problem: U.S. Achievements and Failures 85
The Recruitment of Child Soldiers 86
The United States and the Optional Protocol 86
U.S. Domestic Legislation 88
Compliance with Domestic Legislation 89
The Protection of Child Soldiers: The United States and the Treatment of Child Captives 91
Rules for the Treatment of Detainees 92
Unlawful Combatants and the War against Terror 93
Detaining Child Soldiers 94
The Treatment of Child Soldiers: The Legal Context 96
Presidential Orders 96
Legal Challenges 97
Putting Child Soldiers on Trial: U.S. Military Commissions 99
The Case of Mohammed Jawad: Tortured for Sport 99
Omar Khadr: The First Child Soldier Tried since World War II 104
Conclusion 110
References 110
4 Chronology 115
5 Biographical Sketches 137
Child Soldiers 137
al-Akhras, Ayat 137
Arafat, Yasser 138
Beah, Ishmael 138
Bevistein, Abraham (Aby) 139
Casabianca, Giancomo 140
Clem, John, Lincoln 140
Cornwall, John Travers 141
Dayan, Moshe 142
Jackson, Andrew 143
Jal, Emmanuel 144
Jawad, Mohammed 145
Joan of Arc 146
Khadr, Omar 146
Ladd, Luther C. 147
Lucas, Jack 148
Mackenzie, Clarence 149
Murphy, Audie 149
Okafor, Ben 151
Soldaderas 151
Tsam, Herzl Yankl 152
Tungwar, Lam 152
Yurlova, Marina 153
Prominent Recruiters of Child Soldiers 153
Dyilo, Thomas Lubanga 153
Farhat, Maryam Mohammad Yousif 154
Kony, Joseph 154
Taylor, Charles Ghankay 155
Key Figures in the Movement to End the Use of Child Soldiers 156
Becker, Jo 156
Coomaraswamy, Radhika 157
Dellaire, Romeo 157
Machel, Graca 158
Otunnu, Olara A. 159
6 Data and Documents 161
Data Overview 161
International Treaties 173
Articles Relating to the Protection of Children from the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 12 August 1949 173
1949 Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 176
Selections from the Third Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949 177
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977 179
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977 181
Articles Relating to Child Soldiers from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) 182
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) 183
Articles Relating to Child Soldiers from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) 190
Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (2000) 196
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) 197
Cape Town Principle and Best Practice on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and Demobilization and Social Integration of Child Soldiers in Africa (1997) 198
International Labour Organization Convention 182
Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999) 207
U.S. Legislation 208
The Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2008 208
The Child Soldier Accountability Act of 2008 213
Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009 216
7 Directory of Organizations 219
8 Resources 263
Child Soldiers: General Studies 263
Child Soldiers: Studies of Children at War 264
Policy and Advocacy 268
Human Rights Reports 270
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration 274
Child Soldiers in History 276
Child Soldiers and International Law: Key Treaties 278
International Criminal Tribunals 280
Child Soldiers: Legal Analyses 280
Autobiographies and Biographies 282
Memorial Books 284
Child Soldiers in Fiction 285
Film and Video 288
Podcasts 294
Glossary 297
Index 301
About the Author 323