Admin Can child soldiers be prosecuted?
There’s no doubt that some children have committed terrible crimes during armed conflict. If so, they can be prosecuted under international law, taking their age into account and adhering to international standards.
How many child soldiers are prosecuted?
Some 300,000 combatants under age 18 — some as young as six and 40 percent of them girls — are illegal recruits in more than 30 conflicts around the world, Popovski and co-author Karen Arts say in the brief, which is based on a forthcoming book that examines how a child rights approach has been gradually introduced …
Are child soldiers against the law?
While much has been done to protect children from being used in the fighting, more efforts are needed. It is a war crime under international law to enlist, conscript, or use children under 15 actively in hostilities, whether it is in a conflict between states, or between armed groups and/or state forces.
Why are child soldiers being detained?
To ensure force protection and self-defense, and to collect intelligence, the militaries of Canada and the United States detain child soldiers during armed conflicts.
Can minors be tried for war crimes?
Yes because… Prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity take place in the specific context of a post-conflict society. It is important that child soldiers are included in post-war justice, so that the whole community can see that the perpetrators of human rights violations are punished.
Can child soldiers be attacked?
The fact that a child soldier can be a combatant or a civilian taking direct part in hostilities implies that this child soldier can be directly targeted. The conclusion that it is lawful to directly target child soldiers does not necessarily entail that it is lawful to target them as if they were adult soldiers.
Why are child soldiers given amnesty?
One reason to why child soldiers should be granted amnesty is because everyone probably got traumatized from what happened that when they get out of this situation they won’t do it again. “These children have been forced to carry weapons, forced to kill innocents.