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Child soldiers (tag)
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Child soldiers. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Child soldiers. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Τετάρτη 7 Ιουνίου 2023
Τρίτη 22 Ιουνίου 2021
Slavery in Sudan today
Children enslaved in Sudan! (photo from here)
Slavery in Sudan - Wikipedia
Modern-day slavery
The "modern wave" of slavery in Sudan reportedly began in 1983 with the Second Sudanese Civil War between the North and South. It involved large numbers of Sudanese people from the southern and central regions, "primarily the Dinka, Nuer and Nuba of central Sudan," being captured and sold "(or exploited in other ways)" by Northern Sudanese who consider themselves as Arabs.[11][12] The problem of slavery reportedly became worse after the National Islamic Front-backed military government took power in 1989, the Khartoum government declared jihad against non-Muslim opposition in the south.[13] The Baggara were also given freedom "to kill these groups, loot their wealth, capture slaves, expel the rest from the territories, and forcefully settle their lands."[14]
The Sudan Criminal Code of 1991 did not list slavery as a crime, but the Republic of Sudan has ratified the Slavery Convention, the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, and is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).[1] Nonetheless, according to the imam of the Ansar movement and former prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, jihad
requires initiating hostilities for religious purposes. [...] It is true that the [NIF] regime has not enacted a law to realize slavery in Sudan. But the traditional concept of jihad does allow slavery as a by-product [of jihad].[15]
Human Rights Watch[16] and Amnesty International[17] first reported on slavery in Sudan in 1995 in the context of the Second Sudanese Civil War. In 1996, two more reports emerged, one by a United Nations representative and another by reporters from the Baltimore Sun, just one of many "extensive accounts of slave raiding" in Sudan provided by Western media outlets since 1995.[Note 1]
Human Rights Watch and others have described the contemporary form of slavery in Sudan as mainly the work of the armed, government-backed militia of the Baggara tribes who raid civilians—primarily of the Dinka ethnic group from the southern region of Bahr El Ghazal. The Baggara captured children and women who were taken to western Sudan and elsewhere. They were "forced to work for free in homes and in fields, punished when they refuse, and abused physically and sometimes sexually". The government of Sudan "arm[ed] and sanction[ed] the practice of slavery by this tribal militia", known as muraheleen, as a low cost way of weakening its enemy in the Second Sudanese Civil War, the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which was thought to have a base of support among the Dinka tribe of southern Sudan.[1]
According to a 2002 report issued by the International Eminent Persons Group, (acting with the encouragement of the US State Department) both the government-backed militias and the rebels (led by the SPLA) have been found guilty of abducting civilians, but "of particular concern" were incidents that occurred "in conjunction with attacks by pro-government militias known as murahaleen on villages in SPLA-controlled areas near the boundary between northern and southern Sudan." The Group concluded that "in a significant number of cases", abduction is the first stage in "a pattern of abuse that falls under the definition of slavery in the International Slavery Convention of 1926 and the Supplementary Convention of 1956."[2]
Estimates of abductions during the war range from 14,000 to 200,000.[19] One estimate by social historian Jok Madut Jok is of 10–15,000 slaves in Sudan "at any one time", the number remaining roughly constant as individual slaves come and go—as captives escape, have their freedom bought or are released as unfit for labor, more are captured.[20] Until 1999, the number of slaves kept by slave taker retains after the distribution of the human war booty was usually "three to six and rarely exceeded ten per slave raider". Although modern slave trading never approached the scale of nineteenth-century Nilotic slavery, some Baggara "operated as brokers to convert the war captives into slaves", selling slaves "at scattered points throughout Western Sudan", and "as far north as Kharoum". Illegal and highly unpopular internationally, the trade is done "discreetly", and kept to a "minimal level" so that "evidence for it is very difficult to obtain." "Slave owners simply deny that Southern children working for them are slaves." [21]
According to a January 25, 1999, report in CBS news, slaves have been sold for $50 apiece.[22]
Writing for The Wall Street Journal on December 12, 2001, Michael Rubin said:[23]
What's Sudanese slavery like? One 11-year-old Christian boy told me about his first days in captivity: "I was told to be a Muslim several times, and I refused, which is why they cut off my finger." Twelve-year-old Alokor Ngor Deng was taken as a slave in 1993. She has not seen her mother since the slave raiders sold the two to different masters. Thirteen-year-old Akon was seized by Sudanese military while in her village five years ago. She was gang-raped by six government soldiers, and witnessed seven executions before being sold to a Sudanese Arab.
Many freed slaves bore signs of beatings, burnings and other tortures. More than three-quarters of formerly enslaved women and girls reported rapes.
While nongovernmental organizations argue over how to end slavery, few deny the existence of the practice. ...[E]stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labour in Libya)...
The Sudanese government has never admitted to the existence of "slavery" within their borders,[24][25] but in 1999, under international pressure, it established the committee to Eradicate the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC). 4,000 "abducted" southerners were returned to South Sudan through this program before it was shut down in 2010.[26]
- End of trade
According to the Rift Valley Institute, slave-raiding, "abduction … effectively ceased" in 2002. "A significant number" of slaves were repatriated after 2005 the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, but "an unknown number" remain in captivity.[4] The Institute created a "Sudan Abductee Database" containing "the names of over 11,000 people who were abducted in 20 years of slave-raiding" in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal state in southern Sudan, from 1983 to 2002.[4][5] The January 2005 "North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)" peace treaty that ended the Sudanese civil war[27] put an end to the slave raids, according to Christian Solidarity International, but did not provide a "way home for those already enslaved."[28] The last Human Rights Watch "Backgrounder on Slavery in Sudan" was updated March 2002.[1]
Christian Solidarity International slave redemption effortsEfforts to "redeem" or to buy the freedom of slaves in Sudan are controversial.[1] Beginning in 1995, Christian Solidarity International began "redeeming" slaves through an underground network of traders set up through local peace agreements between Arab and southern chiefs. The group claims to have freed over 80,000 people in this manner since that time.[29] Several other charities eventually followed suit.
In 1999, UNICEF called the practice of redeeming slaves 'intolerable', arguing that these charities are implicitly accepting that human beings can be bought and sold.[30]
UNICEF also said that buying slaves from slave-traders gives them cash to purchase arms and ammunition. But Christian Solidarity said they purchase slaves in Sudanese pounds, not US dollars that could be used to purchase arms.[30]
As of 2015, Christian Solidarity International stated that it continues redeeming slaves. On its website,[29] the group stated that it employs safeguards against fraud, and that allegations of fraud "remain today unsubstantiated".
‘How I escaped child slavery in Sudan’
Johannesburg - His tribal scars are the first thing you notice about Simon Deng.
He sits suited and collared and tied - a small blue pin on his lapel reading, “Freedom is not free.”
But it’s the line of scar tissue - 20 or so bumps stretching across his brow, from ear to ear - that catch the eye.
The first thing he did after escaping slavery was to have the markings of South Sudan’s Shilluk tribe cut into his flesh.
“For all those years that I was a slave, the dog lived better than I did,” he says.
“My slave master told me that to be treated like a human being, I must do three things: convert to Islam, take an Arab name, and become their son. To give up my identity. Now, nobody can take my identity away.”
Deng was nine when he was abducted, put on a boat going up the Nile and given to a northern Sudanese family as a “gift”.
For the next three-and-a-half years, he was the family’s beast of burden, doing chores, walking to and from the river carrying water.
“I was made to do things a child cannot do physically. It wasn’t easy, but did I have a choice? I was punished if I did not fulfil all my tasks.”
He was beaten, bullied, threatened. Run away and your legs will be cut off, he was told.
It’s difficult to imagine now. Deng sits in the restaurant of an upmarket hotel, pouring warm milk into his coffee - an award-winning abolitionist activist travelling the world to share his message that slavery is not history; that it is happening now.
But it was only after 20 years of freedom that Deng began to speak up.
For former slaves, speaking about their ordeal is taboo - shameful, says Deng. Even when he became a Sudanese long-distance swimming champion, he kept his experiences to himself.
But in 1993, having relocated to the US, he read a newspaper article that brought back the pain of his childhood.
“It said in Sudan you could buy a human being for $10. I could not believe what I saw. For three nights I couldn’t sleep. It haunted me. These were my people. This was my country. This was the very situation I had walked away from. But I was living in denial.”
Deng organised several walks across the US to raise awareness about slavery in his country, and to push for the independence of South Sudan.
“To look back and see where I am now, I consider myself a lucky victim. So many kids like me who went through what I went through will never have this opportunity, to go all over the world and speak to free people as a free person. I have a moral obligation to speak out on behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves.”
It is a moral obligation that extends to countries with clout, he says. Countries like South Africa.
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011, yet the fighting between north and south persists.
“The AU is always sitting down to discuss Sudan - but the solutions do not materialise. Africa needs a fatherhead to look up to and South Africa is in a position to play that role. If South African leaders turn a blind eye to a child calling for help, that itself is immoral.”
South Africa has forces in Darfur, western Sudan, as part of the UN-AU operations in the region.
For Deng, freedom came in the form of the same tribal marks he now bears. Sent to market one day, he saw three men with the scars he’d seen back home.
“It was like the sun rising out from nowhere,” he says.
He approached the men, spilled out his story, his name, the names of his parents, his village, his tribe, speaking in his native tongue to convince them he was one of them. They knew somebody from the same village. Over the next few weeks, Deng’s escape was plotted.
Then, suddenly, he was on a steamer heading south and standing outside his mother’s hut and his sister was screaming and his mother was crying and the son they thought was long dead - the son who had been missing for three-and-a-half years, whose father had offered a reward of 10 cows for information on - was home.
Deng is still based in the US, but travels to South Sudan as often as he can. As for the north? “Never,” he says.
But that’s the point, having that choice.
“There was a time when I couldn’t say no, when all I knew was yes - and yes to everything. Now, without fear of torture or punishment, I can choose. I can say no. I am a free man.”
* For every 1 000 people in Africa, four will be pushed into modern-day slavery.
According to the International Labour Organisation, an estimated 20.9 million people around the world were victims of forced labour between 2002 and 2011.
Of these, 4.5 million were victims of forced sexual exploitation, while 14.2 million were forced into economic activities of the kind Simon Deng experienced, like agriculture, construction, domestic work and manufacturing. Ten percent were at the mercy of state entities, like prisons or the army, or rebel forces.
More than half the victims were women and girls, and a quarter were children under the age of 17. Most of these victims were found in Asia, but in an unwelcome second place - with 3.7 million people in forced labour - was Africa.
Source: ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour
kristen.vanschie@inl.co.za // The Star
Children in Sudan: Slaves, Street Children and Child Soldiers
Going beyond the neglect of these abuses, most of which violate its own laws, the government denies that the abuses exist.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Sudanese to end these violations, and on the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations to sustain their efforts to defend children's rights in this violence-torn country.
Amazon.com
See also
Interpol Rescues 85 Child Slaves From Sudan's Streets and Gold Mines (2018)
History of slavery in the Sudan (photo)
Slavery in modern Africa
Mende Nazer
Francis Bok
Human rights in Sudan
History of Slavery in the Muslim World
Christian Solidarity International
Παρασκευή 12 Φεβρουαρίου 2021
Ημέρα της Ερυθράς Χειρός: Το σύγχρονο παιδομάζωμα
H Ημέρα της Ερυθράς Χειρός τιμάται κάθε χρόνο στις 12 Φεβρουαρίου με σκοπό να θυμίσει, και να ευαισθητοποιήσει τους πολίτες του κόσμου για τα παιδιά που στρατεύονται παρά τη θέλησή τους σε πολέμους και ένοπλες συγκρούσεις. Πρόκειται για τη χειρότερη μορφή παιδικής κακοποίησης. Το σύγχρονο αυτό παιδομάζωμα έχει συχνά ως στόχο παιδιά Χριστιανικών Οικογενειών, τα οποία πέφτουν θύματα απαγωγής σε τρυφερή ηλικία.
Παραδείγματα εκτεταμένης χρησιμοποίησης παιδιών ως στρατιωτών παρατηρούνται κυρίως σε χώρες της Αφρικής (Κονγκό, Ρουάντα, Ουγκάντα, Σουδάν, Ακτή Ελεφαντοστού), αλλά και στις Φιλιππίνες, τη Μυανμάρ (Βιρμανία) και την Κολομβία. Υπολογίζεται ότι ο αριθμός τους ανέρχεται σε περίπου 300.000, το ένα τρίτο των οποίων είναι κορίτσια.
Η Ημέρα της Ερυθράς Χειρός καθιερώθηκε στις 12 Φεβρουαρίου 2002, όταν τέθηκε σε ισχύ η Συνθήκη του ΟΗΕ για τα δικαιώματα των Παιδιών στις Ενοπλες Συγκρούσεις. Η Ελλάδα επικύρωσε τη συνθήκη στις 22 Οκτωβρίου 2003.
Ο «Συνασπισμός για τη μη χρησιμοποίηση Παιδιών ως Στρατιωτών», που
εδρεύει στο Λονδίνο και έχει την πρωτοβουλία των εκδηλώσεων,
περιλαμβάνει στους κόλπους του οργανώσεις, όπως η Διεθνής Αμνηστία και
το Παρατηρητήριο των Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου (Human Right Watch) και
συνεργάζεται με τη UNICEF, τον Διεθνή Ερυθρό Σταυρό και τη Διεθνή
Οργάνωση Εργασίας.
Έντονο είναι το φαινόμενο παιδιών, κυρίως χριστιανικών οικογενειών, που
πέφτουν θύματα απαγωγής και εν συνεχεία χρησιμοποιούνται ως βομβιστές
αυτοκτονίας, καθώς μπορούν να εισρεύσουν σε πλήθος ανθρώπων χωρπίς να
κινήσουν υποψίες.
Πολλά από αυτά συγκεντρώνονται από πολύ μικρές ηλικίες σε στρατόπεδα και μετατρέπονται σε ακραίους φανατικούς μαχητές.
Την περασμένη Τετάρτη ο επικεφαλής Γραφείου Καταπολέμησης της
Τρομοκρατίας του ΟΗΕ Βλαντιμίρ Βορόνκοφ, μιλώντας στο Συμβούλιο
Ασφαλείας υπογράμμισε ότι η απειλή για την παγκόσμια ειρήνη και ασφάλεια
που θέτουν οι τρομοκράτες μαχητές του ISIS «αυξάνεται ξανά», εν μέσω
πανδημίας.
Ο κ. Βορόνκοφ έκανε ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στη δύσκολη κατάσταση στην οποία
βρίσκονται γυναίκες και παιδιά, τα οποία αποτελούν εύκολη λεία στα
οράματα των μαχητών του Ισλαμικού Στρατού.
«Σχεδόν δύο χρόνια μετά την εδαφική ήττα του ISIS, περίπου 27.500 παιδιά ζουν σε στρατόπεδα στη βορειοανατολική Συρία, συμπεριλαμβανομένων περίπου 8.000 παιδιών από περίπου 60 χώρες εκτός του Ιράκ», είπε, προσθέτοντας ότι το 90% είναι κάτω από 12 ετών.
Ανησυχητική είναι η κατάσταση και στη Νιγηρία. Εκεί η τρομοκρατική
οργάνωση Μπόκο Χαράμ, που στόχο έχει να εξαλείψει κάθε χριστιανικό
στοιχείο από τις περιοχές που ελέγχει στρατολογεί μικρά παιδιά.
Σύμφωνα με στοιχεία που έδωσε προσφάτως στη δημοσιότητα ο Οργανισμός
Ηνωμένων Εθνών από το 2009, περίπου 8.000 παιδιά έχουν απαχθεί από την
Boko Haram. Και σύμφωνα με μια έκθεση της UNICEF, τουλάχιστον 117 από
αυτά τα παιδιά έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί ως βομβιστές αυτοκτονίας από το 2017
– και πάνω από το 80% από αυτά είναι κορίτσια.
Οι μαρτυρίες που περιλαμβάνονται στις εκθέσεις είναι συγκλονιστικές: Οι Χριστιανικές κοινότητες στη Νιγηρία ζουν κάτω από ένα καθεστώς τρόμου. Εξτρεμιστές εισβάλλουν στα σπίτια τους, καίνε τα χωριά τους, βιάζουν τις γυναίκες και τα μικρά κορίτσια, βασανίζουν, δολοφονούν και καταστρέφουν εκκλησίες.
Σύμφωνα με προηγούμενη έρευνα του Κέντρου Καταπολέμησης της Τρομοκρατίας από το Πανεπιστήμιο του Yale από τους 134 βομβιστές αυτοκτονίας, των οποίων η ηλικία έχει ταυτοποιηθεί, το 60% ήταν έφηβοι και παιδιά. Ο νεότερος τρομοκράτης που έχει μέχρι σήμερα εντοπιστεί ήταν μόλις 7 ετών. Η Boko Haram χρησιμοποίησε τέσσερις φορές περισσότερα κορίτσια από αγόρια. Η Ellen Chapin, ερευνήτρια στο Yale δήλωσε στο CNN πως η οργάνωση έχει στρατολογήσει 42 έφηβα κορίτσια και 23 μικρά κορίτσια (12 ετών και κάτω), σε σύγκριση με 11 εφήβους και 5 μικρά αγόρια.
«Ας είμαστε σαφείς: τα παιδιά αυτά είναι τα θύματα και όχι οι δράστες», λέει ο Μanuel Fonten, περιφερειακός διευθυντής της Unicef για τη δυτική και τη κεντρική Αφρική. «Η παραπλάνηση των παιδιών και ο εξαναγκασμός τους να διαπράξουν θανάσιμες πράξεις είναι μία από τις πιο φρικτές πλευρές της βίας στη Νιγηρία και στις γειτονικές χώρες», προσθέτει. Επιπλέον, τα παιδιά που γεννήθηκαν από αναγκαστικούς γάμους ή ως συνέπεια της σεξουαλικής βίας «αντιμετωπίζουν επίσης τον στιγματισμό και τις διακρίσεις» στα χωριά τους και στους καταυλισμούς των εκτοπισμένων.
Child soldiers (ενότητα στο ιστολόγιό μας)
Τετάρτη 23 Οκτωβρίου 2019
Παιδιά πολεμιστές!...
Παιδική Εργασία
ΠΑΙΔΙΑ ΣΤΟΝ ΠΟΛΕΜΟ
Χιλιάδες
παιδιά, ορισμένα εκ των οποίων μικρότερα των 10 ετών, είναι ενταγμένα
σε διάφορες παραστρατιωτικές ομάδες της Μέσης Ανατολής και της Βόρειας
Αφρικής, όπως διαπιστώθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ειδικού συνεδρίου με
αντικείμενο τα παιδιά-στρατιώτες, στο Αμμάν της Ιορδανίας.
Σύμφωνα με διάφορες μαρτυρίες από τους συμμετέχοντες, μικρά παιδιά είναι ενταγμένα σε διάφορες παραστρατιωτικές ομάδες σε χώρες όπως η Αλγερία, η Αίγυπτος, το Ιράν, το Ιράκ, το Σουδάν, η Τουρκία και η Υεμένη, ενώ σε ορισμένες χώρες τα παιδιά λαμβάνουν στρατιωτική εκπαίδευση από τα πρώτα σχολικά τους βήματα.
«Οι χώρες αυτών των περιοχών (Μέση Ανατολή και Αφρική) γνωρίζουν από πρώτο χέρι τις πληγές που αφήνει στα παιδιά η συμμετοχή τους σε ένοπλες διενέξεις…», δήλωσε ένας εκ των συντονιστών της πρωτοβουλίας «Συμμαχία για να σταματήσει η χρησιμοποίηση παιδιών ως στρατιώτες».
Το μεγαλύτερο πρόβλημα, όπως διαπιστώθηκε στο συνέδριο, εντοπίζεται στο Σουδάν, μια χώρα στην οποία χιλιάδες παιδιά από 12 ετών και πάνω έχουν στρατολογηθεί τόσο από τις ένοπλες δυνάμεις της χώρας όσο και από τις διάφορες ένοπλες ομάδες της αντιπολίτευσης, στον μεταξύ τους πόλεμο.
Σύμφωνα με διάφορες μαρτυρίες από τους συμμετέχοντες, μικρά παιδιά είναι ενταγμένα σε διάφορες παραστρατιωτικές ομάδες σε χώρες όπως η Αλγερία, η Αίγυπτος, το Ιράν, το Ιράκ, το Σουδάν, η Τουρκία και η Υεμένη, ενώ σε ορισμένες χώρες τα παιδιά λαμβάνουν στρατιωτική εκπαίδευση από τα πρώτα σχολικά τους βήματα.
«Οι χώρες αυτών των περιοχών (Μέση Ανατολή και Αφρική) γνωρίζουν από πρώτο χέρι τις πληγές που αφήνει στα παιδιά η συμμετοχή τους σε ένοπλες διενέξεις…», δήλωσε ένας εκ των συντονιστών της πρωτοβουλίας «Συμμαχία για να σταματήσει η χρησιμοποίηση παιδιών ως στρατιώτες».
Το μεγαλύτερο πρόβλημα, όπως διαπιστώθηκε στο συνέδριο, εντοπίζεται στο Σουδάν, μια χώρα στην οποία χιλιάδες παιδιά από 12 ετών και πάνω έχουν στρατολογηθεί τόσο από τις ένοπλες δυνάμεις της χώρας όσο και από τις διάφορες ένοπλες ομάδες της αντιπολίτευσης, στον μεταξύ τους πόλεμο.
αυτοβιογραφικη μαρτυρια ανηλικου πολεμιστη
«Ο λόχος
μου ήταν η οικογένειά μου, το όπλο μου ήταν ο εγγυητής και προστάτης
μου, και ο κανόνας μου ήταν σκότωσε ή θα σκοτωθείς. Δεν ένοιωθα οίκτο
για κανέναν. Η παιδική μου ηλικία είχε χαθεί χωρίς να το ξέρω.»
Ο πόλεμος τον άγγιξε για πρώτη φορά στα δώδεκά του. Μέχρι τότε το μόνο όπλο που είχε κρατήσει ήταν ένα ψεύτικο τουφέκι από μπαμπού.
Δεν θυμάται πότε κράτησε καλάσνικοφ για πρώτη φορά. Δεν θυμάται πότε πυροβόλησε για τελευταία φορά.
Ιανουάριος του 1993. Ο εμφύλιος στη Σιέρα Λεόνε μαίνεται. Ο αντάρτες καταστρέφουν τα πάντα στο πέρασμά τους. Εγκαταλελειμμένα χωριά, πυρπολημένα σπίτια, σφαγές. Ο εθνικός στρατός στρατολογεί παιδιά στη μάχη εναντίον των ανταρτών.
Ένα μοναδικό χρονικό για την αθέατη βία του πολέμου. Για τα παιδιά στρατιώτες της Αφρικής που χάνουν για πάντα την παιδική τους ηλικία, παραδομένα στα όπλα, στα ναρκωτικά και στις πολεμικές ταινίες.
Ο Ισμαήλ Μπεά στην πολυσυζητημένη, σοκαριστική αυτοβιογραφική του μαρτυρία για τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο στη Σιέρα Λεόνε.
Ο πόλεμος τον άγγιξε για πρώτη φορά στα δώδεκά του. Μέχρι τότε το μόνο όπλο που είχε κρατήσει ήταν ένα ψεύτικο τουφέκι από μπαμπού.
Δεν θυμάται πότε κράτησε καλάσνικοφ για πρώτη φορά. Δεν θυμάται πότε πυροβόλησε για τελευταία φορά.
Ιανουάριος του 1993. Ο εμφύλιος στη Σιέρα Λεόνε μαίνεται. Ο αντάρτες καταστρέφουν τα πάντα στο πέρασμά τους. Εγκαταλελειμμένα χωριά, πυρπολημένα σπίτια, σφαγές. Ο εθνικός στρατός στρατολογεί παιδιά στη μάχη εναντίον των ανταρτών.
Ένα μοναδικό χρονικό για την αθέατη βία του πολέμου. Για τα παιδιά στρατιώτες της Αφρικής που χάνουν για πάντα την παιδική τους ηλικία, παραδομένα στα όπλα, στα ναρκωτικά και στις πολεμικές ταινίες.
Ο Ισμαήλ Μπεά στην πολυσυζητημένη, σοκαριστική αυτοβιογραφική του μαρτυρία για τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο στη Σιέρα Λεόνε.
κοριτσια στην πρωτη γραμμη
Χιλιάδες
παιδιά υπηρετούν ως στρατιώτες σε ένοπλες συρράξεις σε όλο τον κόσμο.
Αυτά τα αγόρια και τα κορίτσια, καθώς μερικοί από την ηλικία των
8-ετών, συμμετέχουν σε κυβερνητικές δυνάμεις και ένοπλες ομάδες της
αντιπολίτευσης. Μπορούν να βρίσκονται στην πρώτη γραμμή, να
συμμετέχουν σε αποστολές αυτοκτονίας, και να ενεργήσουν ως κατάσκοποι,
αγγελιοφόροι, ή παρατηρητές. Τα κορίτσια εξαναγκάζονται σε σεξουαλική
δουλεία. Πολλοί έχουν απαχθεί ή προσλαμβάνονται με τη βία, ενώ άλλοι
έχουν ενταχθεί από απελπισία, πιστεύοντας ότι οι ένοπλες ομάδες
προσφέρουν καλύτερη ευκαιρία τους για επιβίωση. Πολλοί είναι αυτοί
βέβαια που δεν διστάζουν να "αρπάξουν" την ευκαιρία και να βάλλουν μέχρι
και κορίτσια στην πρώτη γραμμή,στον πόλεμο.Μάλιστα φαίνεται πως αυτή
είναι και η εύκολη λύση,αφού με καμία δυσκολία και αντίδραση από αυτά
αλλά και τις οικογένειές τους,τα απομακρύνουν από αυτές.Έχοντας λοιπόν
οι άνδρες μαζί τους τόσα άτομα γένους θηλυκού,βρίσκουν ευκαιρίες και
ικανοποιούν μέχρι και τις σεξουαλικές τους ανάγκες.Περισσότερα στην ενότητά μας
Child soldiers
Κυριακή 22 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019
African Women in War
Photo from here
Womafrika / Being a Woman in Africa
Rape, hunger, violence, cruelty - China Keitetsi, a former child soldier from Uganda, is not the only one to suffer this fate. In Africa very often wars take place. Of course this is horrible for the whole population, but the ones who suffer the most are women and children.
Women as soldiers
Women are involved in the war in different ways and often they are recruited as soldiers.
A very well-known example for this is China Keitetsi. She was only a small nine year old girl when she was recruited as a child soldier to fight for the NRA, the National Resistance Army, in Uganda.
The aim of the NRA, headed by Yoweri Museveni, was to bring down the dictator Milton Obote. Museveni said that the NRA was fighting for freedom and against clanship - but for this freedom Museveni stopped at nothing. He would accept the death of many people in order to take over the government. He was also among the first to use child soldiers. Because of that he is known as "The father of all child soldiers". In 1986 he finally took over the government but this did not mean freedom for the people. At first he held a democratic election, but since then he has continued totalitarianism - until today.
China is a typical example of a child soldier. She ran away from home and so, at first she was only happy to have a new "family". She thought that all the military education was only a game - until she had to fight in a real war for the first time. There she realized how horrible her future would be - but by then it was too late to escape. She had to fight in many battles under horrible conditions. Often there was not anything to eat for several days, nor was there sufficient to drink. The children were not allowed to sleep and if they were allowed to, they could not sleep because they were traumatized by horrible nightmares. She had to watch helplessly as many of her companions and friends were dying. After ten years, China had the possibility to flee and took it. She could start a new life in Denmark, but the horrible time of being a child soldier had left deep marks in her soul.
China was fortunate because she received help to assimilate her past; however, there are still many women in Africa who do not get that chance. They are traumatized for their whole life and often they also have had to suffer from physical injuries such as the loss of a foot or a hand..
Rape and sexual abuse
Another cruel aspect that war brings for women is rape and sexual abuse. When soldiers attack a village they do not kill all the women and girls since, for the soldiers, it is much more interesting to rape them. The soldiers do not take age into consideration as they rape all women, little girls as well as old women. Many women to suffer gang rapes or are raped more than once. If the women survive the sexual abuse, they fear horrible consequences. They often become pregnant or are infected with HIV or other venereal diseases. If they give birth to these children, it is very difficult for the women because the presence of these children is a constant reminder throughout their lives of the rape that they suffered.
The rapes also have consequences for their social life. Many female victims of sexual abuse and rape are subsequently abandoned by their husbands, because after a rape they are considered as having broken the principle of marriage to only have sex with their husband. So they are shunned by their communities, and condemned, along with their children, to a life of extreme poverty. [1]
As if a rape were not bad enough, they also have to fear these terrible social consequences. Because of women's traditional role in society, they are powerless against their men. Although there are laws that forbid rape and sexual abuse, women have hardly a chance to obtain justice because in times of war laws do not mean much.
The worst consequences are probably the psychological ones. The women need help to recover from their horrible experiences but mostly they do not get that opportunity. Even if the women were encouraged to talk about their horrible experiences, many of them would not do it. Often the women are ashamed of having been raped and so they do not talk about it. A current example of this suffering is a conflict in North Kivu Province (a province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo). Although the conflict has officially ended, civilians are still being killed, raped, abducted and tortured by armed groups and government forces. Feminists try to fight against this violent state, but this is very difficult because there are too many soldiers and so the feminists are often raped themselves. This is the case not only in this province, but also in the rest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where during the ten years' war (1993-2003), women had to suffer rape and sexual abuse.
The strong women of Rwanda [2]
Although it is difficult to believe that in spite of the many horrible aspects suffered by war, sometimes there have been positive results for women. An example for this was the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The fascist government of Rwanda told the Hutu majority to kill the minority Tutsi. A tenth of the population of Rwanda was killed; most of the dead were men. So the women, then in the majority, started to rebuild Rwanda. Of course they were traumatized and lamented the loss of many family members, but they did not give up and started to work day and night to return Rwanda in a civilized state. They overtook the factories and fields of their men and so they stabilized Rwanda's economy. They took care of many orphans themselves and so the normal family life started to come back to Rwanda.
Today Rwanda is the land unique in the world for having the highest percentage of women holding leading positions in the country. This shall definitely not say that war is a way to strengthen the position of women in African society! This war brought about many more evil than positive results; however, it is a great example to show how women are able to make a change!
Wars in Africa will not be ended soon and as long as they continue, women and children will have to suffer such misfortune. Although the process of making peace has already started, it is still a long way until all wars will be ended!
Verena Hesse
Sources:
Keitetsi, China: Sie nahmen mir die Mutter und gaben mir ein Gewehr. München, 2002
[1] No end to the war against women andchildren, http://www.amnesty.de/files/drkongokindersoldaten0908.pdf, 01.10.2008, aufgerufen am 23.01.2010
[2] Lichterbeck, Philipp: Die starkenFrauen von Ruanda, http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/geschichte/die-starken-frauen-von-ruanda/1647444.html ,12.12.2009, aufgerufen am 23.01.2010
African Women in War (by Google)
Τρίτη 3 Οκτωβρίου 2017
Is the African Union Still Focused on Child Soldiers?
Sandra Oder, Senior Researcher, Conflict Management and Peacebuilding Division, ISS Pretoria (2012)
ISS Africa
It is just over a decade since the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) began its engagement with the issue of children and armed conflict, noting that this had serious consequences for peace and stability. The UNSC reacted partly in response to the fact that the decrease in the number of armed conflicts on the African continent did not result in a decline in the use of children as combatants. The situation remained unchanged in spite of an international architecture that protects children affected by armed conflict, especially those associated with armed forces or groups. Given that out of an estimated 250 000 child soldiers worldwide, the majority are found in Africa, the question should be asked whether the AU is proactive enough in this regard.
Since 1999, the UNSC has strengthened its focus on children and armed conflict and has passed a number of related resolutions. A robust plan to monitor violations of the rights of children affected by armed conflict has been operationalised through the UNSC`s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, which was formalised in 2005 through Resolution 1612. Among other things, this resolution called for the creation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism for the implementation of action plans and for a concrete, time-bound commitment by parties to conflicts to halt violations of children`s rights. Although it has its weaknesses, the mechanism provides a strong framework within which civil society can document the violations of children`s rights and structure its advocacy to a wider global audience. But has the AU sufficiently prioritised the plight of child soldiers?
Although global efforts to protect children during armed conflict should be applauded, one cannot pin one`s hopes on the UNSC to effectively deal with matters of a sensitive nature that may touch on sovereignty issues. Given last year`s debacles in the Libyan and Ivorian crises, the credibility of the UNSC may have been dented in dealing with peace and security matters in Africa. Given the circumstances it would be logical for the AU to assume a greater moral responsibility in dealing with the issue of child soldiers in a process that reflects its own abilities and strengths and fills the gaps that currently exist in global mechanisms.
In the past two decades, a number of UN reports have noted with concern that the character and tactics of armed conflict are changing. These developments have created new threats to children – according to reports, an increasing number of actors in conflicts use children as terrorists and suicide bombers. However, the AU has not clearly defined its own policies in this regard.
Ironically, Africa is the only continent with a region-specific child rights instrument, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, but arguably has the worst record for protecting the rights of children during conflict. While built on the same principles as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the AU Children`s Charter highlights issues of special importance in the African context. Article 22 encourages states parties to respect and ensure respect for the rules of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts that affect the child, as well as to take all necessary measures to ensure that no child shall take a direct part in hostilities. Further, it requires states parties, in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts and ensure the protection and care of children who are affected by armed conflicts. Such rules also apply to children in situations of internal armed conflicts, tension and strife.
Photo from here
Pursuing a child protection architecture at the AU has great advantages. As clearly recognised in Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the AU should complement the efforts of the UNSC in the maintenance of peace and security, and in particular in dealing with the issue of child soldiers. Unfortunately, despite encouragement from the UN, the AU has engaged only in an ad hoc manner with the issue.
Decentralising the operational aspects of protecting children during armed conflicts to the AU makes sense, and should ease the burden on the UN. It would also place greater responsibility on African states to deal with the issue of child soldiers. To redeem itself from its non-committal stance on issues related to the rights of children, the AU has to develop a coherent strategy and offer robust leadership to pressure deviant states and armed groups to comply with international law.
Firstly, because the AU is nearer to where atrocities are committed, it can use its legitimacy and credibility as assets, representing consensus on the continent`s wish to deal with the problem of child soldiers, which has become a typical African phenomenon. While the AU`s credibility could arguably be eroded by political exigencies, it is imperative that it formulates and pursues a coherent strategy to deal with a problem that will continue to grow if not effectively addressed. Of course, when pursuing such a policy any decisions adopted are based on consensus and thus are likely to be compromises based on the lowest common denominator. Ideally, however, the continental body should be able to pursue its policy on children and armed conflict, react to events, and have the flexibility needed to deal with situations of armed conflict involving the recruitment of children as they unfold. Currently the AU relies on the global mechanism, which has been noted as being flawed.
Secondly, with the growing involvement of the AU in peace enforcement and peacekeeping, which often involve dealing with perpetrators of violations against children, child-related policies need to be seen as shaping decisions and providing technical support towards a common goal. In particular, guidelines should be developed that integrate child protection into the continental body`s interventions, including mediation and peace support operations. Along these lines, the August 2012 report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict calls for ‘a systematic approach to engagement with the children and armed conflict agenda, in light of the Union`s increasingly multifaceted role in prevention, mediation and stabilisation`. In light of this, it would be interesting to examine how the AU is responding to the continued recruitment of children in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Somalia and Sudan.
A reversal in roles is required where the continental body takes the lead in developing best practice and strengthening the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism process. This would clearly involve bringing pressure to bear on its member states on the question of accountability, since fighting impunity is necessary to ensure that violations do not recur. The AU could, for instance, require states in which violations of children`s rights have been reported by the continental monitoring mechanism to criminalise such violations in domestic law and prosecute them via national jurisdictions. It could also build on its existing protection mechanisms where training packages on children and armed conflict for civilian and uniformed personnel could be developed. A designated AU Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict could be considered. Thus, instead of putting the global mechanism at the centre of dealing with the problem of African child soldiers, the AU should instead take the lead in dealing with this persistent phenomenon. If it fails to do so it risks losing its credibility as the guarantor of African peace and security.
Παρασκευή 22 Ιουλίου 2016
Child soldiers & blood diamonds in Central African Republic
Violence, anger and frustration increase risk
of recruitment
The CAR has been gutted by violence since a mainly Muslim rebel group, the Seleka,
seized power in March 2013. Reuters.
More children in Central African Republic (CAR) are at risk
of being recruited as child soldiers by militant groups following a new
outbreak of violence in the conflict-ridden nation, a children charity
has warned.
CAR descended into chaos
in 2013 after former leader Francois Bozize was overthrown during a
coup. As a result of the political unrest, Muslim Seleka and Christian
(our note: non orthodox) anti-Balaka militias engaged in tit-for-tat violence that has killed
thousands of people and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their
homes. In the latest episode of violence in September, some 42 people were killed in Bangui in retaliation to the killing of a Muslim motorcycle taxi driver.
Both
sides have been accused of recruiting child soldiers, with the UN
estimating at least 10,000 children have been used as soldiers since the
conflict erupted. A UN-brokered deal earlier in May resulted in the
release of hundreds of children used as child soldiers or sex slaves,
but NGOs fear many more are still used in fighting.
World Vision UK,
an international children charity, warned more international pressure
is needed to discourage militant groups from recruiting children. Erica
Hall, World Vision's senior child rights policy adviser, went to CAR in
September to work on an assessment with the charity's team based in the
capital Bangui. However, she and her colleagues had to be evacuated to
Congo following the upsurge of violence.
"Before being evacuated, we saw lots of barricades, people were very agitated," she told IBTimes UK. "There were crowds gathering at immigration custom check points and there was definitely a lot of frustration, anger and fear.
"Recruitment
of children has been an issue since the outbreak of the conflict. There
has been some quite considerable effort by the UN to demobilise
children, but of course when you have any upsurge in fighting, it means
you need more soldiers."
Hall explained that not only children are
forcibly recruited by militant groups, but they also join voluntarily
as a result of their frustration and anger at the deteriorating
situation in the country. "This is what we call the 'push factor'," she
said. "Children are quite desperate and there's a lot of anger that
comes out in all ages. Children are more vulnerable to being forcefully
recruited, but they also choose to join as a response to the insecurity
and they try to support one group or another."
World Vision
expressed fears that fighting, contained in Bangui, will affect other
areas of the country. "The violence is working its way out in the
country and this creates the perfect storm for recruitment," Hall said
and added that an immediate end to the conflict is what the charity
hopes for. Meanwhile, she said action is needed to avoid the recruitment
of child soldiers.
"We need more international pressure on
different armed groups to not recruit children, but we also need to
address factors that underline children's vulnerability," she said. "We
also need to give them a space to do something productive, it makes a
difference because this anger builds up and they need an outlet for it
and this, unfortunately,can lead to recruitment."
Francis, 14, joined the Christian anti-balaka militant group after his brother and uncle were killed by the Muslim Seleka militants.World Vision
Francis, 14, joined the Christian anti-balaka militant group after his brother and uncle were killed by the Muslim Seleka militants.World Vision
Former child soldier speaks: 14-year old Francis joined anti-Balaka to avenge brother's death
Francis, who lives in CAR's Yaloke district, joined the anti-Balaka militant group after his brother and uncle were allegedly killed by the Seleka.
"I went to join the anti-Balaka because I couldn't let the death of my brother go unpunished," he told World Vision. "I killed two people with a knife - two Fulani children, then I ran to Zawa, 30km from Yaloke. I continued fighting for the anti-Balaka, I killed two more boys around 15-years old. I returned to Yaloke but the fighting has gotten more difficult because the Seleka were backed there. I killed another man in Yaloke, in a place called Lala. I used a knife."
Francis then fled the group and went to live back with his mother in Yaloke. He said: "I'm not sure what I want to see for my country in the future... it is too difficult for me to answer. But all I know is I don't want to join any armed groups anymore. I want peace, we need peace and I'm happy that the laws of the country are coming back."
The charity said: "World Vision has been supporting him and other helped Francis and other former child soldiers in our child friendly spaces where children like him can have the chance to experience a little bit of normality – a place where they can be children and play in safety. We have also been providing families with food and clothing, as well as practical assistance to return to school.
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