Child Soldiers-The Use of Children as Instruments of War
![handle is hein.journals/sujtnlr23 and id is 505 raw text is: CHILD SOLDIERS-THE USE OF CHILDREN
AS INSTRUMENTS OF WAR
I. INTRODUCTION
I think with sorrow of those living and growing
up against a background of war, of those who have
known nothing but conflict and violence. . . . What
a terrible legacy for their future! Children need
peace; they have a right to it.'
International law attempts to afford civilians special
protection from the effects and inhumanity of armed con-
flict.2 Current statistics, however, portray a sobering and
distinctive trend in modern warfare: the deliberate victim-
ization of children and the blatant disregard for their hu-
man rights.' Despite the United Nation's (UN) remarkable
achievements with peace-keeping missions, ethnic conflicts
continue to arise and new states continue to expand the
international community.4 In the last decade, armed con-
1. Speech of his holiness Pope John Paul II, for the Celebration of the
World Day of Peace (Jan. 1, 1999).
2. See Colleen C. Maher, The Protection of Children in Armed Conflict: A
Human Rights Analysis of the Protection Afforded to Children in Warfare, 9
B.C. THIRD WORLD L.J. 297 (1989) (discussing object of international humani-
tarian law). Civilians, those who retain noncombatant status, predominately
consist of women and children. See id. at 297. Treaties, the rules of interna-
tional humanitarian law, customary international law and the law and practices
of states comprise the source of international laws of the child. See ILENE
COHN & Guy S. GOODWIN-GILL, CHILD SOLDIERS THE ROLE OF CHILDREN IN
ARMED CONFLICT 55.
3. See Stuart Maslen, Relevance of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child to Children in Armed Conflict, 6 TRANSNAT'L L. & CONTEMP. PROBS.
329, 330 (1996) (portraying nature and means of conflict). Patterns of con-
temporary armed conflicts have increased the risks for children. See Promotion
and Protection of the Rights of Children Impact of Armed Conflict on Children,
Note by the Expert of the Secretary-General, Ms. Grac'a Machel, at para. 22,
51st Sess., Agenda Item 108, U.N. Doc. A/511306 (1996) [hereinafter Machel
Study]. Conflicts between governments and rebels, between different opposition
groups vying for supremacy and among populations at large, in struggles that
take the form of widespread civil unrest . . . subject successive generations to
endless struggles for survival. Id. at para. 23.
4. See generally COHN & GOODWIN-GILL, supra note 2 (depicting source
of international law regarding children). As long as people are hungry, uned-
ucated and oppressed by corrupt dictators, there will be children recruited into
shabby little guerilla armies. . . . [Insurrectionist groups] are hardly likely to
follow edicts of well-meaning resolutions. Child Soldiers Food, Education
More Effective Than Ban on Youth in War, HOUSTON CHRON., Jan. 13, 1999,](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sujtnlr23&div=25&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Child Soldiers-The Use of Children as Instruments of War
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