¡YA! YOUTH ACTIVISM Child Soldiers
Ballvé, Teo
AT THE END OF 2004, THE international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers <http://www.child-sol diers.org> released one of its most ambitious reports on the use of child soldiers...
...The political violence that has wracked Haiti in recent years with the participation of children is noted by the report...
...Monitoring the recruitment of those under 18 "is difficult in areas where indigenous communities suffered constant attacks by these groups...
...Through 196 country-specific summaries and regional overviews, the report includes information about recruitment practices and abuses by governments and armed groups regarding the use of child soldiers...
...ln Central America, the report spotlights the rise of gangs composed mostly of children and the governments' authoritarian response, reserving its harshest criticisms for anti-gang laws passed in El Salvador and Honduras...
...ln Mexico, the Coalition admits that obtaining reliable information on irregular armed groups is difficult, but it is alarmed by the rise of these groups in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca...
...Through 196 country-specific summaries and regional overviews, the report includes information about recruitment practices and abuses by governments and armed groups regarding the use of child soldiers...
...The Coalition cites a Colombian military report that says the program was used to "get guerilla children to question their fathers...
...And since 1999, only 10% of these child soldiers have been demobilized...
...I have no answers for these children...
...The report says the recruitment and use of children rnmlrtantn in , rhlnA-corA drug factions is comparable to, and in some cases surpasses, that of formal armed conflict...
...U Teo BaIlve NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS YOUTH ACTIVISM T THE END OF 2004, THE international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers <http://www.child-sol diers.org> released one of its most ambitious reports on the use of child soldiers worldwide...
...Although there were no reports of the Colombian government having active duty child soldiers, the Coalition strongly condemns the use of children as informants...
...And since 1999, only 10% of these child soldiers have been demobilized...
...Both "boys and girls, some as young as 12, were used as child soldiers by armed opposition groups and army-backed paramilitaries," according to the report...
...Some were forced to commit serious abuses, killing civilians and destroying villages...
...Some were forced to commit serious abuses, killing civilians and destroying villages...
...The children recruited into these forces had to endure harsh conditions...
...Some children are paid and others simply threatened for information on the presence of armed groups or the location of a village, putting them at risk of retribution...
...In Central America, the report spotlights the rise of gangs composed mostly of children and the governments' authoritarian response, reserving its harshest criticisms for anti-gang laws passed in El Salvador and Honduras...
...The government [in El Salvador] responded to continuing levels of violence with repressive measures," says the report, "while failing to address the underlying causes of dramatic social and economic inequality and the ready availability of firearms...
...Monitoring the recruitment of those under 18 "is difficult in areas where indigenous communities suffered constant attacks by these groups...
...Not all the countries included in the report are involved in officially recognized internal or external armed conflicts, and some country summaries simply cite governments' military conscription practices or the international treaties they have ratified...
...The children recruited into these forces had to endure harsh conditions...
...In the preface to the Global report GraCa Machel writes: "The haunted eyes of a child survivor ask all of us how we can live in a world where children can be brutalized and murdered as part of adult conflicts...
...Finally, in Colombia, in a chilling example of child abuse, the Coalition estimates that paramilitaries and armed opposition groups recruited 14,000 children in the three years covered by the report...
...Brazil presents one of the most hairraising examples from Latin America in 48 the report, and like the Central America sections it is gang related...
...In some cases, these children are forcibly recruited...
...In the preface to the Global report Graca Machel writes: "The haunted eyes of a child survivor ask all of us how we can live in a world where children can be brutalized and murdered as part of adult conflicts...
...The gangs] have targeted particular age groups for recruitment, allocated them specific functions [within] the command structure, and reward them financially...
...The government [in El Salvador] responded to continuing levels of violence with repressive measures," says the report, "while failing to address the underlying causes of dramatic social and economic inequality and the ready availability of firearms...
...For most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries featured in the Coalition's report this was generally the case, but there are notable exceptions...
...Not all the countries included in the report are involved in officially recognized internal or external armed conflicts, and some country summaries simply cite governments' military con- scription practices or the international treaties they have ratified...
...The Coalition cites a Colombian military rennrt that says the program was used to "get guerilla children to question their fathers...
...Both "boys and girls, some as young as 12, were used as child soldiers by armed opposition groups and army-backed paramilitaries," according to the report...
...The "Child Soldiers Global Report 2004" covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004...
...Some children are paid and others simply threatened for information on the presence of armed groups or the location of a village, putting them at risk of retribution...
...I have no answers for these children...
...In Mexico, the Coalition admits that obtaining reliable information on irregular armed groups is difficult, but it is alarmed by the rise of these groups in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca...
...AT THE END OF 2004, THE international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers <http://www.child-sol diers.org> released one of its most ambitious reports on the use of child soldiers worldwide...
...In the city of Rio de Janeiro alone "an estimated 5,000 armed under- 18s were involved in organized armed violence...
...Brazil presents one of the most hairraising examples from Latin America in the report, and like the Central America sections it is gang related...
...The political violence that has wracked Haiti in recent years with the participation of children is noted by the report...
...In the city of Rio de Janeiro alone "an estimated 5,000 armed under-18s were involved in organized armed violence...
...One program called "Soldier for a Day" invites children as young as five to visit military facilities...
...One program called "Soldier for a Day" invites children as young as five to visit military facilities...
...Although occasional recruiting of children by armed political groups in Haiti has occurred, such recruiting does not "appear to be systematic or widespread," says the Coalition...
...But it reports that young children are "'easy prey' for the armed gangs, given the estimated 10,000 street children in Port-au-Prince...
...The "Child Soldiers Global Report 2004" covers thp nprinl frcm Anril 2001 trn March 2004...
...In some cases, these children are forcibly recruited...
...The report says the recruitment and use of children combatants in urban-based drug factions is comparable to, and in some cases surpasses, that of formal armed conflict...
...For most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries featured in the Coalition's report this was generally the case, but there are notable exceptions...
...Although occasional recruiting of children by armed political groups in Haiti has occurred, such recruiting does not "appear to be systematic or widespread," says the Coalition...
...But it reports that young children are "easy prey' for the armed gangs, given the estimated 10,000 street children in Port-au-Prince...
...The gangs] have targeted particular age groups for recruitment, allocated them specific functions [within] the command structure, and reward them financially" Finally, in Colombia, in a chilling example of child abuse, the Coalition estimates that paramilitaries and armed opposition groups recruited 14,000 children in the three years covered by the report...
...Although there were no reports of the Colombian government having active duty child soldiers, the Coalition strongly condemns the use of children as informants...
Vol. 38 • March 2005 • No. 5
