I will never forget being in the battlefield for the first time. At first I couldn’t pull the trigger. I was lying almost numb in ambush watching kids my age being shot at and killed. The sight of blood and the crying of people in pain, triggered something inside me that I didn’t understand, and made me lose compassion for others. I lost my real being. I lost my sense of self. After crossing that line, I was not a normal kid. I was a traumatized kid.
Ismael Beah, former 13 year old child soldier in a speech in August 2000
From child soldier global report
Myanmar (Burma)
"They filled the forms and asked my age, and when I said 16, I was slapped and he said, ‘You are 18. Answer 18’ He asked me again and I
said, ‘But that’s my true age’. The sergeant asked, ‘Then why did you
enlist in the army?’ I said, ‘Against my will. I was captured.’ He
said, ‘Okay, keep your mouth shut then,’ and he filled in the form. I
just wanted to go back home and I told them, but they refused. I said,
‘Then please just let me make one phone call,’ but they refused that
too."
Maung Zaw Oo, describing the second time he was forced into the
Tatmadaw Kyi (army) in 2005.1
There are estimated to be over 250,000 children under the age eighteen being used as soldiers in various wars and conflicts around the world, with an estimated 40% of them being girls.
Uganda
"I feel pain from the rape, as if I have wounds inside, and I am
afraid to have a disease. I would like to get tested but there is
nobody to help me. I was tested in the reception centre in Gulu, but I
was never told the result. The doctor said that it is better not to
know the result."
Girl age 17, previously abducted by the LRA.12
Girls often suffer even more as former child soldiers, if they are lucky enough to escape, because they are frequently raped and then abandoned by their families as not now fit for marriage. There are also not as many rehabilitation programs for girls as opposed to boys.
The use of child soldiers is UNACCEPTABLE. How can we, as adults, claim to believe in our duty to protect children when we allow them to be used as soldiers ?
How can the children in our lives ever believe we will protect them when we allow children to be used as soldiers ?
We, as North American adults, have allowed the first prosecution for war crimes of a child who was being used as a soldier since the Second World War. Omar Khadr was a tortured child, and we allowed him to be prosecuted for war crimes.
There IS Something YOU Can DO for the Future!
Lt. General Romeo Dallaire was the commander of the UN troops during the genocide in Rwanda. General Dallaire, now a Canadian Senator, is devoting the rest of his life to ending the use of child soldiers around the world. His definition, and I wholeheartedl support him in this, of a child soldier is anyone under the age 18. I had the honour to meet General Dallaire in December, and will be doing all in my power to assisting him in his mission. We, as adults, MUST stand up and do the right thing. A child should never be a soldier.
Will YOU help me ?
Will YOU help General Dallaire ?
Will YOU help to end the use of child soldiers?
If you would like to help, click on the link below and check out the information that zeroforce has, and spread the information and talk about it with your friends, family and loved ones.
http://www.zeroforce.org
This is the first of many messages that I will be posting this year. My commitment is to post every week day on anti-torture, pro-accountability, and anti-child soldier subjects. Thank you for having the courage to join me on this heartbreaking journey. I know it's not easy. We WILL win, because we MUST.