As the ages of gang criminality lower, the need for other perspectives is necessary. This study poses the question “why and how should literature featuring child soldiers be used to discuss human rights violations in the classroom in upper secondary school?” and deconstructs the binaries childhood-innocence and victim-perpetrator in the novel Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala. This study utilises Paolo Freire and bell hooks’ radical pedagogical theory to bridge the gap between child soldiers in other countries and those that are involved in criminality in Sweden. The agency of child soldiers in their victimisation of civilians and other combatants is something that requires further nuance as well as the assumption that child soldiers have lost their innocence and childhood upon entering combat, without consideration for the violence that might have occurred before combat. Thus, further nuance is required in order to engage in fruitful discussions concerning child soldiers worldwide.

The involvement of children in conflict is not a recent phenomenon. The military use of children dates back to ancient times. The change of warfare and the advocating of the protection of children's rights within the global discourse context have taken the discourse on child and youth involvement in conflict out of the political and military context and placed it into one circumscribed by legal and moral concern. Since the late 1970s, a number of international instruments have been promulgated to limit the recruitment of child soldiers, but even though the numbers of children being recruited into armed forces have decreased, children continue to be deployed into armed forces, particularly in Africa. 'Loopholes', vagueness and inconsistencies in the treaties and the strengths and weaknesses of the enforcement and monitoring mechanisms have created legal uncertainty which have ultimately resulted in further injustice for the child. However, legal uncertainty is not per se the cause of recruitment continuing; the cause being more complex. Researches and treaties have failed to address the obstacles to the implementation of the relevant international law. The issue(s) of culture and child crossborder recruitment have served as obstacles to an effective protection of children against recruitment by international law. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Thesis (MMil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last forty years Africa has been one of the most conflict-ridden regions in the world, resulting in untold human suffering. It has been estimated that between 1955 and 1999 some nine to ten million people have died as a result of violent conflict in Africa. However, those suffering the most in these wars are not merely the defenceless victims of conflict, but also its active perpetrators. More than 120 000 children under the age of 18 years have been forced or recruited to participate in armed conflicts across Africa. Although the use of children in armed conflict is not a new phenomenon, it has never been as widespread and as brutal as during the past decade. Governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, security institutes and the media have conducted extensive research on the phenomenon of child soldiers, specifically focusing on the demobilisation and reintegration of child combatants. Surprisingly, not much research has been conducted on why particular states are more prone to utilise these little soldiers than others. This thesis attempts to fill that gap by analysing the circumstances under which children are utilised as soldiers in Africa. This aim is divided into three subdivisions, namely to describe the type of states in which children are utilised as soldiers, to analyse the conflicts in which child soldiers are utilised, and to describe the socio-economic conditions that urge children to take up arms. An analysis of the child soldier-phenomenon suggests that it transpires in weak states. These states exhibit very distinct characteristics, including serious problems of legitimacy, the absence of one cohesive national identity, the presence of opposing local strongmen, high levels of institutional weakness, economic underdevelopment, and a vulnerability to external international forces. The weakness of these states is created by the fragmentation of social control amongst various social organisations, which is in turn caused by the expansion of the world economy from Europe and also by colonialism. This fragmentation poses immense challenges to state leaders and forces them to adopt very distinct political policies, which put certain limitations on the process of state-making. In response to this, leaders have adopted a number of social, political and economic strategies. These, together with the socio-economic conditions - specifically poverty - within weak states often create civil violence. These strategies include political centralisation, authoritarianism, ethnic politics, the manipulation of democratic processes and mechanisms, patronage politics and the manipulation of state economic structures and policies. However, in order to successfully execute these strategies, rulers need wealth-creating resources, which usually result in the exploitation of scarce natural resources. Warlords and local strongmen also exploit resources to purchase arms to combat both government forces and opposing strongmen. In addition, large international private companies cash in on the financial advantages accrued from conflict. This leads to the formation of entrenched war economies. In the end then, these wars becomean excuse to plunder natural resources for private enrichment. A very distinct characteristic of these conflicts is the widespread use of child soldiers. All the armed groups in Africa's wars, including government armed forces, paramilitary groups and armed opposition groups, are to a greater or lesser extent guilty of recruiting, forcefully conscripting, press-ganging and deploying child soldiers. However, states that utilise child soldiers all exhibit similar socio-economic characteristics. Poverty is endemic. Famine is widespread and magnifies the problems caused by war and poverty even further. The provision of medical and health care is insufficient because of the vast number of war wounded and the destruction of hospitals and clinics. This is also aggravated by the high numbers of HIV/AIDS sufferers. Schools are destroyed, educational systems are often poorly developed and illiteracy is widespread. In addition, due to years of war and civil unrest, millions of people are displaced and forced to become refugees. These socio-economic characteristics create the ideal breeding ground for the recruitment of child soldiers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die afgelope veertig jaar was Afrika een van die mees konflikgedrewe streke in die wêreld wat op onbeskryflike menslike lyding uitgeloop het. Dit is bereken dat tussen 1955 en 1999 ongeveer nege tot tien miljoen persone gesterf het as gevolg van die gewelddadige konflikte in Afrika. Maar diegene wat die meeste in sulke oorloë gely het, was nie maar net die weerlose slagoffers van die konflik nie, maar hulle was inderdaad ook aktiewe deelnemers daaraan. Meer as 120 000 kinders onder die ouderdom van 18 jaar is gedwing of gewerf om aan gewapende konflik regoor Afrika deel te neem. Alhoewel die deelname van kinders aan gewapende konflik nie 'n nuwe verskynsel is nie, was dit nog nooit so wydverspreid en so brutaal soos tydens die afgelope dekade nie. Regeringsorganisasies, nie-regeringsorganisasies, akademiese instellings, sekerheidsinstellings en die media het uitgebreide navorsing onderneem oor die verskynsel van kindersoldate, en spesifiek gefokus op die demobilisering en herintegrasie van kinderkrygers. Verbasend genoeg is nie veel navorsing gedoen oor waarom spesifieke state meer gereed staan om hierdie klein soldaatjies aan te wend as andere nie. Hierdie tesis poog om hierdie kennisgaping te vul deur die omstandighede waaronder kinders as soldate in Afrika aangewend word, te analiseer. Die doel hiermee word in drie onderafdelings verdeel, naamlik om die tipes state te beskryf waarin kinders as soldate aangewend word, om die konflikte te analiseer waarin kindersoldate gebruik word en ook om die sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede te beskryf wat kinders aanspoor om die wapen op te neem. 'n Analise van die kindersoldaatverskynsel dui aan dat dit in swak state voorkom. Hierdie state openbaar besonderse kenmerke, insluitende ernstige probleme rakende legitimiteit, die afwesigheid van 'n enkele samebindende nasionale identiteit, die aanwesigheid van plaaslike sterk leiers, hoë vlakke van institusionele swakhede, ekonomiese onderontwikkeling en In blootstelling aan eksterne internasionale kragte. Die swakhede van hierdie state het ontstaan deur die fragmentering van sosiale beheer onder verskeie sosiale organisasies, wat op hul beurt veroorsaak is deur die uitbreiding van die wêreldekonomie vanuit Europa en ook deur kolonialisme. Hierdie fragmentering gee aanleiding tot ontsaglike uitdagings vir staatsleiers en dwing hulle om onderskeidende politieke beleidsrigtings toe te pas wat weer sekere beperkings op die proses van staatsvorming plaas. In antwoord hierop het leiers 'n aantal sosiale, politieke en ekonomiese strategieë aanvaar. Tesame met die sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede - en spesifiek armoede - skep hierdie strategieë dikwels burgerlike geweld binne swak state. Sulke strategieë sluit in politieke sentralisasie, outoritêre oorheersing, etniese beleidsrigtings, die manipulering van demokratiese prosesse en meganismes, die politiek van beskerming en begunstiging, asook die manipulering van die staat se ekonomiese strukture en beleidsrigtings. Maar om hierdie strategieë suksesvol uit te voer, benodig die heersers welvaartskeppende hulpbronne wat gewoonlik uitloop op die uitbuiting van skaars natuurlike hulpbronne. Gewapende aanvoerders en plaaslike onderdrukkers plunder ook hulpbronne om wapens aan te skaf om sowel regeringsmagte asook opponerende onderdrukkers te beveg. Daarby trek internasionale private maatskappye ook voordeel uit die finansiële opbrengste wat uit konflik verkry word. Dit alles lei tot die totstandkoming van verskanste oorlogsekonomieë. In die finale analise word hierdie oorloë bloot 'n verskoning om natuurlike hulpbronne vir eie verryking te plunder. 'n Baie onderskeidende kenmerk van hierdie konflikte is die wydverspreide aanwending van kindersoldate. AI die gewapende groepe in Afrika se oorloë, insluitende regerings se gewapende magte, paramilitêre groepe en gewapende opposisiegroepe, is almal tot mindere of meerdere mate skuldig aan die werwing, gewelddadige rekrutering en aanwending en ook die ontplooiing van kindersoldate. State wat kindersoldate gebruik, toon almal soortgelyke sosio-ekonomiese kenmerke. Armoede is endemies. Hongersnood is wydverspreid en vererger die probleme wat deur oorloë en armoede veroorsaak is. Die voorsiening van mediese- en gesondheidsorg is onvoldoende as gevolg van die hoë aantal HIVNigslyers. Skole is vernietig, onderwysstelsels is dikwels onderontwikkeld en ongeletterdheid is wydverspreid. As gevolg van jare se oorloë en burgerlike onrus word miljoene mense verder ook uit hul huise gedryf en gedwing om vlugtelinge te word. Hierdie sosio-ekonomiese kenmerke skep die ideale teelaarde vir die werwing van kindersoldate.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Technology: Public Management (Peacebuilding), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / While children used as soldiers are primarily perceived as victims under internal human rights law and international humanitarian rights law, they also commit war atrocities. In the aftermath of war, the mainstream justice system internationally targets warlords, who abduct and enrol children as combatants, leaving child perpetrators without accounting for their gross, human rights violations. Attempts to prosecute child soldiers through the mainstream justice system have resulted in child rights abuses. Where no accountability measures have been taken, former child soldiers have experienced rejection by their communities. Eventually, some have returned to armed conflict. In other contexts, locally based restorative transitional justice has yielded positive outcomes, such as reconciliation, satisfaction expressed by victims and reintegration into the community. This inquiry used restorative justice peacemaking circles (RJPCs), as a model of transitional justice for former child soldiers. Restorative justice evaluation was based on its outcomes. The intervention was efficient as observed: (1) the greater majority of children below the age of 18 (97.2 %) exposed to RJPCs, who intended to join armed groups before, changed their mind and never joined or re-joined armed groups after seven months; (2) apologies by former child soldiers were accepted and they were forgiven, and (3) support for prosecution of child soldiers dropped after RJPCs. In addition, Baraza emerged as an existing model of accountability, conflict resolution and prevention and reconciliation. Unfortunately, it was not exploited to its fullest capacity. Finally healing former child soldiers was a critical step towards change of identity, the transition from soldiering to civilian life, necessary for meaningful reintegration into society. That implied addressing these child soldiers’ psychosocial well-being and creating an environment where peace prevails and adequate accountability measures are in place and effective. The overall results reveal that RJPC yielded empathy, vicarious justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, and deterrence of child soldiers. / D

"Children's participation in armed conflict is one of the worst [forms] of child labour and a violation in itself. It is an extensive violation of international humanitarian and human rights law. There is increasing awareness about the variety of roles played by girls in fighting forces. They are abducted and forced to be sexual slaves, cooks, [to] clean, act as porters, loot, and [be] 'wives' to combatants. Notwithstanding, Veale observes that there are still a few gender-based issues of the differential experiences of male and female children who have been involved in military units. Although they play all these roles, they have received scanty attention during the reintegration process as opposed to male child soldiers. Mckay and her colleagues argue that [the] majority of reports, internaitonal campaigns, and initiatives continue to use the generic term 'child soldiers' which most often mean 'boys'. They do not identify differential impacts for boys and girls before, during or after armed conflicts. Mazurana found in another study that between 1990 and 2000, underaged girls participated in armed conflicts in a minimum of 32 countries as child soldeirs or military support forces. ... Northern Uganda qualifies [as] a case study because it has been in conflict between 1996 [and] 2006. It is estimated that there are 70 to 80 percent of child combatants with girls making up 30 percent. Disarmament and demobilisation is carried out by Uganda's People Defence Force (UPDF) working together with some United Nations (UN) humanitarian bodies, then NGOs and community leaders in turn work on the reintegration of the returnees. However, the reintegration process in Uganda is a-typical when compared to that of Sierra Leone, and most often does not take into consideration the special needs of female child soldiers. ... My focus will therefore be on Northern Uganda, but reference will be made to Sierra Leone as precedent where the context permits. This will be relevant for any reintegration procudure that Uganda adopts after the war. ... Chapter one: introduction and background. Chapter two: investigating the recruitment and impact of conflict on child soldiers in general and female child soldiers in particular. This chapter will be divided into two parts. Part one sets the stage by giving a brief account of the conflict in Northern Uganda and Sierra Leone. Part two identifies the significant environmental factors, but not sufficient conditions that cause children in general, and girls in particular, to join armed groups and the impact it has on female child soldiers. Chapter three: legal guarantee of the right to reintegration - by provision and implication. This chapter outlines and analyses treaties that have influenced and circumscribed the policies and practices for the reintegration of female child soldiers. It also looks at those that provide for reintegration by implication. This chapter will also examine the rights-based approach as base for reintegration processes. Case law will be included. Chapter four: comprehensive analysis of effective socio-economic reintegration of female child soldiers. This chapter will examine the factors that influence successful reintegration. It will portray the half-baked approach of reintegration that is obvious in the case study. The role of international agencies, NGOs, civil society and other actors will be discussed as a platform for successful reintegration. Furthermore, some decisions at the Special Court of Sierra Leone (SCSL) will be discussed. Chapter five: conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr. Angelo Matusse at the Faculdade de Direito, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The use of child soldiers has troubled human rights activists, policy-makers, and local communities for decades. Although rebellions around the world routinely use children in their activities, many do not. Despite its overwhelming importance for conflict resolution, the topic of child soldiers remains understudied. My research blends classic rational choice and constructivist themes to develop an explanation for when child soldiers will be used, and when they will be avoided. The likelihood of child recruitment is influenced by the value of international opinion; this is determined by the groups' long-term goals. Secessionist rebellions desire to have their own state. However, statehood is jealously guarded by the international community and is only granted under extreme circumstances. The use of child soldiers has been condemned around the world as a crime against humanity, and it can curtail international support. Thus, secessionists should be the least likely rebel type to use child soldiers out of a concern to appear legitimate. Opportunistic rebellions face few constraints in their recruitment efforts. They do not desire international support because their long-term goal is the same as their short term goal: profit. Instead of refraining from using children in order to curry favor with external parties, they will abduct, adopt, and abuse children because they are cheaper to employ than adults. Opportunists are unconcerned with losing legitimacy or reducing the chances of victory. Therefore, they should be the most likely to use child soldiers. Concern for costs can affect all rebels. As duration grows, constraints over long-term legitimacy diminish. Therefore, all rebellions should be more likely to use child soldiers as duration increases. I test my theory quantitatively by looking at 103 rebel groups active between 1998-2008. I explore rebellions in Somalia, Colombia, Afghanistan and Sudan to further elucidate the causal mechanisms. There is considerable empirical support for the theory. These results offer policy-relevant conclusions in the areas of rehabilitation and conflict resolution. More importantly, they offer a workable strategy to curb the use of child soldiers in civil war.

5 ABSTRACT The rules governing the protection of children in armed conflicts has undergone an extensive evolution over the last few years. From the beginning of 20th century when the first international instruments for acknowledging children as a specific group requiring better attention and a special approach started to form, through the boom in the 1980 when the binding Convention on the rights of the child was dedicated solely to children and children's protection became the key question for many international participants, till the 21th century where the protection of children began to be oriented towards the balance between accepted obligations and their realization. Today, many international documents deal with the protection of children; however, their implementation and realization is often lacking. Armed conflicts are no longer of a traditional international character today and the norms, which dealt with relations between states, are no longer valid and need to be reassessed. Mixed and internal armed conflicts prevail and the attention is focused on civilian children included as an easy targets. In this kind of situation, children are particularly vulnerable for various reasons. First, many children live in a large-scale poverty and any kind of participation in an armed conflict allows them to...

This thesis as a social documentary, using images to provoke awareness of the emotions of children, their lives during the 15-year old Civil War that was in Liberia, West Africa. This thesis will visually explore different timelines, the past, the present and the future of children depicted. In depicting the past, the images capturing specific moment of what a child had to witness during the war. In depicting the present images showcase the aftermath of the war for children who have survived, and finally, for the future, images showcasing how the lives of some of the children have changed because of sacrifices made by people who observed the war and its consequences. Inspiration was gathered from several groups of artists that covered events such as the Great Depression, Vietnam, the Holocaust, etc. These artists include: Henry Mayhew, Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks among many.

Magister Legum - LLM / Piracy attacks off the coast of the Horn of Africa have been on the rise in the recent years. According to a report by Ocean without Borders, although no vessels were hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2017, 8 seafarers who were captured in 2016 were still being held in captivity. So far, 545 seafarers have been subjected to piracy attacks.1 The west coast of Africa has also experienced its fair share of piracy attacks. There has been an increase in piracy attacks off the coast of West Africa, two thirds of these attacks occurred off the coast of Nigeria.2The law governing maritime piracy is founded in the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS).3Article 101 of the Convention defines piracy as; (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: i. on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; ii. against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b). In addition to the UNCLOS, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful acts of Violence against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (herein after referred to as SUA Convention) also criminalises acts related to maritime piracy but which hinder the safe navigation of ships.4 The determining factor for crimes under the SUA Convention is whether the offence is a threat to the safe navigation or is likely to endanger the safe navigation of ships.5 The SUA Convention, however, differs from the UNCLOS in several aspects. First, the Convention does not require that the offence be committed for private ends. Second, the two ships requirement under Article 101 (a) of the UNCLOS is not applicable in the SUA Convention. The offences created in Article 3 of the SUA Convention imply that they may be committed by a perpetrator who is in the same ship with the victim. The SUA Convention does not provide for application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, a State can only exercise jurisdiction over the crimes if it is a party to it.6 Both the SUA Convention7 and the UNCLOS8 provide that the offence must be committed outside a State’s territorial waters. Article 4 of the SUA Convention however further limits the application of the Convention. The Convention does not apply to instances where the ship was not scheduled to navigate out of the territorial waters of the State. This limitation is not applicable under the UNCLOS.

<p>The recruitment, enlistment and use of children younger than fifteen to participate actively in hostilities is prohibited in customary international law as well as in several international legal instruments. The use of child soldiers is, despite of the prohibition, a widespread phenomenon with 300 000 as the estimated number of child soldiers in national armies as well as in various rebel and insurgent groups in the world today. Although the problem is world-wide; most recent focus have been on Africa where children have served and still serve in ongoing conflicts in various functions including but not limited to front line soldiers, messengers, guards and sex-slaves. Many of the world‟s child soldiers are girls that are facing the risks of sexual abuse and discrimination. In this thesis the 1996-2002 civil war in Sierra Leone will serve as an example of a conflict were children were used as soldiers.Prohibition against the use of child soldiers can be found in international legal instruments in both human rights law and international humanitarian law. It can also be found in instruments in the fields of international labor law and prohibition against slavery. The provisions differ in their definition of a child soldier; concerning age limit as well as the child‟s function during the conflict. There are also differences in the responsibility of states to protect children against being used as soldiers. This particularly affects girl soldiers since they often have their primary tasks behind the front line and thus are not usually included in the more narrow definitions of child soldiers.Two courts; the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) are used as examples of enforcement mechanisms. The SCSL as being the first court to deliver convictions for the use of child soldiers as well as thoroughly discussing the illegality of the use of child soldiers has been of importance in the fight against the use of child soldiers. The ICC will be the enforcement mechanism of the future and it has already prosecuted for the use of child soldiers. The SCSL has raised the awareness and started the struggle against impunity for those responsible for using child soldiers but it is the ICC that will have to continue the fight, although with some obstacles to overcome.</p>