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Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

This thesis examines why some governments and rebel organizations but not others recruit children to be child soldiers. The theory posits that if a country fights in a civil war of long duration, armed groups are more likely to recruit children as soldiers. I find that the probability of child soldier recruitment increases when a country experiences following conditions: a longer duration of civil war, a large proportion of battle deaths, a large number of refugees, a high infant mortality rate, and the presence of alluvial diamonds. An increase in education expenditures and civil liberties would decrease the probability of child soldier recruitments.

On a daily basis we hear or read about new atrocious and violent conflicts that are emerging in countless countries around the world. At the same time, some of the previous conflicts are winding down and leading to negotiations and peaceful resolutions. In either of the cases, peacebuilding initiatives are put into place to establish relationships between the divided population which is and/or was at war. There are countless reconciliation methods which are used to reconcile the adult population which is and/or was in conflict with each other. Nonetheless, how and which reconciliation approaches are used when it comes to reconciling the children that have been directly or indirectly affected by the conflict in their country is not discussed to the same extend.  Thus the objective of this study is to analyse the available literature in order to gain a greater understanding of the methods which children partake in in order to foster reconciliation in a post-conflict environment. In total, 18 cases which pertain to children and reconciliation were analysed in order to find patterns, gaps and commonalities in the texts through the textual content analysis method. Furthermore, the findings were analysed in accordance to Galtung´s 12 reconciliation approaches.     Based on the analysis, it became clear how limited and scarce the literature is on reporting on the ways in which children reconcile. Furthermore, all of the texts present children as innocent victims who are not to blame for what had occurred. Despite the fact that children were victims as well as perpetrators in the conflict. Additionally, there is a clear distinction in the methods which are used to reconcile child soldiers versus children that were not directly involved in the conflict. In other words, many of the findings can aid in branching out the research to explore further the differences between child soldiers and non-child soldiers, as well as the general perception of children as victims. In addition, the concept of childhood and when one is considered a child should be explored, especially in non-western cultures, where an individual is considered a child under the age of 18, yet in other cultures “children” under 18 are married, have their own children, are responsible for their parents and very much live “adult” lives.

The humanitarian discourse defines children and child soldiers along with women as the main victims of conflicts. They view child soldiers as helpless and deprived of their rights, but this view does not always add up with reality. The anthropological discourse describes child soldiers as a tactic actor who is capable of making logical choices in order to survive. The reality is more complex than the humanitarian discourse portrays. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how child soldiers are portrayed by the humanitarian discourse and how that in turn reproduces a certain picture of child soldiers? How does that portrayal fit into the anthropological discussion of child soldiers? I want to investigate how anthropological research can contribute with an understanding of how the portrayal of child soldiers affect the comprehension of child soldiering. To do this, several analytical tools will be developed based on Anthony Giddens theory of structure and agent and on a discourse analysis method. To answer the research questions, an analysis will be conducted on three humanitarian organisations and three anthropological studies. The organisations and the anthropological studies were chosen based on their involvement and relevance in the discussion and work with child soldiers. The result shows that the main difference between the humanitarian and the anthropological discourses is that the humanitarian discourse portrays child soldiers in a more constricted way. The anthropological discourse explains how child soldiers act according to their own agency and they act based on their existing structure.

International criminal law lacks a coherent theory suitable for its own context. This lacuna has left the International Criminal Court (ICC) – the most prominent global penal institution - without clear theoretical premise(s) to guide prosecution and punishment. In its current incarnation, international criminal draws on Western liberal modalities founded on dominant domestic penal rationales of retribution and deterrence. However, these principles appear incongruous to the crimes the ICC prosecutes. The theoretical rationales of ICC have barely been interrogated against an extant case. In 2012, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo became the first defendant to be convicted and jailed by the ICC for the conscription, enlistment and use of child soldiers. The use of child combatants for purposes of war is a pernicious global problem outlawed in international criminal law. However, of the crimes designated as ‘egregious,’ it has historically been under-enforced and inadequately articulated as a mass crime, and allocated lesser gravity. The seminal case of Lubanga provides us with a propitious opportunity, not only to locate child soldiering, but also inquire into the theoretical underpinnings of the ICC with regards to mass crime. Mass crimes are distinct from ordinary crimes. International courts charged with adjudicating them face constraints and can only prosecute a few of the suspected perpetrators. The overarching theoretical and analytic framework for this thesis is premised on the notion that international criminal law needs a plausible theory or rationale suitable for its context and crimes it prosecutes. It is important for the ICC to premise its work on a realistic rationale for it to be purposive. A more logical analysis of international penality would draw on the conceptual underpinnings of the whole project of international law and specific features of the ICC. A good starting point is to note that international criminal justice is largely symbolic. A more plausible penal rationale would consider the inhibitions the ICC faces and the role it can still perform with regards to mass crime. The ICC symbolises contemporary standards of an ‘international community.’ It is this concept from which we can extrapolate viable rationales for ICC penology. How do the trial, conviction and punishment of Lubanga for the ‘mass crime’ of child soldiering serve the collectivist ethos of international law and society? The project that follows proposes a penal rationale that accounts for the ICC’s sui generis character, the nature of crimes it adjudicates and what the court can realistically achieve. The ultimate value of international criminal law may rest not in its functions of retribution or deterrence, but in its role in identity construction, in particular in constructing a cosmopolitan community identity. The overall argument for the thesis is that while retribution and deterrence are valid, the most plausible rationale for ICC penality is the expressive function of law (expressivism). The few cases of mass crime the ICC can prosecute can achieve primarily more realistic aims of expression of global or ‘cosmopolitan’ norms, norm internalisation and the reinforcement of collectivism international law and society. Lubanga provides an illustrative exemplar for this argument.

Student Number : 0007982H - MA Dissertation - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / Children fulfil various roles within armed forces including, active combat and offering support services such as spying and domestic services. Girls make up to 40 per cent of child soldiers in some states. Although in existence, data on girl soldiers has many gaps and tends to focus primarily on the sexual exploitation of girls. Arguably, this undercuts the other difficulties of girl’s participation in conflict, and reintegration into the post-conflict society. The international community has attempted to take up the global problem of child soldiers through various conventions yet; very few of these specifically focus on gender-based violations against children. The dissertation examines the international response to girl soldiers. The central hypotheses being that; girls- as a population group- are ignored in the international human rights regime. Furthermore, girl soldiers are disenfranchised owing to their dual identities of being female and children. The problem is addressed by firstly, defining the international human rights regime and its sub-regimes and secondly, showing its inadequacies in relation to girl soldiers. Uganda is used as a case study to test the hypothesis. Ultimately, this dissertation attempts to show that the international community has ignored a population group that is in need of protection.

An attempt to bring together a set of conceptual and theoretical issues related to the programming of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Process for child soldiers in Sierra Leone. By questioning if the programmes have considered cultural and contextual specificities, this is a qualitative case study based in the text analysis of secondary data from a number of different researchers and practitioners from the field. The latter will be done by correlating conceptual and theoretical dilemmas based in the definition of child soldiers and their navigational skills, and will be analyzed under four topics chosen to present the cultural and contextual specificities of this case. Conclusions and recommendations will leave in evidence the fact that in the case of Sierra Leone, the DDR programme for children did not prioritize a cross- cultural approach and deliberately ignored navigational skills from former child soldiers, it delegitimized local initiatives for reintegration, failed in promoting a gender-sensitive component in the programme, and demonstrates a lack of cooperation between humanitarian and development agencies, which have been insistently westernized. The case of Sierra Leone is an interesting experience from which much can be learned, but mostly because it highlights the fact that each case is different and the urgency of considering the improvement of aid in a more individualized perspective.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 541-554). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19795

This study is a critical analysis of child labour and human resource development in Uganda. The study was undertaken because of the growing concern about child-labour practices in African countries, Uganda being an example. The incidence of child labour and the form that it takes are driven by supply-anddemand factors countrywide, but also by the sheer need of children to survive. Child labour is considered to be a fundamental child development problem. Children are involved in a number of child-labour practices such as prostitution in the commercial and tourism sex industry, forced begging on the streets, and forced soldiering. They may be used as camel jockeys, domestic servants, farm labourers/herders, mine labourers, produce porters, roadside sellers/street vendors, sweetshop-industry labourers, cooks and porters for rebels. The persistent exploitation of children involved in hazardous work and conditions has become overwhelming in Uganda. Poverty as one of the major causes for the growing numbers of child labourers in the agricultural sector in Uganda has caused a number of children to engage in child-labour activities to earn extra income for household survival. Many children have opted for partial attendance in school, eventually dropping out. Parents have also frequently influenced children to work on family farms, thus contributing to the children dropping out of school. Child-labour practices have become entrenched in the social and moral fabric of Ugandan society, and for this reason, research endeavours to uncover ways and methods to reverse this situation. The main objectives of this research were to establish the impact of poverty on child labour, to assess the effect of the social and cultural setup on child labour, to find out the impact of child-labour legislation enforcement, to determine the 5 influence of the HIV and AIDS pandemic on child labour, to establish the effect of the educational system and technological advancement on child labour, to establish the level of awareness of human rights in the community, and to establish the impact of human rights activists on the prevention of child labour. The study was undertaken in Masindi District in Budongo Sub County, in three parishes, Nyabyeya, Nyantonzi and Kasongoire. The respondents used for the study included child labourers, their parents, farmers, and community leaders. The method used to get to the sample was purposive sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires for written answers and a tape recorder for oral answers. Both primary and secondary data was collected, verified, edited, checked, coded, analysed, and then exported to Excel and SPSS. Collecting the data was a challenging exercise for the researcher. Experiences were varied, in the hospitality and willingness of respondents to learn more about child issues. Although respondents were willing to participate in the data collection exercise, social and cultural values did not permit all of them to share their views with the researcher. To collect data from respondents, the researcher had to ensure that remuneration was in place at the end of the exercise. The respondents filled out the questionnaires only after learning of the availability of a reward for every questionnaire answered. More setbacks were the need to travel long distances, and enduring the poor infrastructure, poor sanitation, and epidemic outbreaks, some of which diluted the quality of data collected. During group interviews, most parents were not entirely truthful about involving their children in child-labour activities. Although most respondents had an idea of what child labour is, their ignorance levels on the topic prevented them from stopping their children from working. The major findings of the research were that the cultural, social and economic setup of the community in the study area favoured child labour, although the child-labour legislation is against using children as labourers. Various ethnicities 6 in the study area considered a person between the ages of 5 and 12 years to be a child, yet the Constitution of Uganda dictates the age of childhood to be below 18 years. This causes conflict in the definition of who a child is. Although parents were aware of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) regulation penalties for not taking children to school, they still permitted children to engage in child-labour activities, and little has been done by government to curb the culprits. Awareness of the Sub Counties and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOs) and their implementation has not helped to reduce poverty in the area studied, resulting in an increased school dropout rate among school-going-age children, as well as more child-labour activities. The major conclusion of the study was that little has been done to increase the awareness levels of the teachers, parents and their children about child labour and its legislation, their knowledge of and involvement in micro-finance institutions in the community, and the availability of vocational training institutions. Little has therefore been done to reduce child-labour activities, improve the economic status of the community, and improve their human resource skills. The major recommendations of the research to the study are that culture should not override the Constitution as far as the definition of age limit is concerned. The government should carry out stakeholder analyses, and implement a life-skills and sensitisation programme in order to improve child participation in the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme. Government should ensure that the society is given information about basic accounting, project planning and management skills, in order to be effectively involved in the economic programmes of SACCOs.