Archive Article: Children And War. 23rd May 03.
December 27, 2008

Children are increasingly victims of armed conflicts – both as the targets and even as the perpetrators of violence. Although victimizing children in times of war is not new, the scale and scope of this process is today without precedent.

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, based in Geneva, publishes an excellent review of disarmament issues called “The Disarmament Forum”. A recent edition focuses on Children and Security.

There are about 22 million children who have been displaced by war. It is estimated that of the 4 million war-related deaths since 1990, 90 per cent were civilians – with 80 per cent being women and children who fell victim to the misuse of small arms and light weapons.

While the peace movement has been right to warn of the dangers of nuclear weapons, it is worth remembering that people are killed everyday in wars, most usually by small arms.

Meanwhile, children are also recruited as child soldiers to kill other children or adults. The report says that about 300,000 children are used as combatants on battlefields around the world.

One of the authors is Anatole Ayissi, who is a former diplomat and is now based at the Institute. He lists four practical steps that can be taken to protect children. First, it is necessary to ostracise the rogue fighters and pariah stakeholders. Such people should know from the outset that they will not be included in any eventual peace negotiations – nor will they be accepted by the international community as a legitimate political force in any eventual political settlement to the conflict.

Second, it is necessary to promote punitive justice and individual responsibility. Most of the conflicts in which children are currently victimized are internal or civil wars. But most of international law regulates international conflicts. The author notes that some progress has been made in trying to make that international law more applicable in internal conflicts. Australia, by the way, has been involved in that process by, among other things, its support for the new International Criminal Court which has just come into effect

Third, “make the crimes imprescriptible”. This is a technical term meaning that after a long period of time, the crime is no longer regarded as significant because too much time has lapsed. The recommendation is that there be in fact no statute of limitations. An Australian, for example, committing murder can be charged with that crime right up until the moment he or she dies. The author’s recommendation is that a person involved in victimizing children in war should face the same threat. They will always be dogged by the threat of prosecution, no matter how much time may elapse.

Finally, the author recommends that national legislation be harmonized. In other words, many governments are acting individually on this subject. This is overall most welcome. But it is also necessary to ensure that there is a degree of consistency in the legislation. To conclude, at a time when national governments are claiming that they are so concerned about the welfare of children, it is ironically likely that children are more caught up in warfare than at any previous time in history. The seven articles in this magazine set out a number of ideas that can safeguard children.

Broadcast Friday 23rd May 2003 on Radio 2GB’s “Brian Wilshire Programme” at 9pm