"Challenges in Enforcing International Legal Framework Against Child Soldiering" by Shedrack Ekpa and Daniel Friday Atidoga
  •  
  •  
 

Abstract

The war crime of child soldiering has contagiously blossomed, necessitating the application of several prohibitive legal standards for its extermination. As the impact of this heinous and atrocious crime soars, the multi-dimensional scope for the protection against child soldiering becomes more sternly entrenched. This article aims to interrogate this global and worrying phenomenon in the light of existing international legal framework. Alhough doctrinal in nature, this article relies on both primary and secondary sources of data. It was found that despite the high retinue of prohibitive norms as stipulated in various legal instruments, the war crime of child soldiering has continued to thrive with brazen impunity. It is recommended that more synergy be deployed towards ensuring effective co-operation amongst stakeholders with a view to enthroning purpose driven enforcement which has been identified as one of the innumerable challenges confronting the effectiveness of international law generally. Furthermore, State parties should fully align themselves with the provisions of applicable international instruments against child soldiering, based on the principle of pacta sunt servanda.

References

Journal Articles and Periodicals

Abidi, Catherine Baillie. “Prevention, Protection and Participation: Children Affected by Armed Conflict.” Refugee and Conflict 25. (2021): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2021.624133.

Adeyeye, Joel and Daniel Friday Atidoga. “African Union Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Emerging Issues.” Scholars International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 4, no. 8. (2021): 492-511.

Akseer, Nadia et al. “Women, Children and Adolescents in Conflict Countries: An Assessment of Inequalities in Intervention Coverage and Survival.” BM Journal of Global Health 5, no. 1. (2020): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002214.

Amerasinghe, C.F. “History and Sources of the Law of War.” Sri Lanka Journal of International Law 16. (2004): 263-287.

Ariye, Ekpotuatin Charles. “The United Nations and its Peace Purpose: An Assessment.” Journal of Conflictology 5, no. 1. (2014): 24-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.7238/joc.v5i1.1827.

Arumbinang, Mohammed Hazyar, Yordan Gunawan, and Andi Agus Salim. “Prohibition of Child Recrutiment as Soldiers: An International Regulatory Discourse.” Journal Media Hukum 30, no. 1 (2023): 21-32. https://doi.org/10.18196/jmh.v30i1.19322.

Beatrice, Omodanisi Kemi. “Child Soldiers in Times of War: Issues Arising.” Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization 93 (2020): 12-23.

Chapel, L. “Women, Gender and International Institutions: Exploring New Opportunities at the International Criminal Courts.” Policy and Society 22, no. 1. (2001): 3-25.

Cullen, Holly. “Does the ILO Have Distinctive Legal Protection of Child Soldiers?” Human Rights International Discourse 5, no. 11. (2011): 63-81.

David, C. “Training for Peacekeeping: Towards Increased Understanding of Conflict Resolution.” International Peacekeeping 20, no. 1. (2013): 80-97.

Dayemi, M.K and N. Mollase. “International Legal Frameworks on Child Soldiers Protection” Dimitrie Cantemir Faculty of Law Cluj Napoca Romania Journal 12, no. 1. (2008): 175-187.

Diaz, Sarah J. “An Elusive Mandate: Enforcing Prohibition on the Use of Child Soldiers.” Children’s Legal Rights Journal 39, no. 3. (2020): 263-282.

O’Donnell, Chris and R. Muggah. “Next Generation Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration.“ International Journal of Security and Development 4, no. 1. (2015): 1-12.

Egbe-Olawari, D.J. “Civil Wars, Child Soldiers and Post Conflict Peace Building in West Africa.” African Research Review 8, no. 2. (2014): 27-30.

Gbimire, Bishwanbhar. “Contributions and Challenges: Female Participations in UN Peacekeeping Missions.” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 7, no. 3. (2017): 207-213.

Glynn, Natalie. “Understanding Care Leavers as Youth in Society: A Theoretical Framework for Studying the Transition Out of Care.” Children and Youth Services Review 121, no. 5. (2021): 1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105829.

Hanson, Karl. “International Children’s Rights and Armed Conflicts.” Human Rights International Legal Discourse 5, no. 1. (2011): 40-62.

Holmes, Georgina. “Situating Agency, Embodied Practices and Norm Implementation in Peacekeeping Training.” International Peacekeeping 26, no. 1. (2019): 55-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2018.1503934.

Jalloh, Charles Chernor. “Special Court for Sierra-Leone: Achieving Justice.” Michigan Journal of International Law 33, no. 3. (2003): 395-460.

Jennings, K.M. “Conditional Protection? Sex, Gender and Discourse in UN Peacekeeping.” International Studies Quarterly 63, no. 1. (2019): 30-42.

Johnson, Dustin.“A Critical Feminist Approach to Implementing Vancouver Principle.” Allons-Y Journal of Children, Peace and Security 5 (2021): 59-75. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6016-5147.

Johnson, Dustin. “Women as the Essential Protectors of Children?: Gender and Child Protection in UN Peacekeeping.” International Peacekeeping 29, no. 2. (2022): 282-307.

Johnson, Dustin and Allyssa Walsh. “Gender, Peacekeeping and Child Soldiers: Training and Research in Implementation of the Vancouver Principles.“ Allons-y Journal of Children Peace and Security 4 (2020): 51-60.

Karakir, Irem Askar. “Ongoing Conflict in Yemen: A Proxy War.” Turkish Journal of TESAM Academy 5, no. 2. (2018): 121-149.

Kargbo, F.B. “International Peace Keeping and Child Soldiers: Problems of Security and Rebuilding.” Cornell International Law Journal 32, no. 3. (2004): 485-496.

Knight, Mark and Alpaslan Ozerdem. “Guns, Camps and Cash: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reinsertion of Former Combatants in Transitions From War to Peace.” Journal of Peace Research 41, no. 1. (2004): 499-516.

Larimore, S. “Child Soldiering and How the United States Can up its Game Against Those States that Still Continue this Practice.” Thomas Jefferson Law Review 42 (2019).

Lingappa, Anuradha. “Application of Child Soldiers Prevention Act to Myanmar: A Case Study in How a Simple Statute insufficiently Addresses a Complex Problem.” Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 45, no. 1. (2021): 39-66.

Mangku, Dewa Dede Sudika and Ni Putu Rai Yuliartini. “Legal protection of Children in Armed Conflicts in the View of International Humanitarian Law.” Indonesian Journal of Criminal Law Studies 6, no. 1. (2021): 1-10.

Markovic, Darko M. and Ivana Spaic. “Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility as Part of Criminal Policies.” Culture of Polis Journal 19, no. 3. (2022): 131-155.

McMullin, Jaremey. “Reintegrating Young Combatants: Do Child Centred Approaches Leave Children and Adults Behind.” Third World Quarterly 32, no. 4. (2011): 743-764. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2011.567006.

Milena, Jaksic. “Looking for Child Soldier.” Journal of Legal Anthropology 4, no. 1. (2020): 46-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/jla.2020.070703.

Posse, Hortensia D.T. Gutierrez. “The Relationship Between International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Tribunals.” IRRC 88, no. 861 (2006): 65-86.

Prasad, A.N. and P.L. Prasad. “Children in Conflict Zones.” Medical Journal of Armed Forces India 65, no. 2. (2009): 166-169.

Robinson, Robbie J.A. “The Right of Child Victims of Armed Conflict to Reintegration and Recovery.” Potchetstroom Electronic Law Journal 15, no. 1. (2017): 46-101.

Rosen, David M. “Who is a Child? The Legal Conundrum of Soldiers.” Conn Journal of International Law 25 (2009).

Sanghi, S. “A World With no Child Soldiers: Accessing the Impact of the Vancouver Principles, 2017.” Cambridge International Law Journal (2018):

Sarjoon, Athambawa and Mohammed Agus Yusoff. “The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Challenges.“ Academic Journals of Interdisciplinary Studies 8, no. 3. (2019): 202-211.

Shigong, Li. “Should the Age of Criminal Responsibility be Lowered?” Beijing Law Review (2020).

Book and Book Chapters

Allen, Tim. Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Kampala: Zed Books, 2006.

Baines, Erin. Buried in the Heart: Women, Complex Victimhood and the War in Northern Uganda. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Casalin, Deborah. “Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in International Law Prohibition and Elimination” in Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, edited by Walter Leal Filho, Anabela Marisa Azul, Luciana Brandli, Amanda Lange Salvia, Tony Wall, 81-826. Cham: Springer Nature, 2020.

Charlesworth, Hilary and C.M. Chinkin. The Boundaries of International Law: A Feminist Analysis. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.

Debos, Marielle. Living by Gun in Chad : Combatants, Impurity and State Formation (Zed Books, 2016): 1-11

Goodwin-Gill, Guy S. and Ilene Cohn. Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Grover, S.C. Child Soldiers Victims of Generational Forcible Transfer: Exonerating Child Soldiers Charged With Grave Conflict Related International Crimes. Berlin: Springer Publishing, 2012.

Harvey, Rachel. Children and Armed Conflict: A Guide to International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law. International Bureau for Children’s Rights, 2001.

Machel, Graca. The Impact of War on Children. Hurst and Co, 2001.

Machel, Graca. Impact of Armed Conflict on Children; Report of Graca Machel: Selected Highlights. UN Dept of Public Information, 1995.

McMullin, Jaremey. Ex Combatants and the Post Conflict State: Challenges of Reintegration. Palgrave: Macmillan, 2013.

Mergeslberg, Ben. “Between Two Worlds: Former LRA Soldier in Northern Uganda” in The Lord’s Resistance Army Myth and Reality, edited by T. Allen and K. Vlassenroots, 156-176. Kampala: Zed Books, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350223240.ch-008.

Richards, Paul. Fighting for Rain Forests: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone. London, Heinemann, 1996.

Shepler, Susan. Childhood Deployed: Remaking Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone. NYU Press, 2014,

Spink, Lauren. Data Driven Protection: Linking Threat Analysis to Planning in UN Peacekeeping Operations. Center for Civilians in Conflict, 2018.

Legal Documents

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (opened for signature 1 July 1990, entered into force 29 November 1999).

Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1577 UNTS 3 (opened for signature 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990).

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. 75 UNTS 31 (opened for signature 12 August 1949, entered into force 21 October 1950).

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of the Armed Forces at Sea. 75 UNTS 85 (opened for signature 12 August 1949, entered into force 21 October 1950).

Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 75 UNTS 135 (opened for signature 12 August 1949, entered into force 21 October 1950).

Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. 75 UNTS 287 (opened for signature 12 August 1949, entered into force 21 October 1950).

International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour (opened for signature 17 June 1999, entered into force 19 November 2000).

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. 2173 UNTS 222 (opened for signature 25 May 2000, entered into force 12 February 2002).

Prosecutor v. Sam Hinga Norman, Decision on Preliminary Motion Based on Lack of Jurisdiction (Child Recruitment), SCSL 2004-14-AR72 E, Appeals Chamber (31 May 2004).

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I). 1125 UNTS 3 (opened for signature 8 June 1977, entered into force 7 December 1978).

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. 1125 UNTS 609 (opened for signature 8 June 1977, entered into force 7 December 1978).

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. 3268 UNTS (opened for signature 1 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005).

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 2187 UNTS 3 (opened for signature 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002).

Special Court for Sierra Leone. Prosecutor v. Sam Hinga Norman. Decision on Preliminary Motion Based on Lack of Jurisdiction (Child Recruitment). SCSL 2004-14-AR72 E. Appeals Chamber (31 May 2004).

Other Sources

ACCORD. “Child Soldiers in Africa: Solutions to a Complex Dilemma.” Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. ACJR 2002/2. 25 June 2002. Accessed 28 August 2024. https://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/child-soldiers-in-africa.

Dormann, Knut. “War Crimes under the Rome Statute of the ICC with Special Focus on the Negotiations on the Elements of Crimes.” Max Planck Year Book of U.N Law 7 (2003): 341-407.

Human Rights Watch. “No Place for Children: Child Recruitment in Northern Uganda.” 2003. Accessed 28 September 2023. www.hrw.org.

Madzima, Tadziripa “The Effects of Conflict are Felt Hardest by Women and Children.” Peace Insight Papers. 2013. Accessed 30 July 2023. https://www.peaceinsight.org/en/articles/effects-conflict-women-children/?location=&theme=women-peace-security.

Tiegenbos, Jolien and Koen Vlassenroot. “Going Home? A Systematic Review of Literature on Displacement, Retusrn and Cycles of Violence Politics of Return.” Working Paper I. 2018. http://doi.org/10.21953/lse.90o7jyrklz54.

UNICEF. “No Peace Without Justice: International Criminal Law and Children.” 2020. Accessed 24 September 2023. www.v.pewresearch.org.

United Nations Peacekeeping. “Action for Peace Keeping (A4P): Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peace Keeping Operations.” https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p.

Download

Plum Print visual indicator of research metrics
PlumX Metrics
  • Usage
    • Abstract Views: 101
    • Downloads: 43
see details

Share

COinS