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Sat

Jan

2024

Elective Military Corps Programs in Schools Should Not Be Forced Upon Minority and Low-income Students

Submitted by nnomy

Thu

Dec

SOMALIA: 908 incidents of Child Recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in Somalia

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 04/12/2014 - 17:28

Nairobi (RBC) All armed actors continue to recruit and use children in military operations, according to various reports released by international agencies.

The latest report by the UN Monitoring Group says that Al-Shabaab has been the most flagrant violator of the prohibition on using children in armed conflict. In 2013, the United Nations documented and verified 908 incidents of recruitment and use of children by Al-Shabaab.

Association with Al-Shabaab also left children more vulnerable to other violations of international law, including in the context of arrest and detention operations by State security forces.

Although the army expanded its efforts to vet personnel, its recruitment and use of children in armed conflict continued, in particular at the district level and in the context of checkpoint operations and other support functions. Children were also recruited and used by army-allied militias.

Thu

Dec

Not Even Tajikistan's All-Powerful President Can Stop Forced Military Recruitment

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 04/12/2014 - 16:56

The traditional season of forced recruitment into Tajikistan's military is well underway, despite President Emomali Rahmon ordering a stop to the practice earlier in the year. As draftees try to avoid two years in the country's underfunded, under-heated barracks, stories of violent kidnappings are just as common as they were last year.

Not Even Tajikistan's All-Powerful President Can Stop Forced Military Recruitment

Wed

Dec

Libreta militar (military book) will no longer be a requisite for graduating from university

Submitted by hannah on Wed, 03/12/2014 - 10:38

On Tuesday, the plenary session of the Senate of the Republic approved a bold initiative aimed at the elimination of the military book for some legal requirements.

Within the new law, it will not be required to hold the military book to graduate from university.

Currently, young people who have finished their degree - but not resolved their military situation - cannot obtain their title or diploma.

The sponsor of this proposal, the representative Angelica Lozano, said that "today there is an injustice to men, because they cannot graduate without military book. Many Colombians that with effort and hard work finish their courses then don't make the grade".

"There are many young people who face this injustice, postponement, deferrence, and many times do not graduate," she explained.

English translation unavailable for .

Wed

Nov

Principals learn about Army opportunities

Submitted by Gary on Wed, 26/11/2014 - 01:46

Command Sgt. Maj. Willie Clemmons, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, talks about the Army core values as he addresses National Association of Secondary School Principals and U.S. Army Leadership and Professional Development Symposium participants Nov. 13 at the Lewis and Clark Center. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp

By Jennifer Walleman / Fort Leavenworth Lamp -

Note: The military claims that it does not focus on recruiting low-income people.

The National Assn. of Secondary School Principals partnered with the Army to sponsor this symposium at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in the United States. The principals were chosen because they are from schools serving students living in poverty. Notice the final quote at the end from one of them:

“Now that I have a better understanding of what the Army can offer, I’m going to sit down with the recruiter back home, and I’m going to have him be a little bit more aggressive with our kids and give him more opportunities to (reach) kids and explain to them how and why the military might be a good solution to actually help them be a success.”

Wed

Nov

Anti-war group decries USF's ties to military

Submitted by Gary on Wed, 26/11/2014 - 00:07

Gage Lacharite, center, head of the local branch of Students for a Democratic Society, prepares to hand out “counter-recruiting” fliers at USF's Marshall Student Center. JAY CONNER

by Jerome R. Stockfisch / Tampa Tribune

TAMPA — Counter-recruiting. Demands that the university break ties with the military. A mass die-in.

It may not be the 1960s, but Students for a Democratic Society is dusting off the old playbook to launch an anti-war, anti-U.S. military campaign at the University of South Florida.

SDS, perhaps the largest and most influential radical student organization of the 1960s, is springing back to life in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. SDSers from USF have scheduled a news conference today to demand that the university sever memorandums of understanding it has entered into with U.S. Central Command based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

English translation unavailable for .

Mon

Nov

Sweden considers new tactic to enlist soldiers

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 24/11/2014 - 12:34

Having defence as a subject in school could help increase the number of pupils who want to enlist in the armed forces, according to a new Swedish study.

The report published in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter revealed that making defence a school subject and inviting everybody in the country who is 18 to an annual armed forces day could help boost numbers.

Since compulsory military service was scrapped in 2010, it has become more difficult to entice potential new recruits into the army.

English translation unavailable for .

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.