All articles

Sat
12
Feb

The Israeli “Refusers”

 Israeli draft resisters. Source: www.refuser.org.

When Israeli children play with toy soldiers, it’s not just a game, a fantasy or an aspiration. It is a fact of life that they will serve in the military, usually right after high school. When children hear stories from family members about their time in the military, it is not just from a father or one aunt or cousin. Nearly all (male and female) adult family members have stories to tell about their time in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). There are exemptions for Orthodox Jews, the mentally or physically unqualified, young mothers, Arab Israelis, and a few others, but it is rare for a citizen to be deemed a conscientious objector. To seek CO status in Israeli society is considered the ultimate betrayal and a process that will bring certain suffering to the individual.

Thu
20
Jan

Two former child soldiers Sierra Leone reflect on their experiences

Two former child soldiers reflect on their experiences during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war and their lives since.

Two former child soldiers Sierra Leone reflect on their experiences
Tue
18
Jan

SNA: “Controlling Child Recruitment is Difficult”

An Education Department activity in the Department of Moral Guidance (Tawjih) in Martyr Abdul Qadir Al-Saleh Camp. Credit: Tawjih Syria.

Dozens of children are still serving within the ranks of the opposition’s Syrian National Army despite Ankara’s measures to end child recruitment

 

Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) verified that factions operating under the opposition’s Syrian National Army (SNA) have been recruiting children among their ranks. Field researchers with STJ obtained information and testimonies confirming that at least 20 minors are currently commissioned within the ranks of the SNA. When our researchers interviewed faction commanders, they claimed it is difficult to control child recruitment despite difficult steps taken to end the practice.

Several of the recruited minors were deployed on the front lines during Operation Peace Spring. Others were trained in military camps across Azaz and Afrin and are still carrying out the tasks they were assigned despite the SNA’s decision to demobilize all child soldiers.

Wed
22
Dec

One in eight children found at risk of becoming child soldiers

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

One in eight of the world’s children - more than 300 million - live in conflict zones where they are at risk of becoming child soldiers, the charity Save the Children warned. The Save the Children report published on 30th November said boosting school access was vital in fighting forced recruitment.

According to the report, during 2020 some 337 million children were living near armed groups and government forces that recruit children.

Nearly 200 million of them live in the world’s deadliest war zones, up 20% from 2019. 

The exact number of child soldiers is unknown, but in 2020 more than 8,500 children were recruited and used as fighters or in other roles by mostly non-state armed groups, according to U.N. data, a 10% increase from the previous year.

That number is likely to be only a fraction of actual cases, the charity’s report said. 

Wed
22
Dec

Myanmar Regime Makes Military Training Compulsory for Soldiers' Children

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Myanmar’s military has made it mandatory for children of its personnel to undergo military training as it seeks to prepare reserve forces, despite such training being against both Myanmar and international law. 

“Among the trainees are teenage children. The military has made the training mandatory for all children old enough to carry a gun. Even my child had to attend,” said a sergeant from a regional command who has now defected.   

However, Myanmar’s Child Rights Law expressly prohibits providing military training to children with the intention of using them to serve in the military, as does the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, said one child rights activist. 

Read the full story published on 07 December 2021 by The Irrawaddy here.

Wed
01
Dec

Syrian Kurds Demand End to Child Recruitment

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Dozens of Kurdish parents and activists protested outside the United Nations offices in Qamishli, Syria, on Sunday against the recruitment of children by local military groups.

The demonstration took place after several teenage girls were reportedly recruited by groups affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military organization that has been a key U.S. ally in the battle against Islamic State.

In June 2019, the SDF signed a joint action plan with the U.N. to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children under the age of 18 in areas under its control. But the U.N. said since then, at least 160 cases have been documented.

Khaled Jabir, co-chairman of the child protection unit at the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, confirmed that his office recently received several complaints about child recruitment.

Mon
22
Nov

US Senate Prepares To Expand Selective Service to Women as Well as Men

Women Who Say No To Militarism

Edward Hasbrouck / Antiwar.com - After months of delay, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Sunday that the Senate is "likely" to vote this week on an annual defense [sic] bill which includes a provision – already approved by the House of Representatives in its version of the bill – to extend the President’s authority to order men to register with the Selective Service System for a possible military draft to include

Thu
11
Nov

Jehovah's Witnesses and conscientious objection | Freedom of Belief

Holocaust victims, derided, discriminated against, subject to virulent attacks by anti-cult organizations and fake news fabricated ad hoc, Jehovah's Witnesses have always been an example of integrity and altruism that materialized with epochal human rights achievements. This was the case for the freedom of therapeutic choice and for the right to conscientious objection, now recognized as an inalienable right.

A survey promoted by the national headquarters of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah has brought to light the heroic efforts sustained by young Witnesses during the period spanning from 1960 to 1990. We publish below an article of Nonviolent Action of 29 May 2020 with the comments of jurists, academics and writers, some of whom were at the forefront of that great battle.

Wed
15
Sep
gdghirardi's picture

House and Senate Armed Services Committees vote to make women register for the draft

Edward Hasbrouck / Antiwar - On September 1st, 2021, the House Armed Services Committee joined the Senate Armed Services Committee in voting 35-24 to expand registration for a possible military draft to include young women as well as young men.

Wed
11
Aug

Human Rights Groups urged the UK military to stop recruiting under 18s

Young soldiers formed

An open letter signed by a coalition of human rights groups, including Child Rights International Network, Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Watch, urged the defence Ministry to stop recruiting children aged under 18.

The letter declared that the UK military recruits more soldiers at 16 than any other age, especially for combat infantry roles, whereas most countries around the world only allow adults to be recruited. Additionally, this recruitment practice needs to end as “figures showed that girls aged under 18 in the armed forces made at least 16 formal complaints of sexual assault to military police in the last six years” informed The Guardian in an article released in June covering the MPs debate around the Armed Forces Bill.

The joint letter also said:

Pages