LTTE war crimes against children
Introduction :
In more than thirty countries around the
world, approximately 300,000 minors under the age of 18 have been denied
their childhood for armed conflicts. These child soldiers, both boys and
girls, are forced by terrorist outfits to take part in all military
aspects. They are ordered to serve as human mine detectors, cooks,
messengers, spies, lookouts, sex slaves, front-line combatants, or
partakers in suicide missions.
At such a young age, these child combatants experience
the horrors of war. They become witnesses or victims of extreme physical
violence, which includes beheadings, amputations, massacres, bombings,
death squad executions, torture, arrests, forced displacement, sexual
abuse, and destruction of property. They are forced to contribute their
services in these acts, and are given drugs to eradicate any fear or
reluctance.
Notorious Countries :
Child soldiers serve armed revolt
groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE), Khmer Rouge,
the Shining Path of Peru, Palestinian groups, and the armies of Angola,
Colombia, Lebanon, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.
In Colombia, thousands of children, some as young as
eight years old, are forced by guerillas to collect intelligence,
assemble and install mines, and participate in ambush attacks as advance
troops. In Lebanon, children as young as twelve years of age are drafted
to the Israeli auxiliary militia - South Lebanon Army (SLA). Those who
refuse the enlistment are at risk for the complete expulsion of
themselves and their families from the occupied zones.
In Angola, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, girls are forced
to commit sexual acts, in addition to combative assignments. Rebel
commanders have often impregnated girls, forcing them to strap their
babies to their backs and continue fighting.
Ideal Soldiers :
Because children are physically vulnerable and easily
intimidated, terrorist groups find them ideal for obedient cadres. Many
children are kidnapped or recruited by force, under the threat of death.
Others volunteer their services to armies during times of societal
struggles. During these times, schools are likely to be inaccessible and
families are likely to be separated or driven from their homes. As a
result, many children view the military as their only chance for
survival. Others join the military to escape poverty or to avenge the
deaths of family members.
Effects on Children :
Child soldiers are subject to higher fatalities than
their adult counterparts, due to their immature bodies and lack of
experience. Even after they are freed from armed conflicts, they may be
left physically disabled or psychologically traumatized. Because child
soldiers are often denied schooling or a chance at learning job skills,
they often find it difficult to settle in their society. Being educated
only of war skills, child veterans are very likely to be drawn into
crime or future recruitment.
Statistical Information :
1. Approximately 300,000 children under 18 - some as
young as seven - are fight in armed conflicts.
2. From 1985-1995:
A) 2 million children lost their lives in conflict.
B) 1 million children were separate from their parents
by conflict.
C) Between 4 and 5 million children were seriously
injured by conflict.
3. 9 out of 10 people killed in today's wars are
civilians, most of which are women and children.
4. There are approximately 110 million active land
mines in over 70 countries. An estimated 2,000 people - many of them
children - are involved in landmine accidents every month. Around 800
children will die; the rest will be maimed.
5. In the United Kingdom, babies under one year of age
are four times more likely to be murder victims than any other age
group.
6. Internationally, 50 million people have been forced
from their homes by conflict. About 7 million of these are children
classified as refugees.
LTTE and Child soldiering :
"Tamil child soldiers" is a much discussed subject
which does not need elaboration. But the way they are brainwashed the
way they are intimidated to commit murders -it is blood curdling.
The eye witnesses who were stopped by the LTTE while
fleeing from Muthur said the Muslim youth were taken out one by one and
their hands were tied, and then the child Tamil LTTE soldiers were
pushed to the forefront and were compelled to shoot the Muslim boys, and
the elder ones stood behind them and threatened to shoot the Tamil youth
if they do not shoot the Muslims youth".
The UNICEF has handed over to the LTTE a list of 1,387
child soldiers on the rolls of the Tigers and urged it to stop
recruiting underage fighters and release those who are already enlisted.
For the past two decades reports keep piling detailing human-rights
abuses in Sri Lanka. The reports include firsthand accounts of forced
recruitment of child soldiers by the Tamil Tigers.
Latest reports on the use of child soldiers by the
Tamil Tigers records that child soldiers make up sixty percent of the
Tigers' latest recruits.
Allegations of the rampant use of child soldiers by
the Tigers are nothing new. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers, an international watchdog group, has for a decade singled out
the Tamil Tigers as one of the worst offenders when it comes to using
boys and girls, some as young as nine years old, as foot soldiers.
"What [the families] are being told," a Tamil human
rights activist says, "is that if you don't give a child to the LTTE,
that you're a traitor and that you don't deserve to live here. Your
house and property will be confiscated and you will be driven out of the
LTTE area.
"When the parents are forced to give up a child, they
are made to go before television cameras and make a claim that they are
doing this entirely voluntarily. Usually when this happens, the
atmosphere in the home turns to that of a funeral. Broken by the event,
a number of [the parents] have committed suicide."
UNICEF (United Nations Children Fund) two years ago
embarked on a multi million dollar program to reintegrate child soldiers
into society.
LTTE fore fathers of child recruitment :
The practice of child soldiers is far more widespread,
and more important, than most realize. There are as many as 300,000
children under the age of 18 presently serving as combatants around the
globe.
Their average age is just over 12 years. The youngest
ever was an armed 5-year old in Uganda. The youngest ever terrorist
bomber was a 7 year old in Colombia. Roughly 30% of the armed forces
that employ child soldiers also include girl soldiers. Underage girls
have been present in armed groups in 55 countries.
Children now serve in 40% of the world's armed forces,
rebel groups, and terrorist organizations and fight in almost 75% of the
world's conflicts; indeed, in the last five years, children have served
as soldiers on every continent but Antarctica. An additional half
million children serve in armed forces not presently at war. The
children are often abducted to fight and participate in all the full
horrors of war.
The result is that war in the 21st century is not only
more prevalent, but more tragic. With children's involvement, warlords,
terrorists, and rebel leaders alike are finding that conflicts are
easier to start. A particularly troubling aspect is not only what
happens during the fighting, but the legacy it leaves for children after
the fighting is done. That is, recovery from traumas of war is hard
enough; it's all the more difficult when the soldier in question is a
child."
To an Online question, Dr. P.W. Singer giving the
birth and analysis of suicide bombing says that almost all international
terrorist groups followed the lead given by Sri Lanka's Tamil LTTE:
"When Muslim groups began to use child suicide bombers, they were not
actually breaking any new ground. Instead, they were following the lead
of the Tamil LTTE in Sri Lanka, which has consistently been one of the
most innovative of terrorist groups.
The LTTE, which has utilized suicide bombers to kill
both the Indian Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) and the Sri Lanka
president (Premadasa), is a master at the technique. It even
manufactured specialized denim jackets designed to conceal explosives.
Some are specially tailored in smaller sizes for child suicide bombers."
LTTE terrorists have, however been, accused of
continuing with conscription of children into its rank despite agreeing
to demobilize its child brigades. But, the LTTE is believed to have
approximately 2500 child combatants in its ranks. |
