The Torture Of Children During Armed Conflicts

This book examines selected legal complexities of the notion of torture and the issue of the proper foundation for legally characterizing certain acts as torture, especially when children are the targeted victims of torture. ICC case law is used to highlight the International Criminal Court’s reluctance in practice to prosecute as a separable offence the crime of torture as set out in one or more of the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute where children are the particularized targets as part of a common plan during armed conflict. Also addressed is the failure of the ICC to consider that the young age of the victims of torture (i.e. children) should be an aggravating factor taken into account in determining the ICC sentence for those convicted of the torture of civilians, including children, in the context of armed conflict as part of a common plan. The six UN-designated grave crimes against children (including child soldiering for State or non-State forces perpetrating mass atrocities, and sexual violence perpetrated on a systematic and widespread basis against children including child soldiers), it is argued, are also instances of the torture of children as part of a common plan such that separate charges of torture are legally supportable (along with the other charges relating to additional Rome Statute offences involved in such circumstances). Useful legal perspectives on the issue of the torture of children in its various manifestations gleaned from the case law of other international judicial forums such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the ICTY are also examined.

Children, Torture and Power is a call to the international community to place the torture of children onto the international human right agenda, and to start combatting this deep-rooted problem. The report shows how children in countries all over the world are being subjected to torture and ill-treatment at the hands of their own governments and armed opposition groups. Drawing on documentary evidence from the UN and inter-governmental bodies, as well as a wide range of NGO's this report indentifies the following factors which increase children's vulnerability to torture and ill-treatment: conflict with the law; poverty; discrimination (for example, ethnicity, religion, gender, social, origin, birth); family associations; political activism; and involvement in armed conflict. The report also considers: the international definition of torture and problems in its application to children the effects of torture on children mechanisms which exist to protect children from torture.

The sad reality of children killed, tortured, imprisoned, and orphaned by war substantiates the need for renewed local, national, and international commitment to these children. This guide examines: (1) the impacts present-day armed conflicts have on children and their families; (2) what special needs of children should be anticipated and monitored; (3) which children in what circumstances are likely to have special needs that may require intervention; (4) what principles of program response might be expected; (5) what program strategies are being adopted around the world to meet children's needs; and (6) what literature and special resources are available to service providers. The first part of the book opens with a discussion of armed conflict, essential to comprehending the needs of children in these situations and to finding ways to assure their well-being. A photo essay then offers a forceful statement of how conflict affects children. The next chapter provides a conceptual framework for addressing war's negative effects on children. Six chapters in the second part of the book consider different impacts of conflict on children and what is being done to counter these impacts. The topics covered are: (1) loss of life; (2) injury, illness, malnutrition, and disability; (3) torture, abuse, imprisonment, and recruitment; (4) unaccompanied children; (5) psychosocial distress; and (6) educational disruption. The guide contains chapter references and a selected bibliography of over 1,000 items related to the provision of services to children in situations of armed conflict. (TJQ)

Graca Machel, UNICEF's special rapporteur, also scrutinises sexual crimes in time of war, the fate of orphans, the disproportionate suffering of children endure in civil wars, and their special vulnerability to such side-effects of conflict as famine, disease and social fragmentation. "The Impact of War on Children" is an urgent call to action-for the commitment and tenacity needed to protect children from the atrocities of war. Children present a uniquely compelling motivation for mobilisation, and an opportunity to confront the problems that cause their suffering. This book is complemented by 16 evocative photographs by Sebastiao Salgado, a documentary photographer of world renown, covering Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Rwanda and elsewhere.

First published in 1998, this book seeks to consider the application of international human rights standards to situations where children are at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Each of the contributors authoritatively examines torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment from the perspective of their own discipline and experience. In exploring the issues, Childhood Abused, also helps to raise their profile, as invisibility, ignorance and secrecy contribute to the continuation of such practices. The subject is harrowing and complex, Childhood Abused, needs to be read so that we are better able to prevent and protect children against such abhorrent and prohibited forms of ill-treatment.

"Child soldiers are among the most tragic victims of the war in Liberia. Although international law forbids the use of children under the age of 15 as soldiers, thousands of young children have been involved in the fighting since it began in December 1989. The main rebel forces, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and the United Liberian Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO), have consistently used children under the age of 18, including thousands under 15. Children are also reportedly used by the other warring factions. As a consequence, thousands of children in Liberia have suffered cruelly during the war: many have been killed or wounded or witnessed terrible atrocities. Moreover, many children themselves have been forced to take part in the killing, maiming or rape of civilians. The use of children as soldiers presents grave human rights problems. Many of these children have been killed during the conflict, thus denied the most basic right -- the right to life. Others have been forcibly conscripted by the warring factions, and separated from their families against their wills. Many have joined warring factions to survive. All have been denied a normal childhood. Reintegrating these children into their communities is a task of immense difficulty. Some children's parents have been killed, their families have fled, and no relatives can be found. In others, families have refused to take children back because of the abuses they have committed. Human Rights Watch believes that 18 is the minimum age at which people may properly take part in armed conflict."--cover.

Arms and conflict regions