Justice Beyond War? by Sarvessh Senthamarai Kannan

Justice Beyond War? by Sarvessh Senthamarai Kannan

Between 2005 and 2022, more than 105,000 children were verified by the United Nations

as recruited and used by armed groups in terrorist conflicts. The recruitment of child soldiers has

been a recurring conflict in the argument of their amnesty. Many child soldiers are coerced and

forced into terroristic actions. In spite of the fact that there is compelling proof for the guiltiness

of child soldiers, authors like Jeremy Gettleman prove that there is equally convincing evidence

to prove their innocence and need for amnesty because of their impoverished environment,

immature and indoctrinated nature, and physical vulnerability during their time as a terrorist.

Impoverished young people are often taken advantage of by armed groups because of

their indoctrinated nature and natural instinct to trust an older figure. Many law enforcements

believe that a person’s age has an important impact on how liable they are to their consequences

for an illegal action. According to the Relief Web, if a child under the tender age of 15 is deemed

too young to fight, they cannot be held criminally responsible for serious violation of the IHL

during their association with armed forces and armed terrorist groups (“Relief Web”). In light of

this analysis, though kids are recruited by terrorist groups they are merely treated as weapons

instead of humans. Personal accounts from a former child soldier explains that Democratic

Republic groups manipulate underaged and relatively low-armed kids on duty even with the

knowledge that capture, torture and potential death await them (Gettleman). When global data

and second-hand accounts are filtered into their thesis, they reveal that poverty and social

insecurity can make young-people extremely vulnerable to the merciless exploitation of armed

groups. This synthesis embarks on the fact that kids cannot receive full consequences for being a

child soldier due to their impoverished and coercive environment that makes them vulnerable to

the recruitment of armed terrorist groups. As a whole, justice systems and law enforcements are

forced to make a tough call on child soldier amnesty because their age and impoverished

environment play key roles in deciding their innocence and responsibility for their violation of

the law.

The immature and indoctrinated nature of young children are factors that attract them to

the manipulating magnet of armed terrorist groups. A webpage of debated current events, Relief

Web explains the eligibility a child soldier has in order for them to receive legal action for their

violations against the IHL. It states that if a cold soldier under the age of fifteen is deemed too

young to fight, they criminally cannot be held fully responsible for their barbaric actions. In its

pure form, this means that if a child is at an age where their brian is too immature and not fully

developed, they are consequently not fully liable for their violation against the federal law of the

convicting state. The vulnerability of kids because of their indoctrinated nature is similarity

exemplified by Jeremy Gettleman in his article about the first hand account of a former child

soldier when he revealed the harsh truth about the childrens’ so called caretakers. In the article it

explains that Democratic groups put underage and relatively low-armed children on duty even

with knowing hat capture, torture and potential death await them (Gettleman). In analysis of the

harsh reality faced by child soldiers, it is revealed that armed groups exploit them as instruments

of violence rather than recognizing them as children seeking care and protection for their war-

filled country. All things considered, child soldiers are deprived of the right to be a normal

person and are instead used as fifteen and under desensitized weapons for warfare. Because of

these factors that push them into a life of violence and blood-thirst, they rightfully deserve

amnesty for their collateral actions and cannot be wholly liable for their terroristic actions.

Vulnerable child soldiers are poorly treated by their illegal rebel groups leaders, often

forced into committing barbaric and horrendous deeds. A Sierra-Leonian child soldier, Ishmael

Beah explains his resistance to revealing his experience as a child soldier during his high school

years. Beah explains that he fears revealing his background will provoke people into judging

him, making them refuse to accept him into society thinking that he behaves the same way he

was mercilessly treated in the rebel groups camps (Beah 1:08). In analysis, though child soldiers

may look accepted in public, it is because they are hiding a lot of sentimental things that could

negatively impact their face in public. Similarly like Beah, it is in fact true that many people

refuse child-soldiers into society because they are scared of their scary past experiences. In

conclusion, just because the society is fearful of child soldiers, it doesn’t mean that rehabilitated

kids that Beah cannot fit into public. All they need is a change at amnesty and acceptance.

Although there is persuading evidence that child soldiers should receive amnesty, there is

an inferior argument to be considered. Despite the fact that the disturbed and desensitized

children are provided psychological support, Frantz explains that their “reintegration is often

fought with stigma (Frantz).” Many girls who return are shunned and segregated by their

communities, especially the ones who come back with a family of their own. This disrupts their

goal of trying to reintegrate into society, proving the point that even if the child soldiers and

reintegrated into public, their past isn’t diminished. Charlotte Frantz, author of a child soldier

article in the United Nations News explains that former child-soldiers go through serious

rehabilitation before being permitted into public life (Frantz). The children receive psychological

support and access to education, giving them a profound new way to reclaim their childhood.

When these children are rehabilitated and let back into society, people are finally able to see

good in them, giving them the justice they deserve. Ultimately, though it may seem that no

rehabilitation to any extent can bring back the good in a barbaric child-solder, the opportunity of

being reintegrated into the old communities will definitely shine the light on their dusty good

side that has been covered by a sheet of violence for so long, illuminating their bright light.

The recurring issue of child soldier amnesty rights still persists to be a highly debated

topic globally. However, in light of all this evidence, vulnerable child soldiers who have been

robbed of their childhood deserve a chance to prove themselves to society. Overall, indoctrinated

children are forced into a life full of violence with negative psychological outcomes because

armed terrorist groups exploit their natural instinct to trust an adult, impoverished environment,

and mercilessly brainwash and desensitize them of murderous actions. Without a decisive verdict

to this dilemma, countless children will continue to lose their childhood, unless the world gives

amnesty one last chance.

Works Cited

Frantz, Charlotte. “Protecting Children in War Is Key to Lasting Peace, Top UN Envoy

Warns.” UN News, 12 Feb. 2026, news.un.org/en/story/2026/02/1166948.

Prasow, Andrea. “The Child Soldier on Trial at Guantanamo.” Human Rights Watch, The

Daily Beast, 20 Mar. 2017, www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/27/child-soldier-trial-

guantanamo.

Strombo. “Ishmael Beah -- Child Soldier.” YouTube, 1 May 2007,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4yhPSQEzo .