Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Child soldiers and distributive justice: addressing the limits of law?

  • Published:
Crime, Law and Social Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper discusses the limitations of legal responses to the problem of child soldiery, beginning from the premise that the crime of using child soldiers is comprised of both the recruiter and the recruit. While legal approaches are addressed to the recruiter, because of the dearth of enforcement mechanisms, the protections established in international law have failed to prevent the recruitment of under-aged combatants. It remains to be seen how efficacious a deterrent the precedent-setting recent and on-going prosecutions of recruiters will be. Nonetheless, legal approaches do not address the recruit, and thus they fail to account for the complex of social reasons that prompt many children to join armed groups “voluntarily”. This paper argues that the conditions that lead children to join armed groups are structural and, thus, must be addressed structurally through developing greater “distributive justice”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Interview conducted by the author with a Sierra Leonean NGO worker (pseudonym “Mohammed” [116]). Freetown, Sierra Leone. June 2005.

  2. All figures relating to the HDI are based on countries for which there is available data in the 2001 HDR. Each table to which I refer can be found in the 2001 HDR.

References

Sources

  1. Akhavan, P. (1998). ‘Justice in The Hague, Peace in the Former Yugoslavia? A Commentary on the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal’. Human Rights Quarterly, 20(4), 737–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Akhavan, P. (2001). Beyond impunity: Can international criminal justice prevent future atrocities? American Journal of International Law, 95, 7–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Amnesty International [AI]. (2000). Sierra Leone: Childhood—A casuality of conflict (AI Index: AFR 51/069/2000).

  4. Archard, D. (2004). Arbitariness and incompetence. In D. Archard (Ed.), Children: Rights and childhood (pp. 85–97). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bai Kargbo, F. (2004). ‘International peacekeeping and child soldiers: Problems of Security and Rebuilding’. Cornell International Law Journal, 37, 485–496.

    Google Scholar 

  6. BBC. 4 May 2009. Charles Taylor loses Hague bid. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8032365.stm.

  7. Bayart, J. F., Ellis, S., & Hibou, B. (1999). From kleptocracy to the felonious state. In J. F. Bayart, S. Ellis, & B. Hibou (Eds.), The Criminalization of the State in Africa (pp. 1–31). Oxford: James Currey.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Beccaria, C. (1963). On crimes and punishments. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Besancon, M. L. (2005). Relative resources: Inequality in ethnic wars, revolutions and genocides. Journal of peace research, 42(4), 393–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Boas, M. (2001). ‘Liberia and Sierra Leone—Dead Ringers? The Logic of Neopatrimonial Rule’. Third World Quarterly, 22(5), 697–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Brett, R., & Specht, I. (2004). Young Soldiers: Why They Choose to Fight. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Burman, E. (1994). Innocents abroad: Western fantasies of childhood and the iconography of emergencies. Disasters, 18(3), 238–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cairns, E. (1996). Children as political activists. In E. Cairns (Ed.), Children and political violence (pp. 107–137). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. (n.d.). World map of child soldiers. Retrieved on 22 December 2009 from http://www.un.org/works/goingon/soldiers/childsoldiersmap.html.

  15. Cohn, I. (2004). ‘Progress and Hurdles on the road to preventing the use of children as soldiers and ensuring their rehabilitation and reintegration’. Cornell International Law Journal, 37, 531–540.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cohn, I., & Goodwin-Gill, G. S. (1994). Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflict. Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Cohn, I., Southwick, M., & Vandergrift, K. (2004). ‘International law barring child soldiers in combat: Problems in enforcement and accountability—Question and Answer Session’. Cornell International Law Journal, 37, 555–560.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Detrick, S. (1992). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: A guide to the ‘Travaux Preparatoires’. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Drumbl, M. A. (2000). Sclerosis: Retributive Justice and the Rwandan Genocide. Punishment and Society, 2(3), 287–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Dulti, M. T., & Bouvier, A. (1996). Protection of children in armed conflict: The rules of international law and the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross. International Journal of Children’s Rights, 4, 181–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Francis, D. J. (2007). ‘“Paper protection” mechanisms: Child soldiers and the international protection of children in Africa’s conflict zones’. Journal of Modern African Studies, 45(2), 207–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Hackenburg, M. L. (2000). Can the Optional Protocol for the Convention on the Rights of the child protect the Ugandan child soldier? Indiana International and Comparative Law Review, 10(2), 417–455.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Happold, M. (2005). Child soldiers in international law. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hirsch, J. L. (2001). Sierra Leone: Diamonds and the struggle for democracy. Boulder: Lynne Reinner.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Hoffman, D. (2003). Like Beasts in the Bush: Synonyms of Childhood and Youth in Sierra Leone. Postcolonial Studies, 6(3), 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hoffman, D. (2006). ‘Disagreement: Dissent Politics and the War in Sierra Leone. Africa Today, 52(3), 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. James, A., & James, A. L. (2004). Constructing childhood: Theory, policy and social practice. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  28. James, A., Jenks, C., & Prout, A. (1998). Theorising childhood. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Jenks, C. (2005). Childhood. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Joyner, C. C. (1996). Arresting impunity: The case for universal jurisdiction in bringing war criminals to accountability. Law and Contemporary Problems, 59(4), 153–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Kaplan, E. (2005). Child Soldiers around the World. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved on 21 April 2007 from http://www.cfr.org/publication/9331/.

  32. Keen, D. (2005a). ‘Liberalization and conflict’. International Political Science Review, 26(1), 73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Keen, D. (2005). Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone. Oxford: James Currey.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Liebel, M. (2003). Working children as social subjects: The contribution of working children’s organizations to social transformations. Childhood, 10(3), 265–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Machel, G. (2001). The impact of war on children: A review of progress since the 1996 United Nations Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. New York: Palgrave/UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Mani, R. (2002). Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Mann, H. (1987). International Law and the Child Soldier. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 36(1), 32–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Maxted, J. (2003). Children and Armed Conflict in Africa. Social Identities, 9(1), 51–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. McKay, S., & Mazurana, D. (2004). Where are the girls? Girls in fighting forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their lives during and after the war. Montreal: Rights and Democracy.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Meron, T. (1995). ‘From Nuremberg to the Hague’. Military Law Review, 149, 107–112.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Minow, M. (1998). Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  42. O’Flaherty, M. (2004). ‘Sierra Leone’s peace process: The role of the human rights community’. Human rights quarterly, 26(1), 29–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Park, A. S. J. (2006). "Other inhumane acts": Forced marriage, girl soldiers and the special court for Sierra Leone. Social & Legal Studies, 15(3), 315–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Park, A.S.J. (2007). ‘Children as risk or children at risk? International law, child soldiers and citizenship—the case of sierra leone,’ in Law Commission of Canada eds. Risk and Trust: Including or excluding citizens? Fernwood, 147–168.

  45. Passas, N. (2000). Global anomie, dysnomie, and economic crime: Hidden consequences of neoliberalism and globalization in Russia and around the world. Social Justice, 27(2), 16–44.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Pham, J. P. (2005). Child soldiers, adult interests: The global dimensions of the Sierra Leonean tragedy. New York: Nova Science.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Peters, K. (2004). Re-examining voluntarism: Youth combatants in Sierra Leone, Monograph no. 100. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.

  48. Peters, K., & Richards, P. (1998). Fighting with open eyes: Youth combatants talking about war in Sierra Leone. In P. J. Bracken & C. Petty (Eds.), Rethinking the Trauma of War (pp. 76–111). London: Save the Children/Free Association Books.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Peters, K., & Richards, P. (1998). ‘Why we fight’: Voices of youth combatants in Sierra Leone. Africa, 68(2), 183–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Reno, W. (1995). Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Reno, W. (2000). ‘Clandestine economies, violence and states in Africa’. Journal of International Affairs, 53(2), 433–459.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Richards, P. (1995). ‘Rebellion in Liberia and Sierra Leone: A Crisis in Youth?’ in O.Furley ed. Conflict in Africa. London: I.B.Tauris, 134–166.

  53. Richards, P. (1996). Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone. Oxford: James Currey.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Roht-Arriaza, N. (1995). Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Rosen, D. M. (2007). Child soldiers, international humanitarian law, and the globalisation of childhood. American anthropologist, 109(2), 296–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Stephens, S. (1995). Children and the politics of culture in ‘late capitalism’. In S. Stephens (Ed.), Children and the politics of culture (pp. 3–48). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Teitel, R. G. (2000). Transitional Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Villanueva Sainz-Pardo, P. (2008). Is child recruitment as a war crime part of customary law? The international journal of human rights, 12(4), 555–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Wessells, M. (2002). Recruitment of children as soldiers in Sub-Saharan African: An ecological analysis. The Comparative Study of Conscription in the Armed Forces, 20, 237–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Wippman, D. (1999). Atrocities, Deterrence, and the Limits of International Justice. Fordham International Law Journal, 23, 473–488.

    Google Scholar 

United Nations Documents

  1. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. (2006). Machel study 10-year strategic review: Executive summary report to the General Assembly, A/62/228.

  2. United Nations Centre for Human Rights & Radda Barnen. (undated). Legislative history of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1978–1989). Article 38 (Children in Armed Conflict). HR/1995/Ser.1/article.38

  3. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1990). Human Development Report: Concept and Measurement of Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  4. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1991). Human Development Report: Financing Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  5. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1992). Human Development Report: Global Dimensions of Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  6. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1993). Human Development Report: People’s Participation. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  7. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1994). Human Development Report: New Dimensions of Human Security. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  8. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1995). Human Development Report: Gender and Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  9. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1996). Human Development Report: Economic Growth and Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  10. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1997). Human Development Report: Human Development to Eradicate Poverty. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  11. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1998). Human Development Report: Consumption for Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  12. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1999). Human Development Report: Globalization with a Human Face. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  13. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2000). Human Development Report: Human Rights and Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  14. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2001). Human Development Report: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  15. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2002). Human Development Report: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  16. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2008). Human Development Indices: A statistical update 2008—HDI rankings. http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/. Retrieved 11 May 2009.

  17. UN General Assembly, Promotion and protection of the rights of children: Children and armed conflict report of the Secretary-General, Sixty-Third Session of the General Assembly. A/63/785-S/2009/158.

  18. United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHRC). Child soldiers global report—Spain. Retrieved 11 May 2009 from http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/486cb13026.html.

  19. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF/SOWC). (1996). State of the World’s Children 1996: Children in War. New York: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  20. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (1997). Cape Town principles and best practices. Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved on 21 April 2008, from http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/Cape_Town_Principles(1).pdf

  21. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (2007). The Paris Principles: Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups. Paris, France. Retrieved on 21 April 2008, from http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/Paris_Conference_Principles_English_31_January.pdf.

  22. UN News Centre. (2008, January 30). Press release: Some 250,000 Children Worldwide Recruited to Fight in Wars—UN Official. Retrieved on 21 April 2007 from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25450&Cr=children&Cr1=conflict.

  23. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1261 (1999). adopted by the Security Council at its 4037th meeting, on 25 August 1999.

  24. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1314 (2000). adopted by the Security Council at its 4185th meeting, on 11 August 2000.

  25. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1379 (2001). adopted by the Security Council at its 4423th meeting, on 20 November 2001.

  26. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1460 (2003). adopted by the Security Council at its 4695th meeting, on 30 January 2003.

  27. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1539 (2004). adopted by the Security Council at its 4948th meeting, on 22 April 2004.

  28. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1612 (2005). adopted by the Security Council at its 5235th meeting, on 26 July 2005.

  29. U.N. Security Council Resolution S/RES/1807 (2008). adopted by the Security Council at its 5861st meeting, on 31 March 2008.

International Legal Instruments

  1. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1). 8 June 1977.

  2. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.

  3. Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989). entry into force 2 September 1990.

  4. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court on 17 July 1998, entry into force: 1 July 2002

  5. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/249/49 (1990). entry into force 29 November 1999.

  6. International Labour Organisation. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention. 1999 (No. 182), adopted on 1 June 1999 by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation at its eighty-seventh 39 session.

  7. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, G.A. Res. 54/263, Annex I, 54 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 7, U.N. Doc. A/54/49, Vol. III (2000). entry into force 12 February 2002.

Documents relating to Sierra Leone

  1. The Special Court Agreement (SCA), 2002 (Ratification) Act. [No. 9 of 2002]. Retrieved 12 May 2006, from http://www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/2002-9.pdf

  2. Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, annexed to the Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, signed on 16 January 2002. Retrieved 12 May 2006, from http://www.sc-sl.org/scsl-statute.html

  3. The Prosecutor against Samuel. Hinga Norman, Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa. Case No. (SCSL–03–14–I.) SCSL–2004–14–PT–C11–217. Consolidated Indictment (CDF Defendants). The Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved 21 April 2008, from http://www.sc-sl.org/Documents/SCSL-04-14-PT-003.pdf

  4. The Prosecutor against Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao. Case No. SCSL–2004–15–PT (6168–6202). Consolidated Indictment (RUF Defendants). The Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved 21 April 2008, from http://www.scsl.org/Documents/SCSL-04-15-PT-122-6181-6191.pdf and http://www.scsl.org/Documents/SCSL-04-15-PT-12-6192-6202.pdf

  5. The Prosecutor against Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu. Case No. SCSL–2004–16–PT (6239–6258). Consolidated Indictment (AFRC Defendants). The Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved 21 April 2008, from http://www.sc-sl.org/Documents/SCSL-04-16-PT-147.pdf

  6. Judgement on the Sentencing of Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa. (CDF Defendants). 9 October 2007. Case No. SCSL-04-14-T. The Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved 21 April 2008 from http://www.sc-sl.org/Documents/CDF/SCSL-04-14-T-796.pdf.

  7. Judgement on the Sentencing of Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu. (AFRC Defendants). 19 July 2007. Case No. SCSL-04-16-T. The Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved 21 April 2008 from http://www.sc-sl.org.

  8. Judgement Summary of Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao. (RUF Defendents). 25 February 2009. Case No. SCSL-04-15-T. Retrieved 11 May 2009 from http://www.sc-sl.org.

  9. Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (2007, May 7). Press release: Trial of Charles Taylor Set for June 4 Opening. Retrieved 21 April 2007, from http://www.sc-sl.org/Press/prosecutor-050707.pdf

  10. The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (TRC) (2004). Witness to truth: Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Accra, Ghana: Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Sierra Leone

  11. Sankoh, F.S. (undated). Footpaths to democracy: Toward a new Sierra Leone. The manifesto of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Retrieved 12 May 2006, from http://www.sierra-leone.org/footpaths.html

Documents Relating to the ICC

  1. ICC. Press Release. 9 November 2006. Prosecutor presents evidence that could leas to the first ICC trial. ICC-OTP-20061109-178

  2. The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Case number ICC-01/04-01/06.

  3. The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. Case number ICC-01/04-01/07.

  4. Warrant of arrest for Joseph Kony, issued on 8 July 2005, amended 27 September 2005. No.: ICC-02/04-01/05

  5. Warrant of arrest for Vincet Otti, issued on 8 July 2005. No.: ICC-02/04

  6. Warrant of arrest for Okot Odhiambo issued on 8 July 2005. No.: ICC-02/04

  7. Warrant of arrest for Dominic Ongwen issued on 8 July 2005. No.: ICC-02/04

Interviews

  1. Crane, D. (June 2005). (Former) Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Freetown, Sierra Leone

  2. “Mohammed” (pseudonym). (June 2005). Staff member of a local Sierra Leonean NGO. Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Augustine S. J. Park

Authors
  1. Augustine S. J. Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Augustine S. J. Park.

Additional information

Augustine SJ Park is an Assistant Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She thanks anonymous reviewers for comments that improved this paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Park, A.S.J. Child soldiers and distributive justice: addressing the limits of law?. Crime Law Soc Change 53, 329–348 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-010-9232-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-010-9232-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation