Imagine a child soldier, forced into fighting in order to make money and bring himself out of poverty. He has no choice but to obey orders – orders that ask him to injure, hurt, and kill others. If he doesn’t obey, he may himself be threatened with death or injury, or may be kicked out with no food, no money, no resources that ensure his survival.

Are these children, forced into armed conflict, accountable for their crimes? How should the law deal with these children and ensure them justice – should the children be punished for their heinous crimes, or should they be treated as victims, with compassion?


This was the topic of discussion on Friday, June 27, 2008, at the UN University Midday Forum. Vesselin Popovski, Director of Studies on International Order and Justice at the United Nations University Peace and Governance Program, spoke about a book he recently edited, entitled Criminal Accountability and the Rights of Children.

According to UNICEF, in the last decade, more than 2 million children died due to armed conflict; about 20 million children were forced to flee their homes; more than 1 million were orphaned or separated from their families; about 300,000 child soldiers are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide.

“We look at children as victims, but also as perpetrators of crimes,” Popovski said. “But they were victims before they were perpetrators.” Moreover, most child soldiers only commit crimes under order – not willingly.

“Accountability, we argue, does not necessarily mean criminal accountability,” he continued.

This issue is fraught with many complexities. For instance, if one argues that child soldiers should be treated as victims, and should not be punished, such impunity can actually have extreme negative consequences for the child! After all, commanders might give children increasingly horrible orders, knowing they won’t be punished. Thus, accountability for children is not necessarily criminal accountability, and a wide range of options must be carefully considered before action is taken.

Popovski traced the development of children’s rights in international human rights law, citing the Geneva Conventions and their importance in guaranteeing special protection for children. He also mentions the significance of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959. Finally, of note is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), also ratified by the General Assembly, in 1989.

One message that Popovski emphasized throughout his presentation was that any actions taken should “take into account the best interest of the child” because children are particularly vulnerable.

Another specific problem addressed was that of girl child soldiers. About 40% of child soldiers are girls, and almost 50% of girl soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo described their primary role as fighting. In addition, many are exposed to sexual violence, and as a consequence are isolated by their families when they return home.

Yet another problem was the difficulty of distinguishing between those children who are forced to join armies, and those who join voluntarily. According to Popovski, joining an army is never voluntary for a child. Even if a child decides to join an army because he is poor, it does not mean this is a voluntary act – he is still being forced into joining due to his condition of poverty; ultimately, he has no choice.

Although there is a lot of focus on children in armed conflict, there are still crimes against children that occur during peacetime, such as trafficking, sexual exploitation, and forced labor; these issues should also be addressed by international criminal accountability mechanisms, Popovski emphasized.

During the question & answer session, a question was asked about Security Council Resolution 1820, which I had recently written a blog about. Popovski said that this resolution was an “excellent development” but that rape had already been recognized as a war crime and a crime against humanity by international criminal tribunals, such as in Rwanda – thus, this Resolution was an impressive positive development, but was ultimately nothing new.

Ultimately, Popovski concluded that child soldiers must be given the appropriate measure of justice – which is not necessarily criminal accountability - that takes into account the childrens’ best interest, and the fact that they are victims who are most often forced into committing crimes, and do not commit them voluntarily.

My opinion...
Although the topic was very interesting, I was slightly disappointed that Popovski did not offer many concrete suggestions for change and improvement – the material he discussed was theoretical, and did not encompass many concrete steps or policy recommendations that can be taken. He did acknowledge that “on paper it is one thing, in reality it is very, very different.” But – from my knowledge – he did not manage to get beyond the “on paper” aspect of the issue, to actual proposals for practices that can actually bring about change. There are, after all, so many possibilities to harness the passion and willpower of youth for positive change, as well as empower youth with the information and strength they need to extricate themselves from such situations. Still, it was truly encouraging to hear so much interest in youth issues and children’s rights, and to hear an active dialogue of people wanting to see change in the area and help end child recruitment in armies.

What do YOU think about the issue of child soldiers in zones of armed conflict? What can be done about the issue? What do you think can be done by youth to protect their fellow young people? Please comment here and leave your input!



One more interesting thing: After leaving the UN Headquarters, I passed by a VERY loud protest on the topic of freeing Tibet. I haven’t seen many protests, so this was a surprise to me! The protesters bunched together on the opposite side of the street from the UN Plaza, and used a loudspeaker to chant their messages. They were asking the UN and Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon to do something about the situation and help free Tibet. It was pretty dramatic and an interesting sight to watch!

(Information credit: Policy Brief from United Nations University - Number 4, 2006)