ABSTRACT.

War affects children in all the ways it affects adults, but also in different ways. First,
children are dependent on the care, empathy, and attention of adults who love them. Their
attachments are frequently disrupted in times of war, due to the loss of parents, extreme
preoccupation of parents in protecting and finding subsistence for the family, and
emotional unavailability of depressed or distracted parents. The child may be in substitute
care with someone who cares for him or her only slightly – relatives or an orphanage. A
certain proportion of war-affected children lose all adult protection – “unaccompanied
children,” as they are known in refugee situations.
Second, impacts in childhood may adversely affect the life trajectory of children far more
than adults. Consider children who lose the opportunity for education during war,
children who are forced to move into refugee or displaced person camps, where they wait
for years in miserable circumstances for normal life to resume, if it ever does. Consider
a child disabled in war; they may, in addition to loss of a limb, sight, or cognitive
capacity, lose the opportunity of schooling and of a social life. A girl who is raped may
be marginalized by her society and lose the opportunity for marriage. Long after the war
has ended, these lives will never attain the potential they had before the impact of war.
INTRODUCTION.

Children bear disproportionate consequences of war. The world continues to see patterns
of children enmeshed in international violence between opposing combatant forces, as
victims of terrorist warfare, and, perhaps most tragically of all, as victims of civil wars.
Innocent children so often are the victims of high-energy wounding from military
ordinance. They sustain high-energy tissue damage and massive burns - injuries that are
not commonly seen in civilian populations. One chronic legacy of contemporary warfare
is blast injury to children from landmines. Such blasts leave children without feet or lower
limbs, with genital injuries, blindness and deafness. This pattern of injury has become
one of the post-civil war syndromes encountered by all intensivists and surgeons serving
in four of the world's continents. The continued advocacy for the international ban on the
manufacture, commerce and military use of antipersonnel landmines is a part of all
paediatricians' obligation to promote the ethos of the Laws of War. Post-traumatic stress
disorder remains an undertreated legacy of children who have been trapped in the shot
and shell of battle as well as those displaced as refugees. An urgent, unfocused and unmet
challenge has been the increase in, and plight of, child soldiers themselves. A new class
of combatant comprises these children, who also become enmeshed in the triad of
anarchic civil war, light-weight weaponry and drug or alcohol addiction. The
International Criminal Court has outlawed as a War Crime, the conscription of children
under 15 years of age. Nevertheless, there remain more than 300,000 child soldiers active
and enmeshed in psychopathic violence as part of both civil and international warfare.
The typical profile of a child soldier is of a boy between the ages of 8 and 18 years,
bonded into a group of armed peers, almost always an orphan, drug or alcohol addicted,
amoral, merciless, illiterate and dangerous.1

IMPACT OF WAR ON CHILDREN

I. Death

1 J Paediatr Child Health. 2003 Apr;39(3):166-72.

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Hundreds of thousands of children die of direct violence in war each year.2 They die as
civilians caught in the violence of war, as combatants directly targeted, or in the course
of ethnic cleansing. Children suffer a range of war injuries. Certain weapons affect them
particularly. A landmine explosion is more likely to kill or seriously injure a child than
an adult. Thousands of children suffer landmine injuries each year. 3 Conditions for
maintenance of child health deteriorate in war – nutrition, water safety, sanitation,
housing, access to health services. There may be loss of immunity to disease vectors with
population movement. Refugee children are particularly vulnerable to the deadly
combination of malnutrition and infectious illness. There is also interruption of
population immunization programs by war which may be responsible for increases in
child mortality.

II. Rape and prostitution for subsistence

These phenomena which often occur in situations of war, ethnic cleansing, and refugee
life leave lasting physical impacts in sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS,
psychological impacts and changes in life trajectory. In these violent circumstances,
women and girls in particular suffer the added trauma of sexual abuse and rape, which
psychologists identify as the most intrusive of traumatic events. Without help, girls will
carry the long-term effects of such abuse into their adult lives.
Sexual violence is particularly common in ethnic conflicts. In fighting in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Croatia, it has been deliberate policy to rape teenage girls and force
them to bear 'the enemy's' child. A European Community fact-finding team estimated
that more than 20,000 Muslim women have been raped in Bosnia since fighting broke
out in April 1992.4 Even women and girls who are not physically forced to have sex may
still be obliged to trade sexual favours for food, shelter or physical protection for
themselves or their children.

III. Psychological suffering

Children are exposed to situations of terror and horror during war – experiences that may

2 Machel G. The impact of armed conflict on children: report of the expert of the secretary general of the
United Nations. New York: United Nations; 1996.
3 US Fund for UNICEF. Landmines pose the greatest risk for children.. Accessed: November 14, 2006.

4United Nations Children's Fund/United Nations Development Fund for Women, 'Women and Armed
Conflict', in the kit on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, UNICEF/UNIFEM, New York, 1995, p. 1.
3
leave enduring impacts in posttraumatic stress disorder. Severe losses and disruptions in
their lives lead to high rates of depression and anxiety in war-affected children. These
impacts may be prolonged by exposures to further privations and violence in refugee
situations. The experience of indifference from the surrounding world, or, worse still,
malevolence may cause children to suffer loss of meaning in their construction of
themselves in their world. They may have to change their moral structure and lie, steal,
and sell sex to survive. They may have their moral structure forcibly dismantled and
replaced in training to kill as part of a military force. Children may lose their community
and its culture during war, sometimes having it reconstituted in refugee or diaspora
situations.

IV. Child soldiers

It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of young people under 18 serving in
militias in about 60 countries.5 Boys serve as porters or as messengers. Girls may prepare
food or attend to the wounded — though they also may be forced to provide sexual
services or be 'married off' to other soldiers. However, both boys and girls are soon forced
onto the battlefield where their youth and inexperience leave them particularly
vulnerable. Often they are unaware of the real dangers they face; they may even forget
to take cover. In a number of cases children have been deliberately exposed to horrific
scenes to harden them to violence. Some have even been forced to commit atrocities
against their own families as a way of severing all ties with their communities.

V. Displacement.

Children are often forced to move into refugee or displaced person camps where they
may wait for years in extremely trying and difficult circumstances for normal life to
resume, if it ever does.

MEASURES ADOPTED TO PROTCT THE CHILDREN.

A. U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989, combined
with the development of international criminal justice through the 90’s had a great impact

5Coalition to stop the use of child soldiers. Child soldiers global report 2004, Accessed: November 10,
2006.
4
on the protection of children’s rights in armed conflicts situation6. In 1992, the CRC
Committee decided to devote its first General day of discussion to the topic of children
in armed conflicts. Then the Machel Report was launched in 1993 in order to examine
the realities and consequences of armed conflicts on children. It is a landmark report
which also had an important impact.
Optional Protocols to the CRC on Sex Trafficking, Armed Conflict The United Nations
adopted two protocols to the CRC on May 25, 2000, the Optional Protocol to the CRC
on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography 2000 and the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in
Armed Conflict.
The Sex Trafficking Protocol addresses the problem of sex trafficking, one among many
purposes for which children are bought and sold, including, in addition, forced labor,
adoption, participation in armed conflicts, marriage, and organ trade. The STP also
provides for protection of and assistance to the victimized children in the criminal justice
process, the best interests of the child being the guiding principle in the children's judicial
treatment.
The Child Soldiers Protocol reaffirms in its Preamble that "The rights of children require
special protection," notes "The harmful and widespread impact of armed conflict on
children," and condemns their being targeted in such situations. The Child Soldiers
Protocol extends the minimum age requirement for direct participation in armed conflict
and conscription to eighteen and forbids rebel or other non-governmental armed forces
"Under any circumstances," to recruit or to use in hostilities persons under that age.

B. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains two articles that specifically refer
to children. Article 26 calls for the right to education for all, and deals both with access
to and the aims of education. Thus, education is to be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages; elementary education is to be compulsory; and education should be
“directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

C. International judicial bodies

6
Kuper, J. (2006). Bridging the gap: military training and international accountability regarding children.
In K. Arts & V. Popovski, International Criminal Accountability and the Rights of Children (pp. 155-165).
The Hague: Hague Academic Press.
5
International judicial bodies, in charge of the application of international humanitarian
law and international human rights law, also have paid increased attention to the
violations of children’s rights in armed conflicts and started to develop an interesting
body of case law on this issue.

The recruitment of child soldiers is expressly prohibited in international law since a long
time ago. The AFRC case (Prosecutor v. Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara &
Santigie Borbor Kanu, 2007) was the first case establishing the responsibility of an
individual for the conscription, the enlistment and the use of children in armed conflict.
This constitutes a leading case. The Court established that this crime formed part of
customary international law and clearly defined the elements of such crimes (§ 731,
§734-737).7

The ICJ also looked at this issue in the case concerning the Armed Activities on the
Territory of Congo (§205-221) where it recognized that Uganda had trained child soldiers
and concluded that Uganda had violated the CRC Article 38 and its Protocol on the
Involvement of children in armed conflicts.8

The issue of sexual violence against girls has been more closely examined by the ICTY
and the ICTR. The ICTY had the opportunity to look at this issue in the Kunarac case,
(The Prosecutor c. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic, 2001) which
concerned sexual violence committed against young women who were detained in a
camp and were without any defence. The youngest girl was only 12 years old at the time
and the oldest 20 years old. The Tribunal considered that they were vulnerable,
particularly when they were young. Consequently, girls should benefit from a special
protection during war time in order to prevent them from becoming easy targets. Indeed,
this is a decisive case as it is the first time that sexual assault and sexual slavery have
been recognized as a crime against humanity9.

The right to education of displaced children was further strengthened in other cases
(Doyan and others v. Turkey, 2004, Oneryildiz v. Turkey, 2002, Fadeyeva v. Russian
Federation, 2005).

7
(Case N0.SCSL'04~16-T).,20 June,2007
8
ICJ, Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda, December
19, 2005.
9
Tolbert, D. (2006), op. cit., p. 153.
6
The Gomez Paquiyauri Brothers vs. Peru10 case concerned the extrajudicial killings of
two minors during the Peruvian internal armed conflict. Suspected of having committed
subversive activities against the State, they were arbitrarily detained, tortured and
executed. At the time, police operations leading to the execution of all suspects were
quite common. This is an extremely important case. The Inter-American Court was
provided with the opportunity to examine for the first time the situation of children during
armed conflicts. Thus, it was the first time that the Court analysed the meaning of Article
19 ACHR (concerning children’s rights) in the context of armed conflict. It therefore
constitutes a worldwide precedent for State obligations towards children in times of war.

D. Secondary measures to be implemented

1. Ensure special consideration for children who are in flight from war zones and
who live in camps for refugees and internally displaced people, especially
children who are unaccompanied by adults.
2. Parties to a conflict must facilitate humanitarian assistance to ensure that the
health infrastructure of children’s lives is not destroyed. Perpetrators should be
prosecuted for such actions as destroying clinics, schools, and hospitals – all of
which are protected by international law.
3. Include children’s interests in peace agreements. Since 1999, several peace
agreements have specifically referred to children in the post-violence
arrangements for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration.

CONCLUSION

At times, the effects of war on children seem overwhelming and insurmountable, but
there is hope. It is essential that we recognize that these children are often incredibly
resilient and possess a great desire to survive and thrive. To do so; they do need the right
environment, as well as protection, care, and support. When they do experience such
conditions they remarkably, if not miraculously, thrive, recover, and overcome the really
difficult, tough start or periods in their lives. This is a crucial point and it should form the
basis for educators and others who work with war- affected children in the field, or in the
countries and communities to which refugee children immigrate and resettle. We must
not treat war- affected children as helpless victims but, instead, seek to build on their own

10
Int-Am. Ct H.R., Series C: Decisions and Judgments n° 110, The Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers vs. Peru,
Judgement of July 8, 2004.

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resilience, strengths, and capabilities. Educational programs and related programs should
strive to give young people the resources and opportunities to rebuild their own lives and
create the protective environment that will allow them to do so.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites

http://www.childrenandwar.org/resources/
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/international-law.php#_ftn13
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/mandate/the-machel-reports/
http://www.warchildholland.org/effects-war-children
http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/97/Kunarac-et-al/
https://www.unicef.org/sowc96/3torrape.htm

Books.
Dupuy, Kendra E., and Krijn Peters. War and Children: A Reference Handbook. Santa
Barbara, Cal.: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Print.
ROSEN, DAVID M. "Child Soldiers, International Humanitarian Law, and the
Globalization of Childhood." American Anthropologist. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 06
Jan. 2008.