On Tuesday of this week, experts and advocates gathered at the United Nations to discuss the impact of the availability and proliferation of small arms on the continuing use of child soldiers throughout the world. United Nations envoy on children and armed conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy stated the following: (From the UN News Center).
It is argued by many that it is the proliferation of small arms contributing to their ready availability in the period 1970-2000, which has led to the phenomenon of child soldiers as we know it today.
For USD 5 one can find a serviceable weapon in most countries in the developing world.
She added that it takes a child an average only 40 minutes to master an AK-47, one of the most common weapons used around the world.
Former child soldier and international phenomenon in the music world Emmanuel Jal was also at the conference, where he described his experiences fighting as a child in southern Sudan for five years before being rescued and escaping to Kenya.
Filed under: Darfur, Kenya, Music, Sudan, United Nations , Africa, child soldier, children, Emmanuel Jal, guns, Human Rights, Kenya, music, news, Sudan, War
Check out Emmanuel Jal’s official music video release for his hit “WarChild” here.
More postings on Jal here.
Filed under: Darfur, Media/TV/Films, Music, Sudan , Darfur, Emmanuel Jal, music, rap, rapper, Sudan, video, War Child, warchild
Earlier today, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. He was following up on his statement last Thursday, where Moreno-Ocampo announced “that he would submit evidence of crimes committed against civilians in Sudan’s western region of Darfur over the last five years.” As of today, the arrest warrants have been sought.
The Offical Press Release from the ICC.
According to this article:
The pre-trial chamber will now review the evidence presented by Luis Moreno Ocampo and the judges could, in an unprecedented step, issue the warrant if they determine that prime facie case exists against Bashir.
If the warrants are issued by the judges on the ICC, President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir would be the first sitting or former head of state to be charged with genocide at the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
There are concerns however of a serious backlash against in Sudan against peacekeepers and aid workers. See this article:
U.N. officials are concerned that the request for warrants could cause the Sudanese government to retaliate against peacekeepers and aid workers in Darfur — or even eject them. Humanitarian groups have been withdrawing staff members from remote areas and preparing for demonstrations or attacks in response to Moreno-Ocampo’s actions Monday.
Filed under: Darfur, Human Rights, Intl Criminal Ct, Sudan, United Nations , Africa, children, crime, current events, Human Rights, news, War
It is estimated that more than 25,000 children have been kidnapped and forced to fight in some capacity in the decades-old conflict in Uganda (started in the early 1980s). Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has denied accusations that his army has recruited and kidnapped children. And while UN chief Ban Ki-moon has noted that:
…owing to the apparent absence of LRA from Ugandan terrority, there have been no recent cases of recruitement and use of Ugandan children, or other grave violations against children attributable to LRA…
he says that:
children and women are still present in the LRA ranks, and there has been no movement on their release. There are reports alleging that LRA has been recruiting children from southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
According to this article, however, the LRA says they have released all the children as requested by the United Nations and insist that the ones remaining in their ranks are family members of the Army.
Filed under: Congo, Darfur, Intl Criminal Ct, Sudan, Uganda, United Nations , Africa, child soldier, children, current affairs, Darfur, military, news, Uganda, War, world
Inner City Press referred yesterday to the group of 91 children that were discovered fighting with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – a rebel group fighting in the Darfur region of the Sudan – on May 10th of this year. From this article, UN’s Radhika Coomaraswamy states:
…the JEM is on the list of child soldier recruiters, and that UN Peacekeeping’s child protection unit has been engaging with JEM in both Darfur and Chad, to try to the children released.
(JEM is the same group that is suing human rights group Waging Peace, for accusing them of harboring and using child soldiers. See this earlier posting on this blog.)
According to the article, a UN spokesman said the following regarding the children:
We are aware of the Omdurman/JEM case but we don’t have specific details yet about their ages etc. Child protection partners including UNICEF are following the case on the ground. Our position is that children should released asap and given to child protection partners in order to be reintegrated into their communities in Chad or in Sudan according to their origin. Please note also that we are aware of ongoing recruitment of children by JEM.
Filed under: Darfur, Human Rights, Sudan, United Nations , Africa, children, current affairs, guns, Human Rights, Media/TV/Films, news, United Nations, War, world
Emmanuel Jal, former child soldier from the age of 7 in Sudan, wowed Nelson Mandela and a huge crowd at his 90th birthday party in London’s Hyde Park with his song “Emma”, sung with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Emma, the song’s namesake, is the British Aid worker who rescued Emmanuel from the Sudanese civil war. Similar to Ishmael Beal’s story, she adopted Emmanuel and moved him to Kenya to live with her. Shortly afterward, she died in a car accident. (A film on Emma’s life called “Emma’s War” is due for release in 2009).
Here is the link to Emmanuel’s performance at the Hyde Park Concert.
Peter Gabriel introduced the rapper:
“This next artist came out of the horror of a brutal war, a brutal childhood with a clear voice calling out against violence, hatred and materialism. He’s gonna have a huge influence in the world way beyond his music. He’s still developing and exploring his musical voice, but I think you have the opportunity to see someone with the potential of a young Bob Marley. Please give an enormous welcome to the amazing Emmanuel Jal.”
See these earlier postings about the recent film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on Emmanuel Jal’s life.
Filed under: Darfur, Media/TV/Films, child soldier , Africa, child soldiers, children, culture, current affairs, Darfur, Media/TV/Films, music, rap, War
