Issue: Child Soldiers
Written by: Winston T., Ocean S., Zoe S.
Defender: Abubacar Sultan
Country: Mozambique
Human Rights Declaration of Freedom Articles Violated:
Article 1: All beings are free and equal and are entitled to the same rights.
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, freedom, and safety.
Article 5: No human should be put through torture or cruel punishment.
Article 12: No one has the right to invade your privacy, your home, your mail,
or attack your public image without good reason.
Article 20: You have the right to gather peacefully and nobody is allowed to
force you into a group or organization.
Humans rights violations cannot be eliminated, due to obstacles such
as customs and traditions, human nature, social conflict, warfare, poverty, and
greed, but it is possible for them to be limited by spreading awareness about
the issue and having individuals take action within their respective
communities. In this case, it is highly unlikely that people will ever stop
using child soldiers, as there are too many tactical and economic advantages to
their continued use. First, they are small in size and hard to detect, making
them the perfect combatants. Second, they are more easily controlled and
manipulated, making them fiercely obedient to whoever controls them. Third, they
are fearless in combat after being hardened by their master, and most will
undertake almost any task without hesitation. Finally, they are high in supply,
since large quantities of children are produced every year. Since all these
conditions makes pursuing child soldiers an obvious choice for warlords who do
not fear capture by law enforcement, they will most likely be employed for ages
to come. However, by spreading awareness through efforts by non-governmental
organizations and encouraging community-based efforts, the public can help
prevent the issue from escalating further and reduce present
damage.
The involvement of individuals in efforts to stop human rights
violations is largely subjective, and while there are, at times, personal
turning points that push people to get involved, many are called to action by
their conscience and awareness of the issue. Abubacar Sultan did not have a
turning point, but rather was called to action after hearing about the problem
from his peers at the university where he was enrolled, showing that knowing an
issue is wrong can be enough to provoke involvement. If a person is to act in
charity to others, it does not mean they have to be pushed to a point where
action is the only option. Many do it out of understanding and sympathy for
those abused, and some may have been in similar situations that compel them to
help the victims. However, it is equally true that there are many great leaders
who were pushed to their course(s) of action by a string of events that changed
their mindset, such as Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi. However,
for many lower-level individuals in a cause, it seems that there is no turning
point, and they are just genuinely good people devoted to a problem they know
about or have experienced in some way, while for many leaders, the opposite is
true, and they are driven to lead because of provoking events that changed their
mindset.