International Organizations and Human Rights - Research Paper Example

 International Organizations and Human Rights: Discussing Amnesty International and Children Soldiers INTRODUCTION There are many human rights issues worldwide that can create many ethical and moral conundrums. One of the issues that never fails to draw international attention are those involving children. From child slavery to forced labor and from prostitution to pornography rings; the crimes against children’s human rights are, often, the most horrifying. One such issue that affects children all over the world is the practice of “child soldiers” in warfare. There are many governmental and non-governmental organizations, internationally and domestically, that have and continue to work to establish stronger foundations for children’s rights and ideally eliminate the practice of children being used in combat (Lee 2009). One such non-governmental, international organization is Amnesty International. Although, the practice of child soldering has not been eradicated globally, the effects, strategies, and approaches of Amnesty International have been significant and may lead to greater, future successes in regards to this issue. HISTORY What exactly is a “child solider?” The internationally accepted definition of “child soldier,” as of 2007, is any person, under the age of 18, who is actively or has ever been recruited or forced to participate in military or any armed group in any capacity. This means that this does not only include armed children who participate in active conflict, but those used as cooks, spies, and messengers as well (Child Soldiers International). Unfortunately, within the last decade, the instance of child soldiers continues to be reported all over the world, including parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Although, it has decreased since the mid-20th century when the recorded conflicts involving children showed that 80% of the children involved were under the age 15 and some were as young as 7 or 8 years old (Kaplan 2005). Many of these world wide military forces choose children as potential soldiers because they are young, impressionable, easily misled, and intimidated. Many forces have, also, seen the effect that children in combat can have on the ethical principles of their opponents. Finally, there is, often, little other options that “fighting.” In many of the world’s countries where poverty, hunger, political strife, and poor education leave such youths with few options (Beard 2011). Because of the horrific violence, like beheadings, rapes, and burnings they have witnessed or participated in can have hugely negative impacts on the psychological well-being of these youths that survive their time as a child soldier (Kaplan 2005). Amnesty International is a non-governmental international organization dedicated to humanitarian issues that had a rather humble, but inspiring, beginning. In 1961, a British Lawyer, Peter Benenson, was outraged by hearing that 2 Portuguese students had been jailed for toasting “freedom.” He published an article titled “The Forgotten Prisoners.” The article set in motion another article, “Appeal for Amnesty 1961,” which represented an International movement that received worldwide response. The article appeared in papers all over the world. It is from this movement that set the foundations of Amnesty International (Amnesty International). The organization was a huge supporter of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” presented in November of 1989, which would represent the first treaty that was focused n the specific interests, needs, and humanitarian issues of children and would establish standards that would provide protection of those rights (Amnesty International 2013). DISCUSSION Amnesty International continues today to work to draw attention to the violations of children’s human rights. As soldiers these children are conditioned to obedience through torture, cruel punishments, and threats of execution. This is a problem that affects hundreds of thousands of children on a yearly basis. These children are often used to build explosives, clear landmines, or act as suicide bombers. This persistent disregard, neglect, and abuse committed on child soldiers are truly a worldwide human rights atrocity. Amnesty International has taken a number of approaches to impact the practice. They have worked, as part of the “Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers” to limit the recruitment of children into armed forces, as well as, help surviving child soldiers to be reintroduced into society. The promotion of great educational opportunities of youths in countries worldwide. The organization had had some successes in their efforts and goals. In May of 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” This is the first legislation of any kind that focuses specifically on addressing the issue of child soldiers and the necessity to protect worldwide youths from the practice (Amnesty International). ISSUES There are a number of issues that can impede the ability of non-governmental organization to achieve their humanitarian goals, Amnesty International is no exception. There are a number of political and economic problems in many of the world’s countries that have yet to eliminate the poverty, hunger, and education that leads to the recruitment of children into armed forced (Kaplan 2005). There are, also, cultural issues that can contradict the very definition of “child soldier.” While the world has accepted that the age of 18 identifies adulthood; that is not shared by all cultures all over the world. Even the United States, up until the 20th century, considered adulthood to be 15 or 16; in other countries adulthood can be reached as early as 13. This creates a “culture-clash” when international powers identify young people as children when their own culture tells them they are adults. SOLUTIONS Of course the ideal solution among all possible solutions is to put an end to all of the fighting all over the world thus eliminating the need for child soldiers (Kaplan 2005). However this is a “wishful thinking” kind of solution, unfortunately, difficult to enforce. It is the humanitarian efforts of Amnesty International and all of the different groups and organization that they have allied with throughout the years and those whom they will ally on the future. It is these combined efforts that will continue to change the futures of children all over the world who might otherwise be forced into the role of child soldier. CONCLUSION The reality of child soldiers is very real and brings with it the truth of abuse, torture, and death threats, as well as, the psychological damage of such experiences on young minds makes it a worldwide crisis and concern. Fortunately, the work of humanitarian group’s intent on informing the world of the need for greater and more effective laws to protect the human rights of children globally is still going strong. Amnesty International has been tackling this challenge for decades. Their work has been worthwhile and successful; however, they alone cannot effect changes on the scale they are needed. Their relationship with other groups and concerned citizens of lands all over the world has the potential to do even more. They will have greater opportunity to impact child soldier issues while, also, helping to eliminate the many of the tell-tale contributors of a location with the potential of child soldiering might occur, places with high levels of poverty, hunger, and a low level of educational opportunities. In the end, it is not the responsibly of organizations alone to solve these problems; the people must be taught to see the whole practice differently. Some traditions are best left behind as we move through time; child soldiering is one such tradition. BIBLIOGRAPHY Beard, Madeline. "The Children of Northern Uganda: The Effects of Civil War." Global Majority E - Journal 2 (2011), http://www.american.edu/cas/economics/ejournal/upload/Global_Majority_e_Journal_2-1_Beard.pdf (accessed December 16, 2013). Kaplan, Eben. "Child Soldiers Around the World." Council on Foreign Relations, December 2, 2005, http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/child-soldiers-around-world/p9331 (accessed December 16, 2013). Lee, Ah-Jang. "Understanding and Addressing the Phenomenon of ‘Child Soldiers’: The Gap between the Global Humanitarian Discourse and the Local Understandings and Experiences of Young People’s Military Recruitment ." Refugees Studies Center (2009), http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/publications/working-papers-folder_contents/RSCworkingpaper52.pdf (accessed December 16, 2013). Amnesty International. "Children and human rights." Amnesty International. http://www.amnesty.org/en/children (accessed December 16, 2013). Amnesty International. "The history of Amnesty International." Amnesty International. http://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/history (accessed December 16, 2013). Amnesty International, . "Protect Children's Human Rights." Convention on the Rights of the Child (2013), http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/children-s-rights/convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child (accessed December 16, 2013). Child Soldiers International. "Who Are Child Soldiers?." Child Soldiers International. http://www.child-soldiers.org/about_the_issues.php (accessed December 16, 2013). Read More