Child soldiers in Burundi and Sudan during the 1990s civil wars

Child Soldiers in Burundi and Sudan: 1992-2002

The convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 is one of the most prominent international humanitarian treaties in world history. It entered into force quicker than any other treaty and currently only two countries (the United States and Somalia) have not ratified it.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF says that the Convention has become "the centerpiece of a global movement, a movement that reflects a growing awareness of the importance of safeguarding human rights, and child rights in particular."

Yet, during the 1990's, more children in Africa became victims of, and combatants in, war than at any time in history according to a report in Human Rights Watch entitled "Promises Broken."

Named by the International Community for being two of the worst violators of children's rights are the countries of Burundi and Sudan, the situation in both countries is described as critical. Devastating civil wars continue and the Burundi and Sudanese people are subject to gross human rights abuses, such as slavery, hunger, and forced relocation. In the case of Sudan, the army and government militias forcibly recruit underage boys.

While in Burundi, the existence of military schools known as training centers have dramatically increased the number of children 13-18 years involved in military activities.

Perhaps even more alarming than the fact that there are so many children being forced to participate in the military, especially armed combat is the fact that the International Community has done relatively little to stop this gross human rights violation. There has been no major, concerted effort to stop the violence in these two African countries. On the contrary, the limited assistance that has been given to innocent civilians has often been so haphazard that it has actually aided those at war. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, living in refugee situations, yet none of the major world powers has offered asylum to the victims. In fact, the United States has not even endorsed the one international law that attempts to prohibit the use of children in military situations.

There are almost certainly racist implications for the failure of the Western world to become involved in Burundi and Sudan. However, chalking up the inaction to racism is overly simplistic and ignores the many complicated factors that have helped contribute to the world ignoring this problem and allowing these children to be so vastly mistreated. In addition, there is a question of how the International Community could provide meaningful assistance to these children. Any military action against the countries would undoubtedly result, at least in the short-term, in the deaths of the very child-soldiers that the intervening countries would be attempting to save. Furthermore, there is a question about what to do with these children if they were rescued from the area. It is well-documented that adults experience post-traumatic stress disorder and other combat-related mental health issues. The world's mental health community has not found adequate ways of treating those disorders in adults, much less addressing them in children.

Problem Statement

There are more than 120,000 children under 18 years old who are currently participating in armed conflicts across Africa. Two of the countries most affected are Burundi and Sudan. Both of these countries have been locked in violent civil wars, which are the result of strife that has been building for generations among different subgroups. The violence in both areas quickly erupted to include civilians, many of whom had played no role in the initial attacks or violence. However, as the violence has grown, so has the division in both countries, polarizing people and greatly exacerbating existing tensions. Moreover, as the violence has grown, these countries have seen their adult male populations shrink dramatically due to civil unrest and the HIV / AIDS pandemic, so that, in order to carry on a war effort, leaders have felt it necessary to turn their children into soldiers.

Sub-Problems

In order to understand the extent of the problem of child soldiers, one must first understand the backgrounds from which these children come. Their countries have both been ravaged by long-standing wars and by the HIV / AIDS pandemic, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation by adults. In Burundi, it is currently estimated that 2% of the adult population is infected with HIV / AIDS.

In Sudan, it is currently estimated that 1.4% of the adult population is infected with HIV / AIDS.

Current estimates may be gaining accuracy, but previous estimates, at least from the governments themselves, tended to be lower than the actual prevalence, with ignorance about the disease, its causation, its transmission, its prevention, and its treatment rampant, especially in Sub-Saharan countries like Burundi. Moreover, it is important to consider how much higher those rates are than in Western countries, and who in the population is most impacted by HIV / AIDS. It is a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted the young and those of reproductive age. In addition, due to a lack of treatment availability, especially in the 1990s, it was a diagnosis that was frequently synonymous with death. Of course, this left many children infected with HIV / AIDS, but infected children were not the group left most vulnerable to this condition. On the contrary, older children, born before parental infection, were oftentimes orphaned, and left to care for younger siblings, many of whom may have also been impacted by HIV / AIDS. In addition, nationwide percentages do not give an accurate view of how HIV / AIDS can impact isolated or semi-isolated rural areas, where it is possible, perhaps even likely, for entire generations of families to fall prey to the disease. The parentless children of that generation were especially vulnerable to predation and intimidation.

In addition to wars and AIDS, these countries have experienced problems with hunger and famine. For example, Sudan had the second-highest rate of childhood malnutrition in the Middle East and North Africa for the period in question.

While sub-Saharan Africa generally has higher rates of malnutrition and underweight children, the rates in Burundi were among the highest in the area, with nearly 40% of children considered underweight or malnourished.

While the armies and armed gangs certainly used intimidation and threats to coerce children into being in the army, it is important to consider that some of these children ostensibly chose to become involved in the military, because they could eat if they were in the military. Of course, the choice between starvation and being a child soldiers seems to be clearly no choice at all, but the ugly reality is that military service may certainly have seemed to be a more appealing alternative to some of these children.

Currently it is estimated that there are over 17,000 children serving as combatants in Burundi and Sudan, though that number is extremely difficult to estimate.

Over the ten-year period from 1992-2002, it is estimated that approximately 14,000 children, some as young as 12, served as combatants in Burundi.

However, that estimate was based on the current number of children serving as combatants, leading one to the conclusion that the overall number must be much higher due to the high rate of fatalities among child soldiers. In that same period, tens of thousands of children served in the military in Sudan.

One of the problems with addressing this problem is that it is difficult to quantify, as described in the above paragraph. The best estimates of the number of children who have been used in soldiers in the Sudan places the number in the tens of thousands, but with 2,000,000 dead as a result of the civil war, attributing the cause of death and determining whether casualties were among combatants and non-combatants can be virtually impossible.

Unlike the armies of well-developed countries, which keep meticulous records about their military forces, the armies in Burundi and Sudan are rag-tag operations. They fail to keep even the most rudimentary written records about their armed forces. In addition, it can be virtually impossible for outside organizations or agencies to obtain access, so that they can document the number of children forced into the army. Therefore, the problem of statistical reliability plagues any discussion of this issue.

Hypothesis

Despite international laws and treaties aimed at increasing human right for children, the International Community has failed to eliminate the use of children in military activities.

Delimitation

Although the use of child soldiers is a significant problem in many African countries, this case study is limited to the countries of Burundi and Sudan, the time period from 1992-2002, due to an overabundance of reporting stemming from increased civil unrest. However, it must be acknowledged that the civil wars in both of these countries have resulted in border skirmishes in addition to inter-country combat. It is not unusual for forces in Burundi or Sudan to send child troops for training in a neighboring country, or to prevent child refugees from leaving for a neighboring country. Therefore, while this study is focused on Burundi and Sudan, it will, necessarily, also consider the use of child soldiers in all of Africa.

Definition of Terms

For the purposes of this thesis, the term "military activities" includes any military-based activity and is not limited to combat. For example, the use of children in intelligence-gathering would be considered a military activity, as would the use of children in the front lines of battle. Furthermore, for the purposes of this paper, child will be defined as it was defined by the United Nations General Assembly in The Convention on the Rights of the Child, as "A person under age 18."

It is important to keep in mind that this paper's definition of a child soldier differs from the definition under international law, which only prohibits the use of children under 15.

Assumptions

The International Community has failed to adequately protect children from being engaged in military activity. One of the assumptions contained in that statement is that children suffer unique harm when forced to engage in military activity:

Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers. Many are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. Others join armed groups out of desperation. As society breaks down during conflict, leaving children no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children perceive armed groups as their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to avenge family members who have been killed.

In addition to facing the same risks of harm as adult combatants, "Children are often at an added disadvantage as combatants. Their immaturity may lead them to take excessive risks."

In addition, children are perceived as more dispensable than adult soldiers, so that they frequently receive inadequate training and supplies, resulting in them being massacred in combat.

Children begin being used for military service at very young ages, frequently as young as age seven, when they are used as porters, messengers, and spies.

Once able to carry full-size weapons, children are used in combat and at checkpoints. In fact, adult soldiers are seen standing behind children manning checkpoints, so that the children will be the ones to die in the event of an attack.

In some countries, child soldiers are forced to take drug and alcohol, which, combined with the systemic abuse they face from adults and the pervasive culture of violence, leads these child soldiers to commit atrocities.

In addition, while boys are more likely to be pressed into military service than girls, members of both sexes are recruited. However, while boys are expected to be soldiers, in addition to taking up arms against enemies, girls are expected to act as wives, providing sexual services for soldiers. So, child sexual abuse is intricately linked to the use of children as soldiers.

Moreover, none of these countries provide any type of services to transition former child soldiers into civilian life, nor to protect civilians from the impact of having children encouraged to engage in violence rejoin the civilian population. In fact, "there are reports that the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which have used many thousands of children in their struggle against the regime in Khartoum, is finally realizing that they have created a generation of children who cannot read or write and know only the respect that is earned by the barrel of a gun."

As a result, the use of child soldiers in Burundi and Sudan has become a cause for international concern, not only because of the abuses suffered by these children, but because of the real danger created when an entire generations of males is raised to view violence as the only alternative.

Methodology

This thesis will use a review of the available literature to uncover the facts behind the use of the children in the military in Africa, specifically in Burundi and Sudan. The review will focus on the impact of this service on the affected children, the impact of this service on the rest of the civilian population, and the international community's response or lack of response to the problem.

Discussion

It is important to understand that the use of children in the military did not develop in a vacuum. On the contrary, it is an after effect of tremendous violence in both of the impacted countries. For example, Burundi had a long history of political violence, which began before its civil war started in 1993. Prior to that time, the government engaged in political violence, usually aimed at its Hutu civilians. However, it is important to understand that this violence was not unprovoked; it was generally a response to Hutu attacks on the Tutsi-controlled government. This violence begot "a seemingly endless cycle of reprisals and counter-reprisals.

The direct origins of the current violence in Burundi began in October 1993, and the violence was sparked by a military coup attempt and the subsequent assassination of Burundi's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye.

This incident led to a tremendous increase in what has been referred to as tribal violence by many Western nations, but is more accurately described as a cultural conflict. Supporters of Ndadaye responded to his assassination by killing Tutsi civilians. The Tutsi, working on the same side as the government's forces, retaliated by attacking Hutu civilians, many of whom were unarmed.

These events culminated in a division of Burundi's population: the Tutsi fled to towns and sought the protection of the armed forces, while the Hutu went to the countryside.

The events also may provide the secrets for the origins of the use of child soldiers. Fighting-age males were the members of the populations most likely to flee in the face of coming violence, initially; it appears, with the belief that their absence would prevent violence against women and children. However, when it was clear that the armed bands, on both sides of the dispute, would not hesitate to use violence against women and children, it became somewhat necessary for children to arm themselves. In addition, the armed political gangs were largely youth-oriented. "Gangs of young unemployed and delinquent youth s…formed the nucleus of armed political groups which came into being after October 1993. Such gangs existed in both the Hutu and Tutsi communities."

Burundi, which has not signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, has no legal provision for conscription in Burundi. Prior to 1993, it is believed that the minimum age for voluntary enrollment was 18 years, which the government acknowledges has been reduced to 16 years, although the government has been unwilling to turn over copies of national recruitment legislation.

The government of Burundi continues to deny that they use children in combat, but does acknowledge using children under the age of 15 to collect information. "In fact, these children, who serve as kind of housekeepers, are completely integrated into the military environment. They wear military uniforms, they sleep in the same rooms as the soldiers, and they are taught to use weapons. It is rare to see them actually training with soldiers, but they are obliged to work for them -- cooking, carrying water, coal or wood, or washing uniforms."

Furthermore, the government uses other means to bring children into the military. First, it has set up compulsory civic service for students, allegedly to reduce the hold that extremist groups have over youth. However, available information suggests that this civic service is actually military in nature.

In addition to the regular military, the government encouraged the Tutsi to form armed groups, which were composed of people, aged 12 to 25 who were recruited from sports and school groups.

In addition, the Burundi government uses military schools, which generally have a minimum age of 13 for entry. There are an estimated 36,000 children attending the different levels and areas of study at the schools, and all of these children are believed to be members of the armed forces.

What makes the use of child soldiers such a difficult problem to surmount in a country like Burundi is that the country is basically involved in a civil war. However, the Hutu opposition is divided into several different groups, with no single group having bargaining authority for the others. However, the different groups seem to agree on at least one thing:

No opposition armed group has, so far, pledged not to recruit children into its ranks, and according to the army the Hutu groups are increasingly being made up of child soldiers, including both boys and girls under 15 years of age. The Hutu groups recruit children from the most vulnerable groups, such as street children, and train them. At the beginning of the conflict, it is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 children below the age of 18 had been sent to the Central African Republic, Rwanda and Tanzania for training. Between 1,000 and 1,500 children of both sexes were recruited. Boys became spies and were sent to the camps of the regular forces and girls were used as wives and cooks. But most of the time these children are not well trained and are therefore often massacred in combat.

Like Burundi, Sudan is involved in what amounts to a civil war. In 1983, the Sudanese Government began fighting a rebellion in the South. The rebellion was led by several different groups, including the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). In 1989, "Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan el-Bashir seized power and the National Islamic Front (NIF) emerged as the power behind the coup."

In response, the Sudanese government attempted to divide the opposition. Its attempts were successful and the SPLA split into the SPLA and the Southern Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIA). The SSIA joined forces with the Sudanese government. The fighting in the south led to tens of thousands of civilian deaths, as well as the displacement of a large proportion of the population, many who sought refuge in neighboring countries. The Sudanese government faces opposition from the North and the South, under the nominal leadership of the National Democratic Alliance, headed by John Garang.

The opposition and government forces have aligned and realigned on numerous occasions. Furthermore, Sudan is also fighting with the neighboring countries of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Sudan has also not signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

However, Sudan is open about the fact that it conscripts people into the army; every citizen is subject to conscription, and in 1992, mandatory military service became part of Sudanese law. Despite these laws, the regular call-up failed to establish a standing army of sufficient size, and the government turned to forced recruitment:

Children as young as 12 years of age were forcibly enrolled into the armed forces or the Popular Defence Forces; street children were an easy target for such recruitment. In late 1997, it was further reported that the Government had decreed, in June of that year, that all boys, typically of ages 17 to 19, were obliged to do between 12 and 18 months compulsory military service to be able to receive a certificate on leaving secondary school. Students need such a certificate for entry into university, and the decree effectively broadened the conscription base.

In fact, Omer Abdul Marouf, the Minister of Defence, made it clear that students who did not report for military service could not go on to higher education, go abroad, or do business in the country.

However, those reporting for military service did not get the opportunity to continue their lives. On the contrary:

Many of the 70,000 students who were conscripted have been enrolled into army units. The Government then sought to send a number of such youths to combat zones for advanced military training, presumably for ultimate incorporation into the Sudanese People's Armed Forces. This came to light when 72 draftees escaped from Khartoum airport, where they were about to be airlifted to the South.

In addition to its regular army, Sudan created the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) in 1990, which permitted the state to establish voluntary military forces for the people's defense. The PDF is basically a militia, controlled by the army.

Its recruits are given 45 days to 2 months of military and civil defense training in addition to education. While the minimum age for enlistment is believed to be 16, reports suggest that younger children, especially teenagers from the camps for vagrant children, are conscripted into the PDF.

Girls as well as boys are conscripted into the PDF. More significantly, "According to one confidential source, military commanders are quite willing to show primary school age recruits to senior foreigners and this would seem to imply a widespread practice in rural areas of using young children."

The opposition has also been active in recruiting and using child soldiers:

Already in the early 1990s, it was reported that the SPLA recruited many underage children into their ranks. The U.S. Department of State gave the figure of at least 10,000 male minors recruited by this group. In 1994, Human Rights Watch described how SPLA maintained large camps of boys in Ethiopia and how they inducted these boys into battalions known as the 'Red Army'. The boys were aged between 14 and 16 years and many of them were massacred during fighting because of their poor training. In 1991, the boys in the camps (estimated to number 17,000), as well as all other Sudanese refugees, had to flee after the fall of the Ethiopian Government and they returned to Sudan. The SPLA split into two factions shortly after but the SPLA and the SSIM/A continued to maintain these boys in separate boys-only camps, as reserve for their military campaigns.

Although the International Community has asked the SPLA to stop recruiting children and to help transition former child soldiers back into the community, in September of 1998, SPLA fighters went to Dungu to chase the Sudanese refugees back into Sudan, so that they could recruit the young men.

While it is tempting to suggest that the lack of sufficient and effective foreign intervention is due to a devaluation of African life, the reality is far more complex. For example, in Burundi, "foreign nationals, most of them working for aid organizations, have been targeted for attack since October 1993, resulting in loss of life and destruction of property."

First and foremost, this has made it very difficult for foreign aid providers to provide humanitarian assistance. For example, armed groups have seized the safe drinking water, food, and medical supplies that humanitarian organizations have sought to bring to impacted civilians.

While most of these attacks have been perpetrated by Tutsi armed groups, the Hutu have engaged in attacks as well. The reasons given for these attacks have been that humanitarian aid to civilians is the same as support for opponents or that the foreign nationals have criticized human rights abuses.

Significance

This study was important because it helped demonstrate that there are several reasons that the international community has failed to eliminate the phenomenon of child soldiers. The evidence suggests that one of the primary reasons other countries failed to intervene in a timelier manner is because they did not initially understand the gravity of the problem. Both Burundi and Sudan had long histories of disputes between ethnic groups within the country, which erupted in civil wars. Information about the conflicts, and specifically about the use of children in those conflicts, was difficult for foreign workers and outside agencies to obtain. In addition, the circumstances in the countries made children especially vulnerable to being used as soldiers, because these countries were not only ravaged by war, but also suffering from very high rates of child malnutrition and from the HIV / AIDS pandemic that has ravaged most of Africa. The combination of war, hunger, and illness not only left the children more vulnerable, but also left many adults in the countries without the resources to remedy the problem, or even to support it. Of course, not all of the reasons that the problem has not been remedied are so benign. It is well-documented that the United Nations and member nations intervene more quickly in non-black African or non-African countries than in black-African countries. Whether this is because black-African countries tend to be impoverished or because of latent racism is unclear, but the result is the same. Furthermore, many other nations continue to use child soldiers, though over the age of 15, making it against their own interests to pursue the vigorous prosecution of war crimes for this use, when the recommendation is that no child under 18 be used in military service.

Conclusion

The use of children as soldiers may be one of the most egregious human rights violations of modern time. However, it is not a problem that is easily solved. The International Community, with the exception of only two nations, has made it clear that they find the use of children in the military to be unacceptable. Despite that clear mandate many countries throughout the world, but most especially in Africa, continue to use children in military service. While it is easy to condemn other countries and international organizations for their failure to take meaningful steps to end those practices, it is difficult to know what, exactly, they could do to ensure that the practice ends. After all, many of the groups engaging in the practice are outside of recognized governments, making the use of sanctions and other traditional diplomatic means of coercion an unavailable option. The use of military force against the biggest offenders seems like a solution, but it would involve sending in foreign troops to fight armies largely composed of children, which does not seem like an appropriate solution for someone seeking to better the situation of children forced into military service.