|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Conscriptions of child soldiers : It's not their war by Nisansala R. Aryachandra Although Sri Lanka ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991, it still does not have a steering mechanism through which to put it into practice. The recruitment of child soldiers has been a national threat for years and still continues to be so. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which came into force in February 2002, prohibits all use of children under 18 by non-state armed groups. This issue of involving children in armed conflict has been evident during the 20 years of civil war, with the LTTE being the main culprit. And it continues, even today, despite promises made by the LTTE to stop enlisting children in their cause. States a recent report by the Human Righte Watch: "In April 2004, short but fierce fighting broke out between rival factions of the rebel LTTE, the first major hostilities in the country since February 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and government forces. In the fighting, the LTTE's Vanni faction quickly defeated a breakaway group in the east led by Colonel Karuna Amman. In the aftermath, the Vanni faction launched intensive campaigns to re-recruit Karuna's former soldiers, which included some two thousand children. The LTTE has recruited thousands of children since the 2002 ceasefire." On a visit to Jaffna two years back, I had the opportunity to gather information and testimonies for academic purposes as well, and witness the grim brutalities of what the war had caused. Travelling along the roads and looking at the ruins of houses, schools and hospitals that once were, seeing the marks and remnants of bullet holes, mine fields with signs that still hangs, which says "uncleared mine fields"... makes one wonder, how a small country like Sri Lanka could be so different at the two opposite ends. It also brings up the question when all this is over, what will be the plight of the child warriors who have fought for a cause - someone else's destiny. A proper footage of war cannot be sifted and taken from bits and pieces of incidents. In order for us to understand the present situation, it is necessary to go back to the past, to the beginning, to where it all started. This reference will illuminate why the present situation of 'peace' should prevail and why children need to be kept away, far away, from armed conflict. Origins When Sri Lanka was granted independence in 1948, the transition from colonial rule to a sovereign state of governance was exceptionally peaceful. While India adopted a more federal system of government (quasi government), Sri Lanka adjusted to a unitary state identical to that of the former British rule. Many are of the view that this relaxed form of governance was what created communal rifts later on. The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka pronounced terror in more aspects than one for a period of two decades. Whether it's a battle of the forefathers or of the recent generations have been rather coloured, to depict the Sinhalese and Tamils as having been hostile since time immemorial. In reality, it has been quite the opposite, where cooperation, consensus, understanding and tolerance has been the foundation on which the relationship was built on. The first serious instances of inter-communal conflict occurred between 1956 and 1958 where the Sinhalese majority attempted to reduce the status of the Tamil minority by making Sinhala the only official language, and by imposing restrictive quotas for higher education on Tamils. In the mid/late 1970s, the Tamil community became restive and a few insurgent groups were formed - including the LTTE. The involvement of children in the ethnic conflict came about in 1987 with the intervention of the Indian Army (Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord) when the LTTE faced a shortage of manpower, leading to recruitment of boys (and girls) as young as 9-12 years old. The situation was so fiercely crucial, the LTTE used systematic and organised methods of glorifying their cause in the minds of young Tamils through various channels. According to reports and testimonies, children were often 'picked' from their own neighbourhoods and they (LTTE) have been known to broadcast militant movies of combat training and actual fighting. A usual routine has been to parade young soldiers in front/near schools as children come from classes, and conduct military training and hold speeches on the need to further their cause inside school premises. Almost all schools in the LTTE-controlled areas have a memorial hall and a playground with photographs of young martyrs and the play area is made with pictures or images of toy guns or tigers mounted on see-saws. According to testimonies, children spend hours out of school or after school digging bunkers and receiving training. In 1990, when conflict was at its peak, enlistment of youngsters was frequent. This was of course, supposedly on a 'voluntary' basis, but in reality it was quite contrary, with families who refuse to contribute their sons and daughters were threatened or menaced and sometimes their properties confiscated. This phenomenon of involving children in armed conflict has been due to another pertinant factor - that is weaponry in recent years have become lighter and easier to fire and manage. The manufacture of arms are made in a way that is much easier to be hand led by children than ever before. Not only in Sri Lanka, but in countries such as Cambodia, Burma and Afghanistan, the conscription of children is a growing international concern. Freedom Birds In 1997, at the time of Operation Jaya Sikuru (Sure of Victory) the LTTE depended much on their eulogised 'freedom birds' in the frontlines. The large numbers of female cadres were mostly teenage girls, who were trained to carry out suicide attacks at the time. The female Black Sea Tigers, who are the suicide squad of the LTTE's naval wing were as active in the cause as their male counterparts. In an article titled 'Tiger Women' (few years back), Peter Schalk says that eight per cent of the LTTE cadres killed in the period 1982-1991 were women. However, solid statistics are hard to come by as all active militias do not want to admit to the fact that they are using children. Except for a few isolated cases, records show that there has not been any deaths of women fighters before 1987. The recruitment of girls, too began when the LTTE suffered from loss of human resources to further their cause. Articles and reports concerning the induction of women into the fighting force of the LTTE have posed a major barrier to the symbolic representation of women in the Tamil society. According to the writings of the LTTE on women cadres, the LTTE gives pride of place to two types of women - the militant mother and the armed virgin. Writers such as Adele Balasingham argues that the change has been based on an ideological shift in thinking about women's empowerment. The militant mother is portrayed as a common image in the war poetry of the Tamil Golden Age (or the Sangam period). This type of poetry often portrays the mothers rejoicing when they hear tales of the heroic deaths of their sons. The LTTE ideology is said to be influenced by this literature of history. However in contrast, the ideal created of the armed virgin is not perceived in Tamil literature, as it is not viewed in the history of Tamil society to portray virgins armed to kill. This image is created by the LTTE. In their ideology, it is viewed as an important step 'in the liberation of women' as put by Adele Balasingham.
|
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
