Should Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted Essay

Imagine that you have been drafted into war as a 5-year-old child, persuaded by the use of drugs, alcohol, and threats. The war is over and you finally manage to get away, and the first thing the government does is throw you in jail because you were forced to commit crimes by your captors. How would you feel? Many child soldiers have been tricked or forced into joining the military and do not wish harm on anyone, but if they do not they may be tortured or killed. Many are forced to kill their family, friends, or anyone really and they tend to have lots of trauma from it because they have seen so much death in only a few years. Some believe that all child soldiers should be punished for their crimes since they still committed murder, and they

For example, according to the DebateWise article “Child Soldiers Should Be Prosecuted”, “The recruiters of child soldiers also use drugs and alcohol to make children more compliant and to enable them to commit acts they would not ordinarily commit.”. This explains that children were under the influence of drugs and alcohol making them easier to control and force to do things, so they are not fully aware of what they are doing. Also according to Human Rights Watch article “Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence”, it is stated, “Often under the influence of drugs, they were known and feared for their impetuosity, lack of control, and brutality.”. This goes to show that the children were not fully there and could not make rational decisions due to the drugs that were administered to them daily and that they could not think clearly when they were on the battlefield. Finally, a child’s brother was abducted into the Varc, and he explains that the soldiers got his brother drunk and easily persuaded him to go with them. This shows that using drugs and alcohol makes it easier for the soldiers to recruit children to fight in the war because it decreases their capacity for making good decisions. In conclusion, many soldiers use drugs and alcohol to recruit and keep child soldiers under control, so the children should be given amnesty since they were not thinking