Should Child Soldiers Be Given Amnesty?

In the history of war, child soldiers have always played a role in determining the outcome of the battle. These soldiers have lately stirred up a large portion of talk about whether they should be granted amnesty or not. Amnesty is a pardon of all crimes a person has committed, and considering what child soldiers have done; they should not receive that option. While people for amnesty may have excuses for all the problems they have caused, it does not deny that these children have caused many troubles all over the world the world. To exemplify, child soldiers should not be given amnesty because they kill, maim, and do other horrific deeds, their aggressive behavior from their past remains, and killing eventually becomes second nature to the
To illustrate, an article called “Kony’s Killers”, written by Samuel Okiror, says “[Child Soldiers] killed, maimed, mutilate, attack camps, abducted children, rape, slavery, torture and pillaging” (Okiror Para 2). This piece of evidence stated helps prove the claim, as it shows all of the merciless things that child soldiers have done. Criminals in America have gone to jail for a quarter of the reasons stated, yet there are still arguments whether child soldiers should be pardoned for all the crimes they committed. Additionally, another piece of evidence that supports the claim from an article written by Gregory Warner states, “… He forced many children to kill people” (Warner 3). This suggests how not only did the young soldiers inflict crimes, but forced other children to do it themselves. While the crimes they committed themselves are simply awful, it seems to be even worse that they forced other children to commit the same crimes as them. When they do this, they force the children to go through and endure the same pain that they had. From this sentence, it can be seen what
For instance, one piece of evidence that proves the claim demonstrates, “’I met Ongwen during the peace talks. He was most hostile. I was very scared of him,’ she told IRN” (Okiror Para 13). This evidence suggests how from being a soldier for so long, the hostile attitude they once had remains. If they were to get off scot – free, it would be extremely hard for them to fit in with everyone else, as the aggressive demeanors would likely intimate most other people. Similar to what was just said, an article written by Lauren Blue and Jonathan Woodward says, “’You’re trained how to torture. You’re trained how to kill. It’s all you know,’ he says. ‘Fitting into the community is a big challenge’” (Blue and Woodward 2). What this makes clear is how child soldier’s past would prove a problem in attempting to fit into an average community. It is expected that there would be a large amount of tension, fear and hesitation towards the former soldiers. Moreover, the article written by Jeff Koinange also declares, “It’s as if all the child soldiers went to the same kindergarten. (Where children are forced to fight)” (Koinange Para 24). This section of evidence from the article proves how child soldiers truly grow as hostile people because they went to the same “kindergarten”, which is assumed to be war. Because of this, all of the children