Children, Survival, and War Crimes

Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC (1998), War crimes are classified into two categories;

1)War Crimes in International Armed Conflicts.

2)War Crimes in Non-International Armed Conflicts.

Some acts are considered war crimes in both International Armed Conflicts and Non-International Armed Conflicts:

·       Attacks Against Civilians

·       Attacks on hospitals, schools, religious buildings, and cultural property not used for military purposes

·       Targeting Humanitarian Personnel

·       Pillage (Looting)

·       Use of Child Soldiers

·       Sexual Violence

·       Forced Displacement

·       Starvation as a Method of Warfare

·       Use of Indiscriminate or Prohibited Weapons

                                 FARC's Child Soldiers 

Despite being considered war crimes under international law, Most World powers are using these as their fundamental war Strategies.

Among all these war crimes, the use of child soldiers presents a moral dilemma. From ancient times, both the State and non-state actors have used child soldiers in war when their survival is at stake. It was even mentioned in Purananooru.

கெடுக சிந்தை ; கடிதுஇவள் துணிவே;

மூதின் மகளிர் ஆதல் தகுமே;

மேல்நாள் உற்ற செருவிற்கு இவள்தன்னை,

யானை எறிந்து, களத்துஒழிந் தன்னே;

நெருநல் உற்ற செருவிற்கு இவள்கொழுநன்,  

பெருநிரை விலக்கி, ஆண்டுப்பட் டனனே;

இன்றும் செருப்பறை கேட்டு, விருப்புற்று மயங்கி,

வேல்கைக் கொடுத்து, வெளிதுவிரித்து உடீஇப்,

பாறுமயிர்க் குடுமி எண்ணெய் நீவி,

ஒருமகன் அல்லது இல்லோள்,

செருமுக நோக்கிச் செல்க என விடுமே!                                   புறநானூறு- 279

According to Purananooru verse 279, a woman lost her father the day before yesterday's war. He was vanquished by an elephant and met his demise on the field, its tusk piercing his chest. Her husband lost his life defending the cattle herds from the enemy forces during yesterday's battle. She heard the battle drums today. She has such a courageous heart! She lost her husband, and her father left her alone with her little son. She then sends him off to fight, telling him to "go, my son, and win! She anointed the boy's hair with oil, put on a white dress, placed a spear in his hands, and bade him to march toward the battlefield.

Attackers have the upper hand when it comes to a war.

Do Victims obey the law and conventions (not to commit war crimes) when their whole community's survival is at stake?

Take the case of the Sri Lankan Civil War; the Sinhalese were engaged in ethnic cleansing.

The LTTE was left with no other options. They were forced to use children in war in order to protect their Ethnic group. Survival was their primary motive.

When survival is at stake, the use of children in war is morally justified, but legally it is a violation. This forces me to ask, does survival morally justify other war crimes too?

What’s your take?