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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | The Protection and Participation Rights of the Child Soldier: An African and Global Perspective |
| Author: | Jesseman, Christine |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Periodical: | African Human Rights Law Journal |
| Volume: | 1 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 140-154 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | African agreements children's rights child soldiers African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child Military, Defense and Arms Law, Human Rights and Violence |
| Abstract: | The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, which entered into force in 1990) recognizes the child as the bearer of rights entrenched in a binding international instrument, comprising various categories of rights including protection and participation rights. So does the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children's Charter, which entered into force in 1999). The struggle between these competing rights is epitomized in the case of child soldiers who are at the same time entitled to the special protection accorded to children in situations of armed conflict and to exercise their participation rights. This article explores the conflict between protection and participation rights, the role of prevention and provision rights, and the 'suspect classification' of age. It emphasizes the challenge posed by the realization that for some children participation is their only means of survival - a consequence of socioeconomic and political circumstance. In conclusion, it argues that it is necessary to throw off the shackles of 'symbolic politics' in order to return to the empowerment of children. Notes, ref. |