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Russian Child Soldiers

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posted on Mar, 21 2007 @ 09:52 AM
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It is no news, that children all over the world are being used as soldiers. In over twenty countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers.


Child Solders

The majority of the world's child soldiers are involved in a variety of armed political groups. These include government-backed paramilitary groups, militias and self-defence units operating in many conflict zones. Others include armed groups opposed to central government rule, groups composed of ethnic religious and other minorities and clan-based or factional groups fighting governments and each other to defend territory and resources.

Most child soldiers are aged between 14 and 18, While many enlist "voluntarily" research shows that such adolescents see few alternatives to involvement in armed conflict. Some enlist as a means of survival in war-torn regions after family, social and economic structures collapse or after seeing family members tortured or killed by government forces or armed groups. Others join up because of poverty and lack of work or educational opportunities. Many girls have reported enlisting to escape domestic servitude, violence and sexual abuse.

Yet people usually think, that this problem is located in the Third World countries alone - of course with Africa at the very top. Well they are wrong.

Russian Army starts to train 14 year old boys (or less) for their Army too. And we are talking about a Civilized Federation here - not some brutal dictator.


Russia toys with schoolboy soldiers

Ivan can assemble an AK-74 assault rifle in just over 20 seconds. He learned that skill in school.

Stepping into Ivan's classroom is like stumbling several decades back in time. Rows of teenage boys stand in lines at their desks, stripping down Kalashnikovs at high speed.

For these boys, the lessons are voluntary - a chance to play at being soldiers. But gas masks and guns were once as normal in Soviet schools as physics classes or maths.


Military ‘adoption’ of orphans

A project for the military to “adopt” or sponsor orphans, homeless children and children from single-parent families was implemented from 1997 and formalized by presidential decree in 2000. The regulation, entitled “On enrolling underage citizens of the Russian Federation as wards of military units and providing them with essential allowances”, permits boys between
the ages of 14 and 16 to be voluntarily enrolled and attached to military units.8 The government has argued that army sponsorship provides accommodation and education in a country where an estimated three million children are orphaned – the term being used to include fatherless or abandoned children – and where social services face grave financial constraints. The program has been criticized for inflicting harsh conditions on children and exposing them to the risks of bullying, other abuse and the hazards of military training.

Recent figures were unavailable, but the Defence Minister said in 1999 that Russian military institutions were accommodating 35,000 orphans and homeless children, and that 12,000 were receiving “full room and board and [were] enlisted in logistics units, military orchestras and cadet schools housed in … disbanded military academies”.

This figure appeared to include an estimated 5,000 students enrolled at official military training establishments, not all of whom were orphans.11 During the late 1990s another 7,000 reportedly lived permanently on military bases. The remaining 23,000 were non-permanent residents, many of them attached to military units on a part-time basis, to attend summer training camps or to obtain food. Together, these children formed “boys’ squads” which were reportedly integrated to varying degrees into regular units of the Russian army.

As we all know, the Russian Army is in crisis - no money, bad conditions and even worse leadership as we can see. Training 14 year old boys to become soldiers when they are 16 is completly WRONG to me. By doing this, they are not better then any dictatorship regime from Africa, who gives boys AK's and sends them to shoot and kill.


FORTY HOURS TO MAKE MEN OUT OF SCHOOLBOYS

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has signed a Moscow government decision obliging all tenth-graders of general secondary schools and students of vocational schools to undergo military training from April 20 to July 20. The training will be organised on the territory of the Taman motorised rifle and the Kantemirovskaya tank divisions, and every young man without health problems will within forty academic hours be introduced to the organisation and procedure of military service, laws on defence and other relevant legal acts, and to weapons and combat equipment adopted in ground forces. He will also shoot from an automatic rifle and a machine gun, get his first marching drill and fulfil norms in military sport. Forty hours is equivalent to five working days. The newspapers sounded the alarm. "Generals will again be torturing our boys!" - these are the most harmless words addressed to the schoolboys' parents and the students themselves by some of the media.

Their fears are understandable. Following the tragedy of the last year, when one of the schoolchildren died after running a long distance in a gas mask at a similar training in Khanty Mansiisk, any new military pre-conscription classes evoke serious misgivings. Won't they harm the boys' health, will the lads be treated with respect and care, and will not the military make them do what only well-trained professional soldiers can perform?

I was watching some photos of a well known Slovenian photographer Arne Hodalic who went to one of this child training camps, somewhere in Northern Russia - and they were training in sub-zero temperatures, shooting, ambushing, running - everything a soldiers is doing. Yet the youngest boy was 12 years old. The Russian Army says, that this kind of young soldiers are better fighters - as it has proven to be right in the Chechen wars, when child soldiers had lower mortality rate then other, older ones. But still it leaves a bitter taste. At least for me.

That is why I am asking you to...


Ask the Russian Federation to ratify Child Soldiers Protocol

Every year thousands of children continue to fight and die in wars around the world, and many thousands more are left physically and emotionally scarred for life.

On 25 May 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. This represents a milestone in protecting children from participation in armed conflicts.

As of 2 May 2006,107 states were parties to the Protocol including three (France, UK and USA) of the five permanent members of the Security Council but not the Russian Federation and China.

The Russian Federation signed the Protocol on 15 February 2001 and has supported numerous Security Council resolutions urging states to ratify it*. However, despite these positive actions the Russian Federation has yet to ratify it and to incorporate its provision into national law.

To mark the sixth anniversary of the Protocol’s adoption, AI, together with the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, is calling on the Russian Federation to ratify it without any further delay. At the time of ratification the country should make a binding declaration setting 18 years as the standard minimum age for voluntary recruitment into its armed forces.

Yet as usual - UN Report on Child Soldiers Ignores Worst Offenders!

But this is not the end of the story - Russia is not here alone:


Child Soldiers Still on the March

The coalition says that "at least 60 governments, including Australia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, and the United States continue to legally recruit children aged 16 and 17."

Influential groups such as the G8 (the leading industrialized nations, comprising the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia), the United Nations, and the European Union (EU) have all adopted positions against the use of child soldiers, Kelso said. "There are a lot of good things on paper, but they have not been translated into action," he said.

Four members of the Security Council – Algeria, Benin, China, and Russia – have not ratified the child soldiers treaty arising from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"I would like to give you a message. Please do your best to tell the world what is happening to us, the children. So that other children don't have to pass through this violence."
(A 15-year-old girl who escaped from the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda)

Related Links
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Defense for Children International
International Save the Children Alliance
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 09:28 AM
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May I highlight somehting from your own source?



For these boys, the lessons are voluntary - a chance to play at being soldiers. But gas masks and guns were once as normal in Soviet schools as physics classes or maths

I am part of such an orginisation, the sea cadet corp. I learned to fire weapons from the age of 12 onwards and still do when I get the chance.

If you wish to have the debate over VOLUNTARY "cadet" style orginisations then make another thread in below top secret or PTS but frankly I dont see the russian army using these children as soldiers. Until I do all your doing is highlighting something that is being done across the globe; training.



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 11:47 AM
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devilwasp is correct

Also, this is considered part of Russia's educational culture since WWII- civilian military preparation. There is not as much meaning to having civilians take-up arms now (as in WWII), with ballistic missiles and other advanced technology. But still teenagers are sometimes taught military drills. One of such drills teaches how to use protective equipment such as gas masks, first aid, and evacuations drills. Possibly in some places VOLUNTARY drills include basic weapons and logistics training, but I don't think it involves firing live ammunition.

Remember, that in WWII many children of 16 years old and older had to serve behind the front lines. A massive civilian recruitment was necessary to push the Germans back.


If the teenagers want to, they may join a "camp" of sorts, I think after 16 years old. This prepares them for a military career, but in no way involves them in any live conflict or engagement. In Soviet Union summer camps, there were voluntary exercises for boys teaching how to handle firearms and the such. Nothing wrong with that.

And remember, most young adults in Russia have to serve in the armed forces after 18, so these drills come in handy.


You are making it sound like Russia is sending school kids to Chechnya or to serve in the actual armed forces. This is not at all the case. This is part of the country's culture, teaching kids to appreciate the military and be prepared for emergencies.



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 12:02 PM
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Originally posted by devilwasp
I am part of such an orginisation, the sea cadet corp. I learned to fire weapons from the age of 12 onwards and still do when I get the chance.

Shooting weapons from age of 12 is something you are proud of?

Seriously - you should get another "hobby".

I see you just can not wait to join the real army, go and visit new and insteresting lands, meet new and interesting people - and kill them.

Anyway, I do not find this kind of brainwashing of a young mans mind any good.

Wanna shoot and kill people for your job?



If you wish to have the debate over VOLUNTARY "cadet" style orginisations then make another thread in below top secret or PTS but frankly I dont see the russian army using these children as soldiers. Until I do all your doing is highlighting something that is being done across the globe; training.

Many of these "boy squads" did serve in Chechnya and are as we speak integrated to varying degrees into regular units of the Russian army - which means they are no longer "boy squads". And you have to ask yourself, if many of these boys really did "Volunteer" for this - or was there just not many other options for them? I understand you (kind of) for apporving this kind of "boy squads", since you do not live in Russia and you have plenty of choices at your hand, yet you choose to be a sea cadet. Very well. Do you think those boys had the same choices as you?



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 02:09 PM
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Originally posted by Souljah
Many of these "boy squads" did serve in Chechnya and are as we speak integrated to varying degrees into regular units of the Russian army - which means they are no longer "boy squads". And you have to ask yourself, if many of these boys really did "Volunteer" for this - or was there just not many other options for them? I understand you (kind of) for apporving this kind of "boy squads", since you do not live in Russia and you have plenty of choices at your hand, yet you choose to be a sea cadet. Very well. Do you think those boys had the same choices as you?


What are you talking about? What "boy squads" served in Chechnya, and where did you ge0t this nonsense from?

Conscripts to active military service are 18 years and older. Living in Russia, I have never heard of anyone under 18 being forced to go into active duty, let alone to Chechnya. All the links you provided talk about volunteer school/camp training, or pre-military education not active military service.



And while you may have issues with someone learning to use a gun, others do not, and you shouldn't force your opinions on the voluntary choices of others. Training a teenager to use a firearm is one thing. Using firearms against others, and being brainwashed to blow yourself up to prove a point for your corrupt leaders (I think you know where I am going with this- HAMAS), is completely different.


What is important is not whether a teenager is taugh how to use a gun or not- but that he is taugh morality, discipline, and understanding.

A child who is taught to hate a certain group of people and who is exposed to the aggressive dogmatism and violent actions of his parents/teachers, will likely grow up to be a killer whether he is taught how to use a gun or not. Case-in-point - the dogmatic teachings various extremist factions. Children are not taught to think for themselves and to weight their actions and decisions, but to blindly follow the teachings of some perceived spiritual leader or belief, who is only exploiting his followers. Whether of not these children know how to use a gun, they will find a method to destroy those they are taugh to hate. Look at the children recruited by HAMAS to blow themselves up at Israeli checkpoints.

Then there is the training of discipline, and moral decision making. A teenager in a military academy might be taught how to use a gun. But they are also taught why they shouldn't use that gun. Who cares if a teenager can press a trigger or not. If he really wants to kill someone because of a flawed character, he will find a way to it.

What you are saying is that a teenager that kills someone is guilty because he knew how to press a trigger, not because he was taught that killing is a good way to attain what he wants.



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 09:27 PM
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What is wrong with learning about weapons early in life? If you are going to have weapons in a home with children, then it is better to train them on it and teach and drill them in gun safety than it is to hide it from them.
My dad was a Cop from the time i was 3 until i was about 28, i started shooting pistols at around 7, I got my first shotgun when i was 11, my first rifle and pistol at 15. I would regularly go out shooting with my older brother an uncle or one of my very good friends, whos dad also taught him about weapons at an early age.
I do admit though that times have changed and some things that were "OK" years ago arent anymore.
I dont see how you consider gun safety and instruction to be "brainwashing" lol but whatever, to each his own.


Originally posted by Souljah

Originally posted by devilwasp
I am part of such an orginisation, the sea cadet corp. I learned to fire weapons from the age of 12 onwards and still do when I get the chance.

Shooting weapons from age of 12 is something you are proud of?

Seriously - you should get another "hobby".

I see you just can not wait to join the real army, go and visit new and insteresting lands, meet new and interesting people - and kill them.

Anyway, I do not find this kind of brainwashing of a young mans mind any good.

Wanna shoot and kill people for your job?



If you wish to have the debate over VOLUNTARY "cadet" style orginisations then make another thread in below top secret or PTS but frankly I dont see the russian army using these children as soldiers. Until I do all your doing is highlighting something that is being done across the globe; training.

Many of these "boy squads" did serve in Chechnya and are as we speak integrated to varying degrees into regular units of the Russian army - which means they are no longer "boy squads". And you have to ask yourself, if many of these boys really did "Volunteer" for this - or was there just not many other options for them? I understand you (kind of) for apporving this kind of "boy squads", since you do not live in Russia and you have plenty of choices at your hand, yet you choose to be a sea cadet. Very well. Do you think those boys had the same choices as you?


Edn

posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 09:47 PM
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How is this different from the 13 year old army cadets in the UK, or the 16 year olds joining the army potentially killing people before there even 17. Don't just go picking on Russia.

Anyway I don't see the problem with it, the cadets do a lot of good, they teach you the necessity's of life(discipline, teamwork, etc, etc) that parents are failing to teach these days.

As for people joining the army at 16, well you can do almost everything else at 16 why not join the army.



posted on Mar, 22 2007 @ 09:51 PM
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The rules in the US are that you can join as young as 16, but your parent or guardian has to sign the papers for you and give their permission, but they can't send you to basic training until you're at least 17 and graduated from high school. By the time you finish basic and AIT you're 18 and legally an adult.



posted on Mar, 24 2007 @ 10:43 AM
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Most every nation on earth has this sort of thing, maybe not to this extent, but similar. Junior ROTC in secondary schools in the US, members of this go to various military bases around the country for very basic training and exposure to the life of a soldier.

From the sounds of it, this training in Russia is more extreme than most. But given Russian history back to the Dark Ages, paranoia is genetic in the Russian psyche.

I grew up shooting rifles of many sorts as well. Learning to shoot well requires disapline and control. Nothing wrong with that at all.



posted on Mar, 24 2007 @ 11:46 AM
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Forgive me, but I do not understand nor support this kind of "give the boy a gun" education. And frankly I find it somehow disturbing, for a 7 year old boy to weild a real gun and starts shooting at the age of 11. But this is my opinion. But most of you probably live in United States, a country where you can go in a Wallmart and buy yourself a shotgun - then buy bullets on the way to school - and shoot your mates. Why are there so many high-school shootings in USA? Probably because kids "know how to handle rifles" right?

Excuse me, but you people are not under attack nor under occupation, so that parents should teach their kids how to shoot a 12-gauge shotgun. I do not like guns (as you probably noticed) and I think everybody who has a fetish for guns has a problem of some kind. If your hobby is to "shoot stuff" or to kill animals for fun not for dinner - then you have another problem of some kind.

Anyway I find it sickening to so many people actually support this kind of actions of Russian Army - where 12 year old boys can be found in a training camp at sub-zero temperatures, trying their best not to freeze to death while holding and shooting his AK and then quickly putting the gloves back on, so his fingers do not freeze over. If you people find that fine and okey - then maybe you should send your 11 and 12 year old kids to that Russian Syberian trainin camp too.

But very well - everybody is entitled to his own opinion; I am just surprised at level of response to this topic. I wonder what the response would be, for example 20 years ago, when Russkies were the Bad Red Commies...



posted on Mar, 24 2007 @ 12:14 PM
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Why do you insist upon painting with such a broad brush? You are certainly intelligent enough to know better. So you are not a fan of guns? That's certainly your purogitive. However, if shooting sports are my hobby, that is my choice. I am no more likely to go on a shooting rampage than you are. So do me a favor and stop painting with such a broad brush.

Access to guns is not the reason for the shootings, of which there are indeed too many, since one is too many. They are the tool used, not the cause. Again, you know that.

I suppose its going to come down to agreeing to disagree.



posted on Mar, 24 2007 @ 04:35 PM
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Originally posted by Souljah
Shooting weapons from age of 12 is something you are proud of?

Yes its a fun sport.


Seriously - you should get another "hobby".

Oh and why's that?


I see you just can not wait to join the real army, go and visit new and insteresting lands, meet new and interesting people - and kill them.

Actually I wanted to join as an engineer but failed and instead went to work for those dreaded corperations. What gives you the idea that because I joined a youth orginisation that fires guns that I want to go and kill people?


Anyway, I do not find this kind of brainwashing of a young mans mind any good.

Who is brainwashing? Theres nothing of the sort, hell the first rule your taught as a cadet with a rifle is DO NOT POINT THE WEAPON AT ANOTHER PERSON, EVEN IN JEST.
Word for word out of the manual, not every youth orginisation is like the hitler youth you know.






Many of these "boy squads" did serve in Chechnya and are as we speak integrated to varying degrees into regular units of the Russian army - which means they are no longer "boy squads".

Boy squads? You mean 18 year olds or younger , if they're younger I could see them being brought up before the UN.



I understand you (kind of) for apporving this kind of "boy squads", since you do not live in Russia and you have plenty of choices at your hand, yet you choose to be a sea cadet.

I joined because my family introduced me to it and I liked it, I very much doubt these boys will see actual combat in the real army. This is not a "boy squad" operation, its a cadet force for crying out loud, there TOY soldiers aka you run around in a field and shout bang pretending to be a solider (If you dont believe this then go to a marine cadet summer camp exercise and laugh at them doing dry drills.)




Do you think those boys had the same choices as you?

To join a volountary orginisation? Yes hence the term volountary....




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