I Have a Passion For Human Rights
The US Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 prohibits the US government from providing military financing, military training, and several other categories of US military assistance to governments using child soldiers. The Child Soldiers Prevention Act went into effect in 2010. In June, 2011 the State Department determined that the Burma, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen governments were all using child soldiers in their armed forces or allied militias. On October 4, 2011, the Obama administration announced waivers to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which allows continued military assistance to Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen despite the continued use of children in their armed forces. The US also continues to provide military assistance to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army which is now the military for South Sudan,which also continues to use child soldiers but, since South Sudan gained independence in July after the State Department issued its list, the Obama administration says that the law doesn't apply.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo will continue to receive US military training and other assistance, even though it has hundreds of child soldiers in its armed forces and has failed to cooperate with the UN in setting up a formal demobilization plan. Some army commanders have even actively blocked efforts to demobilize children from their units. Officers known to recruit child soldiers, including Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, have been promoted and serve openly in the army’s command.
In Yemen, as recently as August, Human Rights Watch observed child soldiers serving with the Central Security, an elite paramilitary unit, and General Security, a police force in Sanaa. Human Rights Watch also observed child soldiers as recently as August among the ranks of the army’s First Armored Division, which defected to the opposition in March. First Armored Division officers told Human Rights Watch that while the unit was still aligned with the government, it had recruited children who were 15 years old and even younger. This year, the State Department has requested US$35 million in foreign military financing for Yemen. Despite ongoing volatility in Yemen that puts children at continuing risk of recruitment, the White House issued a full waiver for the funds, with no conditions.
President Obama excuses these waivers by claiming that the countries were “on notice” and needed time to address their child soldiers problem. The only effective course of action the US government can take towards eliminating the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, military participation and labor exploitation is to withhold any assistance afforded to these countries until they've successfully abolished the use and exploitation of innocent children who are robbed of their childhood.
Please follow or copy and paste the link bellow and tell the President to stop killing children.
http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-stop-killing-children
Thank you
Caleb
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo will continue to receive US military training and other assistance, even though it has hundreds of child soldiers in its armed forces and has failed to cooperate with the UN in setting up a formal demobilization plan. Some army commanders have even actively blocked efforts to demobilize children from their units. Officers known to recruit child soldiers, including Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, have been promoted and serve openly in the army’s command.
In Yemen, as recently as August, Human Rights Watch observed child soldiers serving with the Central Security, an elite paramilitary unit, and General Security, a police force in Sanaa. Human Rights Watch also observed child soldiers as recently as August among the ranks of the army’s First Armored Division, which defected to the opposition in March. First Armored Division officers told Human Rights Watch that while the unit was still aligned with the government, it had recruited children who were 15 years old and even younger. This year, the State Department has requested US$35 million in foreign military financing for Yemen. Despite ongoing volatility in Yemen that puts children at continuing risk of recruitment, the White House issued a full waiver for the funds, with no conditions.
President Obama excuses these waivers by claiming that the countries were “on notice” and needed time to address their child soldiers problem. The only effective course of action the US government can take towards eliminating the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, military participation and labor exploitation is to withhold any assistance afforded to these countries until they've successfully abolished the use and exploitation of innocent children who are robbed of their childhood.
Please follow or copy and paste the link bellow and tell the President to stop killing children.
http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-stop-killing-children
Thank you
Caleb
By:
calebforaction
Age:
26-30
,
Male
