Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court on Child Soldiers: Promoting Impunity?

Zinabu, Abreha Mesele (2014) Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court on Child Soldiers: Promoting Impunity? Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the issues of jurisdiction of the ICC on child soldiers with respect to war crimes potentially or actually committed by children between the age of fifteen and eighteen during armed conflicts. It examines the legal frameworks governing child soldiers particularly the ICC Rome Statute and see if there exists impunity under the ICC regime. After a thorough examination on the images of child soldiers in different international human rights instruments, a cross reference is drawn to the ICC Rome Statute on its implication of exclusion of jurisdiction to child soldiers or jurisdictional limitation. The definition of children as every person below eighteen years of age, in most of the international human rights instruments, is creating a misleading concept on the issues of criminal culpability for criminal accountability for serious violations of human rights. Most, if not all international human rights instruments imagined children as innocent victims needing only legal and humanitarian protection. However, this imagination is implausible to all sorts of children because children can be classified as infants, young and adolescents where the criminal culpability hugely so differs. Hence, a mechanism must be figured out for those persons between the age of fifteen and eighteen for their criminal accountability in the ICC Rome Statute for serious human rights violations during armed conflicts. This is because children in this age group are allowed to participate in armed conflicts in cases of emancipation, military schools or voluntarily in the CRC and CRC Optional Protocol. Holding accountable for serious violations of human rights for persons in this age group reinforce the reintegration, demobilization, disbarment, rehabilitation, and reconciliation of child soldiers into the society for normal and constructive civil life. This can be realized by introducing a sort of criminal accountability suitable for these categories of persons like restorative justice, TRC and others in the normal theories of criminal punishments. The punitive criminal punishments can harm children in these age groups but it is possible to introduce what I call restorative responsibility in order to fight against impunity and bring about sustainable justice and social cohesion for lasting peace. Incidentally however, the issue of child soldiers and its implications are also seen in birds eye view manner in Ethiopia though not part to the ICC Rome Statute to see other grounds where the ICC can embark upon Ethiopia through the UNSC referral, ratifying State referral and other means.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JX International law U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	24 May 2018 12:46
Last Modified:	24 May 2018 12:46
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/4042

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