Children in conflicts as victims and perpetrators? Reassessing the debate on child soldiers in light of the involvement of children with terrorist groups
Intra-party sexual crimes against child soldiers as war crimes in Ntaganda. ‘Tadić moment’ or unwarranted exercise of judicial activism?
1. Introduction Consideration of the especially pernicious consequences of armed conflicts on the life, health and socio-economic conditions of children has elicited a vast literature in diverse fields of social sciences in recent years. International law, and particularly international humanitarian law (IHL), has been at the center of this discussion in light of the pertinent...
The children (and wives) of foreign ISIS fighters: Which obligations upon the States of nationality?
1. Introduction The presence of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) in Syria and Iraq triggers a number of questions that States, individually and collectively, do not seem equipped and/or willing to address. One of the most problematic aspects is represented by the claim, eloquently summarized in a famous tweet from President Trump, that there exists an...
War Crimes relating to child soldiers and other children that are otherwise associated with armed groups in situations of non-international armed conflict. An incremental step toward a coherent legal framework?
1. Introduction This essay will explore how a legal and conceptual framework on child soldiers can be built on the loose coordination of different fields of international law, such as international humanitarian law (IHL), international human rights law (IHRL), and international criminal law. It will analyse how effectively such a ‘legal patchwork’ can meet the...
Children associated with terrorist groups in the context of the legal framework for child soldiers
1. Introduction The high profile case of nineteen-year-old Shamima Begum, who ran away from her home in London when she was fifteen to join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and was discovered, heavily pregnant, in a camp for internally displaced persons in early 2019, refocused attention on the issue of children who join terrorist...
