by Tracy Lee

When Robert Young visited a prison which held former child soldiers awaiting trial in a country ravaged by armed conflict, a particular moment struck a chord in him as he met a 16-year-old who, in a confessional sort of way, unloaded some of his war experiences.

"I told him, look you don't have to tell me this," Young, who is a legal advisor and deputy head of the delegation for the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to the United Nations, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview, explaining that due to confidentiality agreements, he couldn't go into specifics, such as the location of the prison or the crimes the 16-year-old had committed.

"It was almost as if he wanted to almost confess or get it off his chest because he knew it was wrong," he said. "He was old enough to appreciate that but he was one kid who really lost his childhood."

Ripped from their families in war zones, children as young as eight are increasingly being pulled from their communities and forcibly recruited as soldiers -- as well as becoming victims of war.

"It struck me that this was just an incredible injustice that these people had their childhood stolen from them," Young said of his encounter with former child soldiers who are still detained waiting to stand trial.

In his current capacity, Young has extensive experience both on and off the field concerning the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. Approached by civilians caught in the battlefields of strife, as well as actors on both sides of conflict-ravaged areas, Young works to ensure that humanitarian law is applied as a field reality.

On why the 16-year-old became a child solider, Young said it was "partly to help his family, partly under pressure."

Like thousands of other children, this young boy was forced into fighting after armed groups applied pressure on the community and families to "make their kids available," said Young.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 300,000 children have been forcibly recruited into armed forces or other armed groups in 30 countries.

SHATTERED COMMUNITIES

"Once communities break down because of fighting, those children are less protected," Young said.

Young recalled another moment when a mother came to his office asking the ICRC for help in protecting her 15-year-old son from being recruited by local armed groups. She had already lost her eldest son, who was recruited several years ago and has not been seen since.

"I hope he's alive but I don't know," Young recalled the mother telling him. The mother now fears for the safety of her younger child.

Especially in developing countries, the vulnerabilities that people already have there are "magnified" in armed conflicts, said Young. He noted that in the case of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps, the solidarity of the community becomes "shattered."

With the protective umbrella broken, kids are easily lured by armed groups.

With forced recruitment being used as a means of terror, in combination with blackmail, children are left with no other choice as their childhood becomes stripped away once they enter the war zone. Easily manipulated and abused, these child soldiers become psychologically infused with the sentiments of the armed group that has recruited them. They are forced into a horrific life as they become spies, messengers, sexual slaves, and sometimes even human mine detectors.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY FACTOR

According to the 2001 Global Report by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, it is estimated that more than 300,000 children under 18 may be actively participating in armed conflicts worldwide, while there are hundreds of thousands more enrolled in armed conflicts in countries not currently involved in armed conflicts.

The ICRC tries to establish face-to-face contact where they work to "establish some repertoire in relationship of trust with those who are bearing arms and try to bring the Geneva Conventions down into their world and into their reality," said Young.

The rules regarding the vulnerability of children give them special protection under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as well as the Additional Protocols of 1977. For children that take part in direct hostilities, their special protection is not lost where the Additional Protocols explicitly prohibits recruitment and participation either in direct or indirect hostilities by children who are under 15 years of age.

Under the Stature of the International Criminal Court, it is a war crime to conscript or enlist children under the age of 15 years.

"Part of the puzzle" in armed conflicts, said Young, is getting the core principles of the Geneva Conventions out to wider populations to prevent further atrocities to children.

Suffering deep psychological scaring on the field, child soldiers are caught between innocence and adulthood -- carrying a head full of traumatic visions from the battlefield. Unable to escape these images and adulthood forever changed, former child soldiers are left with their own voice as they confront the events of the conflicts they were a part of.

Reintegration can be met with stigmatization from the community and even from their own families. In helping with the healing process, the ICRC provides counseling and educational programs that allow former child soldiers "to understand and come to terms to what happened to them," said Young.

When asked how his encounter with former child soldiers impacted him, Young replied that, "as an adult, it makes you feel like, we're not doing enough for these kids�� that we're really letting them down."

"Their families, their communities haven't been able to protect them and the rest of us aren't doing enough," he added.