[USP 1996] Across the developing world, images...

75 USP 1996 - Inglês

Across the developing world, images of wild-eyed children and haggard teenagers firing assault rifles or shouldering grenade launchers have become as commonplace as the smell of cordite. Look closely at the ethnic armies of Central Asia, examine the rebel militias in the African bush, and you’ll find children. You’ll find them in the ranks, on the barricades and, with heart-rending frequency, in hospital beds and in hastily dug battefield graves. International conventions are supposed to bar anyone under the age of 15 from serving in combat. But that hasn’t stopped either governments or rebels in Africa, Asia and Latin America from routinely rounding up children for military duty...

Call them what you will. Boy soldiers, child warriors, kid militiamen.

(Newsweek, August 7, 1995)

Wild-eyed = appearing or being furious, radical, visionary

Haggard = intractable, violent, suffering, anxious

Cordite = a kind of explosive

Heart-rending = heart-breaking

The text states that:

Children can be found in the ranks, on the barricades, yet seldom in hospital beds and battlefield graves.

Children are rounded up by governments and rebels to become fighters, which violates international conventions.

Children under the age of 15 who go to war are often barred from serving in combat.

Hardly anybody forces children to bear arms, since this would be a violation of international conventions.

International conventions bar anyone under 15 from serving in combat, but some countries are not supposed to obey them.