- During the militarization processes, serious violations of the human rights of children are registered, such as: murders, torture, sexual assaults, forced disappearances, imprisonment and recruitment.
- Young people in greater conditions of vulnerability due to their ethnic or racial origin and their geographical situation are mostly prey to the “easy trigger”.
- Experts make a call for peacebuilding, as established by international instruments.
Armed violence is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon related to high rates of inequality and exclusion, as well as institutional and structural limitations, such as poor governance, weak rule of law, ineffective application of security strategies and high levels of impunity (UNICEF, 2020). Militarization in Latin American countries has led to an increase in serious human rights violations, based on an analysis of the recommendations issued by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) in Mexico, it appears that 2 out of 3 human rights violations they are committed by the Army or Navy.
During the Webinar How does armed violence and militarization affect girls, boys and adolescents? summoned by Weaving Childhood Networks for Latin America and the Caribbean, Juan Martín Pérez, Coordinator of the Initiative recalled that militarization occurs in various areas of Latin America, despite changes in administrations. Regarding the military functions performed by citizens, he mentioned the following: “The service and work performed by the military is an honorable job, but unfortunately there are those who have been involved in human rights violations; We are not against the military, they are part of our States, therefore, militarization is a complex phenomenon that requires deep analysis and context to understand its impact on society ”.
Another participant was Raymundo Ramos from the Nuevo Laredo, Mexico Human Rights Committee. He pointed out that militarization can be understood as a failure of public security in the fight against organized crime, that previous governments, as well as the current executive in Mexico, have given unprecedented recognition to the military forces to carry out their government plans. . “The militarization that governments have sold us is colored pink, but activists place it in red, after years of work, documenting thousands of cases of abuse and human rights violations such as arbitrary executions, sexual abuse, forced disappearances and corruption, where children are also the target of these attacks ”, He said.
For her part, Julia Castellanos, Coordinator of the Childhood and Armed Conflict Observatory, "Coalico" in Colombia, assured that one of the most serious phenomena that affect children during militarization is recruitment, either to participate in activities related to use of arms or in auxiliary activities in favor of the armed group. "During this pandemic year, due to the closure of schools and the increase in violence in the home, unfortunately the number of children recruited to join armed groups has risen."
In the opinion of Juan Martín Pérez, military policies are being imposed on civic and community police tasks, through harsh narratives that fracture the life projects of millions of children in the region.
Gustavo Gallo, lawyer and Defender of Children's Rights in Argentina, referred to the term “easy trigger”, which refers to the abusive use of firearms by the security forces, as an action of legitimate defense, of which there are records of approximately 400 cases, only during the last year, without access to justice. He mentioned that young people are most vulnerable to these crimes, especially when they are in marginalized conditions due to their ethnic origin or geographical situation.
Nicol, a young activist for children's rights in Colombia, emphasized the stigma and rejection that young Colombians face, just for the fact of living in that region. Likewise, he stressed that these aspects of discrimination affect psychologically and emotionally both girls, boys, adolescents, as well as young people.
As a way out of the road, given the constant violations of children's rights, with impacts in the short, medium and long term in the development of their life projects, Juan Martín Pérez, said that it is necessary not to polarize the issue of militarization, rather to find nuances and, on the contrary, to work in the construction of territories of peace, through the organization of the children themselves and if necessary with the accompaniment of civil society.
As final conclusions, the speciesists agreed that it is necessary to rethink the strategy and through mobilization, awareness and peace, go in the opposite direction to permanent militarization in Latin American countries, giving children a space for expression and listening. adolescents so that they are the ones who reach the hearts of governments and the military, putting a brake on armed violence. Placing children as subjects of law and not only of protection, enforcing and materializing public policies and international instruments on child protection, for example, rethinking the budget allocated to the armed forces, for the benefit of girls, boys and adolescents .
Exclusively, during today's broadcast, the documentary "Displaced persons and armed conflict in Aldama and Chenalhó" was presented by Cultural Winds Tv, which addresses the situation of vulnerability that girls and boys live in the south of the Mexican Republic, in an area disputed by armed conflicts. Look it here:
We add a gallery of images of the documentary:
If you would like more information on this topic, please request an interview with Juan Martín Pérez, Regional Coordinator of the Initiative Weaving Childhood Networks for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The broadcast of this program is available here:
Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
About:
Ollin.TV is an Internet television channel created as part of Weaving Childhood Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative co-financed by the European Union, which seeks to contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of a platform for the defense of children and adolescents in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of Children's Rights Mexico AC / Weaving Childhood Networks and in no case should it consider that it reflects the views of the European Union.
Press contact: Alejandra Gallardo / +52 1 55512916363 or public [email protected]