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I would like you to give a message. Please do your best to tell the world what is happening
to us, the children. So that other children don't have to pass through this violence."

The 15-year-old girl who ended an interview to Amnesty International with this plea was
forcibly abducted at night from her home by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an armed
opposition movement fighting the Ugandan Government. She was made to kill a boy who
tried to escape. She saw another boy being hacked to death for not raising the alarm when
a friend ran away. She was beaten when she dropped a water container and ran for cover
under gunfire. She received 35 days of military training and was sent to fight the
government army.
The use of children as soldiers has been universally condemned as abhorrent and
unacceptable. Yet over the last ten years hundreds of thousands of children have fought
and died in conflicts around the world.
Children involved in armed conflict are frequently killed or injured during combat or while
carrying out other tasks. They are forced to engage in hazardous activities such as laying
mines or explosives, as well as using weapons. Child soldiers are usually forced to live
under harsh conditions with insufficient food and little or no access to healthcare. They are
almost always treated brutally, subjected to beatings and humiliating treatment.
Punishments for mistakes or desertion are often very severe. Girl soldiers are particularly
at risk of rape, sexual harassment and abuse as well as being involved in combat and other
tasks.