Easy Prey: Child Soldiers in Liberia

Children who have been used as soldiers are among the most tragic victims of the war in Liberia.¹ Although international law forbids the use of children under the age of fifteen as soldiers, many thousands of children have been involved in the fighting.² The main rebel forces, Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and the United Liberian Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO),³ have consistently used children under the age of eighteen, including thousands of children under fifteen. Children under fifteen are reportedly used by the other warring factions that have recently emerged. By all accounts, the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), the troops loyal to the former government of Samuel K. Doe, have not used people younger than eighteen as soldiers during the five-year civil war; however, the AFL has committed egregious offenses against children during the war.

Key wordschildren and mental health / children in armed conflict / violence against children

CountriesGlobal

CategoryPublication