MindMap Gallery Lebanon Civil War - The South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Child Recruitment
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Lebanon Civil War - The South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Child Recruitment
Lebanon Civil War - The South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Child Recruitment
Edited at 2021-04-14 06:21:30
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Lebanon Civil War The South Lebanon Army (SLA) and child recruitment
Parts involved
Lebanon
Maronite Christians
Maronite Christian militiasagainst Sunni and Druze militias and their Palestinian allies in the PalestineLiberation Organization
“Free Lebanon” militia
SLA
Sunni
South Lebanon Army (SLA),
Shi’a Muslims
Druze
Syria
Israel
Cause
Each of the groups had built up their own power bases and militias outsidethe weak central state and the arrival of further Sunnis, in the form of Palestinianrefugees in 1948 and 1970.
uneasy balance.
Syrian Involvement
Syria responded with a major offensive and thedispatch of troops around most of northern and central Lebanon
Benefits
initial stability
Detriments
regionalize theconflict, notably in the south, where Israel began to take a far greater interest inLebanese affairs
Consequences
Under continued internationalpressure, Syria withdrew all of its military forces from Lebanon in 2005.
Israeli Involvement
Operation Litani 1978
its first major militaryoffensive in Lebanon
Purpose
an effort to drive Palestinian militants back from the borderand keep Syrian influence at bay.
pulled back its forces in 1985 but continued to occupy a 'security zone'
Israel's inability to either secure the border or defeat itsopponents eventually led to its withdrawal in 2000
Consequences
Hizbullah remained the sole militant group from the civil war era
Israel continued to keep between1,000 and 3,000 of its own troops in Lebanon, working alongside the SLA, althoughthe SLA bore the brunt of frontline duties and casualties
SLA
Purpose
preserve or defend what it sawas the national character of Lebanon, namely the pre-war character where Christiansheld the most important positions in a confessional system of government.
CHILD SOLDIERS
carrying out Israel’sobjectives in South Lebanon
” to prevent attacks on Israel by Palestinian militantsand (after their expulsion) by Hizbullah
3,000 fighters at its peak
“self-regulating” guidelines
“They [the Israelis] didn’t want children”- pragmatic considerations than amoral position, since some children were able to remain with the group while othersleft the organization
Limited dealings with IOs ans NGOs
CHILD SOLDIERS
Requirement: 'bear arms'
150-200 minors/1500 soldiers
14yo
some members received up to US$ 600 per month
belonging to the group brought many benefits to membersand their relatives, including having access to jobs and healthcare in Israel.
'necessity, given limited manpower'
mid-1980s
a more formal system ofrecruitment came into place
1990s
the SLA returned to forcible recruitment of adults and children to maintain troop numbers, as it had done in the late 1970s
“all hands on deck” than systematic policy
1984-1986
17 - the minimum age ofrecruitment
IOs and NGOs involvement
Israel blocked ICRC access to prisons underSLA control between 1985 and 1995
ICRC
israel and SLA failed to “respect international humanitarian law"
Consequences
With Israel onside it had limited impact on SLA
the SLA felt in the conflict “betrayed” by the international community andthat it had no obligations to anyone except to some members of the LebaneseChristian leadership in Beirut and to Israel.
Human Rights Watch
child recruitment as a major concern inits reports on South Lebanon
children as victims of attacks by the SLA and Israeli forces
campaigning for allsides to respect the protected status of civilians
presented the problem of 'forcible child recruitment'
LATE RESPONSE FROM NGOs
lNGOs focused their attention on the issue of childrecruitment by the SLA at a relatively late stage in the conflict, when Israel was closeto withdrawing its troops from the area and when the SLA itself was in disarray
Stopping child recruitment and use
Failures
key political powers at that time to take effective actionagainst serious human rights violations
hold Israel to account
limitedexternal access to South Lebanon by governmental and non-governmentalorganizations
international NGOs missedan opportunity to campaign and take action against child recruitment
Impact
the international humanitarian community had very little impact on events in the SLA