PREVENTING UNDERAGE FIGHTERS (BROLL)

Independent Films, Documentaries, Politics
by NATO Channel

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949.

NATO constitutes a system of collective defense in response to an attack by any external party.

The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium. The UN and international human rights groups have stated that insurgent groups have used children in combat, including as suicide bombers. Some of these children, pardoned by President Karzai, speak about their experiences. Meanwhile, the Afghan National Police are working with UNAMA on a campaign to increase awareness about underage recruitment

Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

1 (00:00) SHOWS VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT KARZAI MEETING WOULD-BE CHILD SUICIDE BOMBERS
2 (00:54) SHOWS VARIOUS OF AFGHAN CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
3 (01:09) SHOWS VARIOUS OF AFGHAN CHILDREN
4 (01:38) SHOWS VARIOUS OF MEETING BETWEEN AFGHAN NATIONAL POLICE AND UNAMA ABOUT UNDERAGE RECRUITMENT AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
5 (02:05) Soundbite, Young Boy (DARI)

“The Taliban gave me a suicide vest and a weapon and some other people there told me to go to the PRT. When I went there, they told me to go to the Americans. When I saw the soldiers at the gate, I surrendered myself to them.”

6 (02:22) Soundbite, Small boy (DARI)

“I went to the shop and when I came out of the shop, they got me and put me in the car and we traveled and traveled and when we reached the border, I surrendered to a soldier.

7 (02:32) Soundbite, Dee Brillenburg Wurth, Child Protection Advisor, UNAMA (ENGLISH)

“It's very attractive for armed groups to have children – that's why there are so many in the world.They're very easy to manipulate, they're scared of nothing, they're small, they're fast, they look innocent, so people won't suspect them so quickly.”

“Many children have falsified ID cards to join the ANP and we've given 150 people training on how to assess that somebody is not yet eighteen even though his ID card says so.”

8 (03:00) Soundbite, Lt Gen M.Ayoub Salangi, Kabul Police Chief (DARI)

“I cannot express my feelings…. It is the biggest persecution that they are doing to our people, our children, our history and our country Afghanistan.”

“They have to guide the youths of Afghanistan to education and into schools and not use them as suicide bombers. Firstly this kid will lose his life and secondly his family will be devastated. And the majority of our people will be also injured, killed and then their family, friends and relative will be hurt too.”

9 (03:56) Soundbite, General Carsten Jacobson, ISAF Spokesperson (ENGLISH)

“The Taliban are killing more than 80% of the civilians that perish in this conflict through direct action. I arrived here in June and one of the first news that I read was an 8-year-old girl where Taliban put an explosive into her plastic bag, sent her to the police car. It was my introduction to Afghanistan and it hurt me deeply that children are abused in this way.”

10 (04:31) Soundbite, Colonel Sayed Omar Saboor, Deputy Director of Gender, Human Rights and Children. (DARI)

“When an Afghan National Policeman wants to drink a cup of tea, they'll see this message, that we should not recruit kids under eighteen.”

License

PREVENTING UNDERAGE FIGHTERS (BROLL) by NATOChannel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

About the author

NATO Channel

For the official website, visit http://www.natochannel.tv. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defense in response to an attack by any external party. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.