![]() ![]() If deemed necessary, they can be prosecuted under international law with factors like age and forced conscription taken into consideration. Without a doubt, some children did carry out heinous acts of torture and murder on behalf of the group. Now, as ISIS crumbles and its cubs are released, these children lie in purgatory as the world decides if they are victims or perpetrators. After training completion, the group deployed children based on their performance during ISIS’s “core curriculum.” Those perceived as less talented-and therefore expendable-were most often chosen to carry out suicide attacks.Ĭurrent treatment of child soldiers in Iraq They learned how to “use light and medium weaponry, shoot, dismantle and reassemble weapons, go on raids using live ammunition, and do other tasks for the group, such as logistics, spying, guard duties, manning checkpoints, and forced labor.” Youth recruited without attending ISIS schools underwent courses at so-called sharia camps, where they received intensive indoctrination and physical endurance training. After “going through the system” of established ISIS pedagogical institutions, children were forcibly conscripted into the group and received combat training at specialized centers. The extensive control and government-like presence of ISIS facilitated a system of schools and training centers that divided children into groups and subjected them to Islamic education tailored for the indoctrination of extremist values and continued exposure to violent propaganda. The organization’s recruitment processes relied heavily on institutionalized systems. With a young mindset manipulated, indoctrinated children found little trouble with the ideologies of ISIS. The endemic dissemination of ISIS propaganda not only desensitized children to brutal acts of violence but also normalized such violent measures as means for dealing with enemy “infidels.” Children as young as three even appeared in beheading and execution videos-sometimes, as the executioner. In Iraq, frequent exposure to violence from an early age facilitated the recruitment process. A child’s family member or friend joined ISIS and spoke highly of bravery and power. Some cubs entered the lion’s den without the need for direct recruitment. ![]() Recruiters also coerced them through deception and manipulation, often making false promises of compensation or payment. Most significantly, the organization perpetrated mass abductions of children. Utilizing the same tactics as other militant and terrorist organizations, ISIS recruited children through three primary mechanisms. ISIS called them the “Cubs of the Caliphate”-the army of the future.ĭue to their malleability, children are a frequently exploited strategic source of manpower. Children donned suicide belts and marched to the front lines as human shields. In place of candy, they doled out Captagon pills, an amphetamine used to dull fear and embolden those who consume it. ISIS members molded their trauma and vulnerability into obedience and rage. In the aftermath, ISIS militants whispered in the children’s ears the indisputable justification for their suffering: they were not believers.Ībducted, coerced, or manipulated, these children were herded like cattle to education and training centers. Adult members separated children from their families, at times exposing them to the brutal murder of their parents. What becomes of this boy and the thousands like him in Iraq as the terrorist organization that enlisted him turns to rubble? Over its lifespan, the recruitment of male child soldiers became an integral component of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) operations. In the space between the tawny brown desert and the crystal blue sky, a boy wears a secondhand military uniform two sizes too big-his small hands gripping a gun taller than his body. What becomes of the ‘Cubs of the Caliphate’ in Iraq? ![]()
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