atrocities

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire says ‘NO to War in Syria’

History Lessons in Armenia and Azerbaijan

Learn more about the history of Armenia and Azerbaijan (click here for information and purchase)

Stephen Rapp: Preventing Genocide

Read more about genocide (click here for more information and purchase)

The City is No More

House in Vukovar after Occupation

Highest Number of Conscripted Child Soldiers: Myanmar

A 12-year-old soldier in the Karen rebel army
REUTERS/Jason Reed

Myanmar has the highest number of forcibly conscripted child soldiers in the world, rights activists say. The government is attacking ethnic Karen minority villages forcing many thousands to flee. Refugees say the military has shot children.
  • Some 70,000 children make up a fifth of Myanmar's army (Human Rights Watch).
  • Many have been forced to commit atrocities against ethnic minorities (HRW).
  • Rebel groups are also accused of recruiting child fighters.
  • Children and teenagers are used for forced labour and portering.
  • Thousands of children are living as refugees in Thailand, India and Bangladesh.
  • Many others are hiding in the jungle with no food after fleeing attacks.
"I have no idea where my parents are now."

Dang, 18, now living in a camp after escaping an army raid on his village.

Child Soldiers and Project AK-47 
Project: AK-47 is a team of people who are always ready to invade the next hopeless situation for children in armed conflict. Our staff members on the ground are nationals who are committed to rescuing and restoring the lives of children who otherwise would only know lives of violence and exploitation. We also do a fair share of raising awareness and advocacy for these children, but we don't stop there. We can't stop there. And we hope that you won't either.

Chile, 1553

 Spanish Atrocities

Spanish abuses against the indigenous population became so numerous and ghastly that even the Spanish king became shocked.  The priests profited from enforced labor, and the conquistadors killed and maimed far beyond what was needed for military reasons.


Araucanian Victory

Lautaro, Chief of the Araucanians


It’s Christmas Day and Pedro de Valdivia wants presents of concubines and slaves to replace the encomienda Indians decimated by forced labor, mistreatment, and smallpox.  Lautaro, chief of the Araucanians, used to be Valdivia’s page.  While attending to Valdivia’s needs, he has also served the needs of his people by learning Spanish military tactics and their weaknesses.  Ingeniously, the Araucanians have tipped their lances with Spanish swords; they wear helmets and vests made of sealskin and whalebone.  They try to fight in the rain to make it difficult for the Spaniards to light the fuses of their arquebuses.

Lautaro lures Valdivia and his fifty men into a trap.  No Spaniard survives.  Some say Valdivia died in battle, his severed head on the tip of an Araucanian lance made of metal forged in Seville.  Other say the Araucanians poured molten gold down his throat because that’s what he thirsted for so badly.  Still others say it was Araucanian soil that filled his stomach until he burst.  No matter.  Whichever is true, he received in death exactly what he lusted for in life, some say what he deserved.

 

See Brian Loveman, Chile, 53; Eduardo Galeano, Memories of Fire: Genesis, 119-120