you zhen_9x_humanities child soldiers biography

8/3/2019 You Zhen_9X_Humanities Child Soldiers Biography

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The following writing is translated from Burmese to English. The document was

recovered from a jail in a devastated war zone in Burma. The document was

badly burnt and only a small part of it was decipherable. The Human Rights

Watch is responsible for printing this out and spreading it all over the world to

show them how horrible life can be in Myanmar when you are a child.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Life in Peace.

12 December 2010

I felt something land on my nose. I brushed it away, trying to sleep. But

whatever it was, it was extremely persistent and landed on my cheek again. I

tried to ignore it but my cheek grew itchy. I finally gave up while the mosquitobuzzed in victory, but not for long. I clapped my hands and it got crushed. I

brushed it off and sat up. I looked around and saw my sister, Cho Mya Thida

(Sweet Emerald Water), lying beside me, sound asleep. I smiled and pecked her

lightly on her cheek. She raised her hand subconsciously and brushed me away.

My sister and I were extremely close. I then stood up and walked around my

room. I have never been this up early before so I decided to see how my place

looked at this time in the morning.

I walked around the room, using my hands to make sense of the way. I felt

my way to the exit and grabbed a small torch. I flipped the switch on and walked

along the pathway. There was a faint glimmer of sunlight near the horizon was asred as a red spinel. My mum owns one, passing down from her family through

generations and generations. After admiring the beautiful sunrise, I took a walk

down to the forest I always visit. Giant emerald trees surround and droop over

me, as if welcoming me towards them. I never realised the forest this early in the

morning could be so beautiful. They enveloped me and all I somehow feel

protected by them. I explored further into the woods and then discovered how

beautiful nature can be. I hear the birds singing everywhere, grasshoppers

chirping and leaves rustling. This is as if nature itself is composing a melody. I sit

down and close my eyes, letting myself drift amongst the music.

I suddenly snap my eyes open. I just realised that if I want to continue

exploring, Im wasting my time by just lying down and listening. So I hurriedalong the pathway, examining every single little detail of this wonderful creation,

until my mum shouted my name.

Khine Chankrisna (Firm Tree)! Come back now! Your breakfast is getting cold!

shouted my mum, Thant Kyi Nanda (Clean Clear River). I took one last glance at

the forest, wishing I could stay, and then sprinted back to my house.

When I reached home, I was panting.

My mum asked me why I was up so early so I an swered her To see my home like

Ive never seen it before. I dont think she understood me. But never mind, Iwanted to keep this secret to myself. After a moment of consideration, I decided I


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am going to bring my sister to see this tomorrow. She will be truly amazed by the

amazing scenery and music the forest creates. My mum cooked us rice noodles

with pork (Kyay Oh) for breakfast. I am considered extremely lucky because my

father is in good relations with the people in my village, so we get our pork with

discount. We always use pork because of this saying:A thee ma, thayet; a thar

ma, wet; a ywet ma, lahpet (Of all the fruit, the mangos the best; of all the meat,the porks the best; of all the leaves, lahpets the best).My family is poor, Ill admit

that, but we live an extremely happy and peaceful life. We ate until we were full

then we were gone to work. I cant go to secondary school because my parentscant afford it. I went to primary school because it was compulsory. Now, I haveto work with my dad to gain more profit. It was 5 in the morning and I started to

help my dad with farming and catching fishes. We first set up a net in the river

and went to work in the paddy field. We were ploughing the soil and collecting

grains from wheat. It was hard work and we dont get a lot of profit, butwe stillenjoy our simple life. After we ploughed new lands, we would walk through rows

and collect ripe grains and sell it to someone. It was hot and tiring, but we

enjoyed it. The wheat were waving back and forth, as if welcoming us into them.

We would then eat lunch (which is more rice noodles) and get back to the paddy

field to work in order to get more profit. During the evening, we would go to the

freshwater river and collect the fishes caught. We would bring up the net from

the river and carry it to the shore. We would then put the fishes caught in several

buckets and well carry it home. We often catch a lot of fish and we will sell themat a reasonable price, to ensure that people keep buying them.

At night after we eat dinner, I usually talk with my friends and play with

them for a little while. But this time, I lied on the grass and looked at the stars.

The stars shine so bright and they make me feel so happy, being able to see themis like a wish granted. After lying outside for about half an hour, in absolute

silence except of the harmony of crickets, I stood up and walked back to my

house. I entered my room and lay down in my bed, waiting for the next day to

come and hoping to see the forest again.

*Human Rights Watch found this sketch lying inside the diary.


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The Unexpected Turn.

13 December 2010

I dont know what Ive done wrong. So many bad things happened to me

today. I feel as if Ive done something extremely terrible and someone wants toexact vengeance on me. This morning, I heard footsteps and I woke up. I woke

my sister up and we hurried to my parents room. All I had in time to grab wasthis diary and a few pencils. Suddenly, we heard screams and people shouting.

We also heard loud bangs, which we assumed were gunfire. I was so shocked I

collapsed and hit the ground. My sister helped me up and we kept on running.

We saw our parents on the way to their room and they told us that the army was

here. I was confused, thinking why would the army capture or kill us. Ive never

seen my dad so scared, and from what I know, he is a very fearless man. We

sprinted down the hallways and exited through the backdoor. But luck was not

on our side, we saw two soldiers and one child carrying guns, patrolling all the

back doors. We bumped right into them.

DOWN ON YOUR KNEES! NOW! the first soldier shouted at us as hecocked his gun upwards and pointed towards us. We immediately kneeled down

to the grass and put our hands behind our heads.

The second soldier spat his cigarette out and said, Were bringing these twochildren to be part of this country. If any of you follows us, we will shoot you in

the head.

My mum and dad immediately rejected them and started to protest. The soldier

raised his gun and I heard a click. This click immediately shuts my parents up.

They started to drag us and we kicked and protested and started screaming. Themoment they heard us screaming they raised their gun and shot my mum. I could

never forget that moment. Her eyes went wide and a hole appeared out of

nowhere. It seemed that all life was sucked away from that hole. All was

suddenly silent and time seemed to slow down. My sister opened her mouth but

no sound came out, and suddenly, everything started to come back to my senses.

I heard gunfire, saw people getting dragged away while screaming, smelled

houses burning and looked at death right in its eyes. I felt a rush of blood to my

head as I heard my sister scream NO!. I looked up, summoned up what energy I

had left and screamed with my sister at the soldiers.

I shouted with rage, and they shouted back: SEE WHAT YOU DID TO YOUR

B**CH MOTHER? IF YOU WONT SHUT UP, ILL SHOOT YOUR B*ST*RD DAD

TOO! When they said this, we immediately stopped shouting. But dad was veryangry, he lashed out at them, attempting to punch and kick him. That was a

horrible, horrible mistake. The soldiers grabbed him and held him back. They

then instructed the child soldier to shoot our dad. The child looked up properly,

and I saw his face clearer this time. I saw that it was full of scars and his life

depicts sadness. He raised his hand, trembling violently. He said sorry to both of

us, so that only we could hear him. He fired and my sister and I let out a NO!

There was a hole right in the middle of my dads head. A look of surprise andterror was imprinted across his face. The soldiers then threw him on the ground

and laughed hysterically. The child just looked down, tears silently drippingdown his face. The soldiers then told him to drink my dads blood to overcome


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his fear of killing people. They forced his head down and he gulped m y dads

blood. I couldnt stand this horrific sight and looked away. After they let him goand I saw tears mixed with blood leaking down his face. My sister and I bit our

lips, whimpering with tears streaming down our faces. We know that if we said

anything, we will get shot. I wanted to say something, to give up this life but I

know my sister would be in hardships if I didnt survive. Heck, if Im not sure ifIll even survive if those soldiers do anything to me. I looked at the child soldier

in the eyes and I saw him staring at us then quickly looking away when he saw

me looking at him. He was around my age, and he looked as if trying to do

something to help us but something was restraining him.

The soldiers tied us up and stuffed cloths in our mouths. We did

everything they said, and climbed up to the back of a green truck. We saw other

kids being forced to climb on the truck, each of them either hurt or crying. I tried

to bring myself to encourage them but I couldnt even bring to myself that my

parents were dead. So I looked down and didnt say a word for the whole trip tosomewhere somewhere that I presume would be exactly like hell. On the waythere, the soldiers were talking and laughing. Someone broke out into a sob and

one soldier yelled at him to shut up and pointed the gun at him. He tried to stop

crying and turned into a whimper. The soldier then fired the shot and laughed

hysterically. I then learnt that the soldier was a general, with lots of colourful

badges and a big green cap. He spat on the body of the child and threw him off

the truck. I gingerly looked up and saw the body rolling off the road. These

people disgusted me. Im not even sure if theyre human. Their act like the devils,

and I even saw the soldiers forcing one of the child soldier to drink one of the

victims blood. I felt sick, and just the mere appearance of these soldiers made

me want to puke.

It was evening when we reached the base. Barbed fences surrounded the

whole army complex, which was filled with gigantic buildings. The soldiers

shoved us all off the truck and huddled us into a group. Some of them spat in our

faces and we had to take it without a word. If we showed any face expression or a

twitch, they will use their cigarettes and burn our hands. Girls and boys were

separated into different groups. I tried to cling on to my sister but they pulled us

apart and we had to follow them. I was led to a jail cell.

There, they asked us: Do you want to join the army or not? Many of us said no,

and they locked us in a cell, whipping us with a whip as we go.

They then said: Well come back to you tomorrow morning and see if you agree

to join or not. If you disagree, you will suffer worse consequences. Once theysaid that, quite a few of us immediately agree to join the army, including me

since we have no choice. They then unlocked the people who agreed to join from

the cage. I was shoved into a person with a form. There we were forced to write

down our names and personal details. A soldier looked at mine and spat my face,

then laughed. We were then instructed to make an oath where if we started to

rebel from the army, they will kill us as an act of God. He then instructed me to

grab a whip. I took one reluctantly and he opened the jail door. He told me to

step inside and whip those who denied joining the army. I took one step forward,

hands and legs shaking, and raised the whip. The boys were pleading to me to


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not hit them, but I had no choice. I was so scared. I lashed out at them and they

screamed, crying and begging me to stop.

The soldier was laughing and said: Not bad, not bad. Harder! Hit them harder!

This is what they deserve if they dare to deny joining the army! Hit them until

they die! I raised the whip again, and lashed at them again and again. Scars were

appearing on their body with deep cuts. Blood was spilling everywhere. I criedand begged to the soldier to let us go, but he just kept telling me to keep

whipping them. I kept hitting until one of the boys lay motionless on the ground.

I told the soldier that he stopped moving and he went over to pull him off the

ground. He checked the boys pulse and he announced that the boy was dead.The soldier dragged the boy out and tossed him into a wheelbarrow. The soldier

then instructed one of the child soldiers to push him out. The soldier grabbed me

and took the whip from me.

He then said: If any of you still deny joining the army tomorrow, we will haveworse punishments. He instructed me towards a dorm and told me to stay there

for the night.

I feel so uncomfortable there. There is barely enough light for me to write

and I could barely do anything. It is so cramped and all the children cried

throughout the night, it was so hard to sleep with all the thoughts racing through

my head. Only one thought rang in my head clearest, I hate those people who

killed my parents. I hate them; I hate them, I HATE THEM!


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Training in Hell.

18 December 2010.

My life couldnt get worse, can it? I have killed a person. The army made

me do it. I hate the army with all my will. Today, it was very painful. We wereforced to start training as an adult. I may not have studied in Secondary School

but I know this, our bodies arent as developed as an adult yet but they dontseem to care. We were trained as adults. This morning the soldiers woke us up

early in the morning. We gathered outside in groups that we were assigned

yesterday. I looked up and realised that the sun was also red during the sunrise

here, but it looks nothing like red spinel, instead it looked like blood, pouring

from the edges of the sky towards land. From this, I just realised how dearly I

miss my home. My home that is filled with beautiful scenery and people, totally

unlike this nightmare I am living in currently. They gave us green slop for

breakfast and we forced it down our throats. It was quite a wonder because they

finally gave us food and we assumed we are going to do something rough today.

Today, we were marched to a track. There, they told us to start running.

We all started to run and the person who was the last will get whipped using the

whistle. A small jog turned into a run, which turned into a sprint because no one

wanted to get whipped. After running for 10 minutes, we were already out of

breath and were already extremely tired. But they still forced us on. We had no

water to drink, and this continued on for 4 hours. The track went on and on

around the base, not once stopping at all. When we finally stopped, all of us had

scars near our necks and backs. But still, they didnt stop. They marched us

towards a shooting range while whipping anyone who fell back. When wereached the shooting range, they gave us all a big gun that they called the AK-47.

It was very, very heavy. We were forced to carry it and they made us fire it. We

shot the targets and splinters of wood flew out at us. Some of us dropped our

guns and they whipped us again and again until we were whimpering with

agony. After we were showed how to fire the AK-47, they made us jog around the

track with the heavy weight of the gun bearing on our arms. It was extremely

tiring and extremely painful, with the same rule, the last gets whipped. A poor

boy keeps getting whipped all the time and we took in turns helping him carry

the gun. The soldiers spot us and whipped all of us harder then ever. We all could

not cry out, as they would hit us more. We bit our lips and tried to ignore the

pain. Some of us have very bad scars and tears are streaming down their face.

When we returned, our back and neck are full of scars and we put back the guns.

Something told me that this would repeat for quite a few weeks. Im not

sure if I could survive until then. We came back and ate dinner, if green slop was

what you called dinner. We forced the slop down our throat, because we knew

that we need it to survive. Some people puked and they were forced to lick it off

the ground. They also got whipping just to make them worse. The water we

drank werent filtered and was filled with dirt. We would then shower, with scarsof the whipping making the pain more unbearable. Then we would go back to the

hard, rocky mattress and try to sleep. But before I slept, I heard one of the boyssaying that my sister was a servant and a slave of all kinds to the army. This


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thought was seared into my brain and made me extremely angry. I screamed out

loud and the boys immediately quieten. I swore to avenge my whole family. I

tried to sleep but it was quite impossible because if we move one bit, our scars

will feel as if it was seared and burnt. But the main reason was because of my

family. I lay on the mattress, not moving one bit, and wondering if this nightmare

would be with me for the rest of my life. I hope not.


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The Recruitment.

20 January 2011.

I feel very bad. Very, very bad indeed. Today, I killed a boys dad. It was a

very bad experience. I was right. The training did last for one month. We werewhipped repeatedly and scars appeared all over my back and neck. But today, we

were in for the real test. Yesterday, they drove us to a village very early in the

morning. We reached the village early in the morning today I know what was

going to happen, and I couldnt do anything to stop it. I reached this place ashorrible memories were played in my mind. I tried to shrug the memories away

because I didnt want to remember anything from last time. Bad memories

flooded my mind as we drove to the village. We were all handed an AK-47 and a

torch. We were instructed to burn down the houses and rouse up all the children

to join the army. Two elder soldiers accompanied me. We jumped out of the van

and I felt light-headed. I was extremely dizzy.

We set off to burn each house. I know I couldnt warn them otherwise Iwould get punished severely. So I had no choice but to throw the torch through a

window, and saw some curtains getting caught on fire. We waited for them to

come out, and true enough, two parents and one child rushed out of the house

right into us. The soldiers shouted at them and the exact same scenario played in

my head. The day my parents were killed. The soldiers started to take the kid but

the parents shouted and the child struggled. The child looked absolutely furious

and started biting the soldiers hand. The soldier let go and shot his mom. Thekid cried and tried to punch the soldier. The soldier then held him while the

other soldier grabbed the father and told me to kill him. This was the exact samescene when my parents were killed, just that I am the one going to kill the childs

dad now. I raised my hand, trembling with fear and regret. I looked at the dad

right in the eyes and he was pleading to tell me to not shoot him. His eyes were

brimmed with tears and it started to leak down his face. I said sorry and pulled

the trigger. I dropped the gun and started to weep in my hands. The soldiers then

forced me to drink the fathers blood. They forced my head down into the smallpool and I gulped from it, with no other choice. They told me that this was to be

not afraid of killing. My hands and faced were stained with blood, both

metaphorically and literally. The soldiers laughed at me as they carried the boy

to the truck. I looked at him in the eye, and in a split second, I saw that he was

sad, but rage and anger filled his face as he snarled at me.

He shouted at me: God will punish you for your doings! I WILL AVENGE MYPARENTS! The soldiers punched him and he became unconscious. I just looked

away and was completely helpless. I looked up and saw the whole village was

burning. People were running everywhere and chaos filled the place. My dad

once told me that I should be happy with what I have now, that even though

there are people luckier than you, remember that there are more people that are

in worse situations than you. He also said that there are countries out there that

accept people, for who they are and what they believe in. He also told me that no

one gets treated badly there. I find myself in a situation where I find it almost

impossible that there are people who are unluckier than me, but still, I held on tomy dad words and didnt give up. We went up on the truck with others and they


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were all crying, this time I really wanted to help them but I couldnt bring myselfto, knowing that they will start punishing me if I did.

Pain filled my chest and my face was wet with tears, knowing that I just

killed an innocent childs father. When we reached back to the base, a few of us

were instructed to follow the soldiers to torture the new children but the rest,including me, went to the canteen to eat the same green slop. We were then

given a short shower and they let us sleep. The training was nothing compared to

the recruitment. Pain, regret and guilt filled my mind as I replayed the events in

my mind. The face of the father, shocked and filled with terror was filled in my

face completely. I even remember the last teardrop he had, the last action he did

before he died. I also remembered the sons face, contorted with rage and anger

and swore to kill me. I was afraid, not of what he would do to me, as I know I

deserve it, but of what I have become. I could barely sleep with all these thoughts

racing through my head. Something tells me that this is just going to get worse.


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The Battle.

March 16 2011.

Today, they went over the top. Today, I made an oath where I would make

sure that I would at least try and stop the army forcing children like us to join thearmy. Today was the day of the Zwe Man Hein Campaign, where we have to capture

the Shan State Army (North)s base. Today was the first day I fought in a battle.

They drove us near the Shan State Army (North)s base and briefed us on

what to do in the morning. We were all handed a gun, mostly AK-47s. I just really

hope that the opposition army will just surrender otherwise a lot of people would die.

Blood will be spilt everywhere and I would have been contributing to it. But no, they

were extremely persistent and did not give up. We know that the conflicts between us

have been spread to more than one township and a lot of people have been forced to

evacuate. So we were told that landmines were detected on the field and told us to be

careful. The only reason they would say that is because they want to win. The generaltold us that the children would step on the mines to sacrifice themselves for their

country, and thank God I wasnt picked as one of them. I really feel sad for those who

were picked though. Over 2,000 troops are going to fight in the army I am in. We

marched out with a gun in hand and ran across the sparse forest. There wasnt much

cover and we had no choice but to fight. I tried to limit my killings to a minimum

because I know that every bullet that penetrates someone flesh, is a persons life lost.

And think about how precious ones life can be. It was chaos. People were running

everywhere, shooting everything that moved. I felt bullets whizz past my ear, and

thought about how lucky I was. Sweat was pouring down my face and I felt

inexplicably alone, despite the amount of people on the field. I just wished that I

could have my old life back, poor, yet simple. I shot a few people, as I knew they

were going to shoot me if I didnt react fast. Every time I pulled the trigger, a pain in

my chest develops. The battle took place from morning to afternoon, and during that

time I was so tired from running around I didnt notice what I stepped on. All I heard

was a click, and I looked down,

I realise I stepped on a mine. I shouldve been looking where I was going, but

the mine was so well camouflaged among the grass. I called out help and thank God I

wasnt anywhere near the battlefield. If I were, the enemy would have already shot

me when Im in this state. I saw the boy whose dad was killed by walking up next to

me. I pleaded to him to help me, but he just looked me in the eyes and smiled like amaniac.

He shouted: THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR KILLING MY DAD! THIS IS

WHAT YOU DESERVE, AND WHAT GOD PLANNED TO HAPPEN! THIS IS

THE TIME THAT YOU DIE!. With that, he laughed and turned away. I pleaded to

him and tried to explain in any way possible that I had no choice but to do it, and I

regret it with all my heart.

He just laughed and said, Only the devil will speak like this, when he needs help, he

would be nice. He then walked offand disappeared into the woods. I cried, not

knowing what to do next. I cant just die like this. If I were going to die, I would want

to at least take some of the soldiers with me. But no, fate was not on my side. So

instead I decided, I was going to let the mine blow up, but if I survive, I would go tothe opposition and tell them all I know about Burmas army. So I took a deep breath


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and jumped. All I felt was a searing, extreme pain in my right leg for a brief moment

and suddenly numbness. I screamed out as the pain faded slightly. The explosion

knocked me backwards and I fell on the ground. I didnt dare to look down because I

was afraid of what I would see. But still, I had to glance down to know how bad it

was. My leg was bleeding severely and I could see my bone. The injury was

extremely bad and I almost puked just at the sight of it. Knowing that I have toachieve my goal, I half-crawled, half-dragged myself towards the Shan State Army

(North)s base. I saw several soldiers from the opposition army and they almost shot

me. Luckily I cried out just in time and told them that I wanted to tell their army about

everything I know about the army of Myanmar. They told two soldiers to escort me

back to their base and they carried me back. They were extremely careful with my leg

and I thought how much better they were than the Myanmar army itself.

When I reached the base, I looked around. The base might not be as big but I

felt it was friendlier. This may sound weird, but that was honestly how I felt. They

brought me to an office where they talked to a general inside. I just sat on the chair

not knowing what to do and not daring to glance back at my leg. The general stood upand I told him everything that I knew about the army.

He accepted this, and finally he asked me: Why did you want to tell us all of these

things? I told him about how we were treated like animals and what atrocities there

are when you are living as a child in the base.

He looked at me with generosity and held my hand, then he asked: Are you willing

to join the Shan State Army?

I agreed to join them. Then I was sent to their medical clinic where I was

treated with my wounds until the evening. That was when the nightmare came. The

Myanmar soldiers broke into the base and started to destroy everything. They

captured the base and held us prisoners there. One of the soldiers spotted me and he

knew that I was in the army. He looked at me and spat in my face. He then stepped on

my injured leg and twisted it.

I screamed out in agony and he said: This is what you deserve if you defy the law of

God. Then he laughed and exited the room. During the night, we were forced to walk

back to the Myanmars temporary camp. From there, they drove the people who knew

essential information about other rebel armies and shot the rest down. I was spared

because the soldier knew my sister, and from that I found out that he did unspeakable

things to her. He decided to spare me as a gift to my sister. He wanted to show her

what they could do if anyone dared to defy them. I cried out and he laughed at my

misery. We then started to walk back to the base. On the way there, I saw a lot ofcorpses and bits of body parts all over the place. People have been mercilessly killed

because of the stupid adults who cant think. I just wanted to give up my life right

then.

When we reached back to the base, we were brought and shoved roughly to

the prison. They tortured all of us using different equipment, whether for information

or just for pleasure, I dont know. To the soldiers, it is the same thing. When they

finally left us alone, the general of the Shan State Army cried out and started to wreck

things. He started shouting at everyone in frustration. He started shouting at me and

saying how useless my information was, and how he was treating me nicely because

all he wanted was good information. I was shocked at how both sides were using me.He then pushed me and I fell to the ground. The others started to pull him back. But


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an interesting thing was, while I fell down, I saw something underneath the benches

of the jail. I took it out and stuffed it in my pocket. The others were too distracted to

see what I was doing. Finally he calmed down. It was quite some time before the

others slept but I didnt because I want to know what the paper was concealing. I

opened it out and saw that it was a plan of the jail with secret escape routes. I secretly

smiled to myself and slowly started to formulate a plan that will bring the army down,and I let it to the people that I can trust only. If hell was what they were giving right

now, I am going to take it and throw it back at them. I am going to watch them suffer

and laugh at their failure. I am not afraid of what I have become anymore, this world

is too violent for anyone to be soft. So instead, I took what I have become to my

advantage to seek vengeance on the army. One thing I will tell the army, you will be

too smug to see me coming to destroy you from within.


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Conclusion:

In the end, no one knew what happened to Khine. Whether he got caught or

successfully carried out his plan remains a mystery. But the main point is not this, the

main point is to show how when a child is forced to be a soldier, how much pain they

have to go through. This issue is not known worldwide and people often miss it out.What they dont know is how lucky they are, when there are other children suffering

because of bad decisions made by adults. Here is a list of how many Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and Declaration of the Rights of the Child that were

broken:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave

trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment.

Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any

discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection

against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration against any incitement

to such discrimination.

Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 20: (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 23: (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, tojust and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal

work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration

ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and

supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure including reasonable

limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the

health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,

housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security

in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other

lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and

childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born

in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.


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Article 26: (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at

least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be

compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally

available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of

merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the humanpersonality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and

fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship

among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the

United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to

choose the kind of education that shall be given to children.

Article 28: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the

rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 30: Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for anyState, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act

aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedom set forth herein.

Declaration of the Rights of the Child:

1. The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child,

without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without

distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion,

political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or otherstatus, whether of himself or of his family.

2. The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities andfacilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically,

mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in

conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the

best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

4. The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to

grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be

provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-

natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing,

recreation and medical services.

5. The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be giventhe special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition.

6. The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs

love and understanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in care and under

the responsibility of his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection

and of moral and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save inexceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society and the public


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authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a

family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and

other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is

desirable.

7. The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory,at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will

promote his general culture and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to

develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social

responsibility, and to become a useful member of society. The best interests of

the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and

guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents. The child

shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to

the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall

endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right.

8. The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection

and relief.

9. The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty andexploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form. The child shall not

be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he shall in no

case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which

would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or

moral development.

10. The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religiousand any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of

understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal

brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be

devoted to the service of his fellow men.

As you can see, a whole lot of Human Rights were broken when soldiers are

doing this. It is time we took action.

Note: This of course isnt a real Human Rights Watch article and is just a fictional

biography about a boy. Even though the main character is not real, all of the

events actually happened, but were just pieced together from different sources

and times.

you zhen_9x_humanities child soldiers biography

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