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