Child Soldiers in Genocidal Regimes: The Cases of the Khmer Rouge and the Hutu Power

Abstract

Genocide is one of the worst things one can imagine throughout the history of humanity. But in the cases of Cambodia and Rwanda this was even more serious as children were used as instruments of the massacres. Both the Khmer Rouge and the Hutu regime had their specific reasons for this act. The number of victims surpasses the millions, who either lost their lives, or suffered from various kinds of violence, because the young perpetrators were also victims, who carry the invisible scars in their souls. These historical examples are warnings for the international community to be active in situations like these, and stand up for the defenceless ones.