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"The army was a nightmare. We suffered greatly from the cruel treatment we received. We were constantly beaten, mostly for no reason at all, just to keep us in a state of terror. I still have a scar on my lip and sharp pains in my stomach from being brutally kicked by the older soldiers. The food was scarce, and they made us walk with heavy loads, much too heavy for our small and malnourished bodies. They forced me to learn how to fight the enemy, in a war that I didn't understand why was being fought."

- Emilio, recruited by the Guatemalan army at age 14(2)

"One boy tried to escape [from the rebels], but he was caught... His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before.We were from the same village. I refused to kill him and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, "Why are you doing this?" I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms... They said we had to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try to escape. . . I still dream about the boy from my village who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me and saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying."

- Susan, 16, abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda(1)

"They gave me pills that made me crazy. When the craziness got in my head, I beat people on their heads and hurt them until they bled. When the craziness got out of my head I felt guilty. If I remembered the person I went to them and apologized. If they did not accept my apology, I felt bad."

- a 13-year old former child soldier from Liberia(3)

"I was in the front lines the whole time I was with the [opposition force]. I used to be assigned to plant mines in areas the enemy passed through. They used us for reconnaissance and other things like that because if you're a child the enemy doesn't notice you much; nor do the villagers."

- former child soldier from Burma/Myanmar(4)

"They beat all the people there, old and young, they killed them all, nearly 10 people... like dogs they killed them... I didn't kill anyone, but I saw them killing... the children who were with them killed too... with weapons... they made us drink the blood of people, we took blood from the dead into a bowl and they made us drink... then when they killed the people they made us eat their liver, their heart, which they took out and sliced and fried... And they made us little one eat."

- Peruvian woman, recruited by the Shining Path at age 11(5)

1. Human Rights Watch interview, Gulu, Uganda, May 1997.

2. Testimony given at a Congressional briefing on child soldiers, sponsored by Human Rights Watch, Washington DC, December 3, 1997.

3. Human Rights Watch interview, Liberia, April 1994.

4. Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, (Radda Barnen, 1996), p. 127.

5. Center for Defense Information, "The Invisible Soldiers: Child Combatants," The Defense Monitor, July 1997.

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