ISBN: 9781032420554

Tianying Song

Centre for International Law and Research (CILRAP)

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This book gives voice to the voiceless: children who are victims of international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Dr. Cécile Aptel, an experienced international lawyer and child rights expert, shows how children are neglected in international trials as victims and witnesses. The obstacle mainly lies, according to Aptel, in protection challenges and perceived unreliability of children’s testimony due to their immaturity. This is why, despite increased public attention, international prosecutors tend to deprioritise cases involving children, except for the specific crime of recruiting child soldiers. Given the plight of children in armed conflicts and social upheaval, Aptel advocates for equal recognition of child and adult victims. She argues that instead of focusing exclusively on child soldiers, international prosecutors should engage child victims of other international crimes more. To help children’s participation in trials, she suggests international courts adopt ‘an updated child-friendly procedure’ to minimise children’s ‘stress, trauma and possible harm associated with testifying’. Such a procedure should ensure children’s physical protection and psychosocial wellbeing in criminal justice proceedings. When held successfully, international trials can empower child victims and fully expose the gravity of international crimes through presentation of evidence. Aptel points to the long-term benefit of cultivating children’s agency through international criminal justice: ‘Children must be consulted and involved in developing an understanding of the past if they are to play a constructive role in building the future.’ She calls on practitioners and activists to depart from ‘an adult-centric understanding of international crimes’. Children’s ‘specific rights, perspectives and needs’, Dr. Aptel reminds us, cannot simply be ‘subsumed under those of adults’.