Where Have the Baton-Wielding Children Come From

Where have the baton-wielding children come from?

Where have the baton-wielding children come from? These young soldiers, whose images have been published wearing military camouflage or even civilian clothes with batons, shields, and helmets, and on the other hand, wearing colorful children’s sneakers, standing on sidewalks or street corners. Who are they and where have they come from? Children or teenagers who are probably in the last years of elementary school or the first years of high school.

Basij

Some believe that given the size and design of the clothes and equipment provided to these teenagers, it is clear that they have been prepared for such a task in advance. It is not unlikely that these children are the same members of the student Basij. Iran’s history of using children in armed conflicts dates back to the first months of the Iran-Iraq war, but the end of the war not only did not end the presence of children in military activities but also took on a more organized form with the establishment of the Student Basij Organization in 1998.

Children can join the Basij as regular members from the age of 11 and as active members from the age of 15. Regular and active members receive training related to the use of various weapons, and active members are allowed to use firearms. Some official reports from previous years indicate the membership of over 5 million children in the Student Basij.

In 2010, the head of the Student Basij announced the creation and expansion of more Basij bases in elementary schools to prepare students. In November 2009, he also reported on the establishment of Basij resistance units in primary schools in Iran. However, some observations indicate that this is not the first time that children and teenagers who are Basij members have been used in protests. This issue has also been observed in the protests of 2009, December 2017, November 2019, and the water protests in Khuzestan and Isfahan.

Ideological training

In the same year, 2009, after the political protests of that year, one of the officials of the Ministry of Education announced that four thousand political education teachers or political education experts would be sent to schools in Iran. According to this report, the duties of these experts were to inform students about what was called the enemy’s seditions to destroy the Islamic Revolution and also to teach the correct way to counter cultural invasion.

A teacher at that time said that they tried to replace principals who were supporters of Mousavi. On the other hand, they brought at least one Basij member to all schools to cooperate with the intelligence and selected the principals and vice-principals from among the Basij members. In all recent years, the presence of clerics and seminary students under various schemes in schools has been strengthened, but from this year, according to the news, this presence is being pursued more seriously, and it seems that the presence of seminary students in the school curriculum will become mandatory.

The summoned 90s kids

In May of this year, the controversial clip ‘Hello Commander’ was released, which had a wide impact. It was highly praised among revolutionary conservatives, and multiple versions of it were even made and broadcast in other countries. Among opponents and critics, it was sharply criticized, and humorous dubsmash versions were made of it. The central issue of this anthem was the presence of children and teenagers of the 90s, which was also mentioned in the clip itself, and its military and ideological content with the title that the commander has summoned his 90s kids.

Although the history of anthems and songs based on ideology and political content targeting children is not limited to the anthems of the war period, in September 2016, a clip of boys approximately 11 to 15 years old was released, singing a song with the theme of defending the shrine, saying that by the leader’s order, they are always ready to sacrifice their lives. Some believe that these children were part of the same summoned 90s kids.

Violation of children’s rights

Using children and students as military forces or human shields is prohibited and condemned. Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that political groups should not use individuals under the age of fifteen in war. The government is responsible for the physical and mental well-being of children and does not have the right to mobilize children for military actions and must refrain from enlisting them to participate in military conflicts.

All international covenants emphasize that children, especially those aged between 7 to 14, should be educated in completely free conditions away from ideological pressures and military training so that their personalities develop in an environment where they have the right to choose, are free, and can think and be inquisitive individuals for their society. Iran joined the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and ratified it in 1998.

However, each time the Iranian parliament signed treaties, it also added this clause that it reserves the right to disregard such treaties if they are inconsistent with domestic laws and Sharia. The principles governing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the principle of the best interests of the children, under any circumstances, question the presence of children in armed conflicts.

Protest by civil organizations

The Coordinating Council of Cultural Associations and hundreds of activists in the field of children’s and youth literature have condemned the arrest of protesting teenagers and the presence of children in special units suppressing protests by issuing a statement. These literature activists wrote in this statement on September 29 that these days, among the angry and justice-seeking people who have taken to the streets in protest of the killing of Mahsa Amini, there are also teenagers who have joined the protests with the shared hope of creating a bright future free from injustice, coercion, and oppression. The statement further refers to the provisions of the global Convention on the Rights of the Child and Iran’s Law on the Protection of Children and Adolescents, stating that the response to any protester, especially a teenage protester, should not be bullets and their place is not in prison.

In this statement, activists from various fields in the realm of children’s literature, including writers, translators, journalists, illustrators, and publishers, have also called for the immediate release of detained teenagers and an end to the bloody suppression of protesters. The signatories in their statement also described lining up armed teenagers in military attire against protesting people as a clear violation of children’s rights and an instrumental use of them, writing that this approach will have dire and irreparable consequences for the commanders.