Letter to Colombian Government (Writing to Argue) Assignment

Letter to Colombian Government (Writing to Argue) - Assignment ExampleThe situation is further exacerbated by the displacement of children due to the progressed conflict and the coerce recruitment of minors by armed groups, such as the FARC (IACH Report). The commissions conclusion is clearly a clarion call for government action. Unfortunately, the Colombian governments enactment of the 1989 Minors legislation facilitates the exploitation of the very children it aims to protect. In Medellin, the Minors Code encourages contempt of the law, engenders child assassins, brings children downstairs the control of exploitative bosses, pushes children into guerilla forces, and pr levelts the reintegration of children into society. The Minors Codes position that those who are below the age of 18 will not go to jail on committing a shame, only gives carte blanche to children to break the law with impunity. While its provisions may superficially claim to protect the child, the ground-reali ty is markedly polar the Code, designed to protect kids from adult prisons, actually puts them above the law. It effectively absolves children from taking responsibility for their actions. This makes them effective instruments of crime, as they can easily evade the long arm of the law. Just as civilians are used as shields in unfair wars, the Minors Code is responsible for children being used as shields for crime on the streets of Medellin. There is widespread contempt of the law and crimes are delegated to children. The Code is as good as a license to kill. As the Minors Code allows kids under 18 to kill without being held responsible, the streets of Medellin teem with child assassins. Contract killings, which are common here, are largely executed by minors. The client contacts a boss, identifies the dupe and pays the contract price. The boss then executes the contract using child assassins. Capt. Luis Francisco Marino Florez, a homicide detective in Medellin, perceives child assa ssins to be more dangerous than adult ones. He says, Theyre less predictable, and they know they cant be touched. Minors literally thumb their noses at him. In the cases of 12- and 13-year-olds, we have kids who we know have murdered 10 to 15 people, further nothing happens to them (Griswold, New York Times). Secure behind the walls of the Minors Code, Medellins adolescent sicarios, or assassins, are the gang bosses preferred instruments of execution. The Minors Code puts children under the exploitative control of gang bosses, who keep their young charges on a tight leash. The gang leaders of Medellin are often affiliated with the paramilitary forces from whom they receive cash and weapons. The immunity conferred on children by the Minors Code makes them ideal as the bosses underlings. The bosses hire child assassins and equip them with weapons. The children are provided with drugs, as another way in which the bosses can retain control over them. They depend on the gang bosses for drugs, approval and money. In the frequent absence of fathers, these children even see the bosses as their role models. They get paid at the bosses whim. Once they are caught in this vicious circle, children cannot break out. They have to continue killing, or be killed. As the minor reaches the age of eighteen, which places him outside the protective umbrella of the Minor