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Africa: Rap Star and Ex-Child Soldier Speaks - Regulate the Real Weapons of Mass Destruction


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International Action Network on Small Arms (London)

PRESS RELEASE
14 July 2008
Posted to the web 14 July 2008

Emmanuel Jal, former child soldier and international rap star, will address the United Nations on Tuesday to urge them to regulate the gun trade.

Emmanuel is an involuntary expert in gun violence. He was born in war-torn Sudan, and forced to fight at the age of six or seven with the rebel army in the civil war. Put into battle as a child soldier, he was made to shoot with an AK-47 that was taller than he was. He fought for five years before he and his friends managed to escape dodging landmines and rocket fire. Some of the boys were forced to turn to cannibalism when they ran out of food.

15 years later, Emmanuel Jal has made three highly acclaimed albums and plays around the world. Last month he opened Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in London. Now he wants governments to hear how the unregulated trade in guns ruined his own, and thousands more African childhoods.

“There was anger in my heart,” says Emmanuel, on his childhood in armed conflict. “I became a soldier very young; like many other children. I wanted to help the fight. At that time, all I thought about was killing. I trained and learned how to fire a gun. We practiced on killing animals. We would kill the animal and then have to bury it, so the Arabs wouldn't find the body. I just wanted to kill as many Arabs and Muslims as possible.”

Emmanuel is joining IANSA, the global movement against gun violence, for the week-long global gun summit at the UN.

IANSA is advising governments on how to combat the illicit trafficking of small arms. There are 875 million small arms in the world today, with 75% of these in civilian hands. Currently only 40 countries have passed laws on arms brokering. If an arms dealer wants to sell small arms to a country under UN embargo, he can do so merely by operating in one of the 150 countries without regulation and most likely, escape prosecution. Brokering will be one of the key areas in the week-long summit.

Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA said: “Every member state at the UN has committed itself to keep its citizens safe from gunfire and to ensure that they are not responsible for causing gun violence elsewhere. Guns end up slung over the shoulders of six year old children because governments permitted their sale. Every diplomat should hear Emmanuel’s story and end the era of the child soldier forever.”

Relevant Links

West Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Children and Youth
Conflict, Peace and Security
International Organizations and Africa
Sierra Leone

Emmanuel will be appearing on Tuesday 15 July at 1.15pm Conference Room 4, United Nations.


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