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| A Congolese Soldier (not Emmanuel) |
I was born into the war in Sudan. At the age of five, my aunt was raped in front of me, and a man was killed in front of my mother and I. By the time I was eight, I was put into battle carrying an AK-47 rifle.
As a child I used to wonder: how could they get these weapons so easily? It’s the poorly regulated arms trade that allows weapons to be shipped between countries with little thought about whose hands the weapons end up in.
I am working with Amnesty International for strong regulations on the weapons trade that can help stop the horrors I experienced happening again.
After years of my country suffering, the world's governments are finally drafting an Arms Trade Treaty to stop dictators and thugs from buying weapons. They’re meeting at the United Nations in New York to negotiate the treaty. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make sure we get a treaty that protects lives, and Amnesty will be there to deliver your signature with millions more from around the world. Will you be part of it? Click here to join me in calling for a strong Arms Trade Treaty.
There’s no easy answer to stopping the horrors that war lords have been committing for centuries. But if we can keep weapons the away from them, we have a better chance of protecting millions of lives and giving a new chance to tens of thousands of child soldiers.
When I was a child soldier, I was seen as expendable. At one point, I almost lost my mind. I thought "Do we deserve this? Where are my family members? Why are we suffering like this?" There was no school. How can you go to school when you’re running from one place to another, when there’s always war, fear and people losing their lives?
Even today, the war continues. In the last two weeks, communities in my home country, South Sudan, are fleeing bombs dropped on their homes - yet rich governments continue to ship weapons there. Please join in this campaign and help make sure our voices are not ignored.
I am now 32 years old, living in London and working as a hip-hop musician. Music is a therapy for me that gives me back the childhood that was stolen from me.
For the other children who are going through what I had to experience, I hope you can join me to be part of this.
Emmanuel Jal
for Amnesty International
