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Free
Syrian Army
Use of Child
Soldiers
Commented on
by UK After
Press Q
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Follow Up on
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 4 --
Last week Inner
City Press first
reported
on the UN's
new report on
Children and
Armed Conflict
in Syria which
found, in
paragraph 12:
"Throughout
the
reporting
period, the
United Nations
received
consistent
reports of
recruitment
and use of
children by
FSA-affiliated
groups."
After
asking the UN
about the
report and not
getting far,
and after a
first exclusive
publication,
Inner City
Press among
other things
asked the
United
Kingdom, which
has spoken
positively of
this FSA Free
Syrian Army.
At that time,
the response
was to wait
for the report
to become
public and
final. This took
place on February
3, and
after a
re-request, UK
Mission to the
UN
spokesperson
Iona Thomas,
true to her
word, provided
this UK
comment, which
we publish in
full:
"The
UK absolutely
condemns the
use of child
soldiers in
all cases, and
strongly
supports
international
efforts to
stop the use
of child
soldiers. We
urge all
parties in the
Syrian
conflict to
release any
children held
in detention.
"Armed
conflict
affects
millions of
lives around
the world, and
children are
among those
most
vulnerable to
the effects of
conflict. The
only way
to secure the
long-term
future of
Syria’s
children is to
find a
political
solution to
the crisis.
"We
have made
clear our
absolute
condemnation
of the use of
child
soldiers. As
noted in this
report, the
use of child
soldiers by
the
opposition is
not systematic
and is limited
to certain
elements. We
have provided
training to
the Supreme
Military
Council of the
Syrian
opposition on
the law of
armed
conflict, and
will continue
to work
with them to
help ensure
that they meet
their
obligations
under
international
law."
That may be
enough for the
UK, but there
are other
countries with
legal
prohibitions
on aiding
those found to
recruit child
soldiers, bans
which cannot
be worked
around absent
an explicit
and public
waiver. We've
put in
requests and
will have more
on this.
The
report, now issued
as a document
of the UN
Security
Council under
the symbol
S/2014/31,
goes on to
recount in
Paragraph 13:
"Boys
aged 12 to 17
were trained,
armed, and
used as
combatants or
to man
checkpoints.
For instance,
a 15 year-old
boy reported
being
recruited in
April 2012 by
the FSA in
Tall Kalakh
(Tartus
governate),
and
participation
in military
operations....
Also
indicative was
the case of a
16 year-old
boy from Homs
who reportedly
joined the FSA
as a
combatant. In
March 2013,
his family
reported to
the United
Nations that
he was still
fighting with
the group."
And
is
this boy still
fighting with
the FSA? There
is more to be
said about
this UN report.
Watch this
site.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
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for
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Corruption
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