UN reports on escalating recruitment, killing of children

PanARMENIAN.Net - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed shock at the escalating recruitment and killing of children in conflicts last year — especially in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and South Sudan, the Associated Press reports.

The UN chief's annual report on children and armed conflict released Thursday, June 2 said the scale and increasing severity of grave violations included continuing large-scale abduction of children and aerial attacks by some governments and international coalitions which killed and maimed many youngsters.

Ban called on all parties to conflicts to immediately end violations against children and take measures to prevent the recruitment, killing, abduction and sexual abuse of children caught in conflicts.

He warned that combatants who violate children's rights "will find themselves under scrutiny by the United Nations" and stressed that accountability remains a key priority, AP says.

Thursday's report names nine government security forces and 51 armed groups that committed grave violations against children last year.

New additions to the list include the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen for killing and maiming children and attacking schools and hospitals, and South Sudan's government forces known as the SPLA for carrying out more than 100 incidents of sexual violence against children.

The Civilian Joint Task Force in Nigeria, who are local residents fighting Boko Haram extremists, was listed for recruiting and using children, with more than 50 verified cases in 2015, and Raia Mutomboki 5, a large rebel group in eastern Congo, was listed for recruiting, using and engaging in sexual violence against children.