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.
