UN on Children & War Cites French Sangaris, Lists Free Syrian Army & Somali Army

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 8 -- After UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided not to list Israel or Hamas in the annex of his Children and Armed Conflict report, most questions to the UN concerned that issue, statements below. Inner City Press reports on that, but also on this, in the report at Paragraph 44 but also not in the Annex:

"44. The United Nations interviewed several boys following allegations of repeated acts of sexual violence by elements of 'Operation Sangaris' in and around M’Poko IDP camp, Bangui, between December 2013 and May 2014. Their national authorities have opened an investigation that is ongoing. The victims have been provided with necessary assistance by the United Nations and local partners. It is of the utmost importance that the perpetrators be held accountable."

 It is notable that even the paragraph doesn't mentioned that the "Operation Sangaris" is a force of France, the (former?) colonial power. Also, if Anders Kompass has not leaked the report, would the UN ever had included this paragraph?

   Also notable is the continued inclusion in the Annex not only of the Somali National Army, but also of the "Free Syrian Army" - which the US stands prepared to "train and equip." Does this now comply with US law? This has yet not been inquired into - watch this site.

    Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, issued a statement that “we deeply regret the Secretary-Generals decision to exclude Israel from the list of parties who commit grave violations against children in armed conflict. This decision strikingly contradicts the UN's own evidence and the set criteria on this matter. It is without doubt that Israel, the occupying Power, flagrantly, systematically and grossly commits human rights violations against Palestinian children constituting grave violations that qualify it for such a listing in the annex to the Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.. The UN's inaction, submitting to the inordinate pressures exerted, sends a most regrettable signal that the same criteria do not apply in all situations for all children, undermining the credibility of the UN system as a whole and the CAAC mechanism in specific.”

  The “pressure exerted” included the United States, which also got Ban to cancel the Yemen talks that had been slated for May 11, click here for that Inner City Press exclusive. Likewise, despite a UN Dispute Tribunal ruling that UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous asked for CAR rape whistleblower Anders Kompass to resign, nothing has been done with regard to Ladsous, the four Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping. It is not only on CAAC that Ban gives in to inordinate pressure.

   Israel's Ron Prosor put out a statement that “the UN Secretary General was right not to submit to the dictates of the terrorist organizations and the Arab states, in his decision not to include Israel in this shameful list, together with organizations like ISIS, Al Qaeda and the Taliban. However, the UN still has a long way to go. Instead of releasing thousands of reports and lists against Israel, the UN must unequivocally condemn the terrorist organizations that operate in the Gaza Strip. I call on the Secretary General to put an end to the destruction these organizations cause the people of Gaza, when they obstruct humanitarian aid, fire from civilian population centers and use innocents as human shields. Only after these organizations are recognized as terrorist organizations and condemned, can we promote real solutions.”

    Ban's spokesman Dujarric, before Inner City Press asked him about the French Sangaris force in CAR, told reporters to not worry so much about the list. Really? Others, reporting on this, did not mention the French forces' sexual abuse. We'll have more on this.

Back on June 1 In the run up to Ban's decision on whether to include Israel in the UN's list of those abusing children in armed conflict, Inner City Press asked Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, for his view.

  Krahenbuhl diplomatically said he'd have no comment until after the decision is made.

 And now?

   

Video: Syrian National Coalition's Khaled Khoja Admits to Inner City Press a Free Syrian Alliance "Tactical Alliance" with Jabhat al Nusra

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 -- When Khaled Khoja, as new president of the Syrian National Coalition, held a UN press conference on April 29, Inner City Press asked him about the Free Syrian Army working with Jabhat al Nusra, and the UN reports that the FSA has recruited and used child soldiers.

 Here is the video; below is Inner City Press' transcription:

Inner City Press: There’s a lot of talk about how some of the military advances have been because of either a link-up with, or due to fighting by al Nusra and other listed terrorist groups. What are the relations, if any, between the Free Syrian Army and al Nusra? And also, earlier the UN special advisor on children and armed conflict said that in the Free Syrian Army there were issues of child soldier recruiting. Are you aware of any steps taken to address that?

Khoja: The role of al Nusra in Idlib is being exaggerated. Maybe 10 percent of the forces were from al Nusra forces in Idlib. But they have good propaganda. Some of the media, including the media of regime, are exaggerating the role of al Nusra. Not only in Idlib. Everywhere.

But sometimes, the Free Syrian Army has no chance, when the Free Syrian Army is battling against the regime. Fighting against the regime, has no chance to fight on different fronts. Sometimes they are fighting on different fronts, against ISIL, against the regime, and sometimes against Jabhat al Nusra, as it happened in the southern area. Sometimes in war time Damascus.

So, Free Syrian Army sometimes made tactical alliance with some different forces, including al Nusra in Idlib. But we have seen now that al Nusra is not that big force in Idlib.. Sham,  the first division, and Sham division in Idlib, created a civil governance, there, and al Nusra could not oppose this governance.

Now we have a lot of challenges, because more than 400,000 people were living in Idlib, and I don’t think that even the civil governance could handle this situation. As a coalition we have our interim government helping the forces to provide services, in cluding health care and education and other infrastructure, but it’s a big challenge to continue managing the situation under the barrel bombs.

  So, the question on FSA child soldiers was not answered. Khoja said that the US train and equip program for now does not benefit the FSA. 

Back on April 24 when the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura came to the UN Security Council stakeout, Inner City Press asked him if the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen changed any of the dynamics on Syria. 

  In reply, de Mistura told Inner City Press that "everything in the region these days is connected." He added that he is focused on Syria.

 Inner City Press also asked de Mistura about criticism made by his former adviser Mouin Rabbani on Qatar's Al Jazeera TV, that Mistura is out of his depth and not up for the task.

 De Mistura replied, I will not respond, you would do the same, if one of your ex-colleagues...

  Inner City Press asked the question because it hadn't been asked, tellingly.  Now Inner City Press has heard more; watch this site 
   

Syrian Coalition's Khoja Admits to Inner City Press FSA's "Tactical Alliance" with Al Nusra Front, No Child Soldiers Answer

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- When Khaled Khoja, as new president of the Syrian National Coalition, held a UN press conference on April 29, Inner City Press asked him about the Free Syrian Army working with Jabhat al Nusra, and the UN reports that the FSA has recruited and used child soldiers.

  Khoja acknowledged that the FSA has had "tactical alliances" with al Nusra, for example in Idlib. He said the ties are exaggerated, including by "media of the regime." But given that Nusra is a UN-designated terrorist group, what to make of these alliances?

  The question on FSA child soldiers was not answered. Khoja said that the US train and equip program for now does not benefit the FSA. 

Back on April 24 when the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura came to the UN Security Council stakeout, Inner City Press asked him if the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen changed any of the dynamics on Syria. 

  In reply, de Mistura told Inner City Press that "everything in the region these days is connected." He added that he is focused on Syria.

 Inner City Press also asked de Mistura about criticism made by his former adviser Mouin Rabbani on Qatar's Al Jazeera TV, that Mistura is out of his depth and not up for the task.

 De Mistura replied, I will not respond, you would do the same, if one of your ex-colleagues...

  Inner City Press asked the question because it hadn't been asked, tellingly.  Now Inner City Press has heard more; watch this site.

 Dina Kawar said Mistura “mentioned what he will do next month in Geneva, holding separate meetings with the Syrian parties, representatives of the civil society and regional and international actors. He will provide his assessment to the Secretary General and keep the Security Council informed,” Kawar said, taking no questions.

  Staffan de Mistura emerged, saying he would take two or three questions. He said, “the only way is to test, a stress test,” a phrase like his previous “freeze.” He said, “by end of June we should be in the position to reassess whether any convergence on substance and report to the Secretary General.”

  De Mistura said, “This is not Geneva Three, this is a series of consultation, one to one. We can convene and ask everyone to come and not exclude anyone.. Iran is a member country of the UN, it is a major play in the region, it has influence in Syria. The UN has the right, and will be inviting everyone.”

  Unlike Montreux, it was observed by... one wag.

  Back on April 16, that the Syrian chemical weapons victim and doctor who briefed the UN Security Council did so behind closed doors, with no UN Television coverage, was a product of the Council's rules.

  It was an “Arria formula” meeting, which was not be listed in the UN Journal or even on the blue electronic signs outside it. (The sign said the meeting was about "nutrition.")

  Afterward chemical weapons victim Qusai Zakarya took some questions in the hall, before again going behind closed doors of the UN Censorship Alliance, see below.

  Inner City Press in this public space asked Qusai Zakarya what he thought of UN envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Qusai Zakarya said replied to Inner City Press, "I think Staffan de Mistura is a hypocrite. I think his very disgusting attempt to shine up the image of the regime is exposed to the Syrian poeple and to a nlot of members of the international community. His offer on freezes was a joke. If he really cared about saving lives he would have convinced the regime to stop using its fire power. We have a lot of outrage against his attempts, the deal he was trying to offer, it's just another false attempt to shine up the image of the regime."

   Inner City Press asked him if he would meet with any UN official. “I can't answer that questio right now,” he said. Then the convoy went to the clubhouse of the UN Censorship Alliance, which had sent notice only to those who pay it money: "They will have just presented their accounts in front of the UN Security Council at an Arria-formula meeting on Syria Chemical Weapons."

     But why would the doctors, in holding a supposed press conference afterward, not do so in the UN Press Briefing Room on UNTV, as can be done by any NGO or individual as long as sponsored by a member state? 

On Child Soldiers, Free Syrian Army Still A Listed Recruiter, Zerrougui Tells Inner City Press, As Syria Says It Was Given A Late Invite to Meeting

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- It was the day before Thanksgiving with Children and Armed Conflict in Syria was the topic of a closed door meeting in the UN's basement.

  The November 26 UN Journal listed

"Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict
15:00 to 16:00 51st meeting (closed) Conference Room 7"

   Inner City Press inquired and learned that Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari had been informed of and invited to the meeting, only at 11 am on November 26, according to him. At his request, the meeting was moved back for a half hour.

  The goal of the meeting was to adopt the conclusions of the "new" conclusions on Syria -- which according to Ja'afari cover only 2013, and thus not the Security Council's resolutions on ISIL and Al Nusra. 

  Inner City Press asked Ja'afari, when he came out of the meeting, if the previously reported recruitment of child soldiers by the Free Syrian Army remains in. No, he said. He said he objected to the conclusions being adopted.

  Why are this committee's meetings routinely closed? That is why this first part of the story is based on Ja'afari, who was willing to speak. 

 When the meeting broke up, Inner City Press asked the UN's envoy on Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui if the Free Syrian Army still recruits child soldiers. They are still listed, she replied. She explained the timing of the meeting as related to the coming January 1 changes in the Security Council -- committee chair Luxembourg is leaving the Council - and an upcoming trip to the DR Congo.

  Ja'afari complained to Inner City Press that while his government is accused of not cooperating, it invited the UN Monitoring Team to visit the site of a bombed school in Homs but they declined, citing their holidays.

  Inner City Press asked Zerrougui about this and she said she would check. Watch this site.

    Zerrougui on back July 1 took questions about her most recent report, on which Inner City Press reported on May 14, including the ten paragraphs over three pages about Syria. 

  Since then, the US Obama Administration has announced a plan for $500 million to the "vetted" Syrian opposition: presumably, the "Free Syrian Army."

  As to this Free Syrian Army the UN report states that "most children associated with the FSA-affiliated group, as young as 14 years, indicated that they had received weapons training and 4,000 to 8,000 Syrian pounds pay per month. 

   Examples are given: "a 17 year-old boy who joined the al-Murabiteen battalion of the Falloujat Houran FSA brigade in Bosra al-Sham, Dara'a Governate, reportedly received a fifteen-day weapons training in al-Lajat valley close to Bosra al-Sham."

  Also, "In June 2013, two brothers, aged 16 and 17, joined the FSA-affiliated Majd al-Islam brigade in Dara'a, where they cleaned weapons and performed security duties."

 So on July 1, Inner City Press asked Zerroughui about the FSA. She said “we put 'FSA and affilaited groups,' because some groups at not entirely under the control of the FSA, but they are not distancing themselves from the FSA.”

 Inner City Press asked Zerroughui is she'd raised this to the US. “Yes, I did with the US, I visiting Washington and raised the issue, the Child Act was discussed.” 

That's the US 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which provides for example:

It is the sense of Congress that— 

 (1) the United States Government should condemn the conscription, forced recruitment, or use of children by governments, paramilitaries, or other organizations; 

 (2) the United States Government should support and, to the extent practicable, lead efforts to establish and uphold international standards designed to end the abuse of human rights described in paragraph (1); 

  There are prohibitions on funding which can only be overridden for formal, public findings in a waiver by the President. Would or will that be used in this case? Watch this site.

   

On Free Syrian Army Child Soldiers, ICP Asks UN's Zerroughui Who Says She Raised It in DC: US Child Soldier Prevention Act Waiver?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 -- The UN's envoy on Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerroughui on July 1 took questions about her most recent report, on which Inner City Press reported on May 14, including the ten paragraphs over three pages about Syria.

 

  Since then, the US Obama Administration has announced a plan for $500 million to the "vetted" Syrian opposition: presumably, the "Free Syrian Army."

  As to this Free Syrian Army the UN report states that "most children associated with the FSA-affiliated group, as young as 14 years, indicated that they had received weapons training and 4,000 to 8,000 Syrian pounds pay per month. 

   Examples are given: "a 17 year-old boy who joined the al-Murabiteen battalion of the Falloujat Houran FSA brigade in Bosra al-Sham, Dara'a Governate, reportedly received a fifteen-day weapons training in al-Lajat valley close to Bosra al-Sham."

  Also, "In June 2013, two brothers, aged 16 and 17, joined the FSA-affiliated Majd al-Islam brigade in Dara'a, where they cleaned weapons and performed security duties."

 So on July 1, Inner City Press asked Zerroughui about the FSA. She said “we put 'FSA and affilaited groups,' because some groups at not entirely under the control of the FSA, but they are not distancing themselves from the FSA.”

 Inner City Press asked Zerroughui is she'd raised this to the US. “Yes, I did with the US, I visiting Washington and raised the issue, the Child Act was discussed.” 

That's the US 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which provides for example:

It is the sense of Congress that— 

 (1) the United States Government should condemn the conscription, forced recruitment, or use of children by governments, paramilitaries, or other organizations; 

 (2) the United States Government should support and, to the extent practicable, lead efforts to establish and uphold international standards designed to end the abuse of human rights described in paragraph (1); 

  There are prohibitions on funding which can only be overridden for formal, public findings in a waiver by the President. Would or will that be used in this case? Watch this site.

   

A Week After Jarba's Syria Coalition Trashed Obama, Touts ISIS Fight in Deir al-Zor

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 29, more here -- Just a week ago Ahmad Jarba's Syrian Coalition criticized US President Obama. Coalition spokesman Louay Safi said he "regrets" Obama telling CBS  "he dismissed the idea that supplying US arms to moderate Syrian rebels would have toppled President Assad, calling it a 'fantasy.'"

  Safi said that "Obama's remarks are meant to cover up the inability of his administration to prevent the deterioration of the political and humanitarian situation in the Levant, and also to evade the growing criticism to his policies regarding the Syrian crisis."

  Now a week later, after the Obama administration on June 26 announced it is asking Congress for $500 million for the vetted opposition -- read, Jarba's Syrian Coalition and the Free Syrian Army, still said by the UN to recruit and use child soldiers -- the Coalition has put out a read-out of what Jarba told Kerry:

"In a June 27 meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry,  Syrian Opposition Coalition President Ahmad al-Jarba reiterated the Syrian Opposition’s commitment to establishing a strategic partnership with the United States in the fight against terrorism and the Assad regime’s enablers of extremism... The Free Syrian Army has established an operations center in the province of Deir al-Zor to combat ISIS terrorist forces... President Jarba said that Free Syrian Army leadership is prepared to cooperate with the United States and allies to defeat ISIS. In May, President Jarba presented President Obama and Pentagon officials a proposal to enhance FSA capacity as a means to prevent ISIS from further expanding in Syria and Iraq."

  Whether Saudi-backed Jarba has been effective in Syria is highly questionable. Now he's being touted as a solution in Iraq?

Back on June 22 Jarba's Safi said: "Had the Obama administration heeded the advice of the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his special envoy to Syria we would not have had the current situation in Syria or in the region as a whole.” 

  Is Robert Ford running for office?

  On the Iraq - Syria border, the day after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speechified on June 20 at the Asia Society that "Syria’s neighbors should enforce a firm prohibition on the use of their land borders and airspace for arms flows and smuggling into Syria," ISIS took over a major crossing at Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad.

  At the UN's noon briefing on June 20, after Ban's speech, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: I didn’t see it in his speech, but it seems like at least a large part of the Iraqi border may be controlled by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham) or ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant).  So, in terms of realism, does this mean now absent Government control, it’s just an open flow of weapons? Is there an acknowledgement by the UN that nothing can be done in terms of weapons?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Well, I think, you know, Member States, groups that have an influence all have a responsibility to stop the flow of arms.

 Surely ISIS is listening to Ban. The Syrian Coalition of Ahmad Jarba, meanwhile, praised the speech and called for "serious" weapons. Inner City Press asked Dujarric:

Inner City Press: the Syrian Coalition of Ahmed al-Jarba has put out a statement praising the speech and saying that:  “There should be serious weapons and training for moderate opposition forces.”  And I wanted to know, just to be clear, the Secretary-General is not in favour of that, thinks this is a bad call?

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary-General could not have been clearer when he’s speaking about an arms embargo and speaking for the halt of flow of arms into Syria.

 But how clear *is* Ban Ki-moon, when he meets with Jarba?

  Now it turns out that near the Asia Society Team Ban got served with legal papers about having brought cholera to Haiti. Dujarric's deputy Farhan Haq told some media -- refusing to answer the Press -- that Ban himself didn't get the papers. We'll have more on this -- and on the UN's pre-spinning of Ban's speech, reviewed here.

   How can Ban's UN be taken seriously on Syria or anything else while dodging service of legal papers for cholera in Haiti, and refusing to answer about it?

On the humanitarian front, Ban “appealed for an end to the sieges” and for “immediate unfettered humanitarian access across internal front lines and across borders.”

  Later on June 20, Dujarric's and Haq's office murkily released a UN report which tracks Ban's speech, which theUN's go-to wire service then said it had "obtained."

  A draft resolution on cross-border aid is still being negotiated in the Security Council. But on June 19, Australian ambassador Gary Quinlan told the Press there would be no vote last week. When there is, will that be news? Watch this site.

   

As Hillary Clinton's Book Cites Frank Wisner on Mubarak, Robert Ford Now Urges MANPADs for Free Syrian Army

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 10 -- Parallel to Hillary Clinton's book-signing in Union Square in Manhattan, the White House issued a read-out that “President Obama called Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi today to congratulate him on his inauguration and to convey his... continuing support for the political, economic, and social aspirations of the Egyptian people, and respect for their universal rights.”

  Whether this last was an oblique reference to the journalists locked up was not entirely clear. In Hillary Clinton's book “Hard Choice” she recounts when her envoy Frank Wisner said at the Munich Security Conference that Hosni Mubarak “must stay in office” to oversee a transition.

  She writes that Obama “called me to express his unhappiness about the ‘mixed messages’ we were sending. That’s a diplomatic way of saying he took me to the woodshed.”

  Now it's Robert Ford, chiding Obama for not yet giving surface to air missiles or MANPADS to the Syrian opposition -- when even the UN says the Free Syrian Army recruit child soldiers, and depicts the FSA displacing tens of thousands of civilians.

  At the June 10 US State Department briefing, this connector:

Question: Thirteen Syrian opposition members or members from the Syrian opposition imprisoned today in Egypt because they were demonstrating against President Assad. Do you have anything on this?

Ms. Psaki: I haven’t seen the specifics of that, Michel. Obviously, as you know, we have concerns about what’s happening with the judicial system in Egypt. We make those concerns known. I will note also that Ambassador David Thorne and Counselor Tom Shannon will be having meetings with senior Egyptian officials that start today and will resume tomorrow. This visit will bring – will build upon Ambassador Thorne and Counselor Shannon’s last visit to Cairo in April, as well as their earlier visits to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

  Some line up. Hillary is hitting road, in a bus that says don't text and drive. How far will this book take her? Watch this site.

Footnote: At the Barnes & Nobles in Union Square, the press was told it could only stay for the first 20 minutes of the two hour event; if journalists left to use the bathroom they could not return. Those buying the book were told, "Once you are cleared and enter the 4th floor, you are not permitted to exit until your book is signed." No second thoughts? Hard Choices..

   

On Free Syrian Army Use of Child Soldiers, New UN Report Gives More Examples, US Waiver from 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 -- The UN's new report on Children and Armed Conflict, to be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/2014/339, has ten paragraphs over three pages about Syria. 

  But it does not clear the Free Syrian Army of earlier charges of child soldier recruitment.

   It names as those "recruiting and using children in Syria... several FSA-affiliated groups" as well as the Kurdish YPG, the al Nusra Front, ISIS and Ahrar al-Sham. There are paragraphs on the government, too.

  As to the Free Syrian Army the new UN report states that "most children associated with the FSA-affiliated group, as young as 14 years, indicated that they had received weapons training and 4,000 to 8,000 Syrian pounds pay per month. 

   Examples are given; "a 17 year-old boy who joined the al-Murabiteen battalion of the Falloujat Houran FSA brigade in Bosra al-Sham, Dara'a Governate, reportedly received a fifteen-day weapons training in al-Lajat valley close to Bosra al-Sham."

  Also, "In June 2013, two brothers, aged 16 and 17, joined the FSA-affiliated Majd al-Islam brigade in Dara'a, where they cleaned weapons and performed security duties."

In the report's final paragraph on Syria Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says his Special Representative "engaged with representatives of the Syrian National Coalition on their commitments in relation to the protection of children in armed conflict." But the SNC is not the FSA, and this is not an "action plan." Inner City Press asked questions at an SNC press conference on May 14, here - but this is not resolved.

These advance copies have been known to be changed before "final" release, in a process for which a description, and then proposals for reform, were provided here and then here.

   Back in late January amid reports that the US already provides or is ready to provide aid to armed groups in Syria like the Free Syrian Army (FSA), on January 29 Inner City Press first highlighted and then on January 30 first asked the US Mission to the UN about a finding in the UN's then-unpublished report on Children and Armed Conflict in Syria:

"Throughout the reporting period, the United Nations received consistent reports of recruitment and use of children by FSA-affiliated groups." (Now final, here, Para 12).

  The US has cited the recruitment and use of child soldiers to suspend US aid to armies of governments which had previously been receiving it.  Inner City Press asked, and continues to ask,  how could the US provide aid to a non-state group which even the UN has found using child soldiers?

  On February 13, Inner City Press was able to put this question to the UN's humanitarian chief Valerie Amos.

   Amos said "in terms of recruiting children into armed groups, we see culpability on all the sides to the conflict, and therefore anyone who has any kind of influence with those groups needs to be making it clear that this is not acceptable." Video here, from Minute 10:11.

  On February 14, the following was received from US Mission deputy spokesperson Tony Deaton:

"We are deeply disturbed by the contents of this report and strongly condemn the mistreatment and torture of children in any conflict. We equally condemn the use of child soldiers in Syria and around the world. The use of children in armed conflict is morally reprehensible, and the United States in no way supports or condones this activity. We vet recipients of our assistance to the moderate opposition and work diligently to prevent assistance from falling into the hands of groups that recruit or use children in combat or employ terror tactics."

While we will continue to pursue how the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act applies after the FSA finding in the new  UN report, we appreciated the US response and published it in full. 

  On February 4, the UK Mission to the UN provided this response to Inner City Press:

"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."

    As Inner City Press noted, that might be OK for the United Kingdom -- but what about the US, including in light of the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which provides for example:

It is the sense of Congress that— 

 (1) the United States Government should condemn the conscription, forced recruitment, or use of children by governments, paramilitaries, or other organizations; 

 (2) the United States Government should support and, to the extent practicable, lead efforts to establish and uphold international standards designed to end the abuse of human rights described in paragraph (1); 

  There are prohibitions on funding which can only be overridden for formal, public findings in a waiver by the President.

 The earlier report, issued as a document of the UN Security Council under the symbol S/2014/31, went on to recount:

"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 the new UN report, and the additional specific examples that it gives. What gives? Watch this site.