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“LTTE should free child soldiers”- Amnesty International
Department of Government Information
11th July 2007 Amnesty International urged the LTTE to keep up their promise by freeing all their under aged combatants. They also told the LTTE to free these under aged soldiers and handover their custody to their families.
Amnesty International (AI) demands the Tigers to, "immediately return all remaining child soldiers to their families and engage in transparent procedures with UNICEF to reunite remaining child soldiers with their families".
A latest report of AI discloses that hundreds of child soldiers are still engaged in LTTE’s military activities. The Human Rights group further says that out of the several hundreds of child soldiers recruited only 135 are released by 18 June 2007 by the organisation. Despite their announcement to rid its ranks of all child combatants, it has been a well-known fact that the LTTE are continuing the forcible conscription of child soldiers.The latest figures have indicated that still there are more than 1500 child soldiers under the custody of LTTE and are regularly used in combat, including high profile battles in which children often suffer high rates of casualties. The statement accuses the Tamil Tigers for forcible recruitment of children. "In the past the LTTE have enforced a one family, one child” policy in areas under its control instructing Tamil households that each family was obliged to provide a son or a daughter for “the cause”. There is no space provided for the civilians for excuses or acceptable arguments against using children as combatants. Using children for combat is a war crime. "Children have no role to play in war,” the statement further added.
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| Published : Wednesday, July 11, 2007 02:37:57 PM (Geneva time) |
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