UNITED NATIONS: Children in Sudan are still being recruited to fight and suffer a wide range of abuse, from killings and abductions to rape and sexual violence, especially in Darfur, according to a new UN report. In the report to the UN Security Council circulated Thursday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the level of grave violations against children in the Sudan remains high, though it is showing small signs of improvement. With over 30 armed groups operating in Sudan, and with shifting alliances and splintering of groups, Ban said it is difficult to produce a definitive account of the parties responsible and the violations. But the report does identify the Sudanese Armed Forces and police, and more than a dozen groups that violated children s rights during the year ending in June. In southern Sudan, where a peace treaty was signed in 2005 ending a 21-year civil war, the secretary-general said significant progress was made by the rebel Sudan People s Liberation Army (SPLA) in releasing children recruited during the conflict. But Ban said the UN confirmed the presence of children associated with the SPLA in southern Sudan, the youngest 9 years old and the average age 16. The secretary-general said the Pibor Defense Force, a group previously aligned with the Sudanese armed forces, recruited at least 78 children, the youngest a 6-year-old boy, and their whereabouts remain unknown. There were also reports that the forces of Maj. Gen. Gabriel Tang Ginye, which are aligned with the Sudanese armed forces, recruited some 70 children, including street children, during hostilities in Malakal in late November. During the year covered by the report, Ban said, eight children died in southern Sudan either directly or indirectly as a result of the conflict. Ten abductions were confirmed and at least 40 other children were reported to have been abducted, though there was no confirmation, he said. In Darfur, Ban cited credible reports that the Sudanese armed forces and at least seven rebel and opposition groups are recruiting and using children. While the armed forces deny recruiting and using children, the secretary-general said UN and African Union field monitors have seen them. Some of the children interviewed by UN monitors said they had been fighting in East Jebel Mara in South Darfur for the past three years, he said. In April, armed children believed to be as young as 12 years old and wearing uniforms were identified with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) group headed by Minni Minawi, and in May, 13 boys confirmed to UN field monitors that they were recruited and being used as combatants by the Justice and Equality Movement, Ban said. During the year covered by the report, 62 children were confirmed killed in Darfur and reports were received alleging that 110 others were killed as well, he said. In Darfur, rape is widespread and used as weapon of war, Ban said, with younger girls increasingly targeted. He cited the rape of a 12-year-old girl by two SLA soldiers last October, and the rape of another 12-year-old in April while a 10-year-old with her was beaten. There were also five boys among 62 confirmed reports of rape during the year, Ban said. In Darfur, there were 26 confirmed abductions and reports of more than 150 others that could not be confirmed, he said. The secretary-general criticized attacks on schools, and the denial of access to humanitarian workers which has affected aid to the needy. He urged all parties to the conflict to end grave violations of children s rights. Associated Press
