Children in war zones have sometimes been murdered or disfigured and many thousands have been recruited into government and rebel fighting forces, according to a new report from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the UN General Assembly and Security Council. "Children in war zones have been deliberately killed or maimed by parties to conflicts, often in extremely brutal ways," the report says.
It notes such murders and maiming of children in Rwanda, Srebrenica, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Uganda. Some of the children targeted had fled rural areas and gone into towns to avoid recruitment by government or rebel armies, it says.
It notes such murders and maiming of children in Rwanda, Srebrenica, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Uganda. Some of the children targeted had fled rural areas and gone into towns to avoid recruitment by government or rebel armies, it says.
In the zones of conflict, too, girls and women "are raped, abducted for sexual exploitation and forced into marriages or prostitution," at a time when the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) "estimates that rates of HIV among combatants are three to four times higher than those among local populations."
Lists appended to the report indicate that children are serving with nearly four dozen armed groups in 15 countries.
Lists appended to the report indicate that children are serving with nearly four dozen armed groups in 15 countries.