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RUF's forced recruitment of children condemned

    ABIDJAN

    The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has been forcing children to join it since the resumption of hostilities in Sierra Leone in early May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

    "The RUF has forced many children to join its ranks in recent weeks, placing them on the front lines of combat," the executive director of HRW's Africa Division, Peter Takirambudde, said. He urged all parties to the conflict to stop using child soldiers and release all abducted children.

    Children, including demobilised RUF child soldiers, have been targeted by the RUF for forced recruitment as soldiers, forced labour and sexual exploitation, HRW said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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