End to use of child soldiers urged

An international NGO group said on Tuesday that it hoped the current ceasefire in the border war between Ethiopia and its northern neighbour, Eritrea, would bring an "immediate" end to the exploitation of child soldiers and lead to a rapid demobilisation of boys under 18 bearing arms.

The UK-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, said it had launched a "special appeal" to the two governments "to ensure that children take no further part in this armed conflict by ending the military recruitment of children, demobilising those already serving in their ranks and releasing into safety child prisoners of war".

Although in Ethiopia the minimum age for military service was 18 and although such service was not compulsory, over the past two years there had been "credible" reports that thousands of teenage boys had been forcibly recruited into the army, especially during preparations for the offensive launched in May this year. It said the boys recruited allegedly came from the Oromo and Somali minorities which had been traditionally sources of political opposition. The government in Addis Ababa has strongly denied the claims, it said.

In Eritrea, where military service is compulsory for all males between the ages of 18 and 40, the coalition said it had been "widely acknowledged" that children were used as soldiers during the country's independence war against Ethiopia. But it said it was not clear whether this practice had continued during the latest conflict.

"This war has been fought in the fashion of the First World War with children literally being used as cannon fodder," said Rory Mungoven, the coalition's London-based coordinator. "The current ceasefire presents an opportunity to demobilise child soldiers on both sides and ensure no more children are subjected to this abuse. As a signal of their commitment, both governments should sign and ratify the new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which prohibits the use of children under 18 as soldiers." Further information can be obtained by consulting the coalition's website at
http://www.childsoldiers.org