RUF rebels release child soldiers

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels have released 88 child soldiers in Makeni, capital of Sierra Leone’s Northern Province, Bishop Giorgio Biguzzi told IRIN on Tuesday. The children, among them two girls, were released on Saturday to the Roman Catholic Church aid agency, CARITAS, in Biguzzi’s presence. “It is a good sign,” he said, referring to the possibility that the RUF could release thousands of other children whom it has subjected to years of captivity or forced service. The RUF has frequently said it would free its child soldiers and captives but has rarely done so. Biguzzi said the RUF also supplied a list of other children it wanted CARITAS to retrieve with the help of RUF commanders. “Yesterday they released more but I don’t know their number,” he said. Most of the children, aged between eight and 14 years, were pressed into RUF service, some since they were six years old, Biguzzi said. On their release, they were bathed, given hair cuts, clothed, fed and allowed to play games. They are being cared for by CARITAS at the Saint Francis Secondary School, run by the Catholic church in Makeni. “We are preparing two other centres,” Biguzzi added. One is the Guadeloupe Secondary School for girls in Lunsar, 82 km northeast of Freetown. The other is at Port Loko, 30 km northwest of Lunsar. Biguzzi said that the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had donated mats, blankets, plastic spoons and other non-food items. The RUF has raped girls and women, hacked off people’s limbs, kidnapped children and perpetrated other abuses during its 10-year insurgency. Recently, the rebels - whom Liberia is accused of backing - have come under increasing pressure to sue for peace. “I believe it has dawned on them that their chances are getting smaller: Liberia is under international pressure, Guinea is a hard bone to chew, the (Sierra Leone) national army is being well trained, local militia are at a greater state of preparedness and UNAMSIL is present,” Biguzzi said. Government and RUF officials were due to meet in Freetown on Tuesday to set a timetable for implementation of Sierra Leone’s disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme. This was agreed on 2 May in Abuja, Nigeria, at a meeting of the warring parties, and representatives of the UN and the Economic Community of West African States.