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            HRW: Kurdish Forces Using Child Fighters Despite Pledge

   by Chris Hannas

    Kurdish fighters in Syria continue to use child soldiers despite a
   pledge to stop doing so a year ago, [1]Human Rights Watch said
   Wednesday.

   HRW said the People's Protection Unit, or YPG, has made some progress
   in demobilizing some child fighters, but that local and international
   organizations have documented 59 children who have volunteered or been
   recruited.

   The rights group said it was able to itself verify seven of those cases
   by speaking directly to families. It also said the YPG responded to a
   letter about the allegations by saying it faced "significant
   challenges" in ending the use of child fighters because of the ongoing
   fighting in Syria, which has stretched on for more than four years.

   The Kurds are one of the many groups involved in Syria's conflict,
   which also includes Syrian government forces, rebel groups such as the
   Free Syrian Army, and militant groups including the Islamic State and
   the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

   "The YPG promised to stop sending children to war and it should carry
   out its promise," Fred Abrahams, an HRW special advisor, said in the
   group's statement. "Of course the Kurdish forces are fighting groups
   like ISIS [Islamic State] that flout the laws of war, but that's no
   excuse to tolerate abuses by its own forces."

   The use of child soldiers by other groups in Syria has been documented
   by both rights organizations and the United Nations throughout the
   conflict that began in March 2011.

   "The recruitment and use of children in combat has become commonplace
   in the Syrian Arab Republic," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said
   in a report to the U.N. Security Council last month.

   The report said the U.N. verified hundreds of cases involving the YPG,
   Free Syrian Army, Nusra Front and Islamic State group. The Kurdish
   forces, according to the report, continued to recruit boys and girls,
   including those under 15 years old, and use them mainly in combat
   roles.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/hrw-kurdish-forces-using-child-fighte
   rs-despite-pledge-to-demobilize/2862390.html

References

   1. http://www.hrw.org/
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/hrw-kurdish-forces-using-child-fighters-despite-pledge-to-demobilize/2862390.html