Friday, 29 September, 2000, 01:47 GMT 02:47 UK
Row over 'war crimes' youngsters





By UN correspondent Mark Devenport
Human rights campaigners have criticised the UN over a proposal to put child
soldiers as young as 15 on trial for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone.

The proposal is expected to be included in a report on the shape of a new
war crimes court for Sierra Leone which is due to be released this weekend.

When the UN Security Council authorised the creation of the court last
month, they left most of the details to be worked out by the UN's legal
department.

One of the dilemmas facing the organisation's legal officers was what to do
about Sierra Leone's child soldiers, undoubtedly victims of the conflict,
but also in some cases perpetrators of particularly brutal crimes.

Teenagers

Human rights campaigners and child welfare groups have written to the UN
opposing the inclusion of anyone under the age of 18 in the court's remit.

But it is understood that after consultation with the Sierra Leone
government, the UN has decided that those aged between 15 and 18 at the time
the atrocities were committed should stand trial.

"We believe that the focus of the international community should be on
rehabilitating these children, bringing them back into society rather than
bringing them in front of an international court where they will be further
traumatised," says Peter Bouckaert from the New York-based Human Rights
Watch.

Street justice

Ahead of the official publication of the report on the special court, the UN
spokesman declined to comment on the controversy over child soldiers.

But those who believe the teenagers should be put on trial argue that this
would diminish the chances of them being subjected to arbitrary street
justice.

It is also pointed out that any child soldiers found guilty are more likely
to be put into rehabilitation programmes than sent to jail.

Whilst human rights campaigners have criticised the prosecution of the
teenage soldiers, they are welcoming plans for the new court to target the
militia commanders who have been forcibly recruiting children to fight in
Sierra Leone's civil war.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------