South Sudanese rebels deny recruiting child soldiers
September 15, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – The rebel faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – SPLM in Opposition – led by South Sudan’s former vice-president, Riek Machar, have denied recruiting or having child soldiers among their regular forces, but acknowledged the presence of underage volunteer fighters among the civilian youth groups.
Reports by human rights bodies have been accusing both the South Sudanese government led by president Salva Kiir and Machar’s opposition forces of recruiting child soldiers to fight in the ongoing nine-month-long civil war.
However, rebel leader’s spokesperson has refuted the allegation, saying they didn’t have child soldiers among their regular forces.
“We don’t have a policy of recruiting underage fighters who have not attained the age of 18 years and above. Our leadership discourages this. Actually we don’t have child soldiers among our regular forces,” Machar’s spokesperson James Gatdet Dak told Sudan Tribune when reached by phone on Monday.
The regular forces, he said, are drawn from thousands of the defecting troops from the government.
Dak however acknowledged the presence of some underage fighters among the armed civilian youth, which he said had not been condoned by the leadership of the SPLM-in-Opposition.
“We however acknowledge that there are some underage volunteer fighters among the youth. These were already armed youth who had to respond to the ferocious massacres of over 20,000 members of the Nuer ethnic group in the capital, Juba, in mid-December last year,” Dak further explained.
The rebel leader’s spokesman also added that a process to identify and demobilize the underage among the volunteer “freedom fighters” had already begun, explaining only those who are at least 18 years of age will be allowed to go for military training.
He said the leadership of the “resistance movement” was discouraging the deep rooted culture among the Nuer youth who thought boys of at least 15 years of age were men enough to fight in battles.
Both the government and the rebels are believed to have been recruiting and training thousands of more fighters in preparation for a coordinated full blown civil war should the IGAD-mediated peace process fail in Ethiopia.
The two warring parties and other stakeholders have resumed the six round of the on and off peace talks on Monday with the venue relocated to Bahir Dar town, north of Addis Ababa.
The agenda for discussion is not yet disclosed after Machar’s SPLM-IO, major South Sudanese party, SPLM-DC of Lam Akol, former SPLM detainee leaders and civil society organizations have all rejected the 23 August power-sharing protocol imposed by IGAD, accusing the regional body of “bias” and imposition of “unjust” document on the parties and the people of South Sudan.
(ST)