Darfur JEM criticize UN official remarks on child soldiers

November 26, 2009 (PARIS) – The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) criticized statements made by a senior UN official this week describing her as being “misguided” over her accusations that the movement recruits child soldiers.

The UN Secretary General special representative for Children and Armed Conflict Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy accused the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) and Darfur rebels of continuing to recruit minors in their arms.

Coomaraswamy also said that she received a pledge from Khartoum not to execute six child soldiers affiliated with JEM, who had recently been sentenced to death for taking part in the rebel group attack on the capital last year.

But JEM denied having any child soldiers among its ranks saying those in Khartoum’s custody do not belong to them.

“They rounded up innocent Darfuri children who live in the capital and extracted confessions to implicate them in being part of JEM” the army commander of JEM Suleiman Sandal told Sudan Tribune.

“There was a video the whole world saw on You Tube showing Sudanese army officers brutally hitting children and verbally abusing them. This is because they wanted them to incriminate themselves. Why did Radhika not investigate it?” Sandal asked.

The JEM top military official said they invited the UN representative to visit their camps and inspect them but that she ignored it.

“Instead she [Radhika] goes to the government side to get the information from them on whether we recruit children or not” he said.

“Our invitation still holds if she wants to find out the truth on the ground not from the government side. Our rules are clear. We do not allow children to fight with us” Sandal added.

Coomaraswamy was on a week-long tour of Sudan in areas including Khartoum, North Darfur, West Darfur, Juba, Yambio and Bor.

(ST)