Posted on 09/20/2004 1:22:08 PM PDT by knighthawk
ISLAMABAD: A recent report prepared by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPACE) says that Pakistan has literally ignored the UN Convention of the Rights of Child (UNCRC) on the involvment of children in armed conflicts.
Young childrens are not only given being trained for war but are used in select armed conflicts, the Daily Times said quoting the SPARC report.
The Pakistani government has yet to ratify an optional protocol to Article 38 of the UNCRC that states "No child below the age of 15 shall have any part in hostilities or shall be recruited in the armed forces.
"States shall also ensure the protection and care of children who are affected by armed conflicts as described in international laws," the report said.
It further says that the "recruitment of children continues, despite the government's attempts to curb the use of madrassas as breeding grounds for jihadis".
"Poverty, unemployment, adventure, physical punishment, religious glory and feeling of being powerful at a young age are factors that prompt some of these children to join the jihadi outfits that manage most of these madrassas," the report adds.
It further claims that there are over 70,000 madrassas in Pakistan, some of which actively recruit thousands of children to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the government's madrassa reforms plan notwithstanding.
"Children are also recruited by political factions, various sects and nationalist movements to wage an internecine war inside the country. Boys as young as 14 have been victims of such conflicts in Pakistan. In sectarian conflicts, young boys are recruited to kill members of opposing groups," claims the report.
The SPARC report also alleges that at least 1.2 million poor and marginalised children were trafficked for various forms of child labour ranging from forced labour in hazardous conditions to sex exploitation.
Trafficked children, both male and female, were used for prostitution, camel races, organ transplants, drug smuggling, begging, forced child marriages and other purposes, it claimed.
Ping
Stone age savages.
"Ya puts yer right feets next t'yer left feets and that's the positions of attentions."
Sgt 'Rock Steady with Freddy' Freddie Footman, 51st Sig Bn, Uijongbu, Korea .. '65 - '66.
You were so cool, Sarge.
(OK .. carry on with what this thread is really about.)
Musharraf had better get a grip on the madrassas or they'll engulf him.
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