Regeringsvenlige militser i dele af Afghanistan menes at rekruttere mindreårige drenge og i nogle tilfælde seksuelt misbruge dem, lyder det fra lokalbefolkningen og menneskeretsorganisationer.
Nyhedsbureauet IRIN skriver torsdag, at den afghanske regering og USA/Nato styrker, i et forsøg på at imødegå den skærpede modstand, har oprettet kontroversielle militser, hvor rekrutteringen sker blandt lokalbefolkningen.
Ifølge Indenrigsministeriet i Afghanistan er tusindvis af mænd indtil dags dato blevet rekrutteret i Kunduz, Baghlan og Kandahar provinserne.
Men blandt lokalbefolkningen og den afghanske uafhængige menneskerettighedskommission (AIHRC) lyder meldingen, at militserne i nogle områder ansætter mindreårige drenge. UNICEF kan endnu ikke bekræfte oplysningerne, men udtrykker bekymring for, at børn bliver associeret med denne slags militser.
En FN rapport beskrev i april 2010, at både det afghanske politi samt regeringsfjendtlige militser rekrutterer mindreårige børn.
Et stadigt større problem
“We’re seriously concerned about this,” said Hussein Nasrat, a child rights officer at AIHRC, adding that his organization was investigating the issue.
“The use and abuse of children by local armed groups is very worrying because they [pro-government militias] fall beyond the formal, legal and disciplinary structures within which the police and army operate,” he said.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it had not received “confirmed information” on the issue, but that it was concerned about the “association of children with such forces” due to their community-based status.
NGOs have demanded that the government and US/NATO forces stop using local militias and instead devote greater resources to developing a more professional and accountable police and army.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, has said the proliferation of armed actors impedes and threatens humanitarian work in Afghanistan.
Children are recruited and used for military purposes by the Afghan national police, as well as the following anti-government groups: Haqqani network, Hezb-i-Islamic, Taliban, Tora Bora Front and the Jamat Sunat al-Dawa Salafia, the UN Secretary-General said in a report in April 2010.
