Human Rights Watch reported that South Sudan government and the opposition forces are actively recruiting boys as young as 13, ‘often by force’ as soldiers in Malakal, Upper Nile State.
The report CRN got on Monday said Human Rights Watch visited Malakal in late January 2015 and collected about 25 accounts of child recruitment in the area from parents and other relatives, from children who escaped recruitment and young adults who were also forcibly recruited together with children.
The report said in Malakal, Human Rights Watch found that government forces, apparently especially those led by the former militia leader Johnson Olony, recruited at least 15 children.
It said Opposition forces also recruited and used many child soldiers in battles and for other purposes such as cooking and carrying water.
Human Rights Watch Africa Director Daniel Bekele said ‘both parties to South Sudan’s conflict recruited and used child soldiers, which is a war crime when children are under 15’.
He called on government and opposition commanders to issue clear orders barring recruitment of all children under 18 and cooperate with relevant United Nations agencies to help those children return to places of safety.