10-07-2003, 03:42 PM
U.N. agency demands release of children abducted by Tamil Tiger rebels
Associated Press, Tue October 7, 2003 05:26 EDT . SHIMALI SENANAYAKE - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The U.N. Children's Fund said Tuesday it has demanded that Tamil Tiger rebels immediately release children abducted to be soldiers and called the actions ``completely unacceptable.'' Parents and children protested Monday in eastern Sri Lanka - over the abduction of at least 15 children, said the Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission, a European team monitoring a cease-fire in the country's civil war. Three were later released.
Military spokesman Col. Sumetha Perera said he had received reports of 20 abductions, including 13 students taken from a school and playground Saturday in Batticaloa, 220 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
The reported abductions in Batticaloa took place barely 24 hours after the rebels freed 49 other children under a UNICEF program to demobilize child soldiers.
At a ceremony Friday launching the new program, a senior Tiger leader said the group had abandoned recruiting children.
``If reintegration of child soldiers is to be successful then new recruitment has to stop,'' Chaiban said. ``These abductions are completely unacceptable.''
Human rights groups estimate that the Tamil Tigers used 2,000 to 4,000 children as soldiers during their 19-year fight for a separate state for the island's minority Tamils. About 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before last year's truce.
http://www.theacademic.org/#10655276900
Associated Press, Tue October 7, 2003 05:26 EDT . SHIMALI SENANAYAKE - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The U.N. Children's Fund said Tuesday it has demanded that Tamil Tiger rebels immediately release children abducted to be soldiers and called the actions ``completely unacceptable.'' Parents and children protested Monday in eastern Sri Lanka - over the abduction of at least 15 children, said the Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission, a European team monitoring a cease-fire in the country's civil war. Three were later released.
Military spokesman Col. Sumetha Perera said he had received reports of 20 abductions, including 13 students taken from a school and playground Saturday in Batticaloa, 220 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
The reported abductions in Batticaloa took place barely 24 hours after the rebels freed 49 other children under a UNICEF program to demobilize child soldiers.
At a ceremony Friday launching the new program, a senior Tiger leader said the group had abandoned recruiting children.
``If reintegration of child soldiers is to be successful then new recruitment has to stop,'' Chaiban said. ``These abductions are completely unacceptable.''
Human rights groups estimate that the Tamil Tigers used 2,000 to 4,000 children as soldiers during their 19-year fight for a separate state for the island's minority Tamils. About 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before last year's truce.
http://www.theacademic.org/#10655276900
Truth 'll prevail