The United Nations has added three Malian militias and Syria's main rebel force for the first time to an annual "list of shame" of armed groups that recruit children, The Associated Press reported.
The list was part of report released Wednesday, June 12, that also harshly criticized the Syrian regime over accounts that it has detained and tortured minors to extract information on rebel groups.
The annual report on children of armed conflict covered 21 countries, detailing new abuses against children in some conflict zones and progress in others. Fifty-five armed groups from 14 countries were included in "lists of shame," some for recruiting children and others for other abuses against minors. The Syrian government forces were added to a list of groups that sexually abuse children.
Hundreds of children, mainly boys between 12 and 15, were enlisted to fight by armed groups who fought over Mali's north last year, according to the report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The "list of shame" of children recruiters included the Tuareg group MNLA and two Islamic groups, MUJAO and Ansar Dine.
Besides, the UN received accounts of pro-government militias in Mali recruiting children.
The UN report also accused the Syrian armed forces and intelligence services of torturing minors, mostly boys, with electric shock, beatings and sexual assault.
"The toll on children of the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic is unacceptable and unbearable," Ban said in the report. He called on Assad's government "to put an end to the detention and any form of ill-treatment, including torture, of children for alleged association with the opposition."
Ban said there were a growing number of reports of the Free Syrian Army, the main rebel umbrella group, recruiting children, mostly between 15 and 17.
The report detailed progress in protecting children in other conflict zones. New action plans were signed in South Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers.
