Human Rights Watch has issued a 31-page report criticizing the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham and insurgents for sending children into battle.
The report is based on interviews with 25 children, including those who fought with the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic Front coalition, the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra, the Kurdish YPG, and ISIS.
“For logistical and security reasons”, the report does not consider the use of children by pro-Assad militias.
HRW notes the efforts by some groups have taken steps to end the use of children in the conflict. In March, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a coalition of opposition groups supported by the Free Syrian Army, announced its commitment to comply with international humanitarian law and “refrain from the recruitment of children and the use of children in hostilities”. The Coalition said it had implemented “new training…to eliminate the recruitment and participation of children in armed conflict.”
The Coalition said the Supreme Military Council banned the recruitment and use of children in its Proclamation of Principles. However, Free Syrian Army commanders told Human Rights Watch that they continued to accept children in their ranks.
On June 5, a Kurdish military leader announced that militias would demobilize all fighters under 18 within a month. The internal regulations for the Kurdish police and military forces forbid the use of children under age 18.
The interviewed children said they had fought in battles, acted as snipers, manned checkpoints, spied on hostile forces, treated the wounded on battlefields, and ferried ammunition and other supplies to frontlines during battle.
They gave various reasons for joining the armed groups. Many followed their relatives or friends, while others lived in battle zones without schooling or other options. Some had participated in public protests that motivated them to do more, or had personally suffered at the hands of the regime.
The number of juveniles fighting in Syria is unknown. The Violations Documenting Center has documented 194 deaths of “non-civilian” male children since September 2011.
