Child Soldiers of LTTE Tamil Tigers
2000 Archive

UNICEF slams Tigers on child soldiers
UNICEF: July 13, 2000
The United Nations Children's Fund, (UNICEF), today (13 July 2000) accused the LTTE of breaking a commitment not to recruit children for combat in its war against the Sri Lankan state.

The UNICEF representative in Sri Lanka, Mr. Colin Glennie, told journalists that the situation for children in areas held by the LTTE had worsened since the promise given by the group's representatives in 1998 to the visiting U.N. special envoy on children and armed conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu.

The LTTE's political representative, Mr. Tamil Chelvam, had told Mr. Otunnu then that the group would not recruit those below 17 and would desist from using those below 18 for armed combat.

Mr. Glennie said UNICEF was aware the LTTE had not kept its word. ``Some parents have reported to us that their children have been recruited,'' he said. 

Despite the separatist group's denials, UNICEF raised the issue whenever it met LTTE representatives. ``We don't have numbers, but we know it is a serious problem,'' Mr. Glennie said at a press conference to launch the annual UNICEF publication Progress of Nations.

Earlier this week, a Tamil rights group, the University Teachers' For Human Rights of Jaffna(UTHR), said the LTTE had stepped up its campaign to draw in children to swell its numbers after its recent victory at Elephant Pass.  The report said that the LTTE was recruiting children as young as 10 years and that age was no consideration as long as the child was able to carry a gun.

Mr. Glennie said despite the promise to the U.N., the LTTE had not yet made the same commitment to the people living in areas controlled by it. ``Until they announce to their own people that they have measures to prevent children below 17 years being recruited, we cannot take their promises seriously.''

The UTHR report said helpless parents no more protested when their children were taken away because of the terror tactics and intimidation employed by the LTTE.

It said children were at high risk in combat due to the increased use of artillery and mortars. After the battle for Elephant Pass, the bodies of several children were sent home in sealed coffins as they were badly mangled. More than 100 child soldiers were seriously wounded in that battle, it said.

The University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna (UTHR)
July 13, 2000
The University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna (UTHR) said in a report today that the forcible recruitment had increased since the rebels launched an offensive to re-capture the northern Jaffna peninsula in April 2000. The LTTE is forcing children to join their ranks to fight Government troops and many of the youngsters are being
killed in action, a Human Rights Group said. The Rights Group, made up mostly of Tamils who used to teach at Jaffna University, said a fresh child-recruitment drive began on May 5, soon after the rebels captured the key `Elephant Pass' military base on an isthmus connecting Jaffna with the rest of the country.

The Rights Group, considered treacherous and unpatriotic by the LTTE, said many of the young soldiers being drafted into rebel ranks were girls, some as young as 13-years-old.