Region | Iraq
Families question fate of detained children in Iraq
American sources say there are 500 Iraqi children detained, but the numbers are difficult to verify because Iraqi military authorities refuse to cooperate in this matter.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 00:01 June 14, 2008
Baghdad: American sources say there are 500 Iraqi children detained, but the numbers are difficult to verify because Iraqi military authorities refuse to cooperate in this matter.
Abdullah Fayez Al Saffar, head of Mariam Children's Foundation in Baghdad accused the United Nations of ignoring the Iraqi children detained by the American army.
He said to Gulf News, "All concerned parties including the Iraqi government refuse to cooperate with civil society institutions. They refuse to verify the condition of detained children and work to release those who are innocent and to submit to trial those who are involved to the Iraqi judicial system, especially when most of the detained children are under fourteen years of age which makes detaining them an awful and severe matter."
Human rights
The families of some of those children who have been detained complained to human rights organisations in Baghdad about having been prevented to find out where their children are detained.
Hassan Sha'aban, head of the human rights organisation in Baghdad told Gulf News, "Most of the complaints made by families of detained children were about identifying their locations and arranging visits to see them, but the problem is that most of the youth are accused of being linked to Al Qaida."
A report by the Iraqi Interior Ministry has described the detained children as the most dangerous terrorists, because some of them were wearing explosive belts to carry out suicide bombings, which could have left dozens of civilians dead.
Danger
The report added that the danger also lies in the process of brainwashing them by Al Qaida so they can provide them with information about the mobility of Iraqi and American forces.
Abdul Hussain Shandal, a former Iraqi Justice Minister, said to Gulf News that the detained children must transfer from the Iraqi and American prisons to others affiliated to the Iraqi Ministry of Social Affairs in an area called Ali Saleh close to Kadhumiya city in Baghdad.
He added, "These children cannot afford to stay in prison without trial for a long time and therefore, they must be transferred to the Iraqi judicial system to try them on charges."
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