Sudan holding 89 child 'rebels'

2008-05-31 22:05

Khartoum - The UN Children's Fund was granted access on Saturday to nearly 90 children arrested by Sudan in connection with a Darfur rebel attack on the capital, announcing they seemed in good health.

"Unicef has welcomed being given access to 89 children detained in connection with the attack by forces of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on Omdurman on May 10," the UN agency said.

Unicef condemned JEM - militarily the strongest rebel group battling the Sudanese government in the western region of Darfur - for using children in its brazen attack on Khartoum's twin city.

"During a meeting with the children on Saturday, Unicef was able to confirm that they appear to be in good health and that they are being detained separately from adults in line with international standards," the agency said.

"These children should be considered primarily as victims, and every effort must be made to enable their reintegration back into their communities in line with international conventions," said Unicef representative Ted Chaiban.

Sudan has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and earlier this month promised to grant Unicef access to the children.

On May 15, the Sudanese authorities announced that 80 children aged from 11 to 17, who were press-ganged into the Darfur rebel group, had been arrested in a security crackdown after the unprecedented attack.

Hassabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, commissioner general of the government Humanitarian Aid Commission, said the children are being held separately in a social rehabilitation centre, where all their needs were being looked after.

- AFP