Maoists deny having thousands of child soldiers

NEPAL: Maoists in Nepal denied charges by a leading US-based human rights watchdog that they field as many as 6,000 child soldiers.

Human Rights Watch said of more than 30,000 Maoist cadres registered in the cantonment sites created under Nepal’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement, an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 are believed to be under the age of 18.

“We’ve a strong objection to the Human Rights Watch statement. We don’t know how and where they got those figures from,” Nanda Kishor Pun, deputy Maoist commander and vice-chairman of the Joint Arms Management Committee, told AFP.

The New York-based rights group urged the newly appointed Maoist minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma to secure the Maoists’ cooperation with the United Nations and child protection agencies to allow children to return home without further delay. “We request them to publish statements only after knowing the reality. We are ready to discuss the issue with them,” said Pun.

As part of a landmark peace deal ending a decade of bloody civil war late last year, the UN has completed initial registration of former rebel soldiers, and has taken the details of 31,150 soldiers and 3,475 weapons.

“There might be a few child soldiers in our cantonments but we’ll resolve this issue once the UN starts the second phase of verification process,” the Maoist commander said. But the former rebels are demanding that camp conditions be improved before they allow UN verification of their soldiers to proceed.

The UN was invited as part of last year’s landmark peace deal to monitor Maoist weapons and soldiers and assist in the holding of elections that will shape the political future of the impoverished Himalayan nation.

Kathmandu, Wednesday, AFP