Mali Islamist buying children to make into soldiers as they impose Sharia Law
Mali Islamists who seized control of part of Mali are amassing money from ransoms and drug trafficking while imposing Sharia law, says a senior UN official, reports the BBC.
Child soldiers are being purchased from families for $600 each, one man told the BBC.
Islamic extremists seized two-thirds of Mali in March when a military coup plunged the country into chaos.
“Women’s rights were being particularly restricted,” said Ivan Simonovic, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, citing the compilation of a “frightening” list of unmarried women who were pregnant or had borne children.
More women were being forced into marriage – with a wife costing less than $1,000 – and some were then being resold in “a smokescreen for enforced prostitution”, added Mr Simonovic.
“Human rights violations are becoming more systematic,” he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York, adding that Islamists had “imposed an extremist version of Sharia”.
The Government of Mali made limited efforts to prevent trafficking, through awareness-raising or other means, during the last year. Many government officials do not acknowledge that hereditary slavery exists in Mali. The government took no visible measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. (Source)
Mail children are ask risk of being sold into marriage or as a “child soldier” while Islamic extremist continue to grow in power. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeromy K. Cross)
Photo: U.S. Army Capt. Laura Porter prescribes medication for children during a medical capabilities exercise Sept. 3, 2007, in Senkoro, Mali, as part of Flintlock 2007. The exercise, which is meant to foster relationships of peace, security and cooperation among the Trans-Sahara nations, is part of the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. The TSCTP is an integrated, multi-agency effort of the U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Defense Department. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeromy K. Cross) www.army.mil
