The respect for the rights of children and adolescents is a priority for the Multi-mission Heroes of the Army, who continue to work to recover children who are victims of illicit recruitment.
Bogotá. The soldiers of the National Army, as guarantors of the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights have recovered 3169 children and adolescents, whose ages range from 10 to 17 years, who since 2010 had been victims of illicit recruitment by different organized armed groups and organized criminal groups in Colombia.
Thanks to the unified operations carried out throughout the national territory, 2618 children and 551 girls have been recovered their rights since 2010. Once the National Army recovers the children recruited, a special accompaniment is made until they are given to the Group of Humanitarian Assistance to the Demobilized of the Ministry of Defense; the proper treatment of the minors of age is carried out and later they are received by the Colombian Institute of the Family Wellbeing that is in charge of the process of the restoration of the rights of the children, in coordination with the Colombian Agency for Reintegration
Among the fundamental rights of children which are violated when children are recruited by organized armed groups and organized criminal groups there are the right to have good treatments, a family, health and education. That is why, this situation is seen as a war crime in the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Source: National Army.
