Siyaj Organization Welcomes Yemeni Defense Minister’s Directives to Investigate and Refer Those Responsible for Recruiting Children into the Armed Forces to the Judiciary
Issued by Siyaj Organization for Child Protection
Yemen – Sana’a – November 15, 2011
Siyaj Organization for Child Protection welcomes the positive response from the Yemeni Ministry of Defense to its call for the demobilization of child soldiers. This response included an urgent directive to open an investigation into cases of child recruitment and to refer those responsible for carrying out and overseeing this recruitment to the judiciary.
Siyaj Organization for Child Protection affirms that it possesses testimonies, photographs, and documents that definitively prove the presence of child soldiers in the armed forces and security services. It expresses its readiness to cooperate with relevant parties in this humanitarian mission of demobilizing and rehabilitating child soldiers in military sectors, whether those loyal to the government or those of the peaceful youth revolution.
Siyaj Organization calls upon government officials to take measures Urgent and practical measures are needed to demobilize and rehabilitate all children recruited into the army, security forces, and armed groups, in accordance with programs aligned with international standards, particularly the Paris Principles developed by UNICEF and several partners, which serve as a theoretical framework in this area.
This positive response comes as part of the campaign launched two days ago by the Siyaj Organization to demobilize children recruited into the armed forces, security forces, and armed groups.
