A Sudanese rights group has called for the immediate release of a child reportedly captured while fighting alongside forces supporting the Sudanese army during battles in Blue Nile state.
The Al-Jazeera Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that military operations in the Blue Nile region a day earlier resulted in the capture of a child who had allegedly been recruited into one of the armed formations fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The reported capture came after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied forces took control of the border town of Kurmuk following clashes with SAF and its allies.
According to the observatory, the captured child, identified only as Walid, said he was from the Salha area in the southern countryside of Omdurman.
The rights group condemned the recruitment and deployment of children in Sudan’s conflict, saying the practice violates international protections governing the involvement of minors in armed hostilities.
It cited the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which establish protections against the recruitment and military use of children.
The observatory described Walid’s reported recruitment as a violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and called for those responsible for recruiting him to be held accountable.
It also urged the RSF to immediately release the child and arrange for him to be returned safely to his family.
The group said the RSF, as the force currently holding the child, bears responsibility for his safety and treatment while he remains in its custody.
The allegations regarding the child’s recruitment and circumstances of capture have not been independently verified.
