Illegal armed groups in Colombia must release 13,000 recruited children
before November or face trial before the
International Criminal Court, a former Congressman said.
Inspectors of the ICC will begin monitoring
Colombia’s illegal armed groups and the army in November to try war crimes.
“If they continue to recruit children from the first of November and the Colombian justice does not process them, the ICC will come after them,” Congressmen Jimmy Chamorro told local media.
According to UNICEF figures, at least 13,000 children are part of Colombia’s armed groups. Half of the recruited minors fight for the FARC, the rest are in paramilitary and criminal groups.
Chamorro Monday will launch a campaign that will tour through 24 of Colombia’s 32 departments for two months to call on the armed groups to reintegrate the recruited children.