Children’s Rights Wronged

That 12-year old shooter in the recent ISIS video has been recognized, it is claimed:

Schoolchildren in southern France are in shock after seeing a former classmate executing a hostage in a video released by the Islamic State (Isis).  The Islamist group posted online gruesome propaganda video showing a boy in military fatigues shooting an Israeli-Arab teenager in the head. The boy had been accused of working for Israel’s spy agency Mossad.

 

In the video the child, aged 11 or 12, is flanked by a bearded man, who is believed to be his stepfather.

Students at Nicolas Vauquelin de Toulouse college, Toulouse, reportedly recognised the killer as a former classmate who left France last year.  “Concerning the formal identification of this person, I cannot tell you anything,” schools inspector Jacques Caillaut told AFP. “Children from the Vauquelin College have recognised one of their (former) classmates, but we must remain cautious.”

 

The child, said to be called “Ryan” was in his final year of primary school education at École Élémentaire Publique Vergers in Toulouse, until 11 March 2014, when he was reported absent by the school.

So, I went to the UN to check if they issued a statement of outrage.

At the page of Press releases and news notes of UNICEF, I checked about three or more dozen releases for 2015.  “ISIS” gave me only “crisis”.  “Islamic” gave me nothing.

Doing a general check, I found this some six weeks ago::

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) denounced in particular the killing of children committed by both sides of the conflict, as well as ISIS militants’ use of children as suicide bombers or slaves.

And in June last year, thre was this report:

Non-state armed groups in Syria have used children as young as 15 to fight in battles, sometimes recruiting them under the guise of offering education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The groups have used children as young as 14 in support roles. Extremist Islamist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training, and have given them dangerous tasks, including suicide bombing missions.

I truly hope something mor tangible gets done, like warning them of possible war crimes trials.

After all, Israel is warned all the time.

And by the way, what about the mobilization and use of children in the area of the Palestinian Authority?  In the Hamas tunnels.  Those notorious summer camps.  Recruits who can end up in situations like this last December:

Israeli soldiers arrested a teenage girl who approached a checkpoint near Jerusalem holding a knife.

The girl, 14 according to the Ma’an news agency, approached the Qalandiya checkpoint on Thursday evening while holding the knife in her right hand and wearing a white cloth over her mouth.

A video released by Israeli authorities shows an Israeli officer spraying mace into her face before wrestling her to the ground and subduing her.

These, too, must be dealt with.