English.news.cn
2012-10-19 20:25:14
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COLOMBO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government
on Friday said that all former Tamil Tiger child soldiers who underwent
rehabilitation after being arrested have been freed.
Sri Lanka's Minister of Plantation Industries and
Special Envoy of the President on Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said that
out of approximately 12,000 Tamil Tiger suspects arrested and rehabilitated as
of Oct. 1 this year, 10,985 former rebels including 594 former child soldiers
have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
"Not a single child combatant remains in
rehabilitative care or legal custody today," the External Affairs Ministry
quoted Minister Samarasinghe as saying.
He said that the government adhered to a policy of not
subjecting ex-combatant children to legal proceedings based on the rationale
that they were victims and not perpetrators.
He also said that all child soldiers released were
afforded the opportunity of a formal education and that they were reunited with
their families.
Sri Lanka has fought a 30-year war against the rebels
and eventually won the war in May 2009.
Samarasinghe said that 212 former combatants, who were
previously pursuing tertiary education were re-inducted into the university
system to follow their undergraduate studies.
"We note with pleasure that Sri Lanka has now
been delisted by the UN Secretary-General from Annex II of the UN Security
Council Resolution 1612, on Children and Armed Conflict. This is a result of
the efforts taken by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to inquire into several
cases on child recruitment and comply with the recommendations of the Security
Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and those of the UNSG's
Special Representative," the Minister said.
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Editor: Wang Yuanyuan
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