UN blacklists Sudan army, paramilitary for harming children

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United Nations has added Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary forces to a blacklist for harming children in war, as the organization decried a “shocking” rise in such violations around the world, according to a UN report obtained by Agence France-Presse Tuesday.

“In 2023, violence against children in armed conflict reached extreme levels, with a shocking 21 percent increase in grave violations,” said the report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres which is due to be published on Thursday.

The Sudanese army and the rival Rapid Support Forces were added to a UN blacklist for “the killing and maiming of children, and for attacks on schools and hospitals.”

Sudan has seen “a staggering 480 percent increase in grave violations against children” from 2022 to 2023, the report said.

The RSF was listed for recruiting children and for “rape and other forms of sexual violence against children,” as well as attacks on schools and hospitals.

“I am appalled by the dramatic increase in grave violations,” Guterres wrote in the report, also noting a rise in ethnically motivated attacks and mass displacement of children in Sudan.

Covering some 20 conflict zones worldwide, the annual report includes the killing, injuring, recruitment, kidnapping and sexual violence against children.

It verified 30,705 “grave violations” committed last year, including during the war in Gaza.