- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Two Ex-Sierra Leone Child Soldiers to Sue Security Firm Over Psychological Harm

© AP Photo / Adam ButlerA fourteen year old child soldier for the Sierra Leone Army, Abu Kamara, left, is helped with his British self Loading rifle (SLR) by another soldier while protecting the small town of Ropath near Masiaka, 55 km east of the capital Freetown, Tuesday May 23, 2000
A fourteen year old child soldier for the Sierra Leone Army, Abu Kamara, left, is helped with his British self Loading rifle (SLR) by another soldier while protecting the small town of Ropath near Masiaka, 55 km east of the capital Freetown, Tuesday May 23, 2000 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Two former child soldiers fighting in Sierra Leone’s civil war plan to sue private security company Aegis Defence Services, which recruited them when they were under 13 years old, over psychological harm.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to The Guardian, the men’s solicitor Rebekah Read said they served as child soldiers during Sierra Leone’s civil war, that lasted until 2002, and then were hired by Aegis Defence Services as mercenaries in Iraq. The men reportedly claimed their experiences in Iraq had aggravated the psychological trauma they had received in childhood.

"They are quite haunted young men who were children under the age of 13 when they were fighting [in Sierra Leone]," Read was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

She added that the two men accused Aegis of failing to monitor their mental health and provide necessary help.

Two children enrolled with Sierra Leonean troops fighting rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). - Sputnik International
Outsourcing Warfare: Sierra Leone’s Ex-Child Soldiers Offered to UK Firms
In April, a Danish documentary titled "Bornesoldatens Nye Job" (The Child Soldier’s New Job) revealed that former Sierra Leone child soldiers were among the 2,500 personnel recruited by Aegis and other security companies to work in Iraq for as little as $16 a day.

The civil war raged in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002. According to human right organizations, the Revolutionary United Front, state forces and state-supported militias not only recruited but also kidnapped and forced children to fight, while girls were subjected to sexual violence.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала