Tuesday, November 21, 2017

U.S. State Department Officials Have Accused Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Of Violating U.S. Law When It Comes To Child Soldiers

Reuters

Reuters: U.S. diplomats accuse Tillerson of breaking child soldiers law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal documents reviewed by Reuters.

A confidential State Department “dissent” memo, which Reuters was first to report on, said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries.

Read more ....

Update #1: State Dept. officials accuse Tillerson of violating law: report (The Hill)
Update #2: Top Democrat expresses concern Tillerson broke law related to child soldiers (CBS News)

WNU Editor: Should Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan be excluded from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers? Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya's guarantees it will be put on the list soon .... as for Iraq and Afghanistan .... it is the law, but I am willing to bet that they will continue to be excluded.

No comments: