US army detains 500 minors in Iraq: report

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Around 500 minors are currently detained by the US army in Iraq, as well as nearly a dozen juveniles in Afghanistan, a US civil liberties group revealed on Wednesday.

"Since 2002, the United States has held approximately 2,500 individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their capture ... in Guantanamo Bay, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan," said a US government report for the UN children's agency, made public by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"As of April 2008, US forces held approximately 500 juveniles" in Iraq, where "all detainees, regardless of age, are held by US forces as imperative threats to security at the request of the sovereign Iraqi government and pursuant to a UN Security Council Resolution," the report said.

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