State department experts recommended addition of Riyadh after assessing it had hired child fighters from Sudan to fight in Yemen

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts’ findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using underage fighters in Yemen’s civil war, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The decision, which came after a fierce internal debate, could prompt new accusations by human rights advocates and some lawmakers that the Trump administration is prioritizing security and economic interests in relations with Saudi Arabia, a major US ally and arms customer.

Pompeo’s move comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran, the Saudis’ bitter regional rival.

State department experts recommended adding Saudi Arabia to the soon-to-be released list based in part on news reports and human rights groups’ assessments that Riyadh has hired child fighters from Sudan to fight for the US-backed coalition in Yemen, the four sources said.

The Saudi government, Saudi embassy in Washington and Saudi-led coalition did not respond to requests for comment. The coalition has previously said it was upholding international human rights standards and denied the use of child soldiers.

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The experts’ recommendation faced resistance from some other state department officials who, according to three of the sources, argued that it was not clear whether the Sudanese forces were under the control of Sudanese officers or directed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Pompeo rejected the recommendation from the experts, who are from the state department’s anti-human trafficking office, said the four sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The office has a key role in investigating the use of child soldiers worldwide.

“The United States condemns the unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers. We place great importance on ending the practice wherever it occurs,” a state department official said in response to Reuters’ questions. The official, however, did not specifically address the Saudi decision or whether any consideration was given to Riyadh’s security ties to Washington.

Instead of adding Saudi Arabia to the list, Sudan will be reinstated after being removed last year, three of the sources said.

A spokesman for Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has contributed fighters to the Yemen war, said the force is affiliated with Sudan’s military. “Based on Sudanese laws, it does not recruit minors,” he said. He did not directly respond to a question on who controlled Sudanese forces in Yemen.

The child soldiers list will be part of the state department’s annual global Trafficking in Persons report, which the sources said is expected to be released as early as Thursday.

Foreign militaries on the list cannot receive US aid, training and weapons unless the president issues full or partial waivers of those sanctions based on “national interest”. Trump and his predecessors have done this in the past for countries with close security ties to the United States.

Since the end of 2016, the Saudi-led coalition has deployed as many as 14,000 Sudanese at any given time, including children as young as 14, to fight in Yemen, offering payments of up to $10,000 per recruit.

In Washington, the Yemen conflict is a contentious issue well beyond the state department.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers, citing evidence of the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and angered by the civilian toll from the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen, have ramped up efforts to block Trump’s multibillion-dollar arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Almost from the start, accusations of the use of child soldiers have dogged the parties to the bloody conflict.

A report by an independent group of experts to the UN human rights council in August 2018 found that all sides in Yemen “conscripted or enlisted children into armed forces or groups and used them to participate actively in hostilities”.