Overruling diplomats, US to drop Iraq from child soldiers' list: Report

In a highly unusual intervention, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to remove Iraq and Myanmar from a US list of the word's worst offenders in the use of child soldiers, disregarding the recommendations of State Department experts and senior US diplomats, US officials said.

The decision, confirmed by three US officials, will break with longstanding protocol at the State Department over how to identify offending countries and may prompt accusations the Trump administration is prioritizing security and diplomatic interests ahead of human rights.

Tillerson overruled his own staff’s assessments on the use of child soldiers in both countries and rejected the recommendation of senior diplomats in Asia and the Middle East who wanted to keep Iraq and Myanmar on the list, said the officials, who have knowledge of the internal deliberations.

Tillerson also rejected an internal State Department proposal to add Afghanistan to the list, the three US officials said.

One official said the decisions appeared to have been made after pressure from the Pentagon to avoid complicating assistance to the Iraqi and Afghan militaries, close US allies in the fight against militants. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Foreign militaries on the list may face sanctions, including a prohibition against receiving US military aid, training and US-made weapons unless the White House issues a waiver.

Human rights officials expressed surprise at the delisting, which was expected to be announced on Tuesday, the officials said, as part of the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

A State Department official said the TIP report's contents were being kept under wraps until its release, and that the department "does not discuss details of internal deliberations".

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, the US government must be satisfied that "no children are recruited, conscripted or otherwise compelled to serve as child soldiers" in order for a country to be removed from the list and US military assistance to resume.

In the lead-up to Tuesday's report, the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which researches the issue and helps shape US policy on it, along with its legal office and diplomatic bureaus in Asia and the Middle East, concluded that the evidence merited keeping both countries on the list, the officials said.

They added that although the report had been finalized, there was always the possibility of last-minute changes.

Betraying children

Iraq, which has received more than $2bn in US arms and training over the last three years, was added to the State Department’s "Child Soldier Prevention Act List" in 2016. However, the flow of US assistance has continued.

Former President Barack Obama handed out full or partial waivers regularly, including last year to Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan and others out of 10 countries on the list.

Last year's State Department report said some militias of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of mostly Shia Muslim factions with ties to the Iraqi government and backed by Iran, "recruited and used child soldiers."

The report said that in spite of the PMF being funded by the government, Baghdad has struggled to control all of its factions.

"The government did not hold anyone accountable for child recruitment and use by the PMF and PMF-affiliated militias."

Human Rights Watch said in January that it had learned that militias had been recruiting child soldiers from one Iraqi refugee camp since last spring.

The broader TIP report, the first of Trump's presidency, is sure to be closely scrutinized for further signs that under his "America First" approach there will be little pressure brought to bear on friendly governments, especially strategically important ones, for human rights violations at home.

The Obama administration, while more vocal about political repression around the world, also faced criticism from human rights groups and some US lawmakers that decisions on annual human trafficking rankings had become increasingly politicised.