500 juveniles still detained as enemy combatants in Iraq

Since 2002, the United States has detained some 2,500 people younger than 18 as illegal enemy combatants in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq; 500 of these individuals remain detained in Iraq, according to a report filed by the Bush administration and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Made public yesterday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the report documents the fate of the hundreds of Iraqi juveniles captured while “engaging in anti-coalition activity.”

It also says that 2,400 of the 2,500 juveniles were captured in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

The ACLU denounced the “lack of safeguards” for youths detained as enemy combatants by the U.S. military, and said there is “no comprehensive policy in place” for handling juveniles.

For the full article, click here.