Colombia issues lengthy sentences against ELN rebel leaders for recruiting children

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A judge on Monday sentenced in absentia 11 commanders of Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group to prison for recruiting 60 children as young as 8 into their ranks between 2004 and 2018.

The commanders of the National Liberation Army, ELN, were found guilty of recruiting boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 17. Prosecutors said that some of the girls were sexually abused.

Sentences handed to the rebel leaders ranged from 11 years to 20 years in prison. Some of them recently participated in peace talks with Colombia’s government.

The trial was conducted in absentia because the commanders haven’t been captured by Colombia’s government.

One of the leaders who was convicted, Israel Ramírez Pineda, also known by the alias Pablo Beltrán, now lives in Cuba and recently led a delegation that held peace talks with Colombia’s government.

Colombia’s government canceled peace talks with the ELN last year after the group staged a string of attacks in the northeastern Catatumbo region in which at least 80 people were killed.

Human rights groups have pointed out that the recruitment of children by rebel groups and gangs in Colombia continues to be a problem, with these organizations now using social media to lure youth into their ranks.

In 2016, almost 14,000 fighters laid down their weapons following a peace deal between Colombia’s government and the nation’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

But violence has resurfaced in some rural areas where there is little state presence and where groups like the ELN are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes, extortion rackets and illegal mines abandoned by FARC.

According to Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024. Recruits are given a wide range of tasks that include serving as messengers, gathering intelligence, cooking or engaging with the enemy — while girls are sometimes forced into sexual acts with commanders.

The United Nations has called on social media platforms to share evidence with Colombian prosecutors and take actions aimed at blocking rebel groups from using social media to recruit children. Its human rights office in Colombia welcomed the sentence against the ELN leaders, noting that recruiting children into armed groups is prohibited by international law.

“This is a very important development in the fight against the recruitment of girls and boys,” said Scott Campbell, the representative in Colombia for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We have urged the Colombian justice system to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for the recruitment of girls and boys, and welcome this step forward.”

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