child combatants: not just for Liberia anymore.

From a new report by Human Rights Watch

Colombia: Widespread Use of Child Combatants a Worsening Problem

More than 11,000 children fight in Colombia's armed conflict, one of the highest totals in the world, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Both guerrilla and paramilitary forces rely on child combatants, who have committed atrocities and are even made to execute other children who try to desert.

The first comprehensive report published on this issue, "You'll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia," documents how Colombia's illegal armies have recruited increasing numbers of children in recent years. Only Burma (Myanmar) and the Democratic Republic of Congo are believed to have significantly larger numbers of child combatants than Colombia.