The United Nations took the reins of an African-led peacekeeping force in Mali on Monday that includes troops from Chad, prompting criticism from human rights advocates who note that Chad is currently on the United Nations’ list of nations that utilizes child soldiers.
The Chadian forces have been in northern Mali under an African-led peacekeeping mission after helping the French military drive al Qaeda-linked rebels out of power in January. The United Nations took control of the mission on Monday after receiving authorization from the U.N. Security Council in April.
Human rights advocates objected to the decision to "blue hat" the Chadian forces noting that Chad is on the United Nations’ list of countries that employ child soldiers.
"Sending Chadian soldiers to protect vulnerable people is asking the foxes to guard the chickens," Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based human rights group U.N. Watch, told the Washington Free Beacon.
"Just last year they raped four teenage girls on a posting in the Central African Republic, and the government did nothing despite a U.N. complaint," Neuer added. "And the ink is not yet dry on the U.N. secretary-general's May report to the Security Council where Chad was cited on a list of shame for countries using child soldiers."
The U.N. said it would be carefully screening the Chadian troops and making every effort to "ensure that no troops under 18 are among them."
The Watch List on Children and Armed Conflict called the inclusion of Chad a "harmful, precedent-setting action," in a report released last month.
Eva Smets, the group’s executive director, told the Free Beacon that the U.N.’s decision to include Chadian troops "is inherently contradictory" and said her organization would be watching its screening efforts carefully.
She added that she was encouraged that the United Nations was helping Chad implement a plan to end its use of child soldiers, which was put into place two years ago.
"I do want to nuance at this point our position, that we do recognize the different actions that are taking place, which are the right actions to be taken," said Smets.
Neuer was skeptical that the Chadian forces in Mali could be relied on to reform so quickly.
"This notion, promoted by France and the U.N., that the Chad army will reform itself overnight strains credulity," said Neuer. "Vulnerable people in Mali do need to be protected from the Islamist systematic abusers—but not by systematic abusers from Chad."