VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #0184 0331222
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021222Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1077

UNCLAS SANAA 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI YM
SUBJECT: BOYS FIGHTING AS MEN IN YEMEN'S TRIBAL CONFLICTS 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  A recent report by a local NGO touting high 
rates of child combatants in tribal warfare has garnered 
considerable international coverage.  Culturally, however, 
the adolescents are viewed as adults who owe allegiance to 
their tribes and are fighting to protect their homes.  This 
may reflect another example that childhood ends early for 
many of Yemen's children.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BOYS TO MEN 
------------ 
 
¶2.  SEYAJ Organization for Childhood Protection reported on 
January 26 that half of the fighters in a tribal war in Amran 
governorate are children.  (Note: The al-Osimat and Harf 
Sufian tribes began fighting in November 2008.  End note.) 
Executive Director of SEYAJ, Ahmed al-Qarashi, explained to 
Poloff that the "children" range from ages 12 to 15.  The 
statistics stem from interviews with volunteers living in 
Amran since at this time, he noted, it is too dangerous for 
his organization to do a field study.  "Fifty percent is a 
conservative estimate, however," al-Qarashi said, "Our 
volunteers often report much higher numbers." 
 
¶3.  Yemeni law defines a "child" as under the age of 15, but, 
according to al-Qarashi, "The tribes do not consider them 
children."  "In tribal culture, there is a concept of 'full 
man'", he explained, "When a boy is married he is considered 
an adult, no matter his age, and now owes allegiance to his 
tribe."  Al-Qarashi confirmed to Poloff that these armed 
boys, often as young as 12 year olds, are married, and are 
fighting to protect their households. 
 
¶4.  While unmarried boys are not expected to fight, very 
young children are often familiar with guns.  Al-Qarashi 
described seeing children "carrying weapons that are taller 
than they are."  Pictures of children with AK-47s strapped 
across their bodies litter the offices of Dar al-Salaam, a 
local anti-gun NGO committed to stopping revenge killings. 
Dar al-Salaam's Executive Director Sheikh Abdulrahman 
al-Marwani told Poloff that "a major component of our tribal 
mediation programs is the rehabilitation of children both as 
victims and perpetrators of violence."  Head of the Juvenile 
Court in Sana'a Judge Afrah Badwellan described combating the 
social perception that children are young adults as a "major 
challenge" for Yemeni society. 
 
COMMENT 
--------- 
 
¶5.  Childhood for many ends early in Yemen and, as with the 
cultural practice of child brides, the preponderance of 
adolescents participating in tribal conflicts may only 
reflect Yemen's very young population living as adults before 
the internationally recognized age of 18.  END COMMENT. 
SECHE