BAGHDAD, 29 July 2008 (IRIN) - Iraqi government institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international bodies must focus more on devising programmes for juveniles to prevent them from being co-opted by militants for criminal acts, a government spokesman said on 28 July.

'We have evidence that the phenomenon of criminal gangs and terrorist groups recruiting juveniles - either by threatening them or luring them with money - has increased recently,' said Hamza Kamil, spokesman of the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry.

'We urge the government, NGOs and international organisations working in Iraq to run comprehensive programmes for these children to distance them from any militant influence,' Kamil told IRIN.

Kamil said his ministry had conducted a series of interviews recently with over 1,000 juveniles in the custody of Iraqi government and US forces, and found that family neglect frequently lay behind their involvement with militant groups.

'Most of these juveniles [currently held in prisons] were being used [by the militants] either for transporting bombs to areas the militants can't enter due to security cordons, or to daub walls with anti-government graffiti,' he said.

As of July there were 338 juveniles in prisons run by US forces, and 669 in Iraqi-run prisons, most of whom had been convicted of 'terrorist' or criminal acts, he said.

Child detention rates rising

Kamil said his ministry was satisfied with the living conditions of the juvenile detainees in the prisons 'but more rehabilitation programmes are still needed.'

'There should be clear and comprehensive rehabilitation programmes for these juveniles, either inside the prisons, or when they get out,' he said.

He said a new law to protect the rights of children was being drafted by the ministry for presentation to parliament later in 2008, but did not elaborate.

A New York-based Human Rights Watch report on 21 May [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/05/20/iraq18886.htm] said detention rates for children had risen drastically in 2007 to an average of 100 new cases a month, from 25 a month in 2006.

It said the children held at the main US-run detention facilities, (Baghdad-based Camp Cropper and Basra-based Camp Bucca), were not provided with lawyers, did not attend the weekly or monthly security status reviews conducted by a committee made up of representatives of US forces and Iraqi officials, and had very limited contact with their families.