BOGOTA, Colombia — Drug gangs and rebel groups in Colombia are increasingly recruiting children and using them to perform potentially lethal tasks that include piloting explosives-laden drones, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Monday.
The international watchdog said criminal organizations in the South American country often use social media to recruit children as they try to assert control over rural areas where they profit from the drug trade, extortion and illegal mining.
“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Protection systems are failing, and social media platforms have become a more effective recruiting ground.”
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.
In 1999, during the peak of the conflict between Colombia’s military and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, an estimated 1,320 children were recruited into the fighting, according to a report by a national truth commission.
A 2016 peace deal between Colombia’s government and the FARC rebels reduced violence in many parts of the country and slowed the recruitment of children by armed groups.
But child recruitment is picking up again as smaller rebel groups and other criminal organizations fight over control of rural areas abandoned by FARC guerrillas following the peace deal, where law enforcement and social services continue to be weak.
In Colombia, rebel groups have long used children to perform 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 Human Rights Watch report says children are now also being trained in drone warfare, as rebel groups increasingly use drones outfitted with explosives to strike at rival groups or launch attacks on police and army bases.
Human Rights Watch verified videos published on social media that show children using explosives-laden drones, and interviewed family protection officers who work with children who have escaped from armed groups or have been allowed to demobilize.
“Released children who report having operated drones say that armed groups describe the activity as a game rather than as participation in armed fighting,” the report said.
Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ office said in a separate report published Monday that armed groups conducted 121 attacks with drones in the first five months of this year, in which 21 people were killed and 145 were injured.
Human Rights Watch identified dozens of social media accounts that “glorify” life in rebel groups, echoing a concern previously voiced by the United Nations.
The watchdog group said in some cases, the algorithms of platforms like Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” such content that encourages children to join rebel groups.
Meta and TikTok replied to Human Rights Watch saying they prohibit content that promotes violence, and that they had taken down accounts flagged by the organization.
Human Rights Watch also said a FARC holdout group led by a commander known as Ivan Mordisco is involved in most cases of child recruitment and is recruiting heavily in Colombia’s Cauca region.
Nearly half of all recruiting cases reported by Colombian authorities since 2021 involved Indigenous children, according to data analysis by Human Rights Watch, despite Indigenous people making up just 4% of the population.
The watchdog group also said girls made up 40% of all recruited children.
Human Rights Watch called on the Colombian government to devote more resources to prosecuting members of armed groups who recruit children, while stepping up efforts to prevent recruitment in rural areas.
There was no immediate government response to the report.
The organization also called on social media platforms to establish channels where users can easily report content that’s related to the recruitment of children, and preserve evidence that can be made available to prosecutors.
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