France

Thu

Apr

2015

New French army video seeks to recruit geeks and gamers

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

Text by Stéphanie TROUILLARD

The French army wants to recruit a new generation of cyber warriors –...

Fri

Oct

French school condemned after students try out unloaded assault rifles

Submitted by antimili-youth on Fri, 30/10/2015 - 07:41

Defence ministry promises disciplinary action after Flastroff school’s ‘meet-the-army’ workshop saw pupils aged 10 and under pose with Famas rifles

France’s defence ministry has said it will take disciplinary action over a primary school “meet-the-army” workshop at which pupils aged 10 and under took part in an exercise with unloaded assault rifles.

But educational authorities, while summoning teachers to explain the incident at a village school in Flastroff, in north-eastern France, suggested it had been more the result of a surfeit of enthusiasm than anything sinister.

The workshop might have gone unnoticed but for a photograph posted on social networks showing a dozen children lying flat out like soldiers, fingers on the triggers of Famas assault rifles.

Mon

Jul

French soldier charged with sexual abuse in Burkina Faso

Submitted by antimili-youth on Mon, 06/07/2015 - 14:06

The man, 38, was charged for sexually abusing a minor and for recording images of a pornographic nature involving a minor, the source said.

A second soldier who had been detained over the case has been freed without charge.

The two men had been repatriated after being questioned by French and Burkinabe military police in capital Ouagadougou.

Sources close to the Burkina Faso investigation say the two soldiers -- aged 36 and 38 -- met the mother of the youngest girl at the swimming pool on Sunday and were invited to her home for a drink.

One of the two men left behind his GoPro portable camera, on which the mother found the images from the swimming pool which showed the alleged abuse, a source said.

The mother took the "fairly long" film to the French embassy, and it was later seen by the father of the other child.

Mon

May

UN response to sex abuse whistleblower is 'deeply unsatisfactory' - open letter

Submitted by antimili-youth on Mon, 18/05/2015 - 16:05

Statement by civil society organisations calling on the UN Secretary General to clarify measures taken in response to reports of sexual abuse of children by foreign troops in the Central African Republic

Dear Mr Ban Ki Moon,

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, call for immediate action to address revelations about the sexual abuse of children by French, Chadian and Equatorial Guinean troops in the Central African Republic, and the United Nations’ handling of the situation.

Languages

Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.