(The Ferret) – More than 10,000 children were killed or maimed in conflicts during 2017, according to a new United Nations (UN) report, which has prompted critics of the arms trade to accuse the UK of complicity in human rights abuses. Citing “unspeakable” violence, the UN has verified more than 21,000 “grave violations” of children’s rights from January to December 2017, an increase from the previous year when 15,500 were reported. The human rights abuses included gang rapes of children, mass abductions and hundreds killed in Yemen during air strikes on civilian areas. In response to the report, critics have called for an end to UK arms sales to states with appalling human rights records including Saudi Arabia and Israel.
