New study highlights use of child soldiers

There are more than 120,000 children under the age of 18 currently participating in armed conflicts across Africa some no more than seven or eight years old, a new global study documenting the use of child soldiers said on Tuesday. The report by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers estimates that more than 300,000 children are fighting with governments and armed groups in more than 40 countries around the world. In 87 countries children are recruited into government armed forces, paramilitaries, civil militia and non-state armed groups. “This report tells the truth about a problem which is truly a global problem,” Judit Arenas spokeswoman for the coalition said in Johannesburg. “Children around the world are all at risk. Every child as along as they can hold up an AK-47 is at risk of being turned into a killer.” Situation in sub-Saharan Africa The report notes that in recent years countries in sub-Saharan Africa most affected by this problem have been Angola, Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda. “One of the most worrisome situations at the moment is Angola where (the rebel movement) UNITA continues to recruit child soldiers and in some instances abduct children. We have also received reports of UNITA raids into northern Namibia to abduct children,” Arenas said. The report estimates that with the resumption of the civil war in 1998, some 7,000 child soldiers are currently in the ranks of UNITA and the Angolan army - the FAA, with forcible recruitment increasing in 2000. “The demobilisation of some 8,500 registered child soldiers in accordance with the 1994 peace agreement has progressed slowly, with more than half that number deserting the quartering areas and only 2,825 children demobilised to date,” adds the report. Angola has not signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 May last year. So far 81 countries have signed, with five ratifying the protocol. In Burundi, which has one of the lowest legal recruitments ages in Africa, the report notes that up to 14,000 children have taken part in the civil war. “Since the August 2000 peace agreement, which explicitly protects children, fighting between government and opposition forces has continued and both sides have reportedly recruited children as young as 12 often from refugee and regroupment camps,” says the report. In the DRC, which has signed the protocol, the report estimates that between 15 and 30 percent of newly recruited combatants are children under 18, with a “substantial” number under 12. “Both the Congolese Armed forces and various opposition groups forcibly recruit children. The Rwandan Patriotic Army and the Ugandan People’s Defence Force facilitated the recruitment of children by opposition groups in the eastern DRC and often oversaw the training of child recruits,” says the report. “Congolese child soldiers known as ‘kadogos’ or ‘little ones’, often serve initially as runners, bodyguards, porters or spies and later learn to use arms and serve in combat.” According to the report there are an estimated 5,000 child combatants serving among government and opposition forces in the DRC, with a further 5,000 estimated to have been recruited for labour among armed groups. To date just over 1,800 children are reported to have entered disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes. “Underage recruitment, including there the re-enlistment of some of those previously demobilised, has continued among all forces,” notes the report. An issue of girl child soldiers too Arenas said the study highlighted the fact that the issue of child soldiers was not just “boys with guns” but an issue of “girls with guns” as well. The report notes that girls are particularly at risk of rape, sexual slavery and abuse, although the exploitation of boys for these purposes is also reported. “We have documented cases where young girls are fighting with babies strapped to their backs,” said Arenas. “One of the saddest things which we have also seen is the number of young girls who have become infected with HIV/AIDS. In many cases they know or suspect that their partner is HIV-positive. But because they fear for their lives they have to do as they are told.” Making progress However Arenas pointed out that progress is being made in the fight against the use of child soldiers. “The majority of governments now realise that the use of child soldiers is unacceptable and they have to take some action. It is really hard to talk to opposition groups or guerrilla groups if the government is not listening. One of the most encouraging things is that children are now starting to make their voices heard,” Arenas said. Last week a group of Angolan children marched through the capital Luanda. The children waved placards saying “Do not touch our children” and “We want to grow and live in peace”. The march, organised by the National Institute for Children (INAC), came after 70,000 people in three of Angola’s 18 provinces signed a petition calling for an end to the abduction, conscription, and exploitation of children in the country. The march came in the wake of one of the most widely publicised abductions in Angola in recent times. On 5 May UNITA attacked the town of Caxito, about 60 km from Luanda, and abducted at least 95 children - 60 of them orphans from a school run by the international aid group ADPP. The children from the school were eventually released more than 200 km away from Caxito, but about 35 other children abducted from the town have still not been accounted for. The full report can be found at: http://www.child-soldiers.org