Developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Reports on the presence of children among Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC) troops continue, notably in North Kivu. In April 2006, the presence of children among the 84th and the 85th non-integrated Brigades (former Mai-Mai) was registered. Reports of re-recruitment by FARDC also continue.

Child protection actors in North and South Kivu Provinces continue to register a number of abductions and recruitments of children by FDLR.

International warrants for the arrest of Laurent Nkunda and Jules Mutebutsi were issued by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 21 December 2004, in connection with the Bukavu crisis of May/June 2004 that resulted in dozens of killings, rapes of adults and children, as well as widespread looting. However, until now, no steps have been taken to execute the warrants. In North Kivu, elements of the non-integrated 81st and 83rd brigades of FARDC considered loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda continue to harass, threaten and re-recruit children formerly associated with the military and now reunified with their families in parts of Masisi and Rutshuru territories.

In the course of 2005, the Forces armées populaires congolaises (FAPC) was completely disbanded through the Ituri disarmament and community reinsertion process and is consequently not openly active in Ituri. Hundreds of children associated with FAPC, including a relatively high number of girls, joined the Ituri process. A number of FAPC elements reportedly moved to Uganda in the course of the first half of 2005 in order to avoid the disarmament and community reinsertion process. There are no estimates of how many children remained in these groups.

Allegations of re-recruitment and use of children by the Front nationaliste et intégrationaliste (FNI) continued in 2005. On 20 November, MONUC received allegations that young people, including children, were being recruited by FNI commander Peter Karim Udaga, to reinforce his militia who were in conflict with FARDC in Mahagi.

The Mai-Mai groups are mostly present in North and South Kivu, Maniema and Katanga provinces. Most of them have now joined FARDC. In the course of 2005, a large presence of children in former Mai-Mai groups continued to be observed in North Kivu. In South Kivu the presence of children among former Mai-Mai groups also continued. On 12 May 2006, however, an important breakthrough was made when Kyungu Mutanga, a Mai-Mai leader known as Gédéon, operating in Katanga Province, surrendered in Mitwaba. He was accompanied by more than 150 combatants, 76 of whom were children. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 4,000 of his followers still remain at large, a significant number of them thought to be children.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the former leader of the political and military movement, the Union des patriote congolais (UPC), was arrested by the Congolese authorities in March 2005 in connection with the assassination of nine United Nations peacekeepers. On 10 February 2006, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Lubanga for the war crime of “conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years and using them to participate actively in hostilities”. On 17 March 2006, Mr. Lubanga was transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. As a result of the disarmament and community reinsertion process in Ituri, the UPC-Kisembo (UPC-K) wing ceased to exist in the course of 2005. Further, in March 2006, Jean Pierre Biyoyo of the armed group known as Mudundu 40, was condemned to five years’ imprisonment for the arbitrary arrest and illegal detention of children and child recruitment committed in South Kivu in April 2004. However, he escaped from prison during the Bukavu Central Prison outbreak in early June 2006 and remains at large.

Reports have shown that Congolese refugee children in Rwanda have time and again been subjected to “voluntary” and forced recruitment by elements of the former Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie-Goma (RCD/G), and latterly, rebel groups loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, and also transferred from Rwanda to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to engage in active combat.

The current operational framework for children’s disarmament, demobilization and reintegration was launched by the Commission nationale de désarmement, démobilisation et réinsertion in cooperation with UNICEF, ILO and non-governmental organization partners in July 2004. As at 30 May 2006, 18,524 children had been released from the armed forces and groups through the official process; of that number, 16 per cent were girls. Thousands more, the majority of whom are girls, have escaped from fighting forces on their own and are returning to civilian life.

Parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  1. Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC)
    2. This party has also been responsible for killing and maiming, abductions and committing rape and other grave sexual violence against children in the reporting period.
  2. Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR)
    3. This party has also been responsible for the abductions of children in the reporting period.
  3. Front nationaliste et integrationaliste (FNI)
  4. Mai-Mai groups in North and South Kivu, Maniema and Katanga who have not integrated into FARDC
  5. Non-integrated FARDC elements loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda
    6. This party has also been responsible for the abductions of children in the reporting period.
Press Releases by the Special Representative:

* Information based on the 2006 report of the Secretary General to the Security Council (A/61/529-S/2006/826) issued on 26 October 2006