Developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The information below is based on the 2009 report of the Secretary General to the Security Council (A/63/785-S/2009/158) issued on 26 March 2009. More information is available in the report.

During the reporting period, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) documented a total of 554 children (including 26 girls), who were newly recruited. Of those documented cases, 86 per cent occurred in North Kivu, 12 per cent in South Kivu, 1 per cent in Oriental province and 1 per cent in Rwanda. New cases of recruitment of children have been attributed to Coalition des patriotes résistants congolais (PARECO) (29 per cent), all Mai-Mai factions (32 per cent), CNDP (24 per cent) and Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) (13 per cent). A total of 1,098 children, including 48 girls, were documented to have separated from or escaped from armed groups.

Although systematic recruitment of children by the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC) have ceased in accordance with their military policy and applicable international laws, children continue to be integrated into the force through the brassage process, owing to lack of proper screening. The release of children present within FARDC has been frequently obstructed, and child protection partners have been denied access to brassage centres by some FARDC commanders in order to identify and separate children. The presence of some children continues to be reported in remaining non-integrated FARDC brigades, particularly in the Kivus.

The recruitment of children and their use in active combat by CNDP increased because of the resumption of fighting with FARDC in late 2007 and since September 2008. FDLR and its sub-groups FDLR-Forces combattantes abacunguzi (FOCA), FDLR-Rally for Unity and Democracy and FDLR-Soki continue to recruit children, including many children from Rwanda. Between June 2007 and September 2008, a total of 84 Rwandan children separated from armed groups were repatriated by MONUC.

In Ituri, following the surrender of the main militia leaders, no new recruitments were reported from Mouvement révolutionnaire congolais (MRC) and Forces de résistance patriotique en Ituri (FRPI). Only a few cases of recruitment were documented and attributed to Front nationaliste et intégrationaliste (FNI).

Widespread sexual violence remains a grave concern, with a majority of the perpetrators being elements of armed groups in the regions of active conflict, but also including FARDC soldiers and national police officers. In 2008, children constituted 2,727 cases of sexual violence in Oriental province; among them 2,204 cases in Ituri, 528 cases in South Kivu, and 1,196 cases in North Kivu.

Since September 2008, reports of abduction of large numbers of children by LRA were received. As of November 2008, MONUC documented 154 cases following the LRA attacks in and around Dungu, Haut Uélé district, Oriental province. Between September and December, 104 children escaped LRA and received reintegration support by child protection partners. In December 2008, FARDC, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) launched a joint military attack on LRA rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, provoking the dispersion of LRA towards the Sudanese border and south of Congolese territory.

During the periods of renewed fighting in North Kivu, there was an increase in reports of attacks on schools and health facilities by CNDP and Mai-Mai. As FARDC reinforced their positions, cases of lootings and occupation of schools and health facilities attributed to FARDC elements in Ituri and the Kivus were reported.

Recent significant events such as the splitting of CNDP, the detention of Laurent Nkunda by the Rwandan Government and the joint military operations by FARDC and Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) against FDLR may also carry significant implications for children, in terms of the increased risk of children being used in military operations, or killed or injured in hostilities, as well as the demobilization of children within CNDP and other armed groups.

Parties responsible for recruitment and use of children

  1. Congrès national pour la defense du peuple (CNDP), formerly led by Laurent Nkunda and currently by Bosco Ntaganda:this party has also been responsible for the killing and maiming of children, and attacks on schools and hospitals in the reporting period. Status: No formal action plan. In January 2008, CNDP adopted the statements of commitment (actes d'engagement) for North and South Kivu, in the context of the Conference on Peace, Security and Development in the Kivus.
  2. Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC)*: this party has also been responsible for committing rape and other grave sexual violence against children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access to children in the reporting period. Status: No formal action plan. The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of children has been carried out within the Operational Framework for Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups, adopted by the Unité d'exécution du programme national de désarmement, démobilisation et réinsertion, in March 2004. Through that national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, from mid-2003 to December 2006, approximately 30,000 children were released from armed forces and groups, including those released prior to the adoption of the operational framework. The final phase of the formal national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration did not take place in 2008; however, 1,098 children were documented to have separated from or escaped from armed groups in the reporting period.
  3. Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) *
  4. Front nationaliste et integrationaliste (FNI)*. Status: No formal action plan. The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of children were carried out within the operational framework for children associated with armed forces and groups, except for small splinter groups from FNI and FRPI who failed to disarm.
  5. Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)*: this party has also been responsible for the killing and maiming of children, abduction and committing rape and other grave sexual violence against children in the reporting period.
  6. Mai-Mai groups in North and South Kivu, including PARECO*: this party has also been responsible for attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access to children in the reporting period. Status: No formal action plan. In January 2008, the Mai-Mai groups adopted the "actes d'engagement" for North and South Kivu, in the context of the Conference on Peace, Security and Development in the Kivus, and committed to release children in their ranks.

*Parties marked with an asterisk (*) have been on the annex lists for a minimum of four years.

Press Releases by the Special Representative: