'Child soldiers are a war crime'

2003-09-09 10:29

London - The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) war leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes for using the country's children as soldiers, human rights group Amnesty International said in a report published on Tuesday.

Despite a transitional government set up in April, thousands of children - some as young as eight - are being recruited as soldiers and many are used as "cannon fodder", human shields or sex slaves, said the London-based group.

"The recruitment and use of children under 18 in armed conflict constitutes war crimes and, as such, they are crimes against the entire international community, not just against children in DRC," said Amnesty's report.

Entitled "Democratic Republic of Congo: Children at War," the report details horrific and graphic accounts of children who have been compelled to take up arms.

Forced to kill and eat family

One child soldier, Kalami, who was recruited aged nine, said: "One day my friends and I were forced by our commanders to kill a family, to cut up their bodies and to eat them."

"Today, I am afraid. I don't know where my family is, I have no future.

"At night I can no longer sleep, I keep thinking of those horrible things I have seen and done when I was a soldier," Kalami said.

Amnesty is recommending the government and all armed groups in DRC pledge not to recruit anyone under 18 and any commander found continuing to do so should be removed from his post.

Independent national courts should be set up to investigate and try those suspected of such recruitment and they should also cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC), created in July 2002, Amnesty said.

"The international community should bring pressure on all parties involved in the DRC, including leaders of all armed groups, to hold recruiters accountable for their acts, and to bring them to justice at the international and national levels," an Amnesty spokesman said ahead of the report's publication.

- AFP