More than 1,000 men and boys have been forcibly recruited in the east since September, Human Rights Watch says
LONDON (AlertNet) - Rogue Congolese army officers and rebel leaders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are forcibly recruiting hundreds of youths and boys in a new drive to bolster their ranks, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Monday.
The rights watchdog said more than 1,000 men and boys have been forcibly recruited in the east since September, including at least 261 under the age of 18. Many children were re-recruited after escaping or being demobilised, it added.
"Armed groups in eastern Congo are pulling youth from schools, homes and fields, forcing them to fight," Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior HRW Africa researcher, said in a statement.
Violence continues to rumble on in eastern DRC, despite the presence of the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping force and a 2009 deal to end a rebellion in the mineral-rich region.
Although the east has long been plagued by dozens of armed groups, many of them intent on securing resources, analysts say the greatest risk to peace may come from within the army itself.
According to HRW, witnesses have identified Congolese army general and former rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda, and officers loyal to him, as being responsible for forcibly recruiting hundreds of men and boys in North and South Kivu provinces.
Ntaganda struck a deal with the Congolese government in 2009 to integrate his Rwandan-backed rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) into the army.
"THE TERMINATOR"
Once known as "the Terminator", he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for enlisting and using child soldiers under 15 years old in 2002 and 2003.
"Although nominally in the Congolese army, Ntaganda maintains a parallel chain of command operating outside the army's military structure," HRW said in its report. "New recruits are forced to join the units under Ntaganda's parallel command structure."
HRW's Van Woudenberg said it was "shocking that an individual wanted by the ICC continues to commit the very crimes for which he is charged".
The rights group said those who resisted recruitment risked beatings and in some cases death, citing the case of a 22-year-man who was shot by former CNDP rebels, later dying in hospital. The fear of being enlisted had forced many youths to hide in forests or escape to larger towns to avoid recruitment, it added.
HRW also accused the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) of recently recruiting at least 83 children, some of them as young as 14. It also said that at least 57 children were recruited by Mai Mai militia recently.
The Mai Mai have been identified as among the most prolific recruiters and users of child soldiers in the DRC, according to a February 2010 report by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
Despite the Mai Mai's track record, there has been no effective strategy to respond to these abuses partly because the usual approaches do not work with these kinds of armed groups, the coalition noted.
For example, it said, naming and shaming internationally may have little impact on groups whose main constituency was the local communities from which they operate.
Association with an armed group that is perceived to defend the interests of their community is seen as another duty for children in a culture where boys are often initiated into adulthood at the age of 16. The rite of passage means they may then become warriors.
Poverty and a lack of opportunity for education and employment were other factors that fuel child soldier recruitment, the group said.
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