Some United Nations peacekeepers and aid workers have committed wartime crimes against Congolese children and others - yes, atrocities of the very kind the UN should be preventing. Horrid incidents still occur on occasion in the Congo and elsewhere. Audrey L. Comstock, a human rights expert, says too many offenders avoid punishment, and I also wonder if underreporting of cases may be happening. I write briefly of UN-related horrors in Drone Child: A Novel of War, Family, and Survival, about a brilliant 15-year-old dragged into a fictional civil war in the near future.

Far more positively, the UN over the years has been spotlighting the use of boys and girls as child soldiers, along with other violations of young people’s human rights. Among the perpetrators have been the police and armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government. But according to a new report from the UN, progress is happening even if violations continue. Counting offenses by government and nongovernment people, the report says: “A total of 7,616 grave violations against 6,073 children were verified and attributed to 78 parties to conflict between April 2020 and March 2022. At least 1,249 children were victims of multiple violations, with children abducted in order to be recruited and used, and then killed or maimed while associated, or forced to endure sexual violence. Ninety-three percent of all violations were attributed to armed groups.” The numbers are even more horrifying when one considers the possibility of unreported violations - the UN itself notes its lack of omniscience.

In Drone Child, I write of vicious attacks on a school and hospital, not just of child soldiers; and unfortunately, that isn’t “just” fiction. Worse, police and members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, abbreviated in French as FARDC, have been among the perpetrators. Here’s what the UN report says:

“With regard to government forces, 63 attacks against schools and hospitals were attributed to FARDC (62) and the Congolese National Police (1)…the overwhelming majority of which were verified in Ituri…in the context of military operations against armed groups. Most attacks against schools involved the destruction of infrastructure (133), looting (38), the burning of facilities (7) and bombing (2). In five instances, education personnel were targeted and attacked. With regard to hospitals, attacks involved looting (57), looting and the destruction of the facilities (27) and their burning (4). In eight instances, medical personnel were attacked.”

Elsewhere in the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres says: “I am troubled by the spike in attacks on schools and hospitals, in the context of growing intercommunal violence and military operations. I urge all parties to end and prevent attacks on schools and hospitals, and related protected persons, to take the measures necessary to cease indiscriminate attacks against them and ensure that educational and medical facilities are not used for military purposes. I encourage the Government to pursue its efforts to implement the Safe Schools Declaration, which it has endorsed.

“I am further concerned by the persistently large number of children abducted, primarily for the purpose of recruitment and use, noting that abductions are often intertwined with other violations. I urge all parties, in particular armed groups, to cease this practice and to release children from captivity so that they can return to their families and communities safely and in dignity.”

Information has been sketchy about the actual number of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But UNICEF, a child-oriented part of the U.N. which has helped these traumatised young people re-enter civilian life, issued a statement in 2018 on the scope of the problem at the time:

“There is no precise data on the number of children being used as soldiers in the DRC. UNICEF and its partners estimate that, in the Kasaï region alone, between 5,000 and 10,000 children have been associated with the militias. ‘Children who have left the militias, and whom we have taken into our care, tell us about the horrors of the violence and the war,’ highlights Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, the UNICEF Representative a.i. in the DRC. ‘These children have been witness to killings. Many among them have themselves been obliged to kill. Their childhood was stolen from them.’

“The use of children is not limited to the Kasaï region. UNICEF estimates that, in the Tanganyika and South-Kivu provinces, where violence has raged for several months, more than 3,000 children have been used in the militias to date. The phenomenon of child soldier use also remains very widespread in the North-Kivu and Ituri provinces, where armed groups are increasing in number.”

Below I am reproducing in full the November 15 summary of the October 10 report from the UN, which has an Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The report says the information there was “verified, through the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict, by the United Nations country task force on monitoring and reporting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is co-chaired by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“The ability of the country task force to verify information on violations was at times hampered by security constraints, the activities of armed groups, the ‘state of siege’ in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces and ongoing military operations by FARDC against armed groups. Public health threats such as the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and measures related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during the reporting period have also posed serious challenges with regard to accessing locations and verifying incidents.

“Consequently, the information contained in the present report does not represent the full extent of grave violations committed against children in the country, and the actual number of violations is likely higher. Where incidents were committed earlier but verified only during the reporting period, that information is qualified as relating to an incident that was verified at a later date.”

Enough reality for you? Yes, Drone Child is a disturbing book - no doubt. How could it honestly be otherwise? Don’t Congolese lives count, especially young ones? Time for the world to care more about the child soldier issue in the DRC and elsewhere!

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DRC: Children Still Paying Highest Price of Conflict; Parties Should Strengthen Engagement with the UN to End and Prevent All Grave Violations

Tuesday, 15 November 2022

New York, 15 November 2022- The children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to endure a disturbingly high number of grave violations as a result of conflict, including an intensification of armed activities by a growing number of armed groups, particularly in Ituri and North Kivu. The realities of children in the DRC continues to be one characterised by violence and instability, in which their rights are not being realised, despite a decrease in the total number of grave violations against children compared to the previous reporting period, a new Secretary-General Report on children and armed conflict in the DRC released today shows.

As outlined in the report, numbers remain outrageously high in the DRC, which continues to be the situation with the highest annual verified violations against children in armed conflict. A total of 7,616 grave violations against 6,073 children were verified and attributed to 78 parties to conflict between April 2020 and March 2022. At least 1,249 children were victims of multiple violations, with children abducted in order to be recruited and used, and then killed or maimed while associated, or forced to endure sexual violence. Ninety-three percent of all violations were attributed to armed groups.

The reporting period was largely marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and related responses as well as other public health emergencies, a context during which the implementation of key activities of the United Nations in the country was seriously hampered. The actual number of violations is therefore believed to be even higher.

“No less than 6,073 children endured at least one grave violation. This is simply appalling. Children in the DRC are enduring intolerable levels of violence, and I call on the Government and on armed groups to strengthen their engagement with the United Nations to end and prevent all grave violations against children and hold perpetrators accountable,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.

The decrease in the overall number of grave violations compared to the previous report (9,957) is largely explained by a diminished number of children recruited and used, though it remains the highest verified violation with 3,901 children affected. Abduction and sexual violence against children were the two other most verified violations with 1,548 and 944 children, respectively. While armed groups remain the main perpetrators, sexual violence by Government forces continues to be a source of serious concern despite the action plan signed with the United Nations in 2012.

On the other hand, the killing and maiming of 929 children and attacks on schools and hospitals with 281 incidents witnessed the sharpest increases of over 200 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous reporting period. Military operations, confrontations between parties, attacks on civilian communities and inter-communal violence, all took a heavy toll on children, and the Special Representative calls on all parties to refrain from targeting civilians during military activities, especially children, and to take all necessary measures to protect boys and girls from the effects of their activities and operations.

Engagement and Progress for Children

The continued commitment of the Government to consolidate the gains of its action plan of 2012 and to sustainably prevent the recruitment and use of children by its armed and security forces continues to positively benefit children. The joint screening mechanisms of the FARDC and the United Nations in FARDC recruitment and training camps to prevent the enlistment of children continued to be instrumental in the protection of children.

At least 3,901 children were separated from armed groups in different ways during the reporting period, including following UN advocacy. The Special Representative calls on all armed groups to release all children from their ranks with immediate effect, including through dialogue, the signing of action plans or unilateral commitments and roadmaps, and hand them over to civilian child protection actors so they can urgently access comprehensive, long-term, and sustainable reintegration programmes with gender- and age-appropriate services.

“Children released from armed groups must be supported in their reintegration so they can rebuild their lives. I urge the Government and the international community to ensure the needs of these children are met, including through political and financial support for reintegration programmes,” emphasized the Special Representative.

She welcomes efforts by the Government to hold perpetrators of recruitment and use, sexual violence and other grave violations against children accountable, including through the prosecutions of suspected perpetrators among members of the Government armed and security forces. Furthermore, trainings on conflict-related sexual violence were conducted by the United Nations with the FARDC, as they remained listed for rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in the annexes of the report of the UN Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (S/2022/493).

“I encourage the Government to accelerate the implementation of all aspects of its 2012 action plan related to sexual violence against children. The United Nations will continue to support the Government to end and prevent all grave violations against children, including through its dedicated child protection teams in the country, to which I want to express my gratitude for their commitment to conflict-affected children,” Virginia Gamba concluded.

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Overview of grave violations

Recruitment and use (3,901)

Killing and maiming (929)

Sexual violence (944)

Abduction (1,548)

Attacks on schools and hospitals (281)

Denial of humanitarian access (13)

For additional information, please contact:

Fabienne Vinet, Communications Officer, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict

+1-212-963-5986 (office) / +1-917-288-5791 (mobile) / vinet@un.org

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