Children and Armed Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• Author: Freedson, Julia

IN JUNE 2004, SIX FIGHTERS FROM THE CONGOLESE RALLY FOR DEMOCRACY-GOMA gang-raped a woman in the presence of her husband and children, while another soldier raped her three-year-old daughter, according to Human Rights Watch. In June 2005, a 17-year-old boy was arrested by a Mai-Mai officer after he refused to draw water for the military stationed there and was severely tortured while he was held in detention in the camp. A local non-governmental organization (NGO) reported that the boy was released only after a large fine was paid. In November 2005, three soldiers from the United Congolese forces tied an 11-year-old girl with an electric cable and repeatedly raped her in a military camp, according to the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).

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These cases are examples of the brutal violations against Congolese children, as documented by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict in its April 2006 report, Struggling to Survive: Children in Armed Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country continues to endure the world's deadliest humanitarian crisis and, according to the International Rescue Committee, more than 38,000 people die every month as a direct and indirect consequence of the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As many as 45 per cent of these deaths occurred among children who fell victim to intolerable human rights violations committed in an atmosphere of almost complete impunity.

Despite the presence of MONUC--the largest UN peackeeping operation so far--and billions of dollars spent for post-conflict reconstruction in the country, as well as the nationwide elections held on 30 July 2006, most Congolese children are not faring any better than they were when Watchlist published its first report in 2003, titled The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, for some children, health, safety and well-being have drastically deteriorated: the rape and mutilation of girls, recruitment and use of children by armed groups and other appalling abuses against them continue. In addition, children are dying every day from preventable diseases and are missing out on educational opportunities that would contribute to their development into healthy and able individuals. These violations are committed against a backdrop of outward progress towards reconstruction, such as the demobilization of...