Governor: Child soldiers are rebels
Congolese army commanders who have used children as soldiers are currently awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court, in the Hague.
Aid workers and children’s rights advocates maintain the central African country is still using minors in its army forces, forbidden under international and Congolese law.
Children as young as 14 are not only being armed but being employed as local spies, carriers and guardsmen at army camps, claim UNICEF.
However, the leader of North Kivu — the province rebels and army forces are currently fighting to control — told the Irish Examiner that any commander found using children faced severe consequences.
Julien Paluku, the governor of the eastern capital Goma, said attempts at reintegrating militia and armed groups into the army in recent years meant the use of child soldiers had been rooted out. The screening of integrated new units now involved members of the international community, he added.
“You have to understand that we have crossed a difficult period. Since 2003 to 2006 in the army we have a mixture of troops from different armed groups who were in the country.”
However, he claimed: “There’s not a single child in the governmental forces.”
The North Kivu leader claimed Tutsi rebels under the control of renegade general Laurent Nkunda, the CNDP, were the ones arming children.
“Those children are found in other different armed groups such as CNDP. The soldiers in the integrated brigades follow a process so there’s no way a child could be included if the international community is personally involved.”
Speaking before the last fortnight’s heavy fighting, Governor Paluku admitted government forces were weak. But he defended the government in Kinshasa, stressing it had sent 11 battalions to the eastern region.
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