Child soldiers in DRC recruited for cash

[dArKeR]

Aloys Niyoyita | Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo


23 April 2004 17:41

Militias in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to recruit hundreds of child soldiers in defiance of a national peace treaty, a United Nations disarmament programme and international law, a Congolese human rights group said on Friday.

Raphael Wakenge Ngimbi, the coordinator of the Congolese Initiative for Justice and Peace, said the militias have so far refused to demobilise the thousands of child soldiers in their forces, apparently in an effort to collect cash.

"Thousands of children today are taken hostage by warlords in the militias, who utilised them during the war and continue to exploit them during this transitional period, despite the peace accord," Ngimbi said.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=58709