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Congolese (DRC) Child Soldiers
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Approximately half of the world’s child soldiers are used in Africa. They serve in armed conflicts as regular and irregular soldiers for forces in these conflicts. The children act as messengers, porters, cooks, and more. In the some cases, girls are recruited and forced into marriage and sex. Most children are coerced into involvement with military groups through drugs and threats In the Congo, rebels and government forces have used children in military conflict. Although two thirds of states agree that children under the age of 18 should not be employed as soldiers, the last thirteen years have seen a significant rise in child soldiers, and the spread of these soldiers to almost every major conflict.

History of DRC Child Soldiers
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has fought through violent wars for decades. However, the violence intensified quickly after the Civil War of Rwanda in 1994, when the Hutu rebel group fled towards the DRC. They escaped from Zaire (formerly known as the DRC) due to repercussions for mass killings of the rebel group known as the Tutsis, led by Laurent Nkunda. Later in 1998, Interahamwe and Zairian army joined forces in order to launch an offensive attack against the Congolese Tutsis in Zaire. The war started off with two two conflicting groups; however, it complicated when a large numbers of rebel groups joined in. They started fighting each other, with many swapping sides due to bribes and personal ambitions of rebel leaders. Children became a rich commodity for rebel groups, because they are cheap and easy to manipulate. Therefore, these children were frequently snatched from their families by groups to become child soldiers. Roughly half of the million who have died due to war, are children. Legislations were passed that soldiers have to be of age, 18 to engage in war-like activities, but in 2002, there were reports that children were bribed to join military services in the pool region with clothes, food, and drugs, though the DRC government has denied these reports. Following the peace agreement in 2003, there were no more reports of child use under government military; however, there are many reports regarding the repeated use of children in rebel groups. As of 2012, Human Rights Watch confirmed that the use of child soldiers in the Congo is still prevalent.

Operations and Military Commanders Involved
Currently, three conflicts are happening in the Congo: Kivu conflict (2004–present), M23 rebellion (2012–present), Dongo conflict (2009–present). All three involve some questionable use of soldiers, especially the Kivu Conflict and the March 23rd rebellion. The Congolese government itself has been reported to use Child Soldiers as well.

Kivu Conflict
The Kivu conflict involves the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military (FARDC) and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Since 2004, the United Nations has also become active in the conflict. Another force, the rebel Tutsis also combats the FARDC, led by Laurent Nkunda. In September, Nkunda and the rebel Tutsi force raided fourteen schools to gain reinforcements. Of these were ten secondary schools, and four primary schools. Many girls were taken as sex slaves, and males used in the front lines of combat.

M23 Movement
The Congo’s March 23rd movement rebel force originates from defected soldiers of a Congolese militia. The leader of the  M23 rebels is Sultani Makenga, and is thought to employ children in dangerous positions of his operations, leading the UN and United States to sanction him.

Kony's Army (LRA)
Another prominent figure in child soldiers is Joseph Rao Kony, who operated primarily in Uganda. Many began to recognize the injustices of his operations following the Kony 2012 campaign. Kony is the leader of a guerrilla group, called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA has been found to use at least 5000 children in its ranks. Kony’s army is thought to operate in the DRC, Central African Republic or South Sudan.

Motives and Recruitment
Many rebel groups recruit children because of their ability to manipulate their minds quickly, and have them follow leadership without opposition. To use children, military leaders threaten families, offer food, and drugs. Another reason that child soldiers are so popular with leaders are that the army, rebels, and opposition cannot find it within themselves to kill a child, saving bodies. It has been estimated by many organizations, including Amnesty International that one in ten child soldiers are used in the DRC, which is an astounding approximate number of 30,000. In addition to this, 15-30% of the new recruits that come into camps are under the legal age of 18. In the world approximately 40% of military forces (rebel groups/government agencies) recruit child soldiers.

Life as a Child Soldier
Many children are born and grow up in areas where conflicts have raged for long periods of time. In these situations children are more easily de-sensitized, as well as more likely to join rebel groups due to a lack of education, resources, jobs, and other opportunities. Other than forced recruitment, there are many children who join militias voluntarily because they have such minimal options for livelihood. Many children view the militia as a place with meals, shelter, and safety. A fact that is often overlooked, is that not only are boys joining the armies, but females make up 30% of the kids working under rebel groups who recruit children. After joining rebel groups, they go through a simple training period, in which they learn to obey their leader, and most importantly hold a gun, aim, and shoot. In the DRC, almost all of the children are forced to commit many acts of violence. They commit murder, rape, and other crimes that can have extreme physiological effects, as well as de-sensitizing them and making it hard to work rescued children back into society. Amnesty International discloses that a 15-year-old former soldier, was forced to “kill a family, cut up the bodies, and eat them”. Female soldiers are often used as sexual slaves for the male soldiers and commanders.

Solutions, Aftermath, and Rehabilitation
Many organizations, including the UN have made sanctions against the use of child soldiers, of which many have been ignored since the use of child soldiers is very hard to regulate. There has been no conscription since 1969, but enlistment into the armed forces is voluntary and carries a minimum age of 18. A bill to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was passed by the National Assembly in November 2003 but has not been approved by the Senate since a hearing in March 2004. On October 4th, 2012, the government of the DRC and the United Nations officially committed to ending the use of child soldiers by Congolese armed forces by signing an Action Plan. Many organizations are taking steps to either prevent the use of child soldiers or help children who have come out of the rebel groups become daily citizens again. Most children who come back from being part of the military become desensitized due to the amount violence they experience during their tenure with the military. Studies show that they suffer from extremely high rates of anxiety and depression. They are also at victimized due to the loss of social bonds, and “moral compass”. They also lose an ability to choose between right and wrong, after all they knew was murder and survival. In addition to this, they are also at risk for psycho-somatic symptoms such as insomnia, and prone to addictions, and aggressive behavior. Many children have thoughts about suicide, and 90% developed PTSD, as well as 65% showing symptoms of major depressive disorders. Many former child soldiers do not have the option of going back to their families due to a multitude of reasons. Some will not accept children or siblings back because they have killed are not welcome back at home. Other reasons include, no immediate family being left after the mass killings, or families warning the children not to comeback due to the social view and opinion on them. Therefore, many organizations have attempted to remove and rehabilitate child soldiers from camps. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration DDR programs have started to be implemented to help reintegrate children.