Paths to peace in the Kivus

The summit followed a UN Security Council demand that M23 immediately withdraw from Goma and refrain from further advances. On 21 November, the group announced plans to march to Kinshasa.

Resolution 2076 also condemned M23’s human rights abuses, including summary executions, gender-based violence and large-scale recruitment of child soldiers. The resolution also imposed targeted sanctions on the group’s leadership.


http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96844/DRC-Paths-to-peace-in-the-Kivus

DRC: Lubanga verdict "a first step"

14.3.12 - A ruling by the International Criminal Court (ICC) finding former
Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga guilty of conscripting child soldiers
in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) Ituri region is good
news in the fight against impunity but more crimes there should be
prosecuted, say analysts.
<http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95073/DRC-Lubanga-verdict-a-first-step>
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95073/DRC-Lubanga-verdict-a-first-step

DRC-UGANDA: Congolese refugees hail Lubanga verdict

“All things Lubanga did were bad. He took away the riches of the Congolese people by force. I am happy he has been found guilty for his atrocities and crimes,” said Mark Bolikango, 18, who fled to Uganda from Goma in eastern DRC. “What I don’t know is whether my mother and sister have HIV/AIDS; [Lubanga’s] soldiers raped them in front of me.”

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95104/DRC-UGANDA-Congolese-refugees-hail-Lubanga-verdict

Fighting for the rights of child soldiers

NAIROBI 17 January 2012 (IRIN) - At end-November 2011, Somalia and the Central African Republic became the latest countries to commit to end the use of child soldiers – a move seen as “encouraging” by the UN, albeit with the proviso that the situation in both countries remains volatile.


http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=94657

Analysis: Should child soldiers be prosecuted for their crimes?

International Criminal Court (ICC) Article 26 prevents the court from prosecuting anyone under the age of 18, but not because it believes children should be exempt from prosecution for international crimes, “but rather that the decision on whether to prosecute should be left to States,” says the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for children and armed conflict (Working Paper Number 3: Children and Justice During and in the Aftermath of Armed Conflict, September 2011). “[The] exclusion of children from the ICC jurisdiction avoided an argument between States on the minimum age for international crimes,” it noted. More: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93900