Burundi: Government should demobilise and reintegrate child soldiers immediately, Amnesty urges

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL-PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: AFR 16/014/2004 (Public)
24 March 2004

Embargo Date: 24 March 2004 00:01 GMT

Amnesty International is calling on the government of Burundi and the
leaders of all current and former armed political groups to immediately
cease the use and recruitment of child soldiers and genuinely engage in
the demobilisation and reintegration of child soldiers. Military leaders
have fuelled Burundi's 10-year armed conflict by recruiting and abducting
children, destroying their childhood and jeopardizing their future Amnesty
International stated today in a new report entitled Burundi: Child
soldiers - the challenge of demobilisation.

"Tackling the practice and legacy of child soldiering is an important
element in achieving a durable peace in which the human rights of all are
respected," Amnesty International said.

Children, even those under age 15, have been cynically used as a cheap and
expendable tool of war. Children have been abducted and torn from their
families. Others have been driven to volunteer as a result of social
exclusion and family breakdown, or after witnessing atrocities. Poverty
and years of war have made it easier for a whole generation of children to
be drawn into the armed conflict.

"Regardless of how they were recruited, child soldiers are likely to have
witnessed or participated in extreme violence, as well as to have been the
object of abuse. The legacy of children having spent years within the
armed forces, primarily learning the art of violence, will have lasting
repercussions on the country and its citizens unless the problem is
urgently addressed," the organization added.

The Burundian armed forces and Burundian armed political groups have
recruited and used child soldiers as porters, informants, "wives" and
actual combatants. Burundian child soldiers have fought in both Burundi
and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many child soldiers have been
traumatized, humiliated, ill-treated and brutally punished, as well as
exposed through inexperience and poor training to needless danger. Even
those used essentially for portering may have found themselves on the
frontline during combat as they fulfilled their task of transporting the
wounded and the dead.

Pierre (not his real name), age 14, was abducted from his home along with
six other children, in Mukike commune, Rural Bujumbura province in July
2002 by the Forces Nationales de Libération of Agathon Rwasa
(PALIPEHUTU-FNL), and forced to transport ammunition and stolen goods. He
remained with the FNL for two months before being captured and arrested by
members of the armed forces.

"The international community and Government of Burundi must as a matter of
priority commit to providing long-term support to facilitating
reintegration and offering alternative opportunities to former child
soldiers."

Without sustained support, demobilised children may return voluntarily or
be forcibly re-recruited to the army or other armed groups, thus
perpetuating the cycle of conflict. They may alternatively be compelled to
live on the street where they are susceptible to crime and exploitation.

All demobilisation, reintegration and rehabilitation programs should pay
special attention to the needs of female child soldiers, who may have
suffered particular trauma as victims of sexual violence. Girls may face
particular challenges being reintegrated or may face marginalization or
sexual assault during the demobilisation process itself.

Young adults who were child soldiers should be included in such
demobilisation and reintegration programs.

Jean-Bosco N was 15 when he joined the Burundian armed forces. For some
time prior to his formal recruitment he had been following and working
with them. He told Amnesty International that he often saw soldiers
shooting civilians as they fled, and that they had received orders to do
so. On returning from military operations, soldiers would often torture
and ill-treat civilians, disciplined by their superiors only if their
abuses were considered too blatant. After being detained and ill-treated
on several occasions for disciplinary offences, he deserted. Now aged 19,
he is a member of the Peace Guards, an untrained but armed government
militia.

"Parties to the conflict have shown little evident enthusiasm for
demobilising child soldiers. Their commitment to the process is essential
to ensuring the success of the project. Amnesty International is also
calling on the international community and donors to encourage Burundian
leaders to support the process and to provide sufficient financial and
technical assistance to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach."

"The international community should sustain interest and engagement in the
process and monitor progress of the program as well as in-country
developments, to avoid manipulation of the demobilisation project by
military leaders or others. Any new recruitment and continued evidence of
the use of child soldiers must be strongly and publicly condemned," the
organization added.

In order for demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation to be truly
sustainable, the Government of Burundi must also address the issue of arms
proliferation in the country.

Background

No reliable figures exist on the number of children who have taken part in
the conflict over the last 10 years. However, according to United Nations
Child Fund (UNICEF) figures, between 6,000 and 7,000 under-18s must now be
disengaged, demobilised and reintegrated into society. UNICEF has so far
secured agreement with the Government of Burundi and two minor armed
political groups, the FNL (Mugabarabona) and CNDD-FDD (Ndayikengurukiye)
for the demobilisation and reintegration of their child soldiers,
estimated at 3,000 child soldiers.

Since January 2004, 300 child soldiers from government forces and the
CNDD-FDD (Ndayikengurukiye) have already been demobilised, and are being
integrated into their communities. Plans for the future demobilisation of
thousands of other child soldiers are being prepared. Tens of thousands of
adult combatants must also be demobilised and reintegrated - a
considerable challenge in a situation of extreme poverty and on-going
conflict both in Burundi and in neighbouring DRC, and in a region awash
with small arms. How this process is managed will have a significant
impact on the immediate and long-term human rights situation in Burundi.

For further information, please see: Burundi: Child soldiers - the
challenge of demobilisation
(AFR 16/011/2004)
of 24 March 2004