[child-rights] Burundi: Former child soldiers languish in custody

***Learn more about the International Day of the African Child, 16 June
2006: http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/african-child-day.php

 
Authorities Must Provide for Their Rehabilitation and Reintegration

(New York, June 16, 2006) – The Burundian government is detaining rather
than rehabilitating former child soldiers associated with the rebel
National Liberation Forces, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper
released today.

On the annual Day of the African Child, Human Rights Watch called on the
Burundian government to fulfill its obligations under the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect the rights of all
children in Burundi, including former child combatants.
 
Dozens of former FNL child soldiers associated with the National
Liberation Forces (Forces Nationales pour la Libération, or FNL) languish
in government custody – in prisons, jails, and a newly opened welcome
center for former FNL combatants – without any clarity of their legal
status or knowledge of when they might be returned to their families. Some
are as young as 13 years of age. Human Rights Watch has documented how
former FNL child soldiers detained in prisons live in overcrowded cells,
eat once a day, and are accused of participating in the rebellion. In
contrast, children in the welcome center live in better conditions and are
not facing prosecution, though they are held with adult combatants.
 
“The lack of a consistent government policy for former FNL child soldiers
has compounded their suffering,” said Alison Des Forges, senior Africa
advisor at Human Rights Watch. “Government ministries must coordinate
their policies to ensure equal treatment, assistance and rehabilitation to
these children.”
 
The FNL, the only remaining opposition force still fighting the
government, continues to use children as fighters and logistical support.
Although many children have deserted or been captured by the government,
an unknown number continue to serve in the ranks of the rebellion.
 
The Burundian government has forced some FNL children to collaborate with
the military in the search for and identification of active FNL combatants
or collaborators. Such forced work puts these children at immediate risk,
and may complicate their future reintegration into their communities.
 
Minors in government custody are held with convicted adult criminals or
seasoned combatants, in detriment to the safety and well-being of these
minors and in violation of national and international law.
 
“The government must take urgent action to remove child soldiers from the
prison system,” said Des Forges. “Authorities must also ensure that no
former child soldiers are held together with adults.”
 
In 2000, the Burundian government and 17 parties and belligerents signed
the Arusha Accords, which laid out a framework for a transitional
government and helped bring an end to the civil war. The largest
opposition group, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces
for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil national pour la défense de la
démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie, CNDD-FDD), signed a
peace accord shortly after.
 
Since December 2004, more than 3,000 former child soldiers and helpers
have benefited from a comprehensive demobilization program and have
received job training. Since the FNL has not signed the peace accord,
however, child soldiers associated with this group have not benefited from
these programs. The FNL and the government are currently in peace talks in
the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.
 
“The Burundian government must assist in the recovery and social
reintegration of children who are victims of armed conflict,” said Des
Forges. “The authorities should take all necessary steps to ensure child
soldiers who served in the FNL are released from custody and to provide
for their recovery and reintegration.”
 
The Day of the African Child has been celebrated every year since 1991, in
honor of children who were killed in Soweto by the South African apartheid
government in 1976 while protesting inferior educational opportunities.
Initiated by the Organization of African Unity, the precursor of the
African Union, the annual event urges countries to examine progress in the
protection, equality and security of all African children.

Human Rights Watch Press release