This site is dedicated to gathering information on the issue of child soldiers, including developments in the conflicts in which combats under the age of 18 are being used and what efforts are being made to combat the use of child...
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This site is dedicated to gathering information on the issue of child soldiers, including developments in the conflicts in which combats under the age of 18 are being used and what efforts are being made to combat the use of child soldiers and assist children who are affected by conflicts in which child soldiers are used.
According to Amnesty International: “Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Although most child soldiers are between 15 and 18 years old, significant recruitment starts at the age of 10 and the use of even younger children has been recorded”. These children may work as porters, cooks, soldiers, and sex slaves, and are often forced to commit atrocities. This abuse of children is carried out both by governments and opposition groups. Currently child soldiers are being used in a number of conflicts including the conflicts in Uganda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ugandan troops killed a top commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in the Central African Republic, a military spokesman said Saturday. "Bok Abudema was killed north of Ndjema in the Central African Republic on Friday", defence and army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye told AFP in Kampala by telephone. "This was a New Year's gift to Uganda," Kulayigye said. "He was a notorious commander but his life has come to an end." Kulayige said Abudema was the only casualty of the... Read Full Story
A Ugandan army spokesman says that a notorious rebel commander has been killed in Central African Republic. Brigadier Bok Abudema was an acting commander for the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for cutting the lips off its victims, abducting child soldiers and turning girls into sex slaves. Northern Uganda army spokesman, Capt. Ronald Kakurungo, said Saturday that Abudema had been killed by Ugandan forces on Friday. Ugandan army spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye, called Abudema... Read Full Story
The United Nations said Monday it will step its peacekeeping presence in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo over fears that a Ugandan rebel group could carry out further attacks on local people. "We are in the process of increasing our numbers to prevent attacks by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) on civilians," said Leila Zerrougui, the UN's deputy special representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zerrougui declined to say how many extra troops the UN Mission in DR... Read Full Story
The U.N. reported Monday that the Ugandan-based Lord's Resistance Army killed, mutilated and raped villagers in Sudan and Congo in 2008 and 2009 in what may have been crimes against humanity. The rebels killed at least 1,200 people and abducted 1,400, including children and women, in northeastern Congo from September last year to June, said a report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. A separate report by the U.N.'s rights office said that, in at least 27 attacks on villages in... Read Full Story
The UN's human rights chief demanded Monday the capture of Ugandan rebel leaders for crimes against humanity, as new reports catalogued an orgy of killings, torture and rape by the Lord's Resistance Army. Navi Pillay's reports on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan added to the evidence of atrocities and LRA abductions of women and children for use as sex slaves or porters. They said LRA leaders must be brought to the International Criminal Court. UN human rights officials also... Read Full Story
The UN Security Council has "strongly condemned" the ongoing attacks and acts of violence of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Great Lakes region of Africa. "The (15) members of the Security Council strongly condemned the continued and recently increasing attacks carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and Sudan," it said. The attacks "have resulted in the death, abduction and displacement of... Read Full Story
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Rebels, kidnapped children, mutilation -- war zones are no joke, so when comedy writer Jane Bussmann embarked on an account of conflict-torn northern Uganda she had one rule: all the laughs would be at her expense. "The Worst Date Ever: War Crimes, Hollywood Heart-throbs and Other Abominations" starts off in Tinseltown where Bussmann is getting jaded with having to ask celebrities what they wear and making up quotes for magazine articles for a living. Much better to... Read Full Story
The mother of one of Africa's most notorious rebel leaders relayed one last wish for her son before her death Wednesday, according to a nurse at her deathbed: Make peace. Norah Anek, 86, the mother of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, died after a long illness, said nurse Betty Akello, who was with her when she died. Her son heads the infamous Lord's Resistance Army, which has waged one of Africa's longest and most brutal rebellions, in northern Uganda. "Moments before dying she said, 'Tell... Read Full Story
Ugandan special forces have killed a senior commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Central African Republic, the military spokesman told AFP Thursday. Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulayigye said Okello Okutti was shot and killed on Tuesday during a clash with Ugandan troops in Obo, near the Central African Republic's eastern border with Sudan "Okutti used to be the overall commander for LRA operations in Pader district, and he was a senior commander among the groups currently... Read Full Story
