Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Rwanda

RWANDESE REPUBLIC

Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.

• Population:
  – total: 7,235,000
  – under-18s: 3,829,000
• Government armed forces:
  – active: 55,000-70,000 (up to 90,000 reported; all services)
• Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
• Voluntary recruitment age: 16
• Voting age (government elections): not applicable
• Child soldiers: indicated in government and opposition forces
• CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
• Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II; ILO 138+182

• It has been estimated that over 20,000 children have taken part in hostilities in Rwanda.¹⁶¹⁰ While the Rwandan government today claims that there are no children remaining among government forces, reports of child recruitment continue to emerge both in the context of sporadic fighting with Hutu armed groups in Rwanda and fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of opposition forces there. Hutu opposition forces in Rwanda (also active in the DRC and Burundi) continue to recruit children, both within Rwanda and in neighbouring countries. Hundreds of children imprisoned on genocide charges since 1994 – many under age 13 at the time – remain in detention.

CONTEXT

Since the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis were killed, there has been continuing armed conflict between members of the Hutu dominated former Rwandese Armed Forces (ex-FAR) and Interhamwe militia, and the Tutsi dominated Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA). The conflict abated somewhat in 1999 and 2000, but the situation remained tense with occasional outbursts of fighting. Since 1998 the RPA has also supported opposition forces attempting to depose former President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, largely in response to Kabila's failure to expel extremist Hutu militias. There they have been responsible for numerous violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.¹⁶¹¹ Rwandan government troops began preparing to leave the DRC in February 2000.¹⁶¹²

The Rwandan government's support for armed groups in the DRC was allied with that of Ugandan forces until 1999 when relations deteriorated. Fighting between the two countries erupted in North-eastern DRC, killing 700 people, mainly civilians. The Rwandan government also accused Uganda of harbouring, mobilising and training anti-Rwanda elements to destabilise Rwanda.¹⁶¹³ Relations between Rwandan Hutu armed groups and FNL, a Burundian opposition group broke down in February 2000. Since 1998 Burundi Hutu armed groups, especially the FDD, have supported Hutu forces in Rwanda and the DRC.

GOVERNMENT

National Recruitment Legislation and Practice

Article 5 of Ordinance No. R/85/25 of 10 May 1962 on the creation of the Rwandan Army says that it is based on voluntary recruitment. Legislation adopted in 1977 sets the minimum age for volunteers at 16 years for contract non-commissioned officers, corporals and privates.¹⁶¹⁴ The Ministry of Defence, however, is allowed to make exceptions with respect to the age and educational level of recruits.

The minimum age of entry to schools for commissioned officers is 17, however the Ministry in charge of the Armed Forces may derogate from this rule. Minimum age of entry for non-commissioned officers is 16, with no provision for derogation.¹⁶¹⁵

Child Recruitment and Deployment

Government forces and allied paramilitary groups continue to recruit children as soldiers. There are currently three schools for non-commissioned officers, two of which opened in early 1998.¹⁶¹⁶ It has been estimated that over 45,000 children are in these schools. According to one source, the minimum age is as low as 10 for rank soldiers.¹⁶¹⁷

In 1994 the Rwandan Ministry of Defence agreed to demobilise all child soldiers – commonly referred to as kadogo or 'little ones' in Kswahili. At that time it was estimated that 5,000 persons under 18 were members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army.¹⁶¹⁸ The government initially claimed kadogos were used primarily for menial work and did not go to the front lines during the genocide. However, a 1997 survey found that 725 children associated with the military had an army number, indicating that they were soldiers.¹⁶¹⁹ At the end of 1996, 2,922 kadogos had been demobilised and the Ministry of Defence claimed no children remained in the army – although this has been contested.¹⁶²⁰

Today, Rwandan children continue to be recruited by the Rwandan Armed Forces. One source estimated between 14,000 and 18,000 children between 7 and 14 years old are recruited into the armed forces every year.¹⁶²¹ At the African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, Rwandan representatives denounced this claim as "ridiculous". However it is known that Local Defence Units, which continued to operate throughout the country in 2000, included children as well as young men.¹⁶²² These volunteer forces are comprised of local civilians who are provided arms and brief training, and are believed sometimes to be forcibly recruited.¹⁶²³ At times they are trained for the Local Defence Forces and later sent to the DRC to fight.¹⁶²⁴

Throughout 1999 and 2000 the RPA also continued to send reinforcements to the DRC, including volunteer and forcibly recruited children.¹⁶²⁵ These children include both Rwandans and citizens of the DRC who are press-ganged or kidnapped by Rwandan and Congolese forces, and often trained by the Rwandan armed forces. In December 2000 Human Rights Watch found the RPA and the Congolese RDC-Goma had abducted children and young men from roadsides, markets and their homes in Eastern DRC. That month the Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the RCD-Goma denied the recruitment of children and claimed all RCD-Goma commanders had been instructed not to recruit children. Instead it was claimed the RCD-Goma had "inherited" child soldiers recruited by the late President Kabila. These child soldiers were also known to have been trained by Rwandan forces.¹⁶²⁶

It was further reported that throughout 2000, RPA and Ugandan troops, in addition to Congolese RCD fighters, abducted many young women from the villages they raided.¹⁶²⁷ An RCD-Goma military trainer also reported that RPA soldiers and officers oversaw the training of "local defence forces" in the DRC, similar to those in Rwanda.¹⁶²⁸

OPPOSITION

Child Recruitment and Deployment

Armed opposition groups and militias have made no declarations on the non-recruitment of children. It is hard to determine how many children are among armed groups, particularly as not many children returned to Rwanda after refugee camps in Eastern Zaire were dismantled in late 1996.

Some of the children currently fighting the government are forcibly recruited by armed groups; others 'voluntarily' join groups because they have no family or financial support. Their age varies between 11 and 14 years. When first recruited they are mostly used as porters, spies or cooks. After brief training they become active soldiers.¹⁶³⁰ In 1998 children were among a group of about 1,000 rebel fighters who attacked Kinihira and displaced a people's camp in Kayove (in the northwest prefecture of Gisenyi) killing 29 and wounding 20.¹⁶³¹ Since 1998, children in the north-western area of Rwanda have reportedly been targeted for recruitment by the FAR and Hutu militias.¹⁶³²

The exiled Rwandan Interahamwe Hutu militia is also thought to be associated with armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with the assistance of Kenyan agents they have been discovered to be recruiting Kenyan street boys into their ranks. Sources say over $500 is paid for every 150 street boys delivered to armed groups and their agents. The children are typically lured in with offers of money, well-paid jobs and good living conditions in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. The Interhamwe began recruiting Kenyan children in February 1999, reaching highest recruitment levels between May and August. At the time Kenyan authorities had begun arresting and clearing Nairobi of street children in preparation for the Common Market for East and Southern Africa meeting, making street children particularly vulnerable to offers.¹⁶³³

DEVELOPMENTS

Demobilisation

The Rwandan government had, in 1994, committed itself to demobilising all child soldiers. The Rwandan Ministry for Social Affairs reported that of the 2,922 kadogos demobilised by the end of 1996, 902 were sent to the kadogo School where they received primary education and professional training in addition to psychological support, 820 were sent to various secondary schools across the country, and 1,200 were reunified with their families or relatives.¹⁶³⁵ Some children reportedly asked to return to the army because many secondary schools refused to accept them. In 1996 the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Social Integration proposed to review their application on a case-by-case basis.¹⁶³⁶

At the 1999 African Conference on the Use of Child Soldiers the government reiterated that thousands of former child soldiers had been returned to society, and the aim was now to provide them with vocational skills and to reintegrate them. In 1999, the authorities reported that together with UNICEF the government had provided assistance to over 2,000 child soldiers, many of whom were reunited with their families and offered schooling. Thus the number of demobilised children does not seem to have increased. Moreover the government has continued to insist that there are no remaining or newly recruited children among the Rwandan armed forces.

Two re-education centres have been established by UNICEF in Rwanda. Some 600 children attended the first, at Gitagata, for about one year. In December 2000, another 486 children believed to have participated in the genocide attended a targeted re-education course at the Busogo camp, aimed at helping them return to their communities. The children, between 14 and 18 years of age during the course, were all under 14 at the time of the genocide.¹⁶³⁷

Criminalisation of Child Soldiers

Despite repeated Government promises to release minors held as genocide suspects – some as young as 8 years of age – it was estimated in early 1998 that at least 2,893 remained in Rwandan detention centres. Of these, 197 were sent to the Gitagata re-education centre for boys under age 14, the minimum age for criminal responsibility under Rwandan legislation. Some minors held on genocide-related charges appear to have been arrested arbitrarily; others were arrested due to alleged actions of their relatives; others were accused of genocide but were provided no specific reasons for their arrest. Children in local detention centres (cachots) have been subjected to ill-treatment.¹⁶³⁸ In 1999 the ICRC reported that approximately 570 children who were under the age of 14 when incarcerated on genocide-related charges currently remained in the prison system, and that 25 children under the age of 14 in 1999 were incarcerated.¹⁶³⁹

1610 Information supplied by Gervais Abayeho, CSC 1999.

1611 HRW Report 2001.

1612 BBC World Service, "Rwanda says pullout complete", 17/3/01.

1613 BBC World Service, "Rwanda accuses Uganda", 12/3/01.

1614 Article 3 of the "Arrêté présidentiel sur le régime du personnel sous contrat des Forces Armées Rwandaises" (Arrêté No. 03/02 of 3/1/77).

1615 Article 1 of the "Arrêté ministériel No. 29/02 du 15/9/78 portant mesures d'exécution de l'Arrêté Présidentiel No. 01/02 du 3/1/77 portant statut des officiers des Forces Armées Rwandaises".

1616 Information supplied by UNICEF.

1617 Gervais Abayeho, CSC 1999.

1618 Other sources vary considerably, estimating the true number of former child soldiers to be 15,000-20,000. Gervais Abayeho op. cit.

1619 UNICEF op. cit.

1620 R. Ilibagiza N.-K., J. Kabale, Conférence africaine sur l'utilisation d'enfants soldats : Contribution du Rwanda, Maputo, 19-22/4/99.

1621 Gervais Abayeho op. cit.

1622 US State Department, op. cit.

1623 HRW Report 2001.

1624 HRW, "Left to the vultures: children and adults forcibly recruited as soldiers in RCD-Goma held areas of North Kivu", 3/01; US State Department Human Rights Report 2000.

1625 AI Report 2000.

1626 HRW, 3/01 op. cit.

1627 US State Department, op. cit.

1628 HRW, 3/01 op. cit.

1629 Ibid.

1630 Gervais Abayeho, CSC 1999.

1631 OCHA/IRIN, Weekly Round-up No. 24-98, 12/6/98.

1632 RB, 3/01.

1633 East African Standard, "Kenyan street boys join war in Congo", 19/3/00.

1634 Testimony received by Gervais Abayeho, CSC 1999.

1635 R. Ilibagiza N.-K., J. Kabale. Conference africaine sur l'utilisation d'enfants soldats: contribution du Rwanda, Maputo, 19-22/4/99.

1636 Cantwell, N., Starting from Zero: The Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights in Post-Genocide Rwanda, July 1994-December 1996, UNICEF International Child Development Centre, Florence, 1997.

1637 IRIN, "Child genocidaires in re-education", 8/12/00.

1638 Information supplied by AI; Matloff, J., "Rwanda's bind: trying children for genocide", Christian Science Monitor, 28/1/97; Cantwell, N., op. cit.

1639 US State Department op. cit.