Public Statement by Chair of Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the eighth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

To all parties to armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

• Strongly condemning all violations and abuses that continue to be committed against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the high number of violations in North Kivu and Ituri identified by the Secretary-General; expressing concern at the negative impact of challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on children, urging all parties to the conflict to immediately end and prevent all violations and abuses involving the recruitment and use of children, abduction, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access and to comply with their obligations under applicable international law; noting with concern that the ability of the country taskforce to verify violations was affected by the volatile security situation, armed groups’ activities and military operations, the “state of siege” in North Kivu and Ituri, and public health threats including the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu;
• Calling upon all parties to the conflict to further implement the previous conclusions of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (document S/2020/1030);
• Stressing the importance of accountability for all violations and abuses against children in armed conflict and stressing that all perpetrators of such acts must be swiftly brought to justice and held accountable, without undue delay, including through timely and systematic investigation, prosecution and, as appropriate, prosecution and conviction, noting that some of the above-mentioned acts are prohibited and criminalized under Law No. 09/001 on the protection of the child, adopted by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 10 January 2009, including the recruitment and use of children by national armed forces or non-State armed groups, and noting that armed groups where the main perpetrators of recruitment and use; welcoming the ongoing efforts of the Government to hold perpetrators of the six grave violations against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo accountable, and further stressing the need to ensure that all survivors have access to justice, including the medical and support services they need.
• Further noting that on 19 April 2004 the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo referred the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and that some of the acts mentioned in 4(a) of these conclusions may amount to crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a State party;
• Stressing that the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration, and that the particular needs and vulnerabilities of girls and boys, including children with disabilities and forcibly displaced children, should be duly considered, when planning and carrying out actions concerning children in situations of armed conflict;
• Condemning the recruitment and use of a high number of children and expressing concern that, despite a decrease in recruitment and use compared to the previous reporting period, such incidents were committed by a high number of armed groups; noting that children were used in active combat role,s as well as in support roles; urging all parties to the conflict to immediately and without preconditions release all children associated with them, hand over all children within their ranks to civilian child protection actors for their full reintegration through family- and community-based reintegration programmes, and end and prevent further recruitment and use of children, including the re-recruitment of children who have been released, consistent with their obligations under international law , including as applicable, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
• Expressing deep concern at the killing and maiming of children, particularly the increase in incidents involving  this violation in the last reporting period, including as a result of hostilities between parties, military operations, attacks on civilian communities, explosive devices including explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices, and in the context of intercommunal violence, and urging all parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of distinction and proportionality and the obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid and in any event minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, and noting the Convention on the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction;
• Expressing grave concern about the ongoing prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence against children perpetrated by armed groups and government security forces; noting that such acts included gang rape, sexual slavery, and forced marriage; strongly urging all parties to the armed conflict to take immediate and specific measures to put an end to and prevent the perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence against children by members of their respective forces or groups; stressing the importance of accountability for those who commit sexual and gender-based violence against children; noting with concern the underreporting of the prevalence of cases of sexual violence against children due to fear of retaliation by perpetrators who sometimes live in or near the community, stigmatization and rejection by families and communities, continued widespread impunity and lack of adequate services for survivors; stressing the importance of providing non-discriminatory and comprehensive specialized services to survivors of sexual violence, including mental health and psychosocial support, health — including sexual and reproductive health services, and legal and livelihood support and services;
• Condemning attacks on schools and hospitals, including the destruction of related infrastructure and facilities and attacks on personnel; expressing concern at the sharp increase in such attacks compared to the previous reporting period; urging all parties to armed conflict to comply with applicable international law and to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals, including their personnel, as such, and to immediately end and prevent attacks or threats of attacks against those institutions and their personnel, as well as the military use of schools, as guided by the Safe Schools Declaration, which was endorsed by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2016;
• Condemning instances of abduction of children, the overwhelming majority of which were committed by armed groups, including for the purposes of recruitment and use, rape and other forms of sexual violence, or to obtain a ransom; noting that there were instances of children abducted in neighboring countries and trafficked into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and noting the significant increase of cases in Ituri and South Kivu during the reporting period; urging all relevant parties to immediately release without preconditions all abducted children to relevant civilian child protection actors;
• Expressing grave concern at incidents of denial of humanitarian access, including attacks on humanitarian personnel and facilities, noting that the majority of incidents where committed by armed groups, and calling upon all parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate, in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law, safe, timely and unhindered humanitarian access, and recalling also the United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance adopted in General Assembly resolution 46/182, as well as the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, to respect the exclusively humanitarian nature and impartiality of humanitarian aid and to respect the work of all United Nations agencies, and their humanitarian partners, without adverse distinction;
• Urging those who are or will be engaged in peace talks and agreements to ensure that child protection provisions, including the release and reintegration of children, as well as provisions on the rights, well-being and empowerment of children, are integrated into the peace talks and agreements, as appropriate, with the support of the United Nations and guided by, inter alia, the practical guidance for mediators to protect children in armed conflict;

To the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

• Welcoming the continued commitment of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to consolidate the gains of its action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children, sexual violence against children and the other four grave violations against children, to sustainably prevent the recruitment and use of children by its armed and security forces, including through the institutionalization of measures and mechanisms therein; welcoming the support provided by national and international actors aimed at strengthening the capacity of the FARDC to prevent and end the six grave violations against children, and urging the Government to accelerate the implementation of all aspects of the action plan, particularly those related to sexual violence against children given that, while armed groups were the main perpetrators,  the FARDC and other security forces remain significant perpetrators of this violation; recognizing in this regard the prosecution of some perpetrators of the six grave violations against children, in particular recruitment and use and sexual violence and noting that prosecutions have included members of the government security forces;
• Expressing concern about the continued deprivation of liberty of children for their alleged association with armed groups stressing the need to immediately hand over children formerly associated with armed groups to child protection actors to facilitate their return and full integration; stressing that children associated or allegedly associated with armed groups, including those arrested during military operations should be treated primarily as victims; urging in this regard the Government to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular stressing that the arrest, detention and imprisonment of children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, in line with international law, and calling upon the Government to prioritize their reintegration through family- and community-based reintegration programmes, guided by the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles), which it has endorsed and that alternatives to judicial proceedings should be sought for children;

• Recalling the endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and calling for their swift implementation;

• Emphasizing the importance of long-term and sustainable reintegration opportunities for children affected by armed conflict through family- and community-based reintegration and rehabilitation programmes that are gender- and age-sensitive, including equal access to health care, including mental health and psychosocial support, and education programmes, as well as raising awareness and working with communities to avoid stigmatization of these children and facilitate their return.

To armed groups, including Nyatura, Mai-Mai Mazembe, CODECO, ADF, Mai-Mai Apa na Pale, Nduma défense du Congo-Rénové (NDC-R), Raia Mutomboki, the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR-FOCA) and M23:

• Expressing its deep concern about the continued presence and ongoing destabilizing activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo of a large number of armed groups and their harmful impact on children;
• Further calling upon all non-State armed groups to publicly express their commitment to end and prevent all violations and abuses committed against children, and to expeditiously develop, adopt and implement action plans in line with Security Council resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011), 2068 (2012), 2143 (2014), 2225 (2015) and 2427 (2018) if they are listed in annex I to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict; welcoming in this regard the CTFMR’s communication with armed groups’ commanders that has resulted in the release of hundreds of children; commending the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for supporting such communication; and acknowledging the signature of a new unilateral declaration and a roadmap by 12 commanders of armed groups and factions committing to end and prevent child recruitment and use and other instances of the six grave violations against children;