[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CHILD SOLDIERS

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to bring to the 
attention of the Senate a profoundly disturbing report issued by Human 
Rights Watch on July 18 about the abduction of children by a heavily 
armed Ugandan rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army.
  While the precise number of children abducted by the Lord's 
Resistance Army is unknown, estimates indicate that over the past 2 
years, 3 to 5 thousand children have escaped from the rebel group. It 
is reported that an equal number of abducted children remain in 
captivity and an unknown number have died.
  According to Human Rights Watch, abduction is only the beginning of 
the extreme violence and degradation faced by these children. Often as 
young as 8 years old, the children are tortured, raped, and sometimes 
killed by members of the Lord's Resistance Army. They are forced to 
take part in combat, serving as front line forces in battles against 
the Ugandan Army and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army. The 
children also tell of being made to beat and kill fellow captives who 
have been apprehended in their efforts to escape. The physical and 
emotional trauma resulting from such experiences can cause lifelong 
problems to those children that do survive.
  The abduction of children for military purposes not only violates the 
provisions of common article 3 of the Geneva conventions of 1949, 
international standards established by protocol II to the Geneva 
conventions of 1949, and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, it 
violates the most basic principles of human morality.
  It is reported that the camps established by the Ugandan Government 
to contend with displaced children and their families are extremely 
inadequate. Crowded conditions and a lack of food and sanitation 
facilities have resulted in malnutrition, disease, and death among 
those who have sought refuge in these camps. Trauma counseling centers 
for children who have escaped from the rebels are sorely in need of 
basic supplies and qualified staff. Human Rights Watch reports that the 
children who are told to leave in order to make room for new arrivals 
often have nowhere to go and no means of support.
  Mr. President, the phenomenon of the child soldier is growing not 
only in Uganda, but around the world. If a more concerted effort is not 
made to address the outrageous abuses these children face, Uganda and 
the rest of the international community will be contending with the 
consequences far in the future.

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