Congolese warlord guilty of recruiting child soldiers
The international criminal court has delivered the first verdict in its 10-year history, finding a Congolese warlord guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
Children as young as 11 were recruited from their homes and schools to take part in brutal ethnic fighting in 2002-03. They were taken to military training camps and beaten and drugged; girls were used as sex slaves.
The verdict is the first at an international trial focused exclusively on the use of child soldiers.
The case will set legal precedents that could be used if Joseph Kony, the elusive leader of the Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army, is captured and brought to justice.
“Apple?” opens in Africa: I wrote about Dougal and Kenneth in Africa, as my bit towards drawing attention to the issue. After the review period I will give £1 (+ 25p Gift Aid) to War Child for every copy sold.
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Kevan Pooler 