United Nations Security Council Resolution 1804

Last updated
UN Security Council
Resolution 1804
Date13 March 2008
Meeting no.5852
CodeSC/9275 (Document)
Voting summary
  • 15 voted for
  • None voted against
  • None abstained
ResultApproved
Security Council composition
Permanent members
Non-permanent members
  1803 Lists of resolutions 1805  

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1804 was adopted on March 13, 2008, and it concerns the situation in the Great Lakes Region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Contents

Background

Military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities as child soldiers, or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in propaganda. Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns even when such practices were supposedly against cultural morals. Since the 1970s a number of international conventions have come into effect that try to limit the participation of children in armed conflicts, nevertheless the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that the use of children in military forces, and the active participation of children in armed conflicts is widespread.

Resolution

Resolution 1804 states that the presence of armed groups in the DRC is a threat to its national security. They ask that all groups lay down all their weapons and turn themselves in to Congolese and UN Mission authorities. The resolution also calls for Rwandan Armed Forces stop recruiting and using children, and to halt gender-based violence such as rape and other sexual abuse.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children in the military</span>

Children have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peacekeeping</span> Activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace

Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict</span> 2000 United Nations treaty

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), also known as the child soldier treaty, is a multilateral treaty whereby states agree to: 1) prohibit the conscription into the military of children under the age of 18; 2) ensure that military recruits are no younger than 16; and 3) prevent recruits aged 16 or 17 from taking a direct part in hostilities. The treaty also forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under the age of 18 for any purpose.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325), on women, peace, and security, was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), and 1314 (2000). The resolution acknowledged the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hand Day</span> Day protesting the use of child soldiers

On Red Hand Day or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, February 12 each year since 2002, pleas are made to political leaders and events are staged around the world to draw attention to child soldiers: children under the age of 18 who participate in military organizations of all kinds. Red Hand Day aims to call for action to stop this practice, and support children affected by it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

In all areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the human rights record remained considerably poor, and numerous serious abuses were committed. Unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, rape, and arbitrary arrest and detention by security forces increased during the year, and the transitional government took few actions to punish harsh people. Harsh and life-threatening conditions in prison and detention facilities; prolonged pretrial detention; lack of an independent and effective judiciary; and arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home also remained serious problems. Security forces continued to recruit and retain child soldiers and to compel forced labour by adults and children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the east of the country in particular, has been described as the "Rape Capital of the World," and the prevalence and intensity of all forms of sexual violence has been described as the worst in the world. Human Rights Watch defines sexual violence as "an act of a sexual nature by force, or by threat of force or coercion," and rape as "a form of sexual violence during which the body of a person is invaded, resulting in penetration, however slight, of any part of the body of the victim, with a sexual organ, or of the anal or genital opening of the victim with any object or other part of the body."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1261</span> United Nations resolution adopted in 1999

United Nations Security Council resolution 1261, adopted unanimously on 25 August 1999, in the first resolution to address the topic, the Council condemned the targeting of children in armed conflict including the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1332</span> United Nations resolution adopted in 2000

United Nations Security Council resolution 1332, adopted unanimously on 14 December 2000, after recalling resolutions 1234 (1999), 1258 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1273 (1999), 1279 (1999), 1291 (2000), 1296 (2000), 1304 (2000) and 1323 (2000) on situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) until 15 June 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1460</span> United Nations Security Council resolution

United Nations Security Council resolution 1460, adopted unanimously on 30 January 2003, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1306 (2000), 1308 (2000), 1314 (2000), 1325 (2000) and 1379 (2001), the council called for the immediate end to the use of child soldiers and endorsed an "era of application" of international norms and standards for the protection of war-affected children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1539</span> United Nations resolution adopted in 2004

United Nations Security Council resolution 1539, adopted unanimously on 22 April 2004, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1308 (2000), 1314 (2000), 1325 (2000), 1379 (2001) and 1460 (2003), the council condemned the use of child soldiers and asked the Secretary-General to devise a monitoring mechanism.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. The majority of this trafficking is internal, and much of it is perpetrated by armed groups and government forces outside government control within the DRC's unstable eastern provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1998</span> United Nations resolution adopted in 2011

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1998, adopted unanimously on July 12, 2011, after reaffirming resolutions 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000), 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005) and 1882 (2009) on the protection of children in armed conflict, the Council declared schools and hospitals off limits for both armed groups and military activities, asking the Secretary-General for such crimes to be placed on a list of those committing "grave violations" against children.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 was unanimously adopted on 19 June 2008. It condemns the use of sexual violence as a tool of war, and declares that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide”. The adoption of the resolution marked the first time that the UN explicitly linked sexual violence as a tactic of war with women, peace, and security issues. Security Council Resolution 1820 reinforces United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and highlights that sexual violence in conflict constitutes a war crime and demands parties to armed conflict to immediately take appropriate measures to protect civilians from sexual violence, including training troops and enforcing disciplinary measures. In November 2010, the UN Secretary General presented a report on the implementation of UNSCR 1820.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889 was unanimously adopted on 5 October 2009.

Military use of schools is a term used to refer to the various activities that national armed forces and non-state armed groups carry out in and around schools, universities, and other education facilities, in support of their military effort. Examples of this include using a school or a university as barracks or bases, for offensive or defensive deployments, for storage of weapons or ammunition, for military training of soldiers, as observation posts, and as a detention facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child soldiers in Africa</span>

Child soldiers in Africa refers to the military use of children under the age of 18 by national armed forces or other armed groups in Africa. Typically, this classification includes children serving in non-combatant roles, as well as those serving in combatant roles. In 2008, it was estimated that 40 percent of child soldiers worldwide were in Africa, and the use of child soldiers in armed conflict was increasing faster than any other continent. Additionally, average age of children recruited as soldiers appears to be decreasing. As of 2017, the UN listed that seven out of fourteen countries recruiting and using child soldiers in state forces or armed groups were in Africa: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan.

As many as 10,000 children were used by armed groups in the armed conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) between 2012 and 2015, and as of 2016 the problem persists nationwide. The mainly Muslim “Séléka” coalition of armed groups and the predominantly Christian, "Anti-Balaka" militias have both used children in this way; some are as young as eight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers</span>

The rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers is defined by Child Soldiers International as:

"The process through which children formerly associated with armed forces/groups are supported to return to civilian life and play a valued role in their families and communities"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of children in the military</span> History of recruiting children for military operations

Children in the military are children who are associated with military organizations, such as state armed forces and non-state armed groups. Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been involved in military campaigns. For example, thousands of children participated on all sides of the First World War and the Second World War. Children may be trained and used for combat, assigned to support roles such as porters or messengers, or used for tactical advantage as human shields or for political advantage in propaganda.