DR. Congo warlord 'recruiting child soldiers'

KINSHASA (AFP) - A Democratic Republic of Congo rebel general who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting child soldiers is again forcing boys into military service, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Between April 19 and May 4, troops serving Jean Bosco "Terminator" Ntaganda forcibly recruited at least 149 boys and young men aged between 12 and 20 in Nord-Kivu province, the rights group said in a statement.

Ntaganda, nicknamed "Terminator" because of his brutal tactics, is accused of leading army mutineers who have attacked government forces in eastern DR Congo in recent weeks.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has sought him since 2006 on war crimes charges but the DR Congo government has refused to order his arrest.

Ntaganda and other mutineers were integrated into the national army under a 2009 peace deal with rebels but defected again after complaining about the conditions.

HRW researchers interviewed witnesses and victims, and said at least seven boys had died in the fighting. At least 48 of those recruited were under 18 years old and of these, 17 were aged 15 or younger.

HRW said one woman its researchers spoke to described how Ntaganda personally worked to recruit young soldiers in her village.

"Since you (villagers) have been with the government, you've gotten nothing. Why not join me?" HRW quoted the woman as saying.

Ntaganda "asked us to give our children, our students, to him to fight. He came to our village himself," she added.

The ICC classes the recruitment of children under 15 a war crime.

HRW said Ntaganda's forces took children from schools and homes. Some received limited military training, but most were made to carry weapons and ammunition to the front line and were given little to eat or drink.

On Monday, the ICC announced it was seeking new war crimes charges against Ntaganda and another notorious DR Congo warlord, Sylvestre Mudacumura.

The ICC has deemed them two of the most dangerous men in a region where millions of people have been killed in the past 20 years.

For Mudacumura, military commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia, the ICC is seeking five counts of crimes against humanity -- murder, inhumane acts, rape and torture -- and nine war crimes charges.