12 February marks The International Day Against The Use Of Child Soldiers, otherwise known as Red Hand Day.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is attempting to rehabilitate some of its former child soldiers.
Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger in DR Congo since the 1990s, as armed groups have fought for control of the country's vast natural resources.
Former warlord Bosco Ntaganda played a "key role" in ethnic crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, using child soldiers and capturing sex slaves for his rebel army, the International Criminal Court heard on Monday.
By Roger-Claude Liwanga, Special for CNN
Editor’s note: Roger-Claude Liwanga is a human rights lawyer from the Congo and visiting scholar at Boston University. He worked for The Carter Center as a legal consultant, where he developed a training module to train Congolese judges and prosecutors on the protection of children against trafficking for economic exploitation in the mines.
Michel Chikwanine, a university student in Canada who was once a child soldier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has suffered things no ordinary Japanese child will ever have to.
But, he says, that does not mean Japan has no connection to the widespread problem of child labor, including child soldiers.
Libya, North Korea, Iran and Cuba are among 17 countries worldwide that have done little to combat human trafficking over the past year, according to a State Department report released Tuesday, down from the 23 nations identified a year ago
In its annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), the department said the 17 countries failed to meet minimum international standards to curb trafficking and could face U.S.
Goma — Now we know: Thomas Lubanga is sentenced to spend 14 years in jail for abducting and forcing children to fight in the Second Congo War. Yet the announcement on Tuesday by the International Criminal Court begets another question: what reparations are due to the warlord's victims?
"What I want is very simple: money to boost my business.
In March 2012 the International Criminal Court (ICC) found Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting and enlisting child soldiers. The ICC verdict brought attention to Lubanga's co-accused, General Bosco Ntaganda, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant nearly six years ago.