'Children's Parliament' Sets High Bar in Congo

Musoke, the parliament's adviser on protection for children, usually records the unsavory details. The parties are then sent a letter including a date when they can present their stories to the parliament's officers. The letter also includes a P.S.: "We will be obliged to contact the competent service in the matter of protecting minors if you do not respect this invitation. Sincerely, Junior Alimasi, Vice-President of Protection and Participation."

Although the parliament cannot render legal rulings, officers do offer recommendations -- "moral advice," Kayumba called it -- based on their study of Congolese law and U.N. conventions on children's rights.

In Case No. 4, for instance, "if the father says, 'Okay, I will take care of my children,' he will have to sign a document promising he will," Musoke said.

"We listen to both parties and try to assist them based on the conventions and the constitution," Kayumba added. "And we show them the consequences of not respecting the law."

Most adults listen to their decisions, he said, but "if not, we contact the special police."

The police do not always follow up, but when they do, consequences can range from a reprimand to fines to jail time, depending on Congolese law, Kayumba said.

The United Nations has initiated other children's parliaments in Africa, which are meeting at a convention later this year to discuss, among other topics, how to address the plight of children worldwide.

The original officers in Goma were selected by their teachers on the basis of their academic records. Now, officers are elected by the parliament's members.

The precocious leaders strictly enforce rules requiring that members be younger than 17. Adults can be honorary counselors if the members agree.

"If you have ideas to dominate or manipulate the parliament, you must leave," said Kelvin Batumike, who, at 20, has been given the title of high counselor.

Over the years, the officers have developed their own thoughts on the state of their nation. Congo, then known as Zaire, was ruled for nearly 40 years by the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who stole liberally from the state's coffers and encouraged a culture in which government employees did the same.

Mobutu's overthrow in 1997 triggered a decade of civil war in eastern Congo, where militia groups still roam the lush green mountains and children are often forced to become soldiers and in other ways grow up fast.