Kampala — HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) has pleaded with the Government to drop treason charges against two boys formerly abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

The US-based rights group said the teenagers (names withheld) aged 14 and 16, were charged with treason in late 2002. One of them reappears in court in Moyo today and the other on March 20, in Gulu.

"Treason is a very serious charge and should not be used against children who have been abducted and compelled to commit acts of violence," said Jo Becker, Children's Rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

"The Government should immediately drop the treason charges and ensure that these boys have access to rehabilitation," he added in a statement issued yesterday.

Treason carries a maximum sentence of death on conviction.

But the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Richard Butera, (pictured above) said the charges could only be dropped by the suspects applying for amnesty. "These cases have come to us and we advised them to apply for amnesty," he said.