In 2009, James was taken captive, along with his family’s goats, by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, one of the most notorious rebel groups in eastern Congo. He was 15. At first, he had the hazardous job of ferrying ammunition to fighters during combat. Later, he was given a gun and ordered to fight.

After one battle, a captured enemy soldier was brought before the rebels of his militia, which numbered about 150. The men worked themselves into a frenzy and demanded the prisoner’s execution. The captive tried to speak, but the rebels silenced him. The commander ordered James to kill him.

James, then 16, knew he couldn’t refuse or he’d be shot himself. It was the only time he knowingly killed someone, he said.

“I shot two bullets into the side of his head,” he said.

James figured it was only a matter of time before he died if he remained with the militia. But escaping also was risky. Deserters who were caught were executed.

He began scouting the area. One night, he was on guard duty with two friends, ages 13 and 16. They had been plotting to flee. This was their chance, James said.

At 4 a.m., they took their guns and ran. They knew they wouldn’t be missed until the camp’s daily 6 a.m. meeting. By midmorning, they reached the camp of a rival militia.

“There were soldiers all around,” James recounted. “When they were about to shoot us, we put up our arms.”

The trio told the rebels that they had been ill-treated by the FDLR and wanted to join them. The 100-strong force welcomed them, he said.

Their treatment was better, but his friends did not fare well in battle. The 16-year-old was killed; the 13-year-old lost a leg. James knew he had to flee again.

One day, when he and another boy were given $20 and sent to a village to buy cooking oil, they slipped into the jungle.

They walked for most of the next two days, hoping to turn themselves in to MONUSCO, the United Nations stabilization mission in Congo. James had heard on the radio that the mission welcomed children who wanted to escape from any armed group. He had taken down a phone number. Two hours from the U.N. base, he called ahead using a cellphone to say they were coming.

He handed in his L4 light machine gun, the weapon the FDLR first issued him.