Content_paragraphs:  A total of 263 children, including 15 girls, between the ages of 8 and 17, were 
  
  held in detention by FARDC (236) and the Congolese National Police (27) for their 
  
  alleged association with armed groups (248), or on national security grounds, 
  
  following electoral protests (15). The detentions were verified in the greater Kasai 
  
  region (105), and the provinces of North Kivu (80), South Kivu (54), Tanganyika (13) 
  
  and Ituri (11). Most children were handed over to the country task force after a period 
  
  of between 2 and 30 days in custody. At least 29 children, however, were detained for 
  
  periods ranging between one and two years, in violation of the directives issued in 
  
  2013 by the Minister of Defence and the National Intelligence Agency (Agence 
  
  nationale de renseignements) to immediately hand over children formerly associated 
  
  with armed groups to child protection actors. For example, between January and July 
  
  2019, following advocacy by the country task force, 33 boys between the ages of 13 
  
  and 17 were released from Kananga central prison, Kasai Central Province. They had 
  
  been detained with adult prisoners since December 2017, as they were cons idered as 
  
  adults, pending age verification.