UN-backed DRC troops 'murdering hundreds'
Hundreds of civilians 'murdered' in 2009 by Congolese troops working alongside UN peacekeepers, Human Rights Watch says
Tuesday, 03, Nov 2009 03:37
By Matthew Champion.
Hundreds of civilians have been 'murdered' this year by Congolese troops working alongside UN peacekeepers, rights groups have warned.
Human Rights Watch, which said it had conducted 21 fact-finding missions in eastern DR Congo in the last ten months, said 505 civilians were killed by troops during the UN-backed Operation Kimia II in March to September.
A further 198 civilians were killed during a five-week operation called Umoja Wetu conducted with the Rwandan army in January and February, the group added.
The allegations led to the UN suspending its cooperation with the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) while a joint investigation into the alleged targeted killings takes place.
The UN admitted this week there was "compelling evidence" 62 civilians had been murdered by FARDC.
Alain Le Roy, under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, denied complicity on behalf of the region's UN peacekeeping force (Monuc) but admitted civilians had been "clearly targeted".
FARDC and Monuc troops are fighting Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern DRC who fled their own country after being implicated in the 1994 genocide.
Human Rights Watch said the mass murder of civilians in DRC included the massacre of people including women, children and the elderly in the North Kivu villages of Mashango and Ndoruma, while up to 270 died in the towns of Nyabiondo and Pinga.
Anneke van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "Some Congolese army soldiers are committing war crimes by viciously targeting the very people they should be protecting.
"Monuc's continued willingness to provide support for such abusive military operations implicates them in violations of the laws of war."
Last month independent UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston said military operations in eastern DRC were having a "catastrophic" effect on the local population.