DRC troops run amok
2009-10-16 09:41
Kinshsha - Congolese soldiers killed 50 Rwandan Hutu refugees and abducted and raped around 40 women during an attack on refugee camps in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) in April.
"At Shalio in Nord-Kivu province, it seems that the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) attacked a makeshift Rwandan refugee camp on April 26,"according to UN rapporteur Philip Alston.
"The FARDC surrounded the place, shot and beat at least 50 refugees and then entirely burned the camp."
Alston, who is special rapporteur on extra judicial killings, said that at least 40 women were kidnapped from this camp. A small group of about 10 who escaped gave evidence of mass rapes. The women showed severe wounds and some had had their breasts cut, he said.
The fate of the 30 other women was not known, Alston added. He spent 12 days in the DRC.