UN pullout in DRC a 'disaster'
2010-03-06 07:00
Kinshasa - The withdrawal of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the government has demanded by mid-2011, could be "disastrous" for the population, Amnesty International warned on Friday.
The mission, the biggest peacekeeping force in the world with around 19 000 military personnel, is "the only force in the DRC capable of providing a measure of protection to the civilian population", it said.
"Massacres, rape, looting and other attacks on the civilian population and humanitarian agencies by armed forces and groups continue unabated, primarily in the war-torn east of the country," it said in a statement.
UN peacekeeping bases were often the only places where people can find safety during fighting, while government forces do not have the capacity to take over the mission's security functions, it said.
"The security and human rights situation has remained dire over the past year. Withdrawing or reducing the peacekeeping force could have disastrous consequences," said Tawanda Hondora, Amnesty's deputy director for Africa.
"UN forces must stay in the Democratic Republic of Congo."
A senior UN official said on Wednesday that DRC authorities have asked the mission, known as Monuc, to start a gradual pullout from the end of June. They want the withdrawal to be completed by mid-2011.
Monuc has been in the war-ravaged DRC since 1999 and supports the Congolese army in the east of the country where it is battling several armed groups, including Hutu rebels from neighbouring Rwanda.
- SAPA