UN's DRC decision slammed
2008-03-28 21:19
Geneva - A leading human rights watchdog on Friday slammed the United Nations' decision to end the mandate of its expert envoy for human rights in the war-scarred Democratic Republic of Congo.
"Downgrading the council's work in Congo despite the recent rapes and killings is inexplicable and could have tragic consequences," said Juliette de Rivero of US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement released in Geneva.
Its statement came a day after the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council adopted an Egyptian proposal to discontinue the mandate of Titinga Frederic Pacere, its independent expert for the central African country.
Instead of reports by the special observer, the proposal calls for the DRC government to keep it updated on the situation in the country.
The country is recovering from the 1998-2003 civil war that left millions dead and is still plagued by factional violence in parts of the east.
Pacere told the council last September that DRC police and troops were carrying out summary executions and raping and torturing civilians.
Egypt's ambassador Omar Shalaby had said that Kinshasa did not want the observer's mandate extended.
But HRW said DRC President Joseph Kabila had privately supported renewing it. "That pledge was not translated into action, however, and Congolese officials in Geneva lobbied for the mandate to end," it said.
"The council's decision flies in the face of the serious human rights violations that continue in the DRC."
The country's ambassador in Geneva, Sebastien Mutong Mujing, said that the expert's role had not improved the flow of aid there and renewing the mandate did "not guarantee concrete progress on the ground".
HRW said that in the past year alone, hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands of women and girls raped by militia groups and DRC soldiers. An estimated 30 000 children are serving in various armed groups, it said.
"The Human Rights Council should be expanding its work on Congo, not abandoning it," de Rivero said.