DRC violence concerns Ban

2007-10-25 23:07

New York - UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern on Thursday about surging sexual violence and a hike in the number of civilians uprooted as a result of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province.

A statement said: "The Secretary General is deeply concerned about the increased displacement, human suffering, and sexual violence in Nord Kivu and calls upon the belligerents to ensure unrestricted access of humanitarian efforts to civilians affected by the conflict."

Ban urged the DRC government "to ensure the protection of all civilians in the region" and all dissidents to join the so-called "brassage" process - reintegration of ex-combatants into the national army - "immediately and without conditions.

Theatre of a new round of clashes

"These are essential first steps toward bringing an end to the suffering of the civilian population and toward resolving the root causes of the conflict, in particular the continued presence in DRC of the FDLR (Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and other foreign armed groups."

Home to previous rebellions that plunged RDC into war in the 1990s, Nord-Kivu became the theatre of a bloody and confusing new round of clashes in August.

UN agencies reported that the latest clashes have driven 33 000 more people from villages in the province and a cholera outbreak is suspected.

UN and human rights officials have also denounced the increasing use of sexual violence against women as a weapon of war in the area, particularly gang rapes where attackers mutilate their victims' genitals until they need surgery.

- AFP