UN to probe mass graves in DRC

2005-10-03 15:42

Kinshasa - A United Nations team is investigating three mass graves found in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a spokesperson for the UN mission in the country, Monuc, said on Monday in Kinshasa.

Dozens of human skulls and bones have been exhumed from the graves discovered in Rutshuru, some 50km north of the town of Goma on the border with Rwanda.

"According to locals living in the areas, the mass graves date back to 1996 and they believe them to be of Hutu refugees," the spokesperson said.

Following the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which more than 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed, many Hutus fled the country fearing reprisal attacks by the Tutsi-led government.

"We don?t know the circumstances surrounding these mass graves and it is too early to say when the enquiry is expected to be complete," added the Monuc spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the arrest of the leader of the rebel Ugandan Lords Resistance Army suspected of being in hiding in DRC. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA