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DRC report warns of attacks
07/04/2007 18:41 - (SA)
Goma, Dr Congo - Lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have warned of dozens of crimes committed against civilians by new government soldiers, in a report seen by AFP on Saturday.
The study into the eastern Nord-Kivu region by members of the provincial assembly, which will be presented to the governor on Wednesday, details summary executions, rapes, tortures and kidnappings.
The crimes are blamed on the "mixed" army brigades of regular army soldiers and former rebels led by deposed Congolese Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, who have been deployed in Nord-Kivu since January.
The Kinshasa government hoped this strategy would provide a peaceful solution to December's crisis following the presidential elections.
But one of the report's authors said on condition of anonymity: "Since then, there has been a reign of terror. There is killing every day in Nord-Kivu."
The report, which is based on statements from victims, residents and local authorities, said the Bravo brigade, led by one of Nkunda's supporters, "spreads desolation across the whole area it is supposed to be making secure".
In Rutshuru, it treated civilians as accomplices of the Rwandan Hutu rebels (FDLR) and local Mai Mai militia who have been in the region for years.
"February 19: In Nyakakoma, two people were burned alive, accused by Bravo soldiers of complicity with the FDLR," the 29-page report said.
"March 9: Assassination of about 20 civilians at Buramba, accused of being accomplices of the FDLR and Mai Mai... decomposing bodies are still being discovered."
An inquiry was launched into the Buramba massacre, but no arrests were made.
In neighbouring Masisi, where Nkunda was based, soldiers from the Charlie brigade are accused of similar crimes.
"Nkunda is wanted for war crimes (committed in 2004). Here, people voted for peace (in 2006). They do not understand why President (Joseph) Kabila has given Nord-Kivu on a plate to this renegade," a local lawmaker told AFP.
The report urges Kinshasa to remove the mixed brigades from the region and act to ensure attacks on civilians are ended.
A member of the Baraza group, comprised of the heads of all the ethnic communities in the region, commented: "The government promised us peace. We are still waiting.
"Again this morning, two people were killed in Goma. If this continues, the civil war will start up again because the population cannot take any more."
- AFP
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