UN REPORTS POINT TO POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES IN EASTERN DR CONGO

With two new United Nations reports detailing human rights abuses – including possible war crimes – carried out by both Government forces and rebels in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world body's top rights official today stressed the urgent need for reforming the country's security and judicial systems.

Fundamental improvements in these sectors "are of paramount importance if both the authorities and the international community are serious about bringing lasting peace to eastern DRC," High Commissioner Navi Pillay said.

The new publications are a joint effort of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (<"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (<"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx">OHCHR), and cover the period in late 2008 when heavy fighting engulfed North and South Kivu provinces.

One <"http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/Goma_KanyabayongaRapport_Septembre_2009.pdf">report focuses on the actions of Government troops, known by the acronym FARDC, some of whom took part in 12 arbitrary killings, as well as looting and sexual violence, of the very people they were supposed to protect in the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma, and surrounding areas as they fled advancing forces from the mainly Tutsi rebel group known as the National Congress for People's Defence (CNDP).

"As human rights violations by the FARDC are so significant, failure at the political and operational levels to act to remedy the situation in and of itself constitutes a serious human rights violation," the publication said.

The Government must take immediate and strong action on the violations committed by the Congolese armed forces, it emphasized. "Without profound change in the FARDC, the international community may be perceived as contributing to human rights violations as opposed to effectively supporting the desired change and this perception might affect its support to FARDC."

Despite some positive changes in FARDC's command structures in the wake of the Goma rampage, soldiers who committed these crimes remain in the area, according to local people.

The High Commissioner characterized the judicial response to the violations by the FARDC as "wholly insufficient."

She added that "that has, unfortunately, generally been the case since the [civil] war officially ended in 2002, and is one of the reasons why progress on the human rights front since then has been so deeply unsatisfactory."

The other <"http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/Kiwanja_Report_September2009.pdf">report highlights the rights violations committed by the CNDP, including at least 67 cases of arbitrary executions, during the 5 November 2008 killings in Kiwanja, North Kivu.

Following intense fighting between the CNDP and the Mayi Mayi militia, the CNDP carried out reprisal killings of villagers, mostly young men suspected of being members or collaborators of the Mayi Mayi.

"The fact that killings took place simultaneously in several different areas of Kiwanja and that they were preceded, days before the events, by public warnings by CNDP authorities that in case of a Mayi Mayi attack, the population would be held responsible may suggest that, at least to a certain extent, the 'opération ratissage' was retaliatory in nature and ordered and condoned by the command of the CNDP," the report found.

It also noted that in the aftermath of the attacks, MONUC was strongly criticized for not having protected civilians.

Not only is additional training of military personnel in peacekeeping operations necessary, the report said, but also, "the formulation of clearer criteria for exactly when peacekeepers are to intervene in order to protect civilians must take into account both the need for peacekeepers to possess knowledge of the dangers faced by civilians in a given situation, and the capacity of peacekeepers to make a positive difference in that situation."

Ms. Pillay pointed out that the CNDP's actions could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity and "are part of a self-perpetuating pattern of brutality in eastern DRC which continues to go largely unpunished.

"I am deeply concerned that members of the CNDP who may be implicated in these crimes – especially Bosco Ntaganda, against whom there was already an International Criminal Court arrest warrant – are either still at large, or have even been absorbed into the FARDC."

Laurent Nkunda, who led the CNDP at the time of the Kiwanja attacks, was taken into custody this January.

The High Commissioner voiced hope that the announcement of a zero-tolerance policy on sexual violence by the Government will be followed by "concrete and immediate action to hold perpetrators accountable, particularly since sexual violence continues to take place on a daily basis."

UNITED STATES VOWS SUPPORT FOR UN EFFORTS AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN DR CONGO

The United States stands alongside the United Nations ready to face down the use of rape as a weapon of war in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a local UN-backed radio station during her visit to the strife-torn nation.

"Unfortunately, we have seen in the late 20th century and now in this century a terrible trend of using sexual and gender-based violence as a tool of war to intimidate and demoralize populations and to force them to flee their homes," Mrs. Clinton said in an interview with Radio Okapi.

She stressed that any bid to halt the scourge in the region has to "start with making sure that the military of the DRC does not engage in sexual and gender-based violence."

Mrs. Clinton also underscored in her interview with the radio station supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUC) the importance of ending impunity for military offenders, as well as cutting off funds to militias operating in the area and resolving the region's underlying political tensions.

In his most recent report to the Security Council on sexual violence in armed conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that at least 200,000 cases of such abuse had been recorded in eastern DRC since 1996.

"But sexual violence is a problem across the country as it is in many countries and there have to be stronger laws against domestic violence [and] against criminal rape that happens on the streets of Kinshasa or any other city," said Mrs. Clinton.

The Secretary of State called for robust prosecution, law enforcement and judiciary measures to "make it clear that this is unacceptable, that there is no excuse for it."

The human rights record of the Congolese Government is "in desperate need of improvement," she added.

"The United States, other countries as well as the United Nations stand ready to assist the Government in taking actions to both promote human rights and to punish violators of human rights and women's rights, but there needs to be much more action and greater commitment from the Government."

Mrs. Clinton is slated to meet victims of sexual violence when she visits a camp for displaced persons in the eastern province of North Kivu, where 400 cases of rape are currently registered every month, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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BAN WELCOMES SUMMIT BETWEEN LEADERS OF DR CONGO AND RWANDA

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed yesterday's summit between the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, the first official bilateral meeting since the neighbouring African nations broke off official ties more than one decade ago.

DRC President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame met in the city of Goma, in eastern DRC, in their first direct talks since 1996.

"The Secretary-General commends both leaders' commitment to promote peace and stability in the Great Lakes region," according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.

He also praised the joint military offensive launched early this year against the "destabilizing and threatening presence" in eastern DRC of the notorious ethnic Hutu militia known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), which continues to perpetrate widespread killings and rapes of Congolese civilians.

In today's statement, Mr. Ban said he is encouraged by the two presidents' pledge to consolidate their relationship's renewal through future meetings in the capitals of their respective countries.

"Security and development go hand in hand, and the Secretary-General hopes that the normalization of the relations between the DRC and Rwanda will contribute to the well-being of the people of both countries."

Civilians are bearing the brunt of attempts to dismantle armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the rebels carrying out vicious reprisals and some Government soldiers committing serious human rights abuses, the senior United Nations official to the country told the Security Council last month.

"We take these concerns very seriously and have addressed them with the Government at various levels," said Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC).

He told the Council of the deployment of more MONUC resources and personnel to the affected provinces, such as North Kivu, continuing efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence, and increased pressure on the Government to take action against undisciplined soldiers.

MONUC has set up nearly three dozen military bases in the embattled North Kivu province, many in remote areas where operations are ongoing against the FDLR. "These bases have allowed for close monitoring of the operations and rapid intervention in a number of instances."

But Mr. Doss warned that the Mission's resources are being stretched thin as it waits for reinforcements to arrive following the Security Council's recent authorization of additional troops to deal with the strife in the DRC's east.

The FDLR has been retaliating against civilians and attacking villages in North Kivu, committing rape and other human rights abuses which have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, according to reports from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The group has been operating in eastern DRC since the end of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that left around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
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MILITARY CHIEFS OF UN PEACEKEEPING FORCES IN AFRICA CALL FOR MORE TROOPS, EQUIPMENT

The military chiefs of the United Nations' largest and most complex peacekeeping operations urged Member States today to provide the troops and equipment necessary to carry out their missions in the war-ravaged regions of Darfur in western Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

"We have had a challenging time to meet all our mandated tasks because of the issue of deployment and lack of capabilities," General Martin Luther Agwai, Force Commander of the joint African Union-UN mission in Darfur (UNAMID), told reporters in New York.

The Security Council authorized the deployment of UNAMID to quell fighting and protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.7 million others forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen against rebel groups.

UNAMID has stabilized the situation in Darfur, despite having less than 70 per cent of the authorized number of troops under the 2007 Security Council resolution setting up the force, said Gen. Agwai.

In addition, "we have been able to be one of the best sources of authenticated information of what is happening in Darfur," he said. "We have come a long way, but there are still a lot of challenges, no doubt about it."

At current strength UNAMID is unable to provide full-time security to all of the makeshift camps sheltering the millions of people who have fled the violence engulfing the region over the years.

"We have not been able to have a 24/7 protection coverage in most of the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps," said Gen. Agwai. "We have prioritized the most vulnerable and volatile camps."

He noted that some of the IDP camps have 90,000 to 100,000 people taking refuge in tents and makeshift shelters.

"The bigger the camps the more volatile and problematic they are and those are the ones with a 24/7 UNAMID presence," he said, including patrols that protect women when out collecting firewood.

With full deployment the mission would be more mobile and have a further reach, "instead of [looking like] very small ink spots on blotting paper. [We currently have] 32 spots, but we're beginning to expand and spread."

Gen. Agwai expected 92 per cent deployment by the end of the year, but stressed that there is little "point having boots without capabilities. Ethiopia has now pledged five [attack] helicopters to the mission … [but] to the best of my knowledge nobody has pledged one utility helicopter to the mission."

As a sign of UNAMID contributing to an increasing sense of security in the region, Gen. Agwai said that the incidence of rapes and assaults has been cut. "The number of people dying because of the crisis is down. The figure is now ranging from about 120 to 150 deaths in a month and not hundreds or thousands in a month as in the past."

The UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, known as MONUC, is effectively engaged in three separate military operations, said the operations Force Commander, Lieutenant-General Babacar Gaye.

MONUC is supporting the Congolese army (FARDC) in an offensive against the notorious Ugandan rebel militia, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on one front; a group of remnant armed groups in Ituri province in northeastern DRC; and a Rwandan rebel force, known as the FDLR, in North and South Kivu.

"Our mission is so far the largest peacekeeping mission deployed around the world and we are facing all the challenges that peacekeeping have to face today," Lt.-Gen. Gaye told the press briefing. "This means the use of force, the protection of civilians and so on and so forth."

The latest bout of fighting between DRC troops and the rebel FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and their local allies uprooted a further 35,000 people in South Kivu last month, bringing the total displaced there since January to 536,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than 1.8 million people are now internally displaced in the DRC's east.

Lt.-Gen. Gaye stressed the drastic need for extra troops on the ground to implement MONUC's protection mandate. "Everything is on track but unfortunately the first boots are still expected."

He said that MONUC is slated to soon receive a Bangladeshi battalion, an Egyptian battalion, a Jordanian special force company, an Egyptian special force company and a Bangladeshi engineer company.

"Unfortunately, we are yet to have the 18 helicopters that have been authorized by the [Security] Council," he added.
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CIVILIANS PAYING PRICE OF EFFORTS TO THWART DR CONGO ARMED GROUPS, UN ENVOY SAYS

Civilians are bearing the brunt of attempts to dismantle armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the rebels carrying out vicious reprisals and some Government soldiers committing serious human rights abuses, the senior United Nations official to the country told the Security Council today.

Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (known as MONUC), said in a briefing to Council members that there is growing concern about the humanitarian impact of the efforts to disband the armed groups.

"We take these concerns very seriously and have addressed them with the Government at various levels," he said, citing the deployment of more MONUC resources and personnel to the affected provinces, such as North Kivu, continuing efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence, and increased pressure on the Government to take action against undisciplined soldiers.

MONUC has established 35 military bases in North Kivu, many of which are in very remote areas, where operations against the FDLR [the Forces Démocratiques de Liberation du Rwanda, one of the rebel groups] are ongoing. These bases have allowed for close monitoring of the operations and rapid intervention in a number of instances."

But he warned that the Mission's resources are being stretched thin as it waits for reinforcements to arrive following the Security Council's recent authorization of additional troops to deal with the strife in the DRC's east.

In an op-ed article published in <i>The Washington Times today, Mr. Doss urged the Government to do its utmost to ensure discipline and end impunity within the ranks of its forces, which are known as the FARDC.

"People have to trust in those sent to protect them, and the army needs local cooperation to root out the FDLR," he wrote. But he added that that discipline will not improve unless pay and living conditions are enhanced for Congolese soldiers.

"This means barracks, sufficient food and wages paid in full and on time. Military families need shelter and protection as well… Donor partners must dig deeper to help the Congo deal with this crisis and fund the reforms that can help the army gain the confidence of the people."

Mr. Doss told the Council that he welcomed this week's announcement by the FARDC of a zero tolerance policy towards the perpetrators of criminal acts within its ranks.

He also called for more determined action against FDLR leaders in exile, who have been able to operate from abroad and maintain contacts with their commanders on the ground.

Later, in a press statement, the Council expressed grave concern about the ongoing human rights violations against civilians, particularly the widespread sexual violence and the recruitment and use of child soldiers by rebels groups and some elements of the FARDC.

Council members also encouraged MONUC to continue to monitor the performance and conduct of the army units involved in joint operations against armed groups.
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DR CONGO: UN CALLS FOR URGENT REFORM AFTER WOMEN RAPED DURING ATTEMPTED PRISON-BREAK

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) called on the Government to take urgent measures to improve prison security and improve conditions for inmates, after several women were assaulted during an attempted escape from Goma's central prison last night.

According to a news release issued by the mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, none of the inmates escaped, but about 20 female inmates were raped and assaulted during the incident, which also resulted in the deaths of one policeman and one prisoner, and the wounding of 12 others.

The mission strongly condemned the incident and called for ensuring that the perpetrators involved be held to account.

The Congolese national police and the national armed forces (FARDC) have tightened security outside the prison, and members of the MONUC brigade in North Kivu conducted a security operation in the area, as well as night patrols.

MONUC also called on the authorities to initiate prison reform to ensure conformity with internationally recognized standards in the treatment of detainees, including strict separation of men and women, among other things. It also voiced its readiness to assist in this regard.
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RECORD NUMBER OF FORMER HUTU REBELS LEAVES DR CONGO – UN MISSION

A record number of former Hutu rebels left the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for their home in Rwanda this week, the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the vast African nation reported today.

The UN mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, said that 57 former Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) fighters and 26 other ex-militiamen were repatriated from war-torn north-eastern DRC under a UN-backed scheme.

MONUC also reported that more than 1,650 children had been separated from the ranks of armed groups operating in the region since the start of the year.

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have been a key factor in the resurgence of violence in North Kivu province, where another 100,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting in the past several months, in addition to the many hundreds of thousands previously displaced.

In related news, the blue helmets in north-eastern DRC have established an alert and surveillance system across North Kivu in a bid to support Government forces (FARDC) against militia in the area.

MONUC said its operations received a further boost this week with the opening of another joint coordination centre to help restore safety and security to the volatile region, bringing the total number to eight such centres.
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DR CONGO POLICE RECEIVE UN TRAINING AHEAD OF LOCAL ELECTIONS

DR CONGO POLICE RECEIVE UN TRAINING AHEAD OF LOCAL ELECTIONS
New York, Jun 3 2009 11:00AM
The United Nations has begun training the first of some 75,000 policemen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in preparation for local elections, the world body's peacekeeping mission there said.

The mission, known as MONUC, said much of the training is an update of a course already received by members of the Congolese National Police (PNC) in previous years.

The instruction includes the management of queues in front of polling stations, the escort and transport of the material to the local centres of compilation and the evacuation of currently illegally occupied buildings, MONUC said.

The aim of the first stage of the programme is to train 2,578 agents from the various police stations of Kinshasa, who will be deployed in 143 registration centres in the capital for a revision of the electoral rolls. The training will continue at a national level in the coming weeks starting with the PNC of Bas-Congo.

The revision of the electoral roll, regarded as the first step towards the next local elections, begins on 7 June in Kinshasa and in Bas-Congo, and on 3 August in the nine other provinces.
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TOP UN ENVOY CALLS FOR NATIONAL REFORMS IN DR CONGO

TOP UN ENVOY CALLS FOR NATIONAL REFORMS IN DR CONGO
New York, May 26 2009 4:00PM
The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has called for swift implementation of "reforms of the state services" to fight poverty and corruption.

In a keynote address to a major civil society gathering yesterday in the capital, Kinshasa, Alan Doss offered UN support for the reforms, without which, he said, the fight against poverty would be hampered.

Mr. Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (<"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC), asked the participants to come up with a workable strategy.

"Your ideas to consolidate peace, to end impunity, ensure the democratic electoral processes, and support reforms in institutions and governance practices will be critical," he said.

In a related development, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York that MONUC peacekeepers had deployed over the weekend to a village near the north-eastern town of Dungu where the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) killed one person, wounded 20 others, and burned some 20 huts.

Last Friday in the Bukavu area, a peacekeeping patrol exchanged fire with a group of Rwandan rebels after the rebels attacked a bus at a roadblock, she said.

Meanwhile, MONUC also reported that it is providing logistical assistance to Congolese judicial authorities in the trial of Mai Mai militiamen charged with mass rapes and torture.

The trial opened two days ago in a regional court in Province Orientale. The mission says it provided helicopters to help get judicial personnel to the remote area, some 290 miles from the provincial hub of Kisangani. UN human rights experts will also be monitoring the proceedings, MONUC said.

Thirty-four Mai Mai fighters are on trial for a spree of sexual violence, including the alleged rape of more than 135 women and children in July 2007.
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DR Congo: Hold Army to Account for War Crimes

UN Security Council Should Demand Government Hold Soldiers Responsible

May 19, 2009

(New York) - The United Nations Security Council, visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo today, should vigorously condemn war crimes by Congolese army soldiers in the eastern part of the country, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to condition UN support for Congolese military operations on the removal of known human rights abusers from command positions.

"The Congolese army is responsible for widespread and vicious abuses against its own people that amount to war crimes," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "The government should take urgent action to end these abuses. A military operation that targets the very people the government claims to be protecting can only lead to disaster."

Since late January 2009, soldiers from the Congolese armed forces, the FARDC, on military operations in eastern Congo, have attacked villages and killed at least 19 civilians in North Kivu province, including two women and two elderly men. Army soldiers have also raped more than 143 women and girls in the same period, more than half of the 250 cases of rape documented by Human Rights Watch. Some women were taken as sex slaves by soldiers and held within military positions.

In at least 12 villages in North Kivu province, including Miriki, Bushalingwa, and Kishonja in Lubero and Walikale territories, soldiers burned to the ground hundreds of homes and numerous schools and health centers. They pillaged and looted homes, and arbitrarily arrested at least 85 persons whom they accused of supporting rebel forces. Many of these people have been held without charge, subjected to beatings, and often released only after significant sums were paid. Civilians told Human Rights Watch researchers that they feared army soldiers as much as the Rwandan militias the army is supposed to be neutralizing.

In mid-January, the Congolese army began a joint military operation with the Rwandan armed forces against Rwandan militia groups, the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD) and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leadership participated in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The operation "Umojo Wetu" ("Our Unity") followed a rapprochement between the two countries and the demise of a Rwandan-backed Congolese rebel group, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), which gave up its struggle against the Congolese government and joined the operation.

During a rapid integration process, at least 12,000 combatants from the CNDP and other rebel groups who agreed to join the military operations entered the Congolese army ranks. The integration has swollen the army's numbers in eastern Congo to an estimated 60,000 soldiers, exacerbating problems of discipline, pay, and command control that have plagued it for many years.

Operation Umojo Wetu ended in late February, when Rwandan soldiers left eastern Congo following an agreement that the Congolese army would continue military operations against the Rwandan militias with support from the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC). This second phase, known as Kimia II, began in North Kivu in mid-April and is expanding to South Kivu province.

Since the start of military operations against them, the FDLR and RUD militias have committed war crimes in brutal "reprisal" attacks in North and South Kivu, deliberately attacking and killing at least 200 civilians. In an attack on May 9 and 10, an estimated 60 civilians were reportedly killed and many others wounded in Busurungi, in Walikale territory. Reports from local officials and witnesses indicate the FDLR were the attackers and that Congolese army soldiers based in Busurungi retreated, or were killed, leaving the civilian population unprotected.

During both phases of military operations, Congolese army soldiers have killed, raped, and looted. After Rwandan militias attacked the Congolese army at Miriki (Lubero territory) on March 7-8, killing at least 12 soldiers, including an officer, the Congolese army sent in reinforcements. According to local authorities and Miriki residents, Congolese army soldiers then summarily executed the local police commander, who had reportedly been arrested along with 39 other civilians accused of collaborating with the FDLR militia. Congolese army soldiers then proceeded to pillage and burn 155 houses. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch they saw two truckloads of well-armed soldiers returning to Kirumba later that day with the pillaged goods from Miriki.

In Bwavinyo, also in southern Lubero territory, Congolese army soldiers arrested the village chief on March 8, accusing him of having been aware of an FDLR attack on Bwavinyo earlier that day and not informing the Congolese army. He was released days later, after payment of over US$1,000 to Congolese army authorities. Soldiers then pillaged the village, saying that all the goods had belonged to the FDLR. On March 12, following a warning that the FDLR were close by, army soldiers began shooting randomly, killing four civilians who were on their way back to Bwavinyo from their fields nearby.

Congolese army soldiers repeatedly committed rape during operations, often accusing women of being supporters or wives of the FDLR. Many women and girls have been gang raped. In Kihonga (South Kivu), a woman was raped in her home by two soldiers, who then abducted her husband and forced him to transport their looted goods. He still has not returned. Days later, a 15-year-old girl was raped in the same village by two soldiers, while four other soldiers looted the house and then abducted her mother, who is still missing. Other women were abducted by soldiers to be sex slaves in their camps; they were told that if they ever tried to resist when soldiers wanted to have sex with them, they would be killed.

UN peacekeepers who support the Congolese army in these military operations have tried to minimize some of the abuses by army soldiers, but have been unable to do so in many circumstances. In at least one incident recently, UN peacekeepers fired warning shots over the heads of Congolese army soldiers to try to minimize their abusive behavior.

The 3,000 additional peacekeepers authorized by the UN Security Council in November 2008 have still not arrived in eastern Congo, despite promises from council members that they would urge a rapid deployment. Helicopters and intelligence support, desperately needed by the mission, have also not materialized. On April 9 in New York, Alan Doss, the head of the UN peacekeeping force, warned the Security Council that without such assets, MONUC's "capacity to respond quickly to emerging threats and protect civilians would be curtailed."

"Civilians are trapped, targeted by all sides in this conflict," said Van Woudenberg. "During their visit to Congo, Security Council members should tell President Joseph Kabila that UN peacekeepers cannot support military operations in which war crimes are being committed and that ongoing support will be conditional on concrete action by the Congolese government to bring such crimes to an end."

Human Rights Watch again raised concerns about the role played by known human rights abusers in the military operations supported by UN peacekeepers, including Bosco Ntaganda, who has been given a leadership role in the Congolese army despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Jean-Pierre Biyoyo, appointed a colonel in the Congolese army despite being found guilty by a Congolese military court of recruiting children into a militia group in March 2006.

Human Rights Watch also urged the council to ensure that Ntaganda is immediately removed from military duties, and to condition future MONUC operational support on his arrest.

"MONUC and the Security Council cannot turn a blind eye when known human rights abusers are in senior positions in military operations they support," said Van Woudenberg. "Congolese civilians urgently need protection from militia groups and abusers in their own army. If the council fails to act, it too will be complicit in putting civilians at risk."

Selected Witness Accounts

27-year-old woman from Bitonga (Masisi territory, North Kivu) who was abducted in late March 2009 by Congolese army soldiers and held as a sex slave in their camp for one month:

"I was in my farm with nine other women when the soldiers came and took us by force. I was with them in their camp near Bitonga for one month, and throughout this time, whoever wanted to would come and force me to have sex with them. They told me that if I ever tried to resist, they would kill me. There were about 18 soldiers in the camp, a mix of Tutsi and Hutu. I finally managed to escape when the soldiers sent me on my own to look for firewood. I was four-months pregnant when they abducted me, and I'm now in constant pain and am unable to walk. I don't think the baby is going to make it. The people in my village had all fled while I was gone because of abuses committed by the same FARDC soldiers who had abducted me."

40-year-old woman raped by four Congolese army soldiers in her house in Chebumba (Kalehe territory, South Kivu) on April 15:

"They came at night when I was asleep. We heard a banging on the door, and then they forced the door open, took my husband out of bed and tied him up. Four soldiers then started to rape me, one after the other, while three other soldiers looted all the goods in our house. I was four-months pregnant, but lots of blood started to flow while they were raping me and I've now lost the baby. The soldiers spoke Lingala, and I didn't understand what they were saying. Three other houses were visited the same night in my village. The soldiers who raped me have since been deployed further south, past Numbi."

15-year-old girl from Kihonga (Kalehe territory, South Kivu) who was raped last year by FARDC soldiers who made her pregnant. After giving birth in late March, she was raped again on May 5 by two FARDC soldiers:

"There were six soldiers who came into my house. They first raped my three-year-old sister, and then two of them raped me while the others looted our house. They threw my newborn baby onto the ground, and because of the shock he is in a lot of pain whenever anyone touches his legs. The soldiers were wearing military uniforms and they spoke Kinyarwanda. There were Hutus and Tutsis and other tribes as well. After they raped me, they took my mother away with them. She hasn't come back yet, and I think she must be dead. Five other houses in Kihonga were visited the same night by the soldiers."

25-year-old woman from Kihonga (Kalehe territory, South Kivu) who was raped in her house by two FARDC soldiers on April 25:

"It happened at night when I was in the house with my husband. We heard people knocking on the door, and they demanded that we open it. We refused, and then two soldiers forced the door open, came in the house, and tied up my husband. They then took me by force and started to rape me. They were both armed, in military uniform, and they spoke Kinyarwanda. One was Hutu and the other was Tutsi. Afterward, they took my husband with them to transport all the goods they looted from our house. I thought my husband would come back, but he never did. His family has since rejected me once they found out what happened, and I now have nowhere to go."

Man from Oninga (Walikale territory, North Kivu) who fled to Kirumba (Lubero territory, North Kivu) after the FDLR began attacking civilians:

"As we fled toward the government-controlled area, we were stopped by FARDC soldiers who looted all our money and goods, and they beat us badly, saying, ‘You came from where the enemies are, and you must be their collaborator.' Now that we've made it to Kirumba, we're constantly subject to ‘Opération Fenêtre' with our host families here: The soldiers come to the houses at night, stick the rifle of their guns through the window, and force us to hand over all the money, food, and objects in the house."

Displaced man from Katoyi (Masisi territory) in Lushebere:

"When I went home to look for food, I was stopped by FARDC soldiers, who forced me to transport their baggage all the way to Kalonge, where they were going for operations against the FDLR. When we got there, they made me give them my clothes and shoes. I was then left almost naked, as they whipped me, calling me an Interhamwe."

Local chief from Masisi territory:

"The FDLR say we are the ones who told the FARDC to come and chase them out of eastern Congo, while our soldiers blame us for having lived with the FDLR and say we're their brothers. We've become the enemies of all sides and don't understand anymore what to think."

UN Security Council: Push for Civilian Protection During Congo Visit

May 18, 2009

(Goma) - The United Nations Security Council, visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo beginning today, should press for urgent action to protect civilians, a coalition of 68 aid and human rights groups said today. The groups said the council should make clear to both the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC) and the Congolese army that stronger measures to protect civilians are urgently needed during military operations against Rwandan militias.

The Security Council gave the green light to UN peacekeepers to support Congolese armed forces in military operations in eastern Congo against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD). But since military operations began in late January 2009, first supported by the Rwandan government and later by UN peacekeepers, these militias have deliberately targeted the civilian population in North and South Kivu in apparent "reprisal" attacks.

"The military operations were intended to end the attacks on civilians, not to bring more deadly reprisals," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "As the operations expand into South Kivu, the consequences are likely to be just as dire. Urgent action is clearly needed to protect the people in these areas."

In a recent attack on May 9 and 10, dozens of civilians, including many children, were killed and many others wounded in Busurungi, in Walikale territory. Reports from local officials indicate the FDLR were the attackers, but due to the remoteness of the region the information has not yet been confirmed. A UN team has been sent to investigate the incident.

The coalition stressed that while the militias pose a grave threat to civilians, and are committing war crimes, the military operation against them, known as Kimia II, has contributed to further suffering of civilians trapped in conflict areas. Rampant abuses reportedly committed by Congolese army soldiers against civilians are exacerbating an already dangerous situation.

Since the beginning of military operations against the two Rwandan militia groups, 250,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes. Hundreds of women and girls have been raped, and at least 200 civilians have been killed, the vast majority reportedly by FDLR combatants.

The organizations called on the Security Council delegates to take effective action to:

• Ensure the development of a detailed and transparent plan for protection of civilians as part of military operations;
• Ensure that MONUC establishes and monitors clear benchmarks as conditions for continued collaboration and support for Congolese army military operations, upholding its own responsibility to ensure respect for international humanitarian and human rights law in any such action;
• Urgently seek the deployment of the additional 3,000 peacekeepers, logistics and intelligence support needed for MONUC and authorized by the Security Council to increase its protection of civilians.

During the visit to eastern Congo, Security Council members are scheduled to go to Kiwanja, 75 kilometres north of Goma, where more than 150 people were killed in November 2008 and camps and housing for 27,000 displaced people were deliberately destroyed. The coalition urged council members to meet with Congolese civil society leaders and victims in Kiwanja to hear firsthand the suffering they endured and the inability of MONUC peacekeepers to protect them.

"UN peacekeepers face huge challenges in promoting both lasting peace and immediate security, but the Security Council cannot afford to sacrifice the protection of the very civilians it aims to protect," said Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in the DRC. "It's time for the council to pull out all the stops, give peacekeepers the resources they need, and push for non-military action to be given greater priority than at present."

The Congo Advocacy Coalition, made up of local and international nongovernmental organizations, was established in July 2008 to advocate for greater protection of civilians and respect for human rights in eastern Congo. The following organizations are members of the coalition's steering committee: ActionAid, ENOUGH, Human Rights Watch, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Conseil Régional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement (CRONGD) - North Kivu, Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines (PAIF) - North Kivu, Initiative Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP) - South Kivu, and Association des Femmes Juristes du Congo (AFEJUCO) - South Kivu.

Other signatories:

International NGOs:

Beati i costruttori di pace (Blessed Are the Peacemakers - Heureux les artisans de paix), Change Agents for Peace International (CAPI), Global Witness, IEDA Relief, International Alert, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Refugees International, Trocaire, War Child Holland, World Vision

Congolese NGOs :

Action de Promotion et d'Assistance pour l'Amélioration du Niveau des Vies des Populations (APANIVIP), Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l'Homme à Shabunda (ACADHOSHA), Action Pour Enfants Oubliés (APEO), Action Sociale pour la Paix et le Développement (ASPD), ACTP, ADPS, AFEM, AMALDEFEA, APACI, APROFEDD, ASAVO, ASSALAK, ASSK, Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO)-Sud Kivu, Association des Filles et Mamans Violées (AFMV), Association des Jeunes pour la Prévention des Violences (AJPREV), Carrefour d'Idées Pour le Développement Intégral (CIDI)/Nord Kivu, CCJT, Centre d'Appui pour le Développement Rural Communautaire (CADERCO), Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CREDDHO), Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Education de Base pour le Développement Intégré (CEREBA), Centre Olame, CIDHOP, Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI)-Nord Kivu, CRAF/Nyamalisa, CREF, Dauphins Muzihirwa-Kataliko, DCMD, FASI, FCA, GRAM-Kivu, Groupe Organisés pour le Développement (GRODE), Heal Africa, Héritiers de la Justice, La Synergie des femmes pour les victimes des violences sexuelles (SFVS), Ligue pour la Solidarité Congolaise (LSC), LINAJEUN-RDC, Mamans Organisées pour le Développement (MAODE), OGP, Perspectives "Monde Juste", PROFE, Programme de Protection des Femmes et Enfants (PROFE), RAFLCOVIHG Réseau, Réseau des Associations des Droits de l'Homme du Sud Kivu (RADHOSKI), Réseau Provincial des ONG de Droits de l'Homme (REPRODHOC)/Nord Kivu, SAFEDI, SAIFE, Solidarité pour la Promotion sociale et la Paix (SOPROP), Villages Cobaye (VICO)

DR CONGO: UN MISSION DEPLORES ATTACK ON CIVILIANS IN VOLATILE EAST

DR CONGO: UN MISSION DEPLORES ATTACK ON CIVILIANS IN VOLATILE EAST
New York, May 13 2009 7:00PM
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has strongly condemned a deadly attack against civilians and government troops, known as FARDC, which occurred in the eastern town of Busurungi over the weekend.

The mission, known as <"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC, said it sent a team to the scene as soon as it heard of the attack, which reportedly resulted in the death of dozens of civilians. An investigation is underway to identify those responsible for these atrocities, it said in a news release.

Several sources and witnesses on the ground are pointing the finger at the ethnic Hutu rebel group known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwandan (FDLR), stated MONUC.

The group has recently been carrying out retaliatory attacks against civilians after being targeted by a joint Congolese and Rwandan military offensive.

The mission said it will do its utmost to help the wounded and provide humanitarian assistance to affected people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative in the DRC Alan Doss stressed that "the series of recent attacks in recent days against civilians in Mbinga, Butalongola, Bital and now Busurungi clearly demonstrate the need to strengthen the capacity of FARDC in order to ensure the protection of civilians."
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TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES RAID ON CONGOLESE VILLAGE BY RWANDAN REBELS

TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES RAID ON CONGOLESE VILLAGE BY RWANDAN REBELS
New York, May 11 2009 3:00PM
The top United Nations envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has condemned the raid carried out by Rwandan rebels on a village in the north-eastern part of the country, which sent residents fleeing into the nearby bush.

Alan Doss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUC), said the attack shows once again that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwandan (FDLR) rebels are "outlaws."

According to a news release issued by <"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC, the rebels raided the north-eastern village of Butolonga on the night of 8 May, firing guns and burning houses. Around 131 houses were burned, and two Congolese soldiers were killed.

UN peacekeepers dispatched to the scene found the village empty as residents had fled into a nearby bush. They are only now returning to their homes, the Mission noted.

The ethnic Hutu rebel FDLR have recently been carrying out retaliatory attacks against civilians after being targeted by a joint Congolese and Rwandan military offensive. The group has been operating in eastern DRC since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) says an estimated 100,000 people in the eastern province of South Kivu have been displaced by fear of armed groups since the beginning of the year.

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have also been a key factor in the resurgence of violence in North Kivu province, where another 100,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting in the past two months, in addition to the many hundreds of thousands previously displaced.
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UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION, DR CONGO SET UP JOINT COORDINATION CENTRES

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the country's armed forces have established two joint coordination centres to support Government efforts to restore safety and security to the volatile north-eastern provinces of the vast African nation.

The rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) are continuing to attack DRC forces (FARDC), civilians and UN peacekeepers.

Violent conflict uprooted some 250,000 people from the strife-torn North and South Kivu provinces last year.

The UN mission (MONUC) and FARDC have already appointed their respective commanders at the new centres in the towns of Sake and Kiwanja and will shortly name officers to carry out joint operations on the ground.

Additionally, MONUC reported that as of earlier this week, nearly 800 ex-combatants and over 1,000 of their dependents were repatriated by the mission through its Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR) initiative.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has helped almost 6,800 Rwandan refugees return home from the DRC.
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DR CONGO: UN TO PUSH HEAD WITH EFFORTS TO CURB ABUSE ALLEGATIONS FOR BLUE HELMETS

Although the number of misconduct allegations for blue helmets serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is on the decline, the top United Nations envoy to the country today vowed to press ahead with efforts to prevent and act on accusations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

A new report issued by the Conduct and Discipline Unit of the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC) "indicates that preventive action to train personnel, monitor behaviour and act on allegations is producing results," said Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative.

"We will not relax our efforts," he vowed.

Allegations are categorized according to their severity, with Category I offenses including behaviour such as sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), serious fraud and abuse of authority, while Category II offenses pertain to personnel matters, contract disputes, misuse of equipment and small theft, among others.

According to the report, Category I allegations dropped from 66 in 2007 to 56 last year, and within these instances, the number of sexual abuse and exploitation allegations fell from 48 in 2007 to 38 in 2008.

The number of Category II allegations is also on the wane, with 202 allegations received last year, as opposed to 294 the year before. In 2008, 15 of the allegations pertaining to reported sexual abuse and exploitation mainly involved breaches of curfew. MONUC peacekeepers are prohibited from visiting bars frequented by prostitutes or areas that are off-limits for security reasons.

Some 31,000 MONUC personnel have been briefed and trained on sexual abuse and exploitation last year, with the Conduct and Discipline Unit visiting field sites regularly to assess the quality of training.

Additionally, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) requires that all peacekeeping personnel attend training on sexual exploitation and abuse upon arriving in the mission area and every year thereafter for as long as they are employed by the mission.

The UN has imposed a zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse and exploitation by its peacekeepers, and senior officials have reiterated in recent years that this means there is no impunity for blue helmets who engage in such practices.

Last July, top officials serving with MONUC, one of the largest UN missions in the world, set up a conduct and discipline advisory committee comprising senior advisers and others to monitor and ensure that the highest standards of conduct and discipline are maintained.
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DR CONGO: UN MISSION SUPPORTS CALENDAR FOR ELECTORAL REVIEW PROCESS

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has welcomed the announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission of a timetable for the electoral review process for local polls.

The operation will kick off in the Kinshasa and Bas-Congo provinces in June and will expand in August to the rest of the vast African nation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for DRC, Alan Doss, welcomed the move and assured the Electoral Commission of UN support in line with the mandate of the mission, known as MONUC.

He said the review process for local elections will complete a national endeavour that began in 2005 with the identification and enrolment of all eligible voters.

Meanwhile, MONUC reports that more combatants are continuing to leave the ranks of the ethnic Hutu militia known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been the target of a joint military operation conducted by Rwanda and the DRC.

From 1 January to 24 March this year, the mission has helped repatriate 640 fighters and 914 of their dependents. Just last weekend a senior member of the FDLR leadership as well as three other officers, 15 soldiers and their dependents decided to enter the process of voluntary repatriation.

"This is a very good decision," noted Mr. Doss. "By choosing to drop their weapons, they have chosen a better future."

The voluntary disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reintegration and rehabilitation (DDRRR) programme for the ex-militia is managed by MONUC. The ex-combatants surrender to joint patrols of the mission and the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), while civilians are repatriated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have been a key factor in the resurgence of violence last August in North Kivu province, where some 250,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting.
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TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE FLEE ARMED GROUPS IN EASTERN DR CONGO, UN SAYS

The United Nations refugee agency voiced serious concern today over the plight of thousands of civilians who have fled their homes to escape daily attacks by the many armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that civilians in North Kivu province continued to be terrorized by groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been the target of recent joint operations conducted by Rwanda and DRC.

In the far north-east area of Haut Uélé of Orientale Province, which borders on Uganda, villagers continue to flee fresh attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the Ugandan rebel group notorious for abducting children as soldiers and sex slaves.

The various rebel attacks in North Kivu have since last year displaced over 250,000 people, while in Orientale region, nearly 190,000 have been displaced in the last six months, and some 16,000 refugees have fled to South Sudan.

In the past several weeks, after their homes were plundered and torched by various armed groups, more than 20,000 people fled into the forest from villages in the Rutshuru district of North Kivu, UNHCR said.

This week, a joint UN assessment team, including UNHCR, has reported that heavily armed FDLR and allied PARECO militia forces seem to be surrounding the North Kivu village of Pinga, causing panic among its 8,500 population, including some 2,000 previously displaced persons.

Meanwhile, in Haut Uélé, a UNHCR convoy with 22 tonnes of much-needed assistance destined for displaced people was forced to turn back following reports of nearby LRA groups, and further LRA attacks were reported in the neighbouring district of Bas Uélé.

During a visit to North Kivu last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for the DRC, Alan Doss, pledged that the UN peacekeeping mission there – known as MONUC – will reinforce its presence in localities and continue to logistically support the Government army in its operations against the FDLR and other armed groups.
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DR CONGO: UN ENVOY HAILS NEW PACT WITH REBELS IN STRIFE-TORN EAST

The top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has hailed an accord signed yesterday between the Government and a rebel group that was a key combatant in fierce fighting, which uprooted hundreds of thousands of people last year, in the country's east.

"The population of the eastern DRC, above all women and children, have been for too long the victims of armed conflict, displacement and sexual violence," Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, said after taking part in the signing ceremony of a political and security agreement between the Government and the National Congress for People's Defence (CNDP).

"If they are respected, these accords could have an extremely positive impact on the life of the people of the two Kivus," added Mr. Doss, who also heads the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC), referring to the North and South Kivu provinces which were most affected by the fighting that flared up last August.

In its combat with national armed forces, known as the FARDC, that displaced some 250,000 people last year, the mainly Tutsi CNDP, formerly led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda, nearly overran the North Kivu capital of Goma, the scene of yesterday's signing ceremony.

MONUC has re-deployed some 90 per cent of its nearly 17,500 peacekeepers to the strife-torn east, where not only the CNDP and the Government army, but also the mainly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other rebel groups such as the Mayi Mayi have repeatedly clashed in various permutations and shifting alliances.

Yesterday's accords, reached after months of negotiations, foresee the end of all hostilities, the transformation of armed groups into political parties and the return of refugees and displaced persons, according to a MONUC press release.

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Olusegun Obansanjo, and his African Union counterpart, Benjamin Mpaka, co-facilitated the talks and were also present at the signing ceremony.

Conflict in the east continues, however, as a joint offensive by the DRC and Rwanda has not stopped the FDLR's violence and joint operations with Uganda failed to end the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that originated in the latter country.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today that another 11,000 people have been driven from an area around the village of Banda in north-eastern DRC this month by LRA raids, bringing the total number of people displaced by them in the Haut Uele district of Oriental province to over 188,000 in the last six months.

Since September 2008, over 990 Congolese have been murdered by the LRA and some 750 abducted, the vast majority of them children, whom the group is notorious for forcing into combat or utilizing as sex slaves.
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FRESH ATTACKS BY HUTU REBELS LEAD TO MORE DISPLACEMENT IN DR CONGO – UN

FRESH ATTACKS BY HUTU REBELS LEAD TO MORE DISPLACEMENT IN DR CONGO – UN
New York, Mar 20 2009 10:00AM

The United Nations refugee agency said today that attacks by a Hutu rebel group are continuing to uproot thousands in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reportedly displacing nearly 30,000 people just over the past two weeks.

Altogether, an estimated 1 million people are displaced in North Kivu province by a series of conflicts involving Government forces and various rebel groups, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The ethnic Hutu militia known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been the target of a joint military operation conducted by DRC and Rwanda since January, has been retaliating against civilians and attacking villages in North Kivu.

"The FDLR fighting has left more than 160,000 civilians displaced since mid-January," UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.

Local authorities tell UNHCR that in the province's Lubero territory, fresh attacks on civilians by the FDLR have displaced nearly 30,000 people over the past two weeks. Newly displaced families in the Lubero area report that FDLR raids increased during the first half of March, along with growing human rights violations.

Also, further south in Masisi territory, local authorities said the FDLR mounted attacks that killed at least three civilians on 15 March and caused a number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to flee. The rebel group has reportedly threatened to continue its attacks in the area.

"Most of the displaced from the continuing FDLR attacks are spending their nights in the bush for fear of attacks and harassment," said Mr. Redmond.

He added that UNHCR is reinforcing its activities in Masisi and trying to establish presence in Lubero for the swift delivery of humanitarian assistance and protection.

Meanwhile, the agency is concerned that continuing violence against aid workers will hinder assistance to the displaced. In the latest incident, armed men attacked and looted a vehicle belonging to an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in Rutshuru on 18 March. No fatalities were reported.

During a visit to North Kivu yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for DRC, Alan Doss, pledged that the UN peacekeeping mission there – known as MONUC – will reinforce its presence in localities and continue to logistically support the Government army in its operations against the FDLR.
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TOP UN ENVOY HAILS JOINT UGANDAN, CONGOLESE OPERATION AGAINST REBELS

TOP UN ENVOY HAILS JOINT UGANDAN, CONGOLESE OPERATION AGAINST REBELS
New York, Mar 16 2009 1:00PM

As Ugandan troops began withdrawing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after a three-month joint operation to flush out a notorious rebel group, the United Nations' top envoy in the country praised the cooperative effort, the world body's mission there said today.

Marking the end of Operation Lightening and Thunder, meant to rout the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Alan Doss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC), warned, however, that the group remained a threat.

"Operations in the current phase are finished but there are more bands [of LRA] still here. There is work to be done above all in the matter of the protection of the civilian population," Mr. Doss said at a ceremony yesterday attended by diplomats, ministers and military of the two countries.

Brutal attacks since last September by the LRA, notorious for abducting children as soldiers and sex slaves, have killed some 900 Congolese and displaced another 150,000.

While UN agencies and their partners are working – with the authorities, military forces in the area and MONUC – to expand humanitarian aid and step up efforts to protect the local population, they are facing several constraints, according to the Organization's humanitarian coordinator, John Holmes.

These include the huge 40,000 square kilometre area where the LRA is hiding, their dispersal into several groups, the difficult terrain and isolated location, chronic lack of infrastructure, and the threat still posed by the rebels, including on major roads.

At yesterday's ceremony, authorities of the DRC armed forces (FARDC) asked MONUC to continue its support in further efforts to clear out the pockets of LRA that remained.

"The Governments of the DRC and Uganda have very generously recognized the support of MONUC to the FARDC during this first phase," Mr. Doss responded.

"Now, it's necessary to turn toward the future and the next operations," he said.
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