As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mounted a military operation against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northeastern DRC, human rights activists released a list of abuses allegedly committed by the Ugandan rebels there over the last year.
“Our investigations, which are continuing, show that there were eight killings, 52 abductions, of which 11 cases involved girls under the age of 18, and nine rapes,” said Benoit Kinalebu, a Catholic priest and head of the Dungu branch of the Justice and Peace Commission.
He said the offences were committed between August 2007 and July 2008.
“The army doesn’t want to go into the forests because that is where the LRA fighters live. It is from there that they lead their incursions, and they return there immediately afterwards,” added Kinalebu.
According to MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, the national army has sent several hundred troops to Dungu, which lies close to the border with Sudan and on the edge of Garamba national park, to protect civilians from the LRA.
“MONUC is providing logistical support with transport, food and medical assistance,” said the mission’s military spokesman, Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich.
DRC Defence Minister Chikez Diemu confirmed the presence of troops in the Dungu area but declined to go into details, describing the operation as a “state secret.”
After two years of negotiations, LRA leader Joseph Kony was meant to have signed a comprehensive peace agreement with the Ugandan government in April 2008, but he failed to show up for the ceremony. He said he needed clarification about an indictment issued against him by the International Criminal Court.
On September 9, LRA spokesman David Matsanga said the action by the DRC army in Dungu was ill-advised.
“The announcement has baffled all of us because it will work as a spoiler to the peace process we have engaged our times on for the past two years," Matsanga said adding, “it is a provocative act that will not help all of us including the DRC."
"We shall not fire the first shot but we shall defend ourselves in case of any attack," Matsanga said.
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