Report on ethnic conflict in Ituri

In a separate report, ASADHO said the inter-ethnic conflict in the northeast Ituri district between the Lendu and Hema people is due in part to a lack of protection and confidence in the state. In a report issued this month on the conflict that has been raging in the district for several months, ASADHO also said the situation was aggravated by the "partisan attitude" of Ugandan troops in the area towards the Hema people. Noting that the two ethnic groups have traditionally been opposed for years over land issues, ASADHO said the current conflict had left 1,200 people dead by the beginning of September, but believed the number to be far greater. By mid-November, tens of thousands of people were displaced. ASADHO urged Ugandan troops and rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML), who control the area, to guarantee security impartially for all inhabitants of the region.