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Civic leader dies after detention and alleged torture

    NAIROBI

    The human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Monday deplored the death from a brain haemorrhage at the weekend, days after his release from custody, of Desire Lumbo Lumbo, president of civil society groups in Butembo, eastern DRC. Amnesty said the deceased had been "severely tortured" during his detention for criticising the Ugandan-backed rebel RCD-ML (Mouvement de liberation) faction over the social and political crisis in North Kivu province. The 'Grassroots Campaign for Peace in
    Congo' also condemned the death of Lumbu Lumbu. In a press release received by IRIN, it said he was first arrested on 13 November by Ugandan and RCD-ML soldiers, and had died on 11 December from head injuries and internal bleeding inflicted on him by his captors. Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) in Kinshasa linked Lumbu Lumbu's death to his having signed "a letter protesting the annexation of Nord-Kivu to Rwanda
    and Uganda."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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