Serious government and rebel rights abuses cited

Both the Congolese government and allied militias on the one hand, and rebels controlling eastern DRC on the other, “committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, such as murders and attacks on the civilian population, including the rape of non-combatant women” throughout 1999, Garreton’s report said. In both government-controlled and rebel-held parts of the country, he said, it was “essential to put an end to the discretional authority, impunity and arbitrariness of the so-called ‘security forces’, which, to the population, means the exact opposite of what their name indicates.”

The principal violations on the government and allied side were attacks on the civilian population, especially in the bombing of Kisangani, Zongo, Libenge, Goma and Uvira, and the murder of some 300 civilians in Mobe. There had also been sexual violence against women, specifically during the flight of the Forces armees congolaises (FAC) from Equateur Province at the start of last year. The continued use of a Military Court that failed to guarantee a fair trial, systematic use of torture, denial of free speech, enforced disappearances and summary executions were among the other serious rights violations noted.

The “cruellest and most violent actions” committed by the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) were “unspeakable massacres” of civilian populations throughout the year in revenge for acts committed by Mayi-Mayi nationalist guerillas, Garreton said. Many of these incidents occurred in North and South Kivu, with the RCD initially denying involvement and later acknowledging some of them as “unfortunate mistakes,” his report added. In addition, there were incidents of arson and destruction, and the deportation to Rwanda and Uganda - or worse, ‘disappearance’ - of Mayi-Mayi fighters and others arrested during military operations, he said. “During his two visits to Goma and Bukavu, the Special Rapporteur was struck by the prevailing climate of terror and humiliation in RCD-controlled territory,” Garreton’s report stated.