Call for war crimes tribunal

A Congolese human rights organisation ASADHO on Tuesday called on the UN to set up a tribunal to bring war criminals in the DRC to justice. Reuters quoted a statement from the organisation as urging the Security Council to adopt measures to force Rwanda and Uganda to pull their troops out of the country. “ASADHO calls on the Security Council to take immediate, coercive measures against these governments to bring about the effective and unconditional withdrawal of their troops from the national territory of the DRC,” the statement said. ASADHO said the court mandate should stretch back to 1996 and cover alleged atrocities committed during the fighting between Rwandan and Ugandan troops in Kisangani. “If the UN were unwilling to set up a new court, it should extend the reach of the international war crimes tribunal in Rwanda,” ASADHO said. Another rights group, the Voix des Sans Voix (VSV), has accused RCD-Goma rebel faction of detaining a rights activist since 1 June, the report added. It demanded that Valentin Baelongandi, from the group Lotus, be freed at once.