Wamba’s faction announces death of arrested member

The rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML) faction of Wamba dia Wamba announced on Wednesday the death of Philippe Mbilizi, assistant commissioner of information, who was arrested 19 April along with other Wamba supporters by the rival rebel faction Front pour la liberation du Congo (FLC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A statement received on Thursday by IRIN from RCD spokesman Jacques Depelchin said that Mbilizi was arrested despite an illness and imprisoned in “sub-human conditions”, although he was later transferred to a clinic. “To this day, we still do not know the reasons why, contrary to all humanitarian laws” Mbilizi was not evacuated to Kampala “for necessary treatment that could have at least alleviated his suffering if not saved his life.” The statement held FLC authorities responsible for Mbilizi’s death.

In mid-June, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered the FLC to release 16 of 18 members of Wamba’s RCD-ML faction that it had detained. An RCD-ML spokesman, Jean-Louis Kyaviro, said at the time that the RCD-ML remained concerned because two of its senior figures, Mbilizi and Gilbert Ndale, remained in detention. Wamba’s supporters were arrested at the end of May, allegedly for holding a meeting to disorganise the FLC, the Ugandan government-owned ‘New Vision’ reported.