UN mission to evaluate Kisangani damage

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is to lead a mission to the northeastern city of Kisangani to assess the extent of devastation there after the clashes in June between the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The reparations mission results from the UN Security Council’s 16 June resolution “deploring the loss of civilian lives, the threat to the civilian population and the damage to property”, and recommending that Uganda and Rwanda should make restitution. The UNDP has agreed to lead the assessment team, which is expected to include UN humanitarian and security staff, human rights and child protection officers, and military staff of the UN Observer Mission in the DRC (MONUC), UN sources told IRIN. The Kisangani mission is expected to evaluate the loss of life among the civilian population - the ICRC has estimated the number of civilian dead at over 600 - as well as long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation costs, they said. It would hope to report back to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, by late August with proposals he might make to the Security Council on reparations, they added. Rebel leader Jean-Pierre Ondekane told IRIN his movement would not wait for reparations from Uganda and Rwanda. “We have ordered tonnes of timber, cement, tiles and iron sheets to rebuild the largest estate in town and after that we shall work on other properties, but residential areas are the priority,” the RCD-Goma first vice-president said. “By the time the so-called reparations come, we shall have covered a lot and the resources from reparations can be used in other areas because the Congolese have many needs.”