MONUC condemns UPC threats against civilians

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has condemned threats against civilians made over a local radio on Tuesday by the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) in the northeastern city of Bunia. "MONUC protests the use of media to air messages inciting hatred, recalling the sinister Rwandan Radio Mille Collines," the UN mission said in a statement. "It denounces in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable threat against the populations who took refuge in its headquarters in Bunia." The UPC, an ethnic Hema militia battling ethnic Lendu militias for control of Bunia, said in a statement read over local Radio Candip that displaced people who had found refuge at MONUC's base would be "regarded as enemies, and a military team will be put in place to dislodge them from the camp". "This is indeed a flagrant violation of the UN Security Council's resolutions mandating MONUC to protect civilian populations faced with imminent threats," declared MONUC in a letter addressed to the UPC chief of staff. MONUC recalled that although it had encouraged the displaced civilians of Bunia to return home if they considered that security conditions permitted, "the return shall, however, be done on a voluntary basis in accordance with international humanitarian law". Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Tuesday that it would begin registering thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who have fled fighting in Bunia, in the hope of commencing a large-scale food distribution on Friday to comprise one month's supply of pulses, maize, beans, and cooking oil. An estimated 50,000 people have fled renewed fighting in recent days. "We are concerned that the fate of the thousands of displaced around Beni [about 150 km south of Bunia], as well as an additional 9,000 IDPs fleeing eastwards is being ignored," said the WFP head of operations for Goma, Robert Dekker. "The existing IDP camps are stretched to their limit, and new facilities and assistance need to be urgently established." In addition to food, WFP cited shelter, medical care and potable water as being the main humanitarian priorities in the region.