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Rights group protests arrests

    ACCRA

    Since 12 January, over 40 politically motivated arrests and detentions in “inhuman” conditions have been made by DRC security officials, the rights group ASADHO claims in a statement received by IRIN today. In particular, the communique alleges that 32 people - most of Rwandan extraction - were abducted from Bethany, a Catholic centre in the Gombe area of Kinshasa on 12 January, and taken to Kokolo military camp. Kokolo has been used as a detention centre for ethnic Tutsi since the beginning of the conflict in August 1998. In October, ICRC announced they had gained access to detainees at Kokolo. Human Rights Watch reports that the latest detainees are mostly Tutsi women but also include two Congolese human rights activists. The ASADHO statement said that the swoop on Bethany involved 100 soldiers of the 50th brigade, who harassed civilians, damaged the Bethany centre and looted.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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