Investigation of rebel massacres blocked

Rebel pledges to investigate civilian massacres and other abuses committed by their own troops have not yet materialised, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its report on the DRC, released last week. A commission of inquiry appointed by the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) to investigate a New Year massacre at Makobola in South Kivu was evidently being stalled by the RCD’s military authorities, it said.

Hundreds of civilians were killed by RCD forces and their backers in the Makobola incident, it said. Other large-scale civilian massacres in rebel-held areas were reported at Kasika, Uvira, Kalehe-Kabare and Lemera in South Kivu, the report said. Most civilian massacres took place during RCD reprisals for attacks on rebel forces by anti-RCD militia groups.

“The RCD authorities and the Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian governments should give clear instructions to their troops to cease civilian killings and to respect international humanitarian law,” HRW said.