“Alarming alliances” among region’s rebel groups

In a statement received by IRIN today, US-based HRW also called on the international community to increase its efforts to seek an end to the “unacceptable level of human rights abuses” being committed by rebel movements and some governments in the region. “The brutal killings of these 12 civilians cannot be seen as an isolated incident,” HRW Executive Director Ken Roth said in a 4 March statement. He said the attack was “part of a broader pattern” of attacks against civilians in the Great Lakes region over the past few years. The DRC war has encouraged the emergence of “alarming alliances” among some of the rebel groups currently operating in the Great Lakes region, the statement added.

Meanwhile, Ugandan Defence Minister Steven Kavuma told the ‘East African’ newspaper that Hutu extremist rebels had regrouped in the DRC’s border areas and were being trained for a fresh wave of attacks in the region. “Many of them have been recruited in Kinshasa and are fighting alongside the Kabila forces,” Kavuma said, adding that the Bwindi tourist killings had confirmed “their plan for criminal activities in the region.” The DRC government has rejected any responsibility for the Bwindi killings.