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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: MONUC releases report on November 2002 Ankoro massacre
KINSHASA, 17 April 2003 (IRIN) - At least 70 people were killed during fighting in November 2002 between government forces and Mayi Mayi militia in Ankoro, in northern Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, said in a report on Wednesday.
A joint team from MONUC and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which visited Ankoro from 7 to 9 April found that the killings followed clashes between the regular army, armed Congolese forces and the pro-government Mayi Mayi militia.
MONUC’s reports and information officer, Patricia Tome, said the death toll could be higher. "These figures could be revised upwards because the victims were people displaced by the war who had settled in Ankoro," she told IRIN.
She said the list of victims had been compiled after discussions with the head of the local administration, leaders of the Mayi Mayi militia and family members. Human rights groups and local priests in Ankoro described shortly after the massacre how houses were burnt and some bodies thrown into the river in an attempt by soldiers to hide the evidence.
The UN report said calm had now returned to Ankoro and that people who had been affected were receiving food from international NGOs.
"In this respect, MONUC is pleased that serious violations of human rights won't go unpunished," Tome said.
Themes: (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
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