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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC-RWANDA: IRIN interview with Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan
KIGALI, 21 October 2003 (IRIN) - Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan toured Africa's Great Lakes region last week in a bid to highlight human rights abuses in the region.
After meeting Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Khan spoke to IRIN on 17 October about some of these continuing abuses such as sexual violence and mutilation, as well as the recruitment of child soldiers. The following is an excerpt of that interview.
Question: How grave is the violation of human rights in the region?
Answer: We have estimates of 3.3 million people who have died as a result of conflict, millions more have been displaced; tens of thousands have experienced sexual violence mutilation, gang rape and incidences of massive recruitment of child soldiers. None of these is new, it has been happening for a long time.
One of the objectives of my mission is actually to draw attention to the continuing tragedy that is unfolding here at a time the international community is focusing its attention elsewhere. Iraq is in the news; Goma, Uvira, Ituri are not.
Q: As you tour the region what has been your message to the governments here?
A: Well, we now have a changed situation in the sense that we now have a political process that is unfolding. There's a transitional government in Kinshasa but when I visited Goma, it was quite clear to me that the impact of this transitional government was non-existence in eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo].
The human rights situation in this part of DRC is not only continuing but also actually worsening in many ways. Therefore, my message to the governments in this region - Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa as well as other governments outside this region that have influence here, to the UN Security Council - is that this political situation is a very fragile one and that they need to give very sustained and urgent attention to it.
As long as human rights abuses continue, it will be very difficult to say that the political process is moving in a positive way. Some action has to be taken very urgently to stop these armed groups from committing these abuses.
These abuses, especially in the DRC, are being committed by the Mayi Mayi, RCD-Goma, RCD-ML, MLC, interahamwe, ex-FAR as well as foreign elements. And we say that something has to be done by those who have influence over these groups, to stop them from committing these atrocities.
Q: What sort of response are you getting?
A: This morning I met President Kagame and he made it very clear to me that he would like to see the transitional government in Kinshasa take action in eastern DRC. He believes that no single group should be singled out but that there should be a comprehensive approach and that it should be the responsibility of the transitional government, in which all these groups are represented, to take action.
I called on him to use his influence because he is an important leader in the region; also because of the previous alliance with RCD-Goma [to] use his influence in any way he can to impress upon these groups the importance of stopping these human rights abuses.
Q: So you would say that the human rights situation in eastern DRC is definitely worsening?
A: Well, we have some disturbing reports of very high incidences of sexual violence against women. We had, also, very disturbing reports of increased recruitment of child soldiers and this is an indicator of not only worsening human rights but possibly of [the] security situation. The recruitment of child soldiers is an indication that the numerous rebel groups are interested in building their military strength. So in this sense, there isn't an improvement but [a] worsening of the situation.
Q: Is the recruitment of child soldiers in North Kivu, South Kivu, or Ituri?
A: I haven't been to Ituri yet but what we have seen very clearly is that it is prominent in the Kivus. There's evidence that there's increased efforts to recruit child soldiers.
Q: There have been persistent and disturbing reports of sexual violence in South Kivu. Were you able to meet any women who had been sexually abused?
A: Yes, I visited two centres in Goma where I met a number of women who had not only come from Goma but also other parts of the Kivus whose stories were absolutely horrendous. A 28-year mother had been raped alongside her 10-year daughter.
A lot of these women have major medical problems. Many of them have been infected with HIV/AIDS. Others have huge social problems afterwards because their husbands have abandoned them, they have been stigmatised by society. I met 14 women who had been raped.
The terrible thing is that this kind of sexual violence is very often accompanied by mutilation, wounding and deliberate humiliation of the victims. It continues to occur with impunity. The women were telling us that no effort had been made to deliver justice. Most of these cases that I heard had been committed by the soldiers, but there was one case of sexual abuse of a four-year child by a civilian and even in this case, no action had been taken because there's no system of justice operating in eastern DRC.
Q: Do militia groups in eastern DRC use this kind of sexual assault as a tool of war or deliberate policy?
A: It seems to be used in South Kivu by militia groups as a way of destroying, humiliating the community and as a tool of war against the civilian population; another way of attacking civilians and destroying them because they seem to be siding with one group or another. So the civilians are being squeezed in the middle because of pressure from different sides.
Q: What is your assessment of the international community's response to this crisis?
A: Well, I think that the international community and, especially, MONUC [the UN Mission in the DRC] need to do a lot more in order to protect civilians and address these activities by the armed groups. [The] trouble is that MONUC does not have the resources and capacity. It's clearly not strong enough to carry out the mandate that it has been given under Chapter Seven.
Q: coming back to Rwanda, did you discuss with President Kagame the prosecution of Rwandan forces that may have committed rights abuses in the DRC or in the wake of
Rwanda's 1994 genocide?
A: I raised with him the issue of impunity and the allegations that have been brought forward about the Rwandan soldiers. We called upon the government to investigate these allegations and the prosecutor-general told me that there were apparently 1,800 soldiers who had been imprisoned. We then asked for more details about these cases and we are waiting to receive information as to whether these cases relate to eastern DRC.
Q: How about the issue of disappearance of political opponents?
A: I did not specifically raise the issue of the disappearance of political opponents, but as you know Amnesty International, in the context of the elections, did raise the issue of freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of press. I would hope that this new government with a new mandate would take a very constructive approach to human rights. President Kagame promised reforms in justice, rule of law and respect of human rights in his recent speech to parliament.
We look forward to seeing these pledges delivered.
NOTES:
RCD-Goma - Rassemblement Congolais pour la democratie-Goma
RCD-ML - Rassemblement Congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation
MLC - Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo
Ex-FAR - Forces armies rwandaises
Themes: (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
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