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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Rights group renews call for justice in Ankoro massacres

NAIROBI, 23 October 2003 (IRIN) - A human rights NGO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has called for the resumption of investigations and trials of those responsible for the November 2002 massacres of civilians in the town of Ankoro, in northern Katanga Province.

In a statement issued on Wednesday from Lubumbashi, the Katanga branch of the Association Africaine de defense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO) called for the resumption of investigations and trials that had been suspended in April 2003 pending a restructuring of the military justice system, at which time some 27 combatants had been indicted.

Although the leadership of a unified national military was inaugurated on 5 September in the capital, Kinshasa, progress towards integration of forces of numerous former belligerents has lagged.

On Tuesday, an international committee overseeing the two-year transitional process in the country criticised the national unity government for a wide range of delays, and urged it to send military commanders to their posts, to complete the formation of a united national army and the drafting of laws on national defence. [see earlier IRIN story, "Oversight committee chides transitional government for delays"]

"The survivors of the Ankoro massacres are impatient," ASADHO said.

The precise toll of the massacres has remained unclear. An investigation from 7 to 9 April conducted by the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, found that at least 70 people were killed during fighting in November 2002 between government forces and Mayi-Mayi militias in Ankoro. However, MONUC said the death toll could be higher.

ASADHO said at least 300 people were killed, while 7,715 houses, 11 churches and a health centre were pillaged and burned, during attacks that involved heavy weaponry such as 107 mm type 63 multiple rocket launchers.

ASADHO called on the transitional national government to accord all means necessary to the military judicial system so that fair trials could resume, and on the military justice system to speed investigations into the events of November 2002, particularly by including civilian parties.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights

[ENDS]

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