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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: UN envoy calls for end to rights violations in east

KINSHASA, 13 November 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, has called upon the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to make greater efforts to end massive human rights violations in eastern regions of the country.

"I am convinced that much more could be done in these places, and that much more needs to be done, although I do not doubt that the government supports the respect of human rights," he said on Wednesday at a news conference in the capital, Kinshasa.

"We need to see greater action in eastern Congo, especially in areas where we have had very worrying reports of sexual assault against women, as well as the killing and extortion of civilians," he added. "This has to end, we must not have a culture of impunity."

He was speaking after a meeting with Azarias Ruberwa, one of four vice-presidents of the country's two-year transitional government. Egeland arrived in Kinshasa on Wednesday to begin a three-day tour of the capital and eastern regions of the country. From Friday until Monday, he visited neighbouring Uganda.

Sporadic armed fighting and widespread human rights violations have continued in eastern Congo despite the installation of a national unity government on 30 June, ostensibly bringing an end to nearly five years of war.

Egeland said he would continue to discuss the country's humanitarian needs with Congolese authorities during his mission.

"We also intend to increase our humanitarian assistance and to gain greater access to populations in need, in cooperation with the government," he said.

The UN and its partner NGO agencies are due on 19 November to launch a major annual appeal for humanitarian funds for some 24 countries worldwide, the majority of which are in Africa.

Speaking with IRIN on Tuesday in Nairobi, Egeland called the situation of the Great Lakes region of Africa "the biggest humanitarian trauma of our time, with the greatest humanitarian needs in the world".

Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights

[ENDS]

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