DRC TROOPS ACCUSED OF WAR CRIMES
May 20th, 2009 by admin
A report by the US-based group Human Rights Watch has accused Congo’s army of war crimes against civilians in eastern Congo. Congolese soldiers are backed by UN peacekeepers in operations against Hutu rebels belonging to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda including leaders of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. According to Human Rights Watch, local troops burned houses, schools and health centres, killed and arrested many civilians. They are also accused of raping more than 143 women and girls in the remote North Kivu province since January. A government spokesman rejected the charges as lies.
