afrol News, 3 February - A UN investigation into an attack on a South Kivu village last July, says eyewitnesses identified their assailants as Rwandan militiamen who had previously victimised other villages, claiming the lives of dozens of people in their strikes. Some "30 well-armed Rwandans" had attacked villages in eastern Congo Kinshasa (DRC). It remained unclear under whose command these Rwandans acted.

These were the main conclusions by the UNs peacekeeping mission in Congo Kinshasa (MONUC), reporting on an attack on a South Kivu village on 9 July 2005. On that day, "about 30 well-armed Rwandans, who came from an area near Kahuzi-Biega National Park and about 20 kilometres north-west of Bukavu, attacked the village of Kabingu, in Kalonge community, approximately 60 kilometres north-west of Bukavu," the report quotes eyewitnesses as saying.

While eyewitnesses emphasised that the perpetrators were Rwandans, it remains unclear on whose behalf this armed group acted. There have been many armed groups of Rwandans operating in eastern Congo, some with the support of the Rwandan government and even more using the Congo as a basis for attacking Rwanda. Rwanda maintains that it has no troops in eastern Congo, nor does it support rebel groups there.

The incidents in July last year however seem to have been caused by Rwandan perpetrators. Based on the testimony MONUC gathered from more than 60 interviews with eyewitnesses, community leaders, police officers and soldiers, the group killed 50 civilians, either by burning them alive in their homes or slashing them with machetes, raped 11 women, and looted a wide area.

Kinshasa government soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), deployed in the hills overlooking Kabingu village, said they fled when the militiamen arrived. Two FARDC soldiers told the MONUC team that their unit did not defend the village because they feared militia Commander Kyombé.

The militiamen are previously said to have raided Kalonge community several times in June and July, according to MONUC. The local FARDC Commander said his troops were poorly equipped and too few in number to guarantee the security of Kalonge's population. On 23 May 2005, the local sources said, the same group murdered 14 people in Nindja village, Kabare territory.

The witnesses suggested that the attack on Kabingu may have been a reprisal against the population for having collaborated with FARDC and MONUC. On 5 July 2005, FARDC troops, guided by some local villagers, were able to track down the militiamen in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, capture several of them and retrieve some of the looted items.

Over 10,000 civilians were displaced following the attacks on Kalonge, according to estimates by MONUC. Humanitarian assistance was delivered to the internally displaced persons in several villages and many of the wounded received medical treatment at nearby health centres.

Kabingu residents have requested assistance in rebuilding their dwellings, the UN peacekeeping mission said.

Transmitting MONUC's report to the UN Security Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan had voiced "grave concern about the continuing human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the UN today reported. He also had called for an end to "the culture of impunity" there and urged that the perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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