afrol News, 21 July - Armed Congolese groups are said to continue killings, raping and looting civilian property in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s eastern province of Nord-Kivu, in spite of peace talks to resolve crisis in war torn central African state.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), six months after peace accord began, human rights in conflict region have not improved, but instead have in some cases deteriorated rapidly.

"While parties to peace agreement attend talks in Goma, their troops continue to kill, rape and loot civilians," HRW senior Africa researcher, Anneke Van Woudenberg stated today.

HRW said it had documented killings of about 200 civilians and rape of hundreds of women and girls since Congolese armed groups in the provinces of Nord- and Sud-Kivu signed a January cease-fire, committing to disarm their troops and dissolve their forces.

However, all armed groups in DRC, including army soldiers, have continued to rape and kill civilians, according to HRW.

Since August 2007, Nord-Kivu has seen clashes between army and insurgents allied to renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, who claims to be protecting Congolese ethnic Tutsis.

Following Goma accord, Congolese government launched a peace programme, called Amani programme, which HRW suggests has failed to make real progress due in part to lack of funding.

"Government and international donors have provided limited funds to carry out that work, and agreement failed to halt fighting," human rights group said. It has also noted lack of clear leadership in peace process as part of failure.

International partners and DRC government agreed in June to appoint special human rights adviser for eastern DRC, but position remained unfilled, HRW said.

"Peace process is meaningless if it fails to protect civilians from worst abuses," group further observed, adding; "Parties to peace agreement should abide by their commitments to protect civilians, and diplomats should urgently appoint a special adviser on human rights to ensure commitments become a reality."

North and South Kivu are still charged with ethnic tensions rooted in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which helped trigger a 1998-2003 war, in which six foreign armies fought over Congo's mineral riches. An estimated 5.4 million people were reportedly killed in conflict and a resulting humanitarian disaster.

On-and-off fighting last year pitted Congolese Tutsi insurgents loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda against army, local Mai Mai militia and Rwandan Hutu rebels, displacing more than a half million people in North Kivu alone.

Diplomats and observers had hoped peace agreement would allow refugees to return home, but 100,000 more civilians have been forced to flee this year, according to United Nations reports.

There are currently more than 1 million internal refugees in Kivu provinces according to UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

In 2006, national elections had been meant to draw a line under decades of dictatorship and years of conflict, but despite pledges by president Joseph Kabila to reassert state authority, much of Congo's east is a volatile patchwork of rebel fiefdoms and militia controlled zones.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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