UN humanitarian chief condemns attacks on civilians in DR. Congo
www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-01 08:51:03  

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A top UN humanitarian official Thursday condemned the resurgence of violence against civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning the people are at risk of further displacement and abuse due to the renewed conflict.

"People who have repeatedly been victims of violence in this region are yet again experiencing terror and upheaval," said John Holmes, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a news release of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Attacks and threats against civilians, in South Kivu province committed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), comes in response to a planned new phase of Congolese army operations against the militia, he said.

An estimated 100,000 people in South Kivu have been displaced by fear of armed groups since the beginning of the year, according to the OCHA.

"In the event of intensified fighting between Government forces and armed groups in the weeks ahead, all armed actors in South Kivu must have as a top priority protection of civilians and their livelihoods," he said, adding that they must also guarantee safe access for humanitarian workers.

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have also been a key factor in the resurgence of violence in North Kivu province, where another 100,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting in the past two months, in addition to the many hundreds of thousands previously displaced.

The ethnic Hutu rebels, who recently carried out a wave of retaliatory attacks against civilians after being targeted by a joint Congolese and Rwandan military offensive, have been operating in eastern DRC since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

In FDLR-dominated areas of South Kivu, in recent weeks, more than a dozen villages have been pillaged and hundreds of houses set on fire, while in others, FDLR groups are forcing the population to provide them with food, OCHA said.

Rape has also been on the increase in recent weeks in areas under the control both of the FDLR and of the Congolese army (FARDC). "Women and girls are at the mercy of groups with horrendous records of sexual violence," OCHA said.

"We condemn these appalling attacks on civilians in the strongest terms. Those committing violations of humanitarian law will have to answer for their crimes," Holmes said, urging the DRC government to stop and punish abuses committed by its soldiers, to provide adequate logistics, and ensure the protection of civilians during these operations.

Editor: Yao