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Direct Link to Full Human Rights
Watch Report:
CONGO - "YOU WILL BE
PUNISHED" - REPORT
Attacks on Civilians in Eastern
Congo
This
183-page report documents in detail the deliberate killing of more than 1,400
civilians between January and September 2009 during two successive Congolese
army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda
December 13, 2009
Women in Kilambo, near Lukweti, attempt to flee
nearby fighting in October 2009. The women were robbed by Congolese army
soldiers who forced them to turn back.© 2009 Franz Wild
(
The 183-page report, "‘You Will Be Punished': Attacks on Civilians in
Eastern Congo," documents in detail the deliberate killing
of more than 1,400 civilians between January and September 2009 during two
successive Congolese army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The report is based on 23 Human Rights Watch fact-finding missions this
year and interviews with over 600 victims, witnesses, and family members.
"Continued killing and rape by all sides in eastern
Congolese army soldiers and FDLR rebel combatants have attacked civilians,
accused them of being collaborators, and "punished" them by chopping
many to death with machetes. Both sides also shot civilians as they tried to
flee or burned them in their homes. Some victims were tied together before
their throats were, according to one witness, "slit like chickens."
The majority of the victims were women, children, and the elderly.
Human Rights Watch recommended the immediate creation and deployment of a
civilian protection expert group that would put forward specific measures to
improve strategies to protect civilians in eastern
Human Rights Watch urged the peacekeeping force to immediately cease all
support to the current military operation until clear procedures and the means
to implement and evaluate them are put in place to prevent violations of
international humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch also called for all
commanders with known records of human rights abuse to be removed from
operational responsibilities. The procedures and conditions should be made
public.
Over the first nine months of 2009, the UN recorded over 7,500 cases of
sexual violence against women and girls across North and South Kivu in eastern
One of the youngest cases of rape documented by Human Rights Watch was of a
nine-year-old girl raped by FDLR combatants on January 27 in Ngwilo village,
Masisi territory, when she and her mother fled the fighting. The FDLR first
raped the mother and inserted a large stick in her vagina causing serious
injury which led to her death. When the young girl cried out in distress, the
FDLR raped her as well.
"Many UN Security Council ambassadors have visited
In January the Congolese and Rwandan governments began joint military
operations against the FDLR in a five-week operation known as Umoja Wetu.
It was followed in March by a second military operation, Kimia II,
conducted with the support of the UN peacekeepers, which continues.
The Congolese government said the military operations were intended to
bring peace and security to this volatile region, but they have not. Human
Rights Watch documented horrific crimes against civilians by the FDLR, the
Congolese army, and, in some instances, the Rwandan army, during the military
operations. Human Rights Watch investigations link senior FDLR commanders and
several Congolese army officers to some of the worst atrocities. Many of the
abuses amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
UN peacekeepers made important efforts to protect civilians in this complex
and difficult terrain, Human Rights Watch said. But the peacekeeping force's
role as a joint player in the military operations, providing substantial
support to the Congolese army, has implicated peacekeepers in the abuses and
undermined the mission's primary objective, which is to protect civilians.
The civilian protection expert group should be created to investigate and
make specific recommendations regarding civilian protection needs and
challenges in eastern
On November 11, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1894, which
restates the council's pledge "to respond to situations of armed conflict
where civilians are being targeted..., including through the consideration of
appropriate measures at the Security Council's disposal." Human Rights
Watch said that the situation in eastern
"The Security Council needs to provide UN peacekeepers in
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