DR Congo: Scores Killed in New Ethnic Fighting [HRW PRESS
RELEASE]

For Immediate Release

DR Congo: Scores Killed in New Ethnic Fighting
Prompt UN Action Urged in Ugandan-Occupied Areas

(New York, February 13, 2002) -- Uganda should be held responsible for
grave human rights violations taking place in territories it occupies in
northeastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. A resurgence of
ethnic fighting there has claimed scores of lives over the last few
weeks and displaced at least fifteen thousand people. The dispute,
rooted in conflict over land, flared in an area that is contested by
three Congolese rebel factions and effectively governed by none of them.

The United Nations Security Council will be discussing the Secretary
General’s report on the deteriorating security environment in the D.R.
Congo in the coming week. Human Rights Watch urges the Security Council
to address the government of Uganda as an important agent of unrest in
the eastern part in the country, and to hold it liable for the grave
rights violations and massive human suffering taking place in
territories under its occupation.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo (MONUC) should also exert
maximum pressure on local contenders to cease fighting and should send
additional military, humanitarian, and human rights monitors to the
area.

Uganda has occupied the area militarily since 1998 and has supported all
three rival groups with arms, training, and political backing. Under the
terms of the 1999 Lusaka Peace Accords, Uganda has withdrawn some troops
from the Congo but maintained or redeployed others in the area.

“Uganda wants to keep enough control to continue getting rich from the
Congo, but doesn’t want to take responsibility for protecting
civilians,” said Alison Des Forges, senior advisor for the Great Lakes
region at Human Rights Watch. Ituri district is rich in timber, gold and
diamonds, among other resources.

On February 4, four suspected supporters of the Lendu were killed in
Bunia, capital of Ituri district, in the latest of a series of ethnic
clashes that cost more than a hundred lives and displaced at least
fifteen thousand persons in recent weeks.

With ethnic clashes increasing, Uganda pulled troops back to Bunia from
elsewhere in Ituri instead of using them to contain the violence.
Ugandan authorities were prepared to defend the town and to prevent the
conflict from spilling over into Uganda itself. According to local
sources, the Ugandan army in mid January deployed hundreds of soldiers
in the border towns of Aru, Mahagi, and at Ariwara.

On February 1, Ugandan Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi remarked that the
situation in Bunia was explosive and called on the UN to send troops to
take control of the area.

“Uganda can’t foist responsibility on the UN for restoring order from
the chaos it has fostered,” said Des Forges. “As the occupying power,
under international law it must protect civilians and stop these
killings.”

For further information and analysis, the background paper “Attacks on
Civilians in Ugandan Occupied Areas in Northeastern Congo” is available
at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/bunia0213bkg.htm

For more information, please contact:
In New York, Suliman Baldo: +1-212-216-1297
In London, Juliane Kippenberg: +44-20-7239-0298
In Washington, Janet Fleischman: +1-202-612-4325
--
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
New York Office
http://hrw.org/africa/index.php