UN withdraws support from the army of DRC
The UN has suspended its support to the army in the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC). It said that some soldiers are deliberately killing the civilians.
The UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, said “civilians have been clearly targeted in attacks by certain elements” of the Congolese army.
“We have decided that Monuc [the UN peacekeeping mission] will immediately suspend its logistical and operational support to the army units implicated in these killings,”
Le Roy referred to the killings of at least 62 civilians between May and September in the Nord-Kivu province, where the army is fighting Rwandan fighters.
Congo’s government said the withdrawal of support to the army could destabilize the territories, they said that the investigation into the killings were started and will show the results.
Congo’s information minister Lambert Mende, said “We are surprised that the United Nations has announced sanctions against these units even before the conclusion of their investigation”.
Al Jazeera reported that a Monuc spokesperson, Madnodge Mounoubai, said “We hope that by taking those measures we put on notice all the other soldiers about what could happen if those killings continue.
“We cannot make the blanket statement that the Congolese army is killing civilians. Some units, some elements of the Congolese army, are responsible for those violations”.
Since march the UN has been providing its assistance to the army in the eastern DRC. The join effort of Rwandan and Congolese military against the Rwandan militias and fighters.
Human rights groups have complained of high number of civilians being caught up in the offensives and abuses by soldiers were seen.
More than 7,000 women and girls raped, more than 1,000 civilians are reported to have been killed,and nearly 900,000 people forced to flee their homes since the fights began in January.
Eastern DRC has been wracked by violence since neighboring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spilled war across the border. Hutu militias that participated in the massacres of more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus sought refuge in the DRC.