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26 January 2001




Roberto Garreton, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has condemned grave violations of the right to life which were perpetrated last week in the city of Bunia (Ituri district, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo), which is controlled by the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie/Mouvement de libération, which is supported by the Ugandan army (UDPF).

On 19 January 2001, Lendu and Ngiti militiamen allegedly attacked Ugandan military positions near Bunia airport. According to information which was received by the Special Rapporteur, it seemed that the UDPF had then incited the Hema militiamen to hunt down Lendu and Ngiti militiamen in apparent retaliation. Armed with arrows, spears and machetes, the Hema militiamen had allegedly surrounded Lendu areas and summarily executed more than 150 Lendus, mainly civilians. The bodies of the victims, the large majority of whom were women and children, were then allegedly thrown into latrines. Following this deterioration of the security situation, around 15,000 to 20,000 persons apparently had taken refuge in the outskirts of Bunia, aggravating what was already believed to be a very worrying humanitarian situation in that part of the country.

In his interim report to the General Assembly (A/55/403, paragraph 26), the Special Rapporteur expressed his profound preoccupation about the frequent confrontations between the Hema (herdsmen) and the Lendu (farmers) since the start of the war in August 1998. Mr. Garreton also said he was extremely worried about Uganda’s support of the Hema which was exacerbating tensions between the two ethnic groups whose members normally coexisted together and resolved their differences through traditional conflict-resolving mechanisms.


The Special Rapporteur called on the Ugandan Government and the Front congolais de libération, which groups le Mouvement de libération du Congo, le Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie/National et le Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie/Mouvement de libération, to:

1 . Give immediate instructions to their troops to protect non combatants and civilians, and in particular to respect and to have their troops respect their international obligations under the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, especially article 3;

2 . End all instigation to ethnic incitement and intolerance;

3 . Start investigations in the above incidents, publish their conclusions, identify those responsible for these violent acts and bring them to justice in front of the competent authorities;

4 . And allow humanitarian organizations free access to the areas under their control and to guarantee the security of humanitarian aid workers.

The Special Rapporteur expressed his hope that the passing away of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila would not put into doubt the peace process. He said all the parties in the conflict should respect the provisions of the Lusaka Accords and should allow the inter-Congolais dialogue to start under the supervision of the facilitator designated by the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations.



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