Persberichtenoverzicht van Democratische Republiek Congo

The Ugandan government must acknowledge its share of the responsibility for
the enormous human suffering and abuse of human rights in Ituri. It must
take immediate steps to end its continued support of armed groups and the
economic plunder which fuels the atrocities, said Irene Khan, Secretary
General of Amnesty International in Kampala, launching the report
Democratic Republic of Congo: Ituri, a need for protection, a thirst for
justice.

"For the past few years, a plethora of armed groups, sponsored and

Inadequate human rights training and insufficient French-speaking liaison
and humanitarian affairs officers are seriously hampering the ability of
the United Nations peace keeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
MONUC, to effectively protect human rights and maintain security in the
east of the country, particularly in Ituri, following the withdrawal of the
French-led Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) from Bunia on 6
September.

"Recent incidents demonstrate clearly the need for these shortcomings

The MONUC troops who today, 1 September 2003, take over from the multinational force, newly mandated by the United Nations Security Council to enforce the peace, must show their determination and effectiveness by giving renewed hope to a depressed population, distressed by the intensification of a blind, targeted violence, said Amnesty International today.

(New York) Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International today jointly
called on the U.N. Security Council to authorize the deployment of a rapid
reaction force to protect civilians in Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC).

In an open letter to the Security Council today, the two human rights
organizations called the situation in Ituri "a critical test" of the
Security Council’s commitments to prevent mass killings and protect
civilians, and noted that the United Nations Observation Mission in Congo