RIGHTS-D.R.CONGO: UN Launches Probe into Massacre Charges

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Aug 21 1997 (IPS) - A U.N. commission is finally launching a probe into the fate of 200,000 Rwandese refugees reportedly killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire).

The U.N. mission, presided over by Atsu-Koffi Amega, a former Supreme Court Justice from Togo, will reach Kinshasa on Sunday.

The start of the investigation was delayed for more than six months due to the objections of the government of the DRC, headed by Laurent-Desire Kabila, whose guerrilla forces are suspected of having carried out the genocide.

A preliminary report by Roberto Garreton, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the former Zaire, attributed the massacres to Kabila’s Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), which overthrew dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Garreton reported in March that he had heard testimony on the massacre of Rwandese refugees of the Hutu ethnic group and the existence of common graves where the victims were reportedly buried.

The Chilean jurist also said a coalition of neighbouring countries had provided the AFDL with financial and military support.

Shortly after he took power on May 17, Kabila objected to the U.N. Human Rights Commission’s efforts to determine what had happened to the refugees in the eastern region of the DRC, where the AFDL uprising broke out in September 1996.

Kabila first vetoed Garreton’s participation in the commission that was to be sent to the area, where 200,000 Hutus were reported missing.

Then in July, when the U.N. made a new attempt to send an investigative comission, authorities in Kinshasa insisted on their opposition to the designated members, and declared that the DRC reserved the right to approve the members named to the commission.

The new commission was designated by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The three members are Amega, Reed Brody from the United States and Andrew Chigovera from Zimbabwe. The entire group, including experts and security agents, is comprised of 23 people.

Early this week, U.S. reporters said Washington had played a key role in the military training of Kabila’s guerrilla fighters.

During the press conference held in Geneva Wednesday to present the mission, Amega quietly consulted his U.S. colleague before responding to most of the questions raised.

Amega denied that the credibility of the mission was compromised by the circumstances surrounding its creation.

Brody underlined that the commission was not intended to replace any special rapporteur or to become a truth commission, although he specified that its mandate was to “establish the facts and responsibilities.” He added that Kabila had not been previously informed of the names of the three commission members.

The commission will take into account all sources of information, including Garreton’s reports, Amega said.

He added that he was satisfied with the “cooperative” attitude of DRC authorities, and that he was confident that the government’s attitude would allow “the advance of justice, peace and stability, not only in that country but in the region and worldwide.”

Argentina’s Forensic Anthropology Team will collaborate with the mission. The group of experts acquired experience investigating massacres committed by the Southern Cone country’s last military dictatorship (1976-83), and also participated in the investigation of common graves found in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Guatemala.

The commission will have an initial expense budget of 2.1 million dollars, covered by ordinary U.N. funds. But Amega said contributions from donor countries would also be needed.

The Association for the Defence of Human Rights in the former Zaire (AZADHO) denounced in Geneva that the massive human rights violations in the central African nation were perpetrated after Kabila installed himself in power in May.

The president of AZADHO, Guillaume Ngefa, told a press conference that Kabila had not given any signs of commitment to a true democratic process.

He added that the U.N. commission would not find its job easy, because all evidence of the massacres had been wiped out, and the bodies of the victims had been dug up from the common graves and burnt.