DR Congo snubs UN warning on probe into Kasai violence

KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo authorities on Thursday rebuffed a UN warning to launch an international probe into violence in the central Kasai province following the discovery of dozens of mass graves.

The region has seen a major spike in violence since September when government forces killed tribal chief and militia leader Kamwina Nsapu who had rebelled against President Joseph Kabila.

The unrest has claimed more than 400 lives and forced some 1.3 million from their homes, according to UN figures.

Unconfirmed local statistics put the number of dead as high as 3,000.

“As far as the violence recorded in the Grand Kasai provinces go, including the murder of two UN experts and the police officers beheaded by the Kamwina Nsapu ( militia), the Congolese judicial system will retain charge of the investigations,” Human Rights Minister Marie- Ange Mushobekwa said.

“One does not give ultimatums to a sovereign state,” she said.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said on Tuesday he was giving Kinshasa two days to show it was seriously investigating the Kasai violence or submit to an international investigation.

In March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded a high- level investigation into abuses committed against civilians in Kasai.

And Washington called this week for a UN-led probe into the murder of two UN experts who had been gathering evidence about 40 mass graves in the region.

Mushobekwa said Congolese officials were working with the UN mis- sion in Congo MONUSCO and the UN office for human rights to probe the violence.

She said the Congolese would seek the help of UN forensic experts “as and when the need arises.”

The military commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Central African Republic ( CAR) wants hundreds of troops from the Congo Republic accused of sexual abuse sent home if discipline does not improve, a memo seen by Reuters showed on Wednesday.

The UN’s 13,000-strong mission in CAR is seeking to contain violence in a multi-year conflict driven by ethnic and religious grievances and vying over vast diamond resources.

More than 100 peacekeepers from Congo’s 630-strong battalion were sent back last year in relation to a series of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations, some of the dozens of such accusations against the UN mission since 2014.

In the memo, dated May 12 this year and sent to a military official in the UN headquarters responsible for liaising with troop contributing countries, Lt. Gen. Balla Keita said that the situation had deteriorated.

“Congo should commit itself to improving without delay the standard of its unit. If not, (a) decision should be made to repatriate and replace the Congolese battalion,” it said.

The memo was released by Code Blue, a campaign led by a non-governmental organization seeking greater accountability for peacekeepers.