Mass graves found in DRC

UNITED Nations investigators have found 17 new mass grave sites in central Democratic Republic of Congo and gathered reports of rapes and killings by soldiers which the International Criminal Court should investigate if the government fails to, the UN rights chief said yesterday.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government – which regularly denies allegations of abuses by its soldiers – said it would investigate the reports once it saw the evidence.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said he had reports that Congolese soldiers had dug the grave sites after clashes with the Kamuina Nsapu militia in DRC’s central Kasai region last month, according to a statement from his office.

At least 74 people, including 30 children, were reported to have been killed by soldiers in the clashes, he said, without giving details on the sources of his information.

During a separate incident in the provincial capital of Kananga last month, soldiers were reported to have shot dead at least 40 people and raped women and girls, Zeid said, again without saying who had made the reports.

Most of the victims were said to have been killed in their homes as soldiers went door to door looking for militia members, he said.

It was absolutely vital that the government took meaningful steps to ensure there was an independent investigation, Zeid said.

“Should there be no effective national investigation, I will not hesitate to urge an investigation by an international mechanism, including the International Criminal Court.”

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the UN team should pass its evidence to the justice department. “Then we will start investigations.”

The government has previously denied that soldiers have used disproportionate force against militia members, who are often armed with machetes and homemade rifles, and said that the militia had dug other mass graves.