U.N. workers’ deaths to be investigated

BENI, Congo — Congo’s government said Wednesday it will investigate the deaths of an American and a Swedish expert for the United Nations and their interpreter, whose bodies were found in a shallow grave Monday after the team disappeared more than two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Sweden said it was opening a murder investigation.

American Michael Sharp, Swedish national Zaida Catalan and their interpreter Betu Tshintela went missing March 12 along with driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers in Central Kasai province while looking into recent largescale violence and alleged human rights violations by the Congolese army and local militia groups.

It was the first recorded disappearance of international workers in the once-calm Kasai provinces, where the Kamwina Nsapu militia has been fighting security forces since last year. More than 400 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since government troops killed the militia’s leader in August, according to the United Nations.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the world body would conduct an inquiry into the deaths, saying the cause had not yet been determined. He called on Congo to do the same.

Sharp, from western Pennsylvania, and Catalan were “killed senselessly,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said in a statement.

Sweden’s national police office said it has initiated a murder investigation into Catalan’s death, and Sweden’s prime minister urged Congo to investigate.

Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said authorities would look into the deaths and seek the U.N. experts’ missing Congolese colleagues.

Mende said Congolese authorities also will look into other recent violence in Central Kasai province, including the deaths of 39 police officers who had been killed by militia forces.

The United Nations last week reported the discovery since January of more than two dozen mass graves in three Kasai provinces. And five videos have emerged in recent weeks that appear to show Congolese soldiers firing on militia members.

While the violence is linked to local power struggles, there are also clear ties to Congo’s current political crisis, according to Human Rights Watch.

Anger has been growing in the country at longdelayed presidential elections, and dozens were killed in December amid protests as President Joseph Kabila stayed on past the end of his mandate. A deal reached between the ruling party and opposition to hold elections by the end of this year, without Kabila, remains fragile as the United Nations urges its implementation.