DRC deaths may be crime against humanity – UN
THE verified deaths of at least 535 men, women and children in fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in December could amount to crimes against humanity, the UN human rights office said yesterday.
The UN said in January there were credible reports of at least 890 deaths in the clashes over three days in four villages in Yumbi territory in the west.
It sent a special investigative mission that found intercommunal attacks had been planned and carried out.
The fighting between Banunu and Batende communities was triggered by a dispute over the burial of a Banunu chief. Batende villagers attacked with extreme violence and speed.
“In some cases, witnesses report that victims were asked if they were Banunu, before they were killed. Others were burnt alive in their homes,” the UN said. The report details horrors documented, such as a two year old reportedly thrown into a septic tank.
More than 19 000 people were displaced, and almost 1 000 buildings, including churches, schools and health centres, were destroyed or looted.
The report said the violence was facilitated by a lack of intervention by Congolese provincial authorities.
The investigators only managed to reach three out of the four locations and the casualty numbers were likely to be higher than the verified figure because bodies were believed to have been thrown into the Congo River. | Reuters African News Agency (ANA) LOS ANGELES: Hal Blaine, the Hall of Fame session drummer and virtual one-man soundtrack of the 1960s and ’70s, who played on the songs of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys and laid down one of music’s most memorable opening beats on the Ronettes’ Be My Baby, died on Monday at 90.
He died of natural causes at home in Palm Desert, California, said his son-in-law, Andy Johnson.