UN Appoints Experts to DRC ’s Kasai to Probe Harrowing Rights Abuses

By Roshni MajumdarUNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 2017 (IPS)The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, appointed a team of three international experts yesterday to collect information and raise awareness about grave atrocities in the ongoing conflict in the remote Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Security Council observes a moment of silence in memory of two UN experts who were killed recently while monitoring the sanctions regime in the Kasaï Central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Credit: UN PhotoCentral Kasai has been mired in a conflict between government forces and local militias called Kamuina Nsapu since August 2016. The conflict, which has escalated in recent months, garnered international attention when two U.N. experts in the region were killed in March 2017.The conflict intensified in the run up to the elections of December 2016, when government security forces clashed with demonstrators who contested the president’s bid to stay in power beyond his term ending in 2016, and killed 50 people. Hundreds were jailed, and media outlets were banned.Ever since, the situation has only become worse.Newer armed groups like Bana Mura have emerged to fight the Congolese army and police. They have carried out brutal attacks against targeted civilians of Luba and Lulua ethnic groups, killing hundreds and burning villages. Small children have been gravely wounded from machete attacks, and pregnant women have been ...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 27, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Roshni Majumdar Tags: Africa Armed Conflicts Crime & Justice Featured Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Indigenous Rights IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Migration & Refugees TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news