UN investigators find 12 corpses in remote Congolese town of Gobu

After several failed attempts to get to a remote village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to investigate allegations of a massacre last month, a military team from the United Nations mission (MONUC) has arrived in Gobu and found 12 corpses, the mission said today.

A multidisciplinary team, including MONUC experts on human rights, plans an inquiry in Gobu to establish what happened, but they need equipment to find out the time and causes of death, MONUC spokesman Hamadoun Toure told the UN News Service.

According to survivors, hijacking militiamen seized their boats on Lake Albert on 15 January and took about 190 of them to the village of Gobu, where about 100 men were killed and several women raped, MONUC said. The hijackers seized their victims' merchandise.

The lakeside town of Gobu lies about 31 miles northeast of Bunia, which is the headquarters for UN troops in eastern Ituri province.

During one of many attempts by UN investigators to go to Gobu to verify the allegations, they were met with gunfire, MONUC said.