DRC

Rapes and attacks on civilians continue in eastern DR Congo, UN reports

19 October 2009
Night-time attacks on civilians and rape by armed men remain widespread in a strife-torn region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where nearly 5,400 cases of rape were reported in the first six months of the year, United Nations officials said today.

Human rights expert calls joint UN-Congolese army action ‘catastrophic’

15 October 2009
Government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have killed, raped or mutilated scores of civilians this year in the context of “catastrophic” joint military operations with United Nations peacekeepers to weed out mainly Rwandan Hutu rebels, a UN human rights expert said today.

Trial of Congolese militia leader can proceed, International Criminal Court rules

25 September 2009
The International Criminal Court (ICC) can try Congolese militia commander Germain Katanga on war crimes charges, its appeal chamber ruled today, rejecting a defence claim that the case be dismissed because he is also under investigation by authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Visiting DR Congo, UNICEF chief comes face to face with sexual violence victims

28 August 2009
The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) came face to face with some of the young victims of rape and violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as she continued her five-day visit to the vast African nation.

‘Inhumane’ Congolese prisons need urgent overhaul, UN official says

27 July 2009
Long-term international support is needed to overhaul the prison system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where inmates routinely have to sleep in disease-ridden hallways and men, women and children incarcerated together, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official says.

Over 15,000 Congolese fleeing Ugandan rebel attacks pour into Sudan, UN reports

17 February 2009
More than 15,000 Congolese have fled to South Sudan since the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) began launching attacks in north-east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

‘We want to go home,’ Congolese in Zambia tell UN refugee agency

12 February 2009
Some 90 per cent of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in two camps in northern Zambia want to return home, the United Nations refugee agency said today after a survey was conducted in advance of voluntary returns planned for May.

Thousands of Congolese flee latest attack by Ugandan rebel group, UN says

10 February 2009
Thousands have fled to Southern Sudan after a notorious Ugandan rebel group rampaged through a town in the northeast region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations refugee agency said today.

Survivors of Ugandan rebel massacres in DR Congo seek help from UN

9 February 2009
Angry and traumatized survivors of massacres by the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has killed nearly 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), today sought shelter, food, medicine – and justice – from the top United Nations relief official.

Rebels reportedly pressuring displaced Congolese to return home – UN

16 December 2008
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said it is very concerned about reports that rebels are putting pressure on those displaced by the deadly fighting in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to return to their villages.