[prisoner-rights] D.R. Congo: Executions, torture by armed groups in Ituri

(London, October 22, 2004) — People's Armed Forces of Congo
combatants under the command of General Jérôme Kakwavu tortured 24
civilians and killed six of them last week, Human Rights Watch charged
today. Operating in Ituri, a region in the northeastern corner of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the armed group has so far remained
outside the peace process that has brought other rebel forces into a
transitional government.

The People's Armed Forces of Congo (Forces Armées du Peuple
Congolais, or FAPC) arrested the civilians in the Ituri town of Kaliko on
October 12, accusing them of having participated in the killing of two
soldiers in the area days earlier. They brought them to a FAPC military
camp in Ariwara and detained them in a makeshift underground prison.
Soldiers then beat the detainees with large wooden sticks on their heads
and backs. Two detainees were executed and four others died later of their
injuries. Soldiers released the remaining 18 civilians on October 14 after
receiving payment from a local chief. All 18 were hospitalized with their
injuries.

"General Jérôme commands combatants who killed and tortured these
people," said Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to the Africa Division of
Human Rights Watch. "He must order an immediate end to these abuses
and ensure that the abusers be delivered to judicial authorities for
prosecution."

In September the United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo, MONUC,
deployed armed peacekeepers to Aru, the main town just south of Ariwara.
On October 1 the U.N. Security Council strengthened the mandate of
MONUC, directing the troops to protect civilians who are under
immediate threat of grave injury.

"MONUC peacekeepers should assure protection to the injured persons
and should prevent any reprisals against others in the vicinity of Kaliko,"
said Des Forges.

Human Rights Watch has documented past cases of human rights abuses
by Jérôme, who has given himself the rank of general, and his combatants.

Ugandan army officers have supported General Jérôme, intervening
militarily on at least one occasion to ensure he stayed in power. According
to a United Nations report, Jérôme's FAPC continues to receive military
supplies from Uganda despite an arms embargo on eastern DRC. General
Jérôme was in Uganda at the time of the killings, and the senior officer in
charge of the arrests reportedly joined him there a few days later.

The DRC transitional government has considered integrating General
Jérôme and the FAPC into the national army. Jérôme has insisted that he
and some of his men receive senior posts in the regular Congolese army.

"The DRC government should be investigating Jérôme and his men, not
investing them with senior commands," said Des Forges. "Naming abusers
to high posts perpetuates impunity and opens the way to further abuse."


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