3 November 2009 / REUTERS , KINSHASA
The United Nations will suspend support for Congolese army units that it believes deliberately killed over 60 civilians in joint operations this year, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said in an interview aired on Monday.
The United Nations has backed President Joseph Kabila’s forces in operations against Rwandan rebels, despite complaints from human rights groups and others about abuses by soldiers and the high number of civilians caught up in the offensives. “According to our information, these civilians were clearly targeted in attacks by certain units of the [army],” Le Roy told U.N.-sponsored Radio Okapi. He was referring to the deaths of at least 62 civilians between May and September in eastern Congo, where army units are fighting Rwandan rebels. “We have decided that [Democratic Republic of Congo’s peacekeeping mission] MONUC will immediately suspend its logistical and operational support to the army units implicated in these killings,” Le Roy said during a tour of the region.
