2 January 2013 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today dismissed several rumours related to the presence of an armed group in the country's east. In a news release, the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC ( MONUSCO) stated that it had sent a fact-checking team to the areas of Mpati, Nyange and Bibwe, located in the Masisi territory in the eastern province of North Kivu, to look into claims that up…
28 December 2012 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today warned the 23 March Movement (M23) armed group that anyone attacking UN helicopters "will be prosecuted" as a war criminal. The warning from the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC ( MONUSCO) comes after two of the mission's utility helicopters faced hostile fire on 26 December from "two localities under M23 control," according to a…
Kinshasa, 28 December 2012: On 26 December 2012 at approximately 20 hours, two MONUSCO helicopters were 20 kilometers North of Goma undertaking a routine flying certification when they were fired upon; once from Kibumba and again from Kanyamahoro, two localities under M23 control. This is the second time that UN helicopters have been deliberately targeted by M23 elements during the month of December 2012. These attacks were reported to the…
21 December 2012 – Newly documented human rights violations in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) include cases of arbitrary executions and rape – among other atrocities – by the 23 March Movement (M23) armed group, the United Nations human rights agency said today. The findings by UN investigators in DRC come in addition to "at least 126" cases of rape blamed on members of DRC's armed forces, known by the French acronym of FARDC, the…
18 December 2012 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) today acquitted former Congolese rebel leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to a deadly 2003 assault on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), saying it could not convict him "beyond reasonable doubt" based on the evidence presented. Hundreds of people were killed in the 24 February 2003 attack on the village of Bogoro in…
18 December 2012 – Preliminary findings by United Nations investigators have documented at least 126 rapes and the killing of two civilians – one a minor – during a probe into human rights violations in a part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that recently experienced a new eruption of violent clashes and civilian displacements, a UN spokesperson said today. A parallel investigation by the armed forces of DRC, known by the French acronym…
17 December 2012 – The situation on the ground in the Kivus – two provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which have experienced violent clashes and civilian displacement involving armed groups over recent months – remains "tense and fragile," a United Nations spokesperson said today. Speaking to the UN News Centre, the spokesperson for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Kieran Dwyer, also said that 'blue…
10 December 2012 – Some 250 schools have been occupied or looted during the recent fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing the total number of schools affected by conflict this year to 600, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today. At least 240,000 students have missed weeks of schooling as a result of the conflict since April, the agency added in a news release. Many of those fleeing last month's…
9 December 2012 – While relief workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have scaled up assistance to those affected by the recent violence in Goma, the protection of civilians remains a major concern, said a senior United Nations official who toured the area. "I am grateful to the humanitarian actors who stayed in Goma and continued to deliver aid to the most vulnerable populations during the peak of the crisis," the Humanitarian…
Bukavu, 28 November 2012 – The deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 rebels' occupation of Goma in Nord-Kivu and their advance towards Sud-Kivu generated massive concerns among Congolese citizens. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic Congo (MONUSCO) reported on the arrangements put in place, in consultation with the Armed Forces of…