UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2020) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Friday she was appalled by the killing of around 1,300 civilians in separate conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past eight months.
"Around 1,300 civilians have been killed in a number of separate conflicts involving armed groups and government forces in the DRC over the past eight months," Bachelet said in a statement. "I am appalled by the increase in brutal attacks on innocent civilians by armed groups, and by the reaction of the military and security forces who have also committed grave violations, including killings and sexual violence."
Bachelet noted that the number of civilian victims has soared in the country's east as separate conflicts have spread in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
In Ituri, between October 2019, and May 31, 2020, at least 531 civilians have been killed by armed groups, Bachelet said. The Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and police, meanwhile, are allegedly responsible for the deaths of 17 people in the province during the same period.
In North Kivu, at least 514 civilians lost their lives in retaliatory attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces in response to the launch of military operations by the government. State defense forces have reportedly killed 83 civilians.
"I call on the Congolese authorities to do the utmost to establish the state's authority in both these conflict areas," Bachelet said, adding that the systematic nature of the attacks on civilians in the two provinces may amount to war crimes.
She said that in South Kivu, at least 74 people were killed by armed groups and 15 more by FARDC soldiers.
Kongo Central and Kinshasa have also seen killings of civilians, where between March 30 and April 24, at least 62 civilians were killed and 74 injured in government forces' operations against militants, according to Bachelet.
