Lawyers Committee Calls for International Action to Address Crisis in Ituri Province in the Congo



The escalating crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) eastern province of Ituri requires an urgent international response to protect civilians, especially refugees and internally displaced people, and to assure accountability for atrocities. During the last three weeks, militias of the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups in the Ituri region have targeted ethnically defined communities, killing scores of innocent people. The militias responsible for the most recent killings have received training, arms, and political support from within the DRC, and also from foreign armed forces from Uganda and Rwanda. Although both of these countries have now withdrawn their troops, their long presence in Ituri has served to polarize and exploit longstanding tensions among the local population.

Inter-ethnic killing of members of the Hema and Lendu groups has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced some 500,000 people since mid-1999. More than 350 bodies have been recovered during the last few days in Bunia, the capital of Ituri. Neither U.N. representatives nor humanitarian officials have been able to venture outside Bunia to assess casualties in outlying areas.

To date those who have committed these crimes have acted with impunity. Acts constituting crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide committed after July 1, 2024 may fall within the jurisdiction of the newly established International Criminal Court. Crimes committed before that date could only be prosecuted by national courts or some form of special tribunal for DRC, if one where to be established. The United Nations could establish an international criminal tribunal for the DRC, as it did for Yugoslavia and Rwanda or a mixed national-international tribunal along the lines of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The question of what would be the most appropriate mechanism for DRC will require careful consideration.

The Background to the Crisis

More than 3 million people reportedly have died in the Congo since 1998, many as a result of various armed conflicts involving the armed forces of the DRC, a range of armed militias and a number of foreign armies. The natural resources of Ituri have prompted local and foreign forces to fight for control over this region. These forces have included Ugandan and Rwandan troops, local factions supported by these governments, and the Kinshasa-backed Mai Mai militias which claim to oppose all foreign forces in DRC. Numerous reports, including those prepared by the United Nations, have documented widespread human rights violations by all sides of this conflict and the illegal exploitation of resources. The violence in Ituri has escalated since the withdrawal of Ugandan troops in the first week of May. Neither the governments of Uganda nor Rwanda have effectively severed ties with the rival militias and both governments have allegedly left military equipment behind for use by their supporters.

The U.N.’s peacekeeping operation (MONUC) - the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo - has a mandate to protect civilians in certain circumstances. It currently has only 750 Urugayan peacekeepers. These troops have had difficulty in defending the U.N. compound and airport in Bunia, where 15,000 civilians have taken refuge over the last two weeks. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has requested individual governments to contribute additional forces to assist with the stabilization of the area until a much larger United Nations peacekeeping force can be deployed. France has reportedly agreed to lead such a force and other countries including Britain, South Africa, Nigeria, Canada and Pakistan have indicated willingness to send troops. Germany and Belgium have offered logistical support to the mission. However, according to recent press reports, militia leaders of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC)—supported by the government of Rwanda—have warned that French troops in Ituri would be treated as enemies.

The escalation in the violence also has created a growing refugee crisis in the area. Reportedly 120,000 civilians are have left their homes in Ituri to escape the violence. The UNHCR office in Uganda has reported that over 20,000 refugees may have crossed into Uganda during the last two weeks. Others remain unaccounted for in the dense jungles of eastern DRC.

The Lawyers Committee calls on the United Nations to take necessary actions to protect refugees, internally displaced people and other civilians in the eastern DRC and to begin establishing mechanisms for holding those who commit serious violations of human rights accountable for their actions.

The Lawyers Committee Recommends

1. The Security Council should ensure adequate support for the United Nations mission in the DRC and the protection of Ituri’s civilians, in consultation with the peace and security organs of the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community. To this end, the Security Council should support an expansion of MONUC and provide greater resources to enable it to carry out its mission more effectively.
   
2. The Security Council should give practical force to its May 16, 2003 declaration on mass killings in Ituri, that "there will be no impunity for such acts and that the perpetrators will be held accountable.” Specifically the Security Council should request the Secretary-General to appoint a commission of experts to gather evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and to make recommendations to the Security Council for further appropriate steps.
3. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights should send human rights monitors to the eastern DRC as soon as the security situation allows.
   
4. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as other African governments that have deployed troops in the DRC, such as Rwanda and Uganda, should take all necessary measures to protect civilians, in accordance with the dictates of the Security Council's resolutions.
5. Donor governments should provide generous and immediate emergency aid to appropriate U.N. Agencies working to meet the humanitarian needs of refugees and internally displaced people.
   
6. Neighboring governments should be encouraged to continue to receive and provide protection and assistance to refugees fleeing the DRC, while separating armed elements from arriving civilians at the border. They should implement screening procedures that will help identify individuals against whom there is evidence of committing crimes against humanity or other serious crimes. These individuals either should be prosecuted in national courts or held for investigation and prosecution before an internationally sanctioned tribunal.