At least 27 people have perished and 54 are missing after an overcrowded boat sank in a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said Sunday. Most of the victims of the tragedy on the Kasai river were students on holiday, local administrator Jacques Mbila told AFP. The main reasons for the … Read more
The United States on Tuesday threatened sanctions against the Democratic Republic of Congo if elections are not held this year and urged the UN Security Council to punish those responsible for a flareup of violence. Under a deal reached last year and backed by the Security Council, President Joseph Kabila was allowed to remain in … Read more
The UN on Monday criticised a decision by a Congolese military tribunal not to prosecute seven Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers for crimes against humanity. “We regret” the tribunal’s decision, Jose Maria Aranaz, director of the United Nations joint human rights office (UNJHRO) and representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the DRC, … Read more
More than 3,300 people have been killed in the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region since last October, the Catholic Church says. The figure, reported by Reuters, is from Church sources in the country. The deaths are the result of clashes between the army and a rebel group, but civilians have also … Read more
The UN rights chief on Tuesday gave Kinshasa a two-day deadline to show it is seriously investigating violence in the central Kasai provinces, or submit to an international probe. “Unless I receive appropriate responses from the government regarding a joint investigation by June 8, I will insist on the creation of an international investigative mechanism … Read more
The United States on Monday urged the United Nations to establish a special investigation into the murder of two UN experts who had been gathering evidence of mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo. US Ambassador Nikki Haley, in Geneva for meetings of the UN Human Rights Council, also said a separate formal commission … Read more
The United Nations raised questions Tuesday about the Democratic Republic of Congo’s probe of the murder of two UN experts investigating mass graves, saying it appeared to have been done in haste. Congolese authorities on Saturday said they had completed a 10-week investigation and that two men will face trial for the murders in March … Read more
The UN Security Council on Thursday urged the Democratic Republic of Congo to cooperate with investigations of the murder of two UN experts and mass graves found in the troubled Kasai region. In a unanimous statement, the council also told the Kinshasa government and the opposition to step up efforts to implement a New Year’s … Read more
The Democratic Republic of Congo said Monday it had indefinitely postponed voter registration in two provinces of its troubled central Kasai region after the brutal killing of an electoral official. On April 3, Philippe Iyidimbe, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), “was decapitated by militias of chief Kamwina Nsapu in Ndekesha,” in central DRC, … Read more
Twenty people died in ethnic clashes last week in the troubled central Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said Wednesday. The UN’s DR Congo mission, MONUSCO, said in a statement that the clashes took place on April 19 east of the Kasai capital, Tshikapa, between members of the Lulua-Luba and Chowe-Pende … Read more
UN officials launched a bid Tuesday to raise $65.4 million (59.75 million euros) in emergency funds for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region. Fighting between government troops and tribal militias has forced more than a million people from their homes over the past eight months. The … Read more
The UN said Wednesday it had found a further 17 mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s central Kasai region, an area plagued by violence between tribal militias and security forces. Fighting erupted in Kasai after government troops last August killed tribal chief Jean Pierre Mpandi, also known as Kamwina Nsapu, who had launched … Read more
Pope Francis on Sunday called for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, urging an end to the bloodshed in the troubled Kasai region. “News continues to arrive of bloody clashes in Kasai in the Democratic Republic of Congo — fighting which drags in victims and displaced persons,” the pontiff told some 20,000 faithful at … Read more
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda warned Friday against spiralling violence in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo, saying her office was “carefully monitoring” the situation. “I am deeply concerned by the numerous reports over the past several months of serious acts of violence in the DRC, particularly in the Kasai province,” Bensouda said … Read more
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday they have launched a probe into the killing of two UN researchers in an attack that has thrown the spotlight on surging violence in the troubled country. American Michael Sharp and Swedish-Chilean dual national Zaida Catalan were kidnapped in the restive region of Kasai on March … Read more
Two foreign UN experts who were kidnapped in DR Congo have been found dead, one of them decapitated, the government said Tuesday, as spiralling violence in the vast country sparked international condemnation. The bodies of the two — American Michael Sharp and Swedish national Zahida Catalan — were found as the UN Security Council prepares … Read more
Militia fighters in DR Congo have decapitated about 40 police officers in an ambush in the central province of Kasai, local officials say. Six policemen who spoke the local Tshiluba were freed, but the rest were killed, Kasai Assembly President Francois Kalamba said. The unrest in Kasai began last August, when security forces killed the … Read more
Militia fighters in DR Congo have decapitated about 40 police officers in an ambush in the central province of Kasai, local officials say. Six policemen who spoke the local Tshiluba were freed, but the rest were killed, Kasai Assembly President Francois Kalamba said. The unrest in Kasai began last August, when security forces killed the … Read more
The United Nations said Tuesday that nearly three months after a political agreement was signed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its implementation remains stalled, threatening security and stability. “As long as political dialogue remains in a stalemate, the tensions risk mounting,” Maman Sidikou, the head of the U. N. mission in DRC, MONUSCO, warned … Read more
The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday said its troops were pressing ahead with a search for two foreign experts who were kidnapped in the violence-wracked central Kasai region. “The search is ongoing … both by the UN and by the government” for the foreign experts and their four Congolese … Read more