Five UN peacekeepers’ bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to close at the end of July, the UN mission there announced Wednesday, describing it as a change in operational style. But the closures come against the background of cuts to the overall peacekeeping budget pushed through under pressure from the United States. The … Read more
DR Congo must identify both senior army personnel and politicians behind the massacres in the volatile Kasai region, a top UN human rights official told AFP Thursday. Jose-Maria Aranaz, the UN human rights director in the country, was speaking just a day the UN said another 38 suspected mass graves had been discovered in this … Read more
Another 38 probable mass graves have been discovered in DR Congo in the country’s troubled central region of Kasai, the United Nations said Wednesday. At least 80 mass graves have now been identified in the region that has seen a major spike in violence between security forces and a tribal militia since September. The international … Read more
The UN Human Rights Council on Friday decided to send a group of experts to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help investigate an explosion of deadly violence in the Kasai region. A council resolution called on the UN rights office to dispatch a team of international experts to help Kinshasa investigate gross rights violations … Read more
At least seven militants were killed Thursday in clashes with troops involving heavy weapons in a city in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east, police said. The fighting erupted in the eastern suburbs of Beni, a city in North-Kivu province, with residents hearing gunshots and heavy weapons fire. A spokesman for the country’s armed forces … Read more
The UN accused DR Congo on Tuesday of backing a militia that has mutilated toddlers and hacked pregnant women in the troubled Kasai region as the Catholic Church put the death toll there at more than 3,300. “I am appalled by the creation and arming of a militia, the Bana Mura, allegedly to support the … Read more
The United Nations has documented dozens of cases of serious child abuse including rape and kidnap in five days of violence by Congolese militias, it said Wednesday. The UN’s mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, said it had recorded 62 cases of “serious” child abuse by armed groups in the violence-wracked east, and by followers of … Read more
The United Nations has documented dozens of cases of serious child abuse including rape and kidnap in five days of violence by Congolese militias, it said Wednesday. The UN’s mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, said it had recorded 62 cases of “serious” child abuse by armed groups in the violence-wracked east, and by followers of … Read more
DR Congo authorities on Thursday rebuffed a UN warning to launch an international probe into violence in the central Kasai province following the discovery of dozens of mass graves. The region has seen a major spike in violence since September when government forces killed tribal chief and militia leader Kamwina Nsapu who had rebelled against … Read more
The United Nations has posthumously conferred its highest awards, the Dag Hammarskjold Medals on two Ghanaian Peacekeepers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in their line of duty. They are: Lance Cpl. Emmanuel Sakyi, who was with the UN Organisational Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and Staff Sergeant Boniface Atanyik, formerly with … Read more
Two fallen peacekeepers from Ghana will be honoured at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, 24 May, to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lay a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers and will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to … Read more
South Sudanese former rebels are holding about a dozen UN staff hostage in a refugee camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official said Tuesday. UN officials were negotiating to try to win the release of the employees from the MONUSCO mission in DR Congo, said the official, who asked not to be … Read more
The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate of the peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but decided to cut its numbers. The 15-member council on Friday unanimously renewed the $1.2bn mission for another year amid warnings that violence was spreading across the country ahead of elections this year. The French-drafted … Read more
The UN Security Council has voted to cut the size of Monusco, its largest and most expensive peacekeeping mission, which operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under a draft plan, the total of 19,000 peacekeepers will be reduced by 3,000. The UN force is already undermanned by close to that number. The move came … Read more
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Friday to renew the mandate of the peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but cut its numbers. Members of the council paid tribute to two kidnapped UN researchers whose bodies were found this week, and voted to approve the MONUSCO mission for another year. The resolution … Read more
Beheadings, mass graves, kidnapped foreigners, child soldiers: a tribal insurrection in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region has killed hundreds of people and risks further destabilising the fragile central government. Congolese officials face growing international pressure to curb the violence, while the UN Security Council prepares to vote Friday to cut down its peacekeeping … Read more
The United Nations Security Council will vote Friday to cut the number of troops and police in its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo by around seven percent. The lawless central African giant is under pressure to hold key elections this year, despite fighting between armed factions, political chaos and widespread corruption. But … 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
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