Acknowledgments

This report was researched and written by a team of researchers in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch including Anneke Van Woudenberg, Ida Sawyer, Maria Burnett, and Jehanne Henry, with additional expertise provided by Elise Keppler from the International Justice Division. The report was reviewed and edited by Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to the Africa Division; Juliane Kippenberg, senior researcher of the Childrens Rights Division; Andrew Mawson, deputy program director; and James Ross, legal director at Human Rights Watch. Sarah Mathewson, associate in the Africa Division, provided invaluable production assistance and support, including the creation of the attached annexes. Grace Choi, publications director, provided production coordination. Danielle Serres translated this report into French.

Human Rights Watch thanks Justice Plus, a local human rights organization working in northeastern Congo, and the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in the Dungu-Duru Diocese for their invaluable insight and support. This report would not have been possible without them.

We would also like to thank the eyewitnesses, victims, officials, and others who agreed to speak to us about their experiences. Their courage and fortitude in light of the brutal atrocities documented in this report touched us deeply. Because of the sensitivity of our research, we regret that we have to withhold the names of those whose assistance we greatly appreciated.