Human Rights Watch Alarmed for Safety of Detained Tutsis in DRC

(New York, August 18, 1998) — With the situation in the country heading towards a showdown between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and rebel forces, Human Rights Watch today urged all parties involved to take the steps necessary to ensure the safety of civilians caught in the conflict.

These detainees are sitting targets for revenge killings. We call on the Congolese government to grant the ICRC immediate access to them, or to authorize their immediate departure to third countries. Peter Takirambudde   Africa director of Human Rights Watch

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Several hundred Congolese civilians, mostly of Tutsi origin, are currently detained in Kinshasa because of their suspected sympathy with the rebellion, and have been denied access to their families and to legal assistance, and some have been summarily executed. According to Human Rights Watch sources, the Congolese human rights minister Leonard Okitundu acknowledged to members of the diplomatic community on Thursday August 13 that the government was holding about 800 Tutsis, most of them at Kokolo military camp in Kinshasa, and others in unknown detention places. Hundreds more Tutsis have gone into hiding to avoid arrest. Many of the detainees are women and children, and the majority are civilians. A promise by the human rights minister to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to the detainees on Monday failed to materialize.  
 
"These detainees are sitting targets for revenge killings," said Peter Takirambudde, the executive director for Africa at Human Rights Watch. "We call on the Congolese government to grant the ICRC immediate access to them, or to authorize their immediate departure to third countries."  
 
The rebels have repeatedly stated their intention of attacking the capital Kinshasa before the end of the month and appear to be pressing to meet that goal. The population of the capital, estimated at six million, has already been adversely affected by the conflict, and a battle for Kinshasa would expose it to additional perils. The rebels’ reported interruption of the city's main power supply lines on Monday, following a similar power interruption three days earlier, has led to the disruption of drinking water distribution and other essential services. Human Rights Watch urged rebel forces to abstain from attacking objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, and to allow the normal flow of foodstuffs, drinking water, and other essential supplies, to the residents of Kinshasa. Because of credible reports of wide-scale abuses against civilians in rebel-held areas in eastern DRC, Human Rights Watch also pressed for access to these areas by independent observers.  
 
Human Rights Watch called on all parties in the conflict to guarantee the safety of all persons in areas under their control, irrespective of their ethnic origin or political opinions. It urged governments of central and southern Africa with ties to the Congolese government or the rebels to exercise their influence so that the DRC and the region could be spared another round of civilian killings and wanton suffering.  
 
For More Information:  
Suliman Baldo 1-212-216-1297 (New York)  
Peter Takirambudde 1-212-216-1223 (New York)  
Jean-Paul Marthoz 32-2-736-7838 (Brussels)  
Urmi Shah 44-171-713-1995 (London)