Congolese rebels have committed serious human rights abuses and should be criticized together with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said in a reportCasualties of War: Civilians, Rule of Law, and Democratic Freedoms .
The report documents rebel abuses including civilian massacres, arbitrary detention of political opponents, and harassment of human rights defenders. It also enumerates human rights abuses by the government, including ethnic persecution, restrictions on basic freedoms, and violations of the laws of war.
"Both sides are committing terrible abuses in this war, killing innocent civilians and wreaking destruction on the countryside," said Suliman Baldo, senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "But outside powers, some of which have gotten involved in the bloodshed, also have a responsibility to stop these gross violations of the laws of war. The international community cannot condemn one side and not the other."
The report documents how government forces, backed by troops from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Chad, are responsible for the ongoing persecution of ethnic Tutsis whom the government accuses of being agents of foreign aggression. On the battlefield, meanwhile, government and some allied forces continue to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in their military campaign, with reports of summary executions and indiscriminate bombing campaigns warranting further investigation. The conflict has further eroded the rule of law in Congo, as military courts have been granted unrestricted powers over civilians. In January, a new decree on political parties actually consolidated preexisting restrictions on the activities of political parties, which are frequently attacked by the police. Government critics continue to be arbitrarily detained.
The rebels, supported by the Rwandan, Ugandan, and Burundian militaries, also have a record of serious abuse. Forces of the Congolese Rally for Democracy have on several occasions massacred hundreds of civilians, whom they accused of supporting local militias opposed to rebel control in eastern Congo. Many civic organizations are still active in those regions, but the rebels use arbitrary arrest, ill treatment in detention, and torture to frighten them into submission. Some of the alleged enemies of the rebellion have "disappeared" and are presumed dead.
Both the rebels and the government routinely recruit child soldiers in their armies, and abuses against women by all parties are rampant.
Human Rights Watch, an international monitoring group based in New York, urges all parties to the conflict, including foreign forces, to abide by international humanitarian law and to protect civilians during the conflict. It calls on all parties to fully investigate reported abuses, and to respect the civil and political rights of the Congolese people, including the rights to fair trial and to the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
"The Lusaka peace process is trying to engage the warring parties, and of course that is a positive step," said Baldo. "But peace should not mean impunity for people who are guilty of gross human rights abuse." Any negotiated solution must include provisions to hold political leaders and members of the armies and militias in Congo accountable for human rights violations during the conflict, Baldo added.
