AFRICA/DR CONGO - Bishops of Central Africa: "Stop war and violation of human rights in the east of the DRC"

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "What happens is great misery, there is always war! The great misery of the population, who feels abandoned. And then a lot of suffering is what we have encountered", said His Exc. Mgr. Marcel Madila Basanguka, Archbishop of Kananga who led a joint mission of the Association of Bishops' Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC) and the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In the 12-day visit (14 January-26 January) defined as a “comfort mission”, the delegation of ACEAC and CENCO visited the cities of Butembo, Beni Bunia, Ituri and Goma.
Following the visit, ACEAC (which includes the Bishops of Rwanda, Burundi and DRC) has undertaken to draw up a memorandum containing recommendations, which will be submitted to the competent authorities as well as to the public to promote the resolution of the conflict which for more than 30 years rages in the eastern part of the DRC.
According to a report released on January 27, 2021, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in 2020 saw an increase in human rights violations and abuses in the DRC.
"In 2020, UNJHRO documented 7,909 human rights violations and abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which represents an average of 659 violations per month. These figures have increased by about 21% compared to 2019", the report says.
UNJHRO associates the increase with the deterioration of the security situation in provinces affected by the armed conflict, particularly in North Kivu, Ituri and South Kivu where UNJHRO has recorded the vast majority (93%) of violations and abuses in the last year. At least 2,945 civilians were killed including 553 women and 286 children. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/1/2021)

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