Aid Workers Protest

Aid groups protest DR Congo deaths
10/13/2009 2:41:57 PM

Taken from Al Jazeera:http://m.aljazeera.net/?i=4360&artId=184702&showonly=1

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed since January in fighting between Rwandan Hutu rebels and UN-backed government forces in eastern Congo, rights groups say.

A coalition of 84 rights groups announced the figure on Tuesday in a report in which they sharply criticised UN peacekeepers for supporting a deadly government offensive against the rebels.

The report said nearly 900,000 civilians had been displaced in the offensive, while 7,000 women and girls had been raped.

"The human rights and humanitarian consequences of the current military operation are simply disastrous," Marcel Stoessel, of the UK-based aid agency Oxfam, said.

"UN peacekeepers, who have a mandate to protect civilians, urgently need to work with government forces to make sure civilians get the protection they need, or discontinue their support."

'Risk of backslide'

The UN mission said it must continue supporting government forces in their operation against the Hutu rebels, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Reuters news agency reported.

"The target still has to be the FDLR and the disarmament of the FDLR," Kevin Kennedy, a UN spokesman, said.

But he said the UN is making efforts to limit the cost to civilians.

"If you do not keep moving forward, and if you don't have the international community supporting the democratically elected government as a backstop to the army, there is a risk of backslide."

The offensive, launched in January, began in North Kivu with the backing of Rwanda, and has subsequently reached into South Kivu with the backing of the UN Security Council.

But the coalition of rights groups said civilians were paying the price of the offensive, with thousands caught between retaliatory rebel attacks.