:
Democratic
Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)
April
16, 2006: Two more peacekeeping battalions will be deployed to Katanga later
this year: a Pakistani battalion (750 troops) and a battalion from Benin (600
to 650 troops). The Pakistani unit is currently deployed in Burundi. A
Jordanian hospital will also deploy from Burundi to Katanga. The combat troops
will be used to control rogue Mayi-Mayi militia units which (according to the
UN and NGOs) have committed crimes and atrocities throughout Katanga. The UN
reported that Mayi-Mayi depredations have forced nearly 200,000 people to flee
their homes.
April
14, 2006: The government said that seven soldiers were convicted of
crimes against humanity. The soldiers received sentences of life in prison.
Their crimes included theft, mutiny, and participation in mass rape. The crimes
were committed in December 2003. Five other soldiers were acquitted of similar
charges. The twelve accused troops were originally members of the rebel
Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC). Their guerrilla unit was made
part of the Congolese Army.
April
13, 2006: Some 750 Congolese Army and 100 U.N. soldiers were involved in an
offensive operation against Rwandan rebels in the eastern Congo. The UN report
said that "small groups" of Rwandan Hutu rebels had been identified
in North Kivu province. The rebels had been looting villages in the area. The
Congo and UN are trying to repatriate foreign rebel groups (ie, Burundian, Rwandan,
and Ugandan groups). In the case of Rwanda, many of the rebels in the Congo
face charges of mass murder and genocide if they are arrested by UN troops or
are returned to Rwanda.
