The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | In an unusual move, international war crimes judges will rule Thursday on three appeals cases, including one brought by Congolese warlord Germain Katanga who was ordered to pay his victims $1 million in damages. Legal proceedings at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are usually …
Read More »UN envoy warns of risk of violence in DR Congo
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN envoy for the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday warned of a risk of violence as the country heads toward elections in December. DR Congo is in the grip of a “shocking” humanitarian crisis with 4.5 million people in need of …
Read More »Fearing deportation, Burundi refugees quit DRC for Rwanda
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A group of 2,500 Burundian refugees, fearing repatriation to their home country, moved Wednesday from the Democratic Republic of Congo to nearby Rwanda, a spokesman said. The refugees belong to an obscure Catholic sect that follows a female prophet called Zebiya and claim to have …
Read More »18 workers abducted in DR Congo wildlife park
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Eighteen employees of a gorilla sanctuary in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been abducted by a militia group, sources said on Wednesday. An official with an NGO said the abduction took place on Monday in the area of Nzovu, which lies in the …
Read More »ICC to rule as Congo warlord appeals $1m damages
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International judges will Thursday rule in an appeal brought by ex-Congolese warlord Germain Katanga, who has protested an order that he pay one million dollars in damages to his victims. In its first ever such award, the International Criminal Court in March 2017 awarded …
Read More »DR Congo survivors recount nightmare of ethnic massacre
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | The assailants were methodical. They came in waves. First came the ones who killed. Then came the ones who torched homes. And finally, the ones who looted anything of value. Ahead of them, terrorised villagers fled for their lives — the latest victims of …
Read More »Seven dead in east DR Congo raid blamed on Uganda’s ADF rebels
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Seven people died in a raid by suspected Ugandan Islamist rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest in a string of deadly cross-border attacks, officials said Sunday. “Six people were shot dead and another was stabbed” in the village of Eringeti in …
Read More »UN concedes training ‘gaps’ after DR Congo deaths
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations on Friday conceded that an attack that killed 15 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo late last year exposed “gaps” in how UN troops are trained. The December 7 attack in the Beni territory of North Kivu province was …
Read More »Congolese cross a lake to escape an inferno
Sebagoro, Uganda | AFP | A daily flotilla of wooden canoes makes the 10-hour eastward crossing of Lake Albert ferrying hundreds of refugees from DR Congo’s latest spasm of violence to the safety of Uganda. The repurposed fishing vessels come to Sebagoro beach crammed with the bedraggled and dispossessed survivors …
Read More »49 dead in new flare-up of ethnic unrest in DR Congo’s Ituri
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | At least 49 people were killed in a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence overnight in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled Ituri province, a senior charity official said on Friday. The latests killings were part of a cycle of unrest between the Hema and …
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