Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Saturday hailed as a “major advance” life sentences served this week on a provincial lawmaker and ten militiamen convicted of raping young girls. The group were jailed for life on Wednesday in the east of the …
Read More »DR Congo child soldiers awarded $10 mn in damages
The Hague, NETHERLANDS | AFP | International war crimes judges on Friday awarded $10 million in landmark reparations to “hundreds or thousands” of former child soldiers left brutalised and stigmatised after being conscripted into a ruthless Congolese militia. Warlord Thomas Lubanga, 56, was jailed for 14 years after being convicted …
Read More »War crimes judges to award child soldiers compensation
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International war crimes judges will hand down on Friday landmark reparations to former child soldiers conscripted into a Congolese militia about 15 years ago, who were left brutalised and stigmatised by their horrific experiences. Warlord Thomas Lubanga, 56, was found guilty in 2012 at the …
Read More »Dozen DR Congo child rapists handed life sentences
Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | A dozen militiamen in eastern DR Congo were jailed for life Wednesday for raping about 40 children, including a baby, in what was judged a crime against humanity. The defendants were said to belong to a militia group called “Djeshi ya Yesu” — meaning “Army …
Read More »400,000 children in DR Congo could die from hunger, says Unicef
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United Nations on Tuesday warned that more than 400,000 children in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are severely malnourished and could die within months without emergency intervention. The crisis — the latest to hit the poverty-stricken, strife-torn central African country — is unfolding …
Read More »Bodies of 14 UN peacekeepers flown to Tanzania
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | The bodies of 14 Tanzanian peacekeepers killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo by suspected Ugandan rebels were repatriated Monday, where the defence minister welcomed them as “heroes”. The arrival of the plane carrying 14 white coffins covered with the UN’s blue flag was …
Read More »Bodies of Tanzanian UN peacekeepers to be repatriated this week
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The bodies of 15 UN peacekeepers from Tanzania killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be repatriated in the coming days, the Tanzanian army said Sunday. The soldiers were all members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces participating in a UN peacekeeping operation in the …
Read More »14 Tanzanian UN peacekeepers dead in DR Congo attack
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | At least 14 United Nations peacekeepers were killed in the restive Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Friday, in the deadliest attack in the organisation’s recent history. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the peacekeepers, who were from neighbouring Tanzania, were killed in the …
Read More »Armed groups in central Africa using roadblocks as funding source
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Roadblocks in war-torn areas of Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo provide armed groups with millions of euros (dollars) in annual income, a report said Wednesday. A year-long study by the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a Belgian research group, found 1,082 …
Read More »DR Congo govt recruited rebels for deadly crackdown on protests: HRW
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Former militants were recruited by the Democratic Republic of Congo government for a bloody crackdown on protests against the president that left dozens of people dead last year, a rights group alleged Monday. Human Rights Watch said President Joseph Kabila’s regime had drafted in fighters previously …
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