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UN rights commissioner calls for restraint in DRC conflict

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday urged participants in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to respect human rights and international law. Pillay expressed particular concern about reports of continuous abuses by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group. After a joint military operation in which Uganda, DRC, and Southern Sudan failed to capture LRA leader Joseph Kony, the LRA allegedly retaliated against the civilian population of northeastern DRC, whom they suspected of supporting the operation. Pillay urged continued caution saying:I'm also concerned that the joint military counter-operations, unless properly planned and executed, could lead to further human rights abuses being perpetrated against the civilian population who are, in effect, caught between the conflicting partiesThe joint military operations were commenced after Kony refused to sign a peace agreement put forward by the Ugandan government, pending the withdrawal of International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments against LRA officials. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that the LRA has killed 900 people and caused the displacement of 130,000. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced last May the launch of a new investigation against Kony and other LRA leaders. Moreno-Ocampo maintained that arrest warrants issued by the ICC for LRA leaders remain in effect, despite requests from Uganda that they be withdrawn. The four ICC-issued warrants were executed in 2005 and include Kony and LRA senior member Vincent Otti. In 2007, Otti was executed by rebels, though official confirmation of his death was delayed until January amid fears that it would disrupt peace talks. Kony is wanted for orchestrating the killing of thousands of civilians and the enslavement of thousands more children over two decades of conflict. The government has said that Kony is willing to face trial at home, but not at the ICC. A fifth arrest warrant was initially issued for Raska Lukwiya but was later withdrawn after a July 2007 ICC pre-trial chamber decision.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).