They came by the hundreds and heavily armed. In Kisangani they numbered between 300 and 400 hundred men. They were briefed by a MONUSCO DDRRR officer from Benin by the name of Major Rodrigue. He was observed by refugees and onlookers, giving the order to his soldiers, to storm the camp. Most refugees run inside the houses and locked themselves inside, others scattered around the camp, women and children screaming with fear. The soldiers broke the doors to the houses where refugees were hiding. They stole any valuables the refugees had, such as cell phones. They are even unconfirmed reports that some of the women might have been raped by these soldiers, as they cornered them inside the houses with no witnesses around.
The fear and stress caused by this raid forced one pregnant woman in labor, and currently his friends are worried about the child as she still hasn’t received any medical care.
This brutal raid under the banner of the United Nations lasted about three hours, at the end of which: Major Amos Furaha, Captain Jean Marie, Captain Ishimwe, Captain Baraka, Lieutenant Kitenge, Lieutenant Brege and Lieutenant Moustafa were taken away by these forces and they haven’t been heard from since. Later on, another group of soldiers came in and violently took away two female refugees, and one of them was forced to leave her 6 children behind, and they are now without care.
We have also learned that a similar operation took place in Walungu where 34 people were abducted by UN Forces and are said to be in what FARDC calls Sukola 2 headquarters. Refugees in Kasangani report that they were given 3 days before they are forcefully shipped to Rwanda, even though this goes against the understanding under which former Freedom Fighters agreed to lay down their weapons.
It is worth noting that since 1994 the UN cannot account for all the refugees that were forcefully returned to Rwanda under its supervision. There are credible reports that many of them were killed by the RPF and others ended up in prison without charge. Since MONUSCO has now realized that what they call DDRRR doesn’t work anymore due to lack of security for returnees inside Rwanda, it is clear that MONUSCO has decided to force the issue, by plotting with the Rwandan government to forcefully send Rwandan refugees to their death, by claiming it is in the interest of Peace.
Once again we call upon all human rights organizations namely Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontiers and many others to visit the camps and investigate for themselves what is being done in the name of humanity, by an organization that claims to uphold peace and security in the world. It is also important that African organizations especially SADC, of which the DRC is a member, live up to their obligations to protect these helpless Rwandan Refugees, who are now in danger of losing their lives, because they trusted SADC and MONUSCO.
Louise MUKASINE
