AFRICA/DR CONGO - Civil society: "There are foreign jihadists in our region despite what the UN says"

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - There are foreign fighters operating in the ranks of the ADF-NALU, a Ugandan guerrilla group that for years has raged in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
This is what a note sent to Fides by the Centre d'Etude pour la promotion de la Paix, the Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CEPADHO) reports, an association of local civil society, pointing out some of the statements of the UN experts' report on armed groups in the region.
The CEPADHO says it "shares much of the report", which was delivered on October 16 to the President of the UN Security Council, but believes that "some of the statements made on the ADF-NALU do not correspond to reality".
In particular, it objects the fact that "the panel of experts said it has found no link between the ADF and other foreign terrorist groups". "This statement - says the note, appears absurd when there are a hundred members of the ADF that are captured and are Somali, Kenyan, Tanzanian, Rwandan, Sudanese Islamists. It is curious that the panel of experts has remained silent on this reality".
It also disputes the assertion that during the command operation Sukola 1 (carried out by the Congolese army to capture members of the ADF-NALU) on behalf of General Akili Mundos, no suspicion of being the author of the massacres directed against civilians were indicted in front of the military Prosecutor. "This statement - reads the note - appears uncalled for, especially since there are several fighters captured by ADF in prison in Kangwayi and Beni, not to mention dozens more that were sent to Kinshasa and Goma".
The CEPADHO concluded by inviting the panel of experts to diversify their sources of information in their next missions, in order to avoid a partial job. According to the report of the expert group, the ADF-NALU are responsible for killing 350 to 450 people in the region of Beni, between October 2014 and June 2015. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 05/11/2015)

Share:

armed groups

---

---