UN: Thousands who disappeared during 1990s conflict in Congo remain missing

[News_Editor]

UN: Thousands who disappeared during 1990s conflict in Congo remain missing

2011-10-04 08:07:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Monday said that the fate of thousands of people who disappeared during the 1990s conflict in the Republic of the Congo remains a mystery.

A human rights panel, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that the harm caused to civilians by the conflict which affected the country during the 1990s is far from being healed, despite the fighting taking place more than a decade ago.

Thousands of Congolese civilians fled during the 1990s, seeking safety and peace elsewhere within the country or beyond the borders of their State. In 1999, enforced disappearances were reportedly perpetrated against refugees returning home.

UN experts Olivier de Frouville and Osman El-Hajjé recently ended a nine-day visit to the former French colony, which lies across the Congo River from its much larger neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their mission was to learn how the country is addressing cases of enforced disappearances.

"In particular, families still want to know the truth about what happened to their relatives, victims of enforced disappearances," the experts said. "The right to know the truth about the fate of a victim of enforced disappearance is an absolute right.

During the visit, the Working Group visited the capital of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, a major port and commercial center, and met with local authorities, civil society organizations, relatives of disappeared persons and representatives of UN agencies and other international organizations.

A detailed report, based on the group's findings during their visit, is expected to be presented to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council next year.

One episode cited, known as 'the disappeared of the Beach,' occurred at the river port of Brazzaville and was the object in 2005 of a trial after which the defendants, senior officials with various State security services, were acquitted.

The incident happened in May 1999 when several hundred Congolese used a human corridor, placed under the auspices of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to return to their country after having taken refuge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the 1998-1999 civil war. They were kidnapped at the Brazzaville Beach river port by members of the presidential guard and executed within the presidential palace of Sassou Nguesso.

The experts regretted that the judicial process could not lead to the identification and punishment of those responsible for enforced disappearances and the executions. However, Congo, recognizing it was responsible for not ensuring the safety of its citizens, awarded the families of the disappeared compensation during the trial.

"This compensation should be supplemented by other forms of reparation, including psychological and social assistance to families often plunged into serious difficulties due to the disappearance of their relatives," they added.

The Group, set up by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives, endeavors to establish communications between families and the governments concerned to ensure that individual cases are investigated until they are resolved.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-04