UN calls for justice in murder of 5 humanitarian workers in DR Congo

UN calls for justice in murder of 5 humanitarian workers in DR Congo

2011-10-08 04:36:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) has called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to capture and try those responsible for the murder of five non-governmental organization (NGO) staff in the deadliest ever single assault on humanitarian workers in the vast country.

The killings occurred on Monday in the city of Malinda, located in the eastern part of DRC, which has been highly affected by violence. The five NGO staff members were killed along with several other people in a separate attack which was carried out against another NGO in Uvira, not too far from Malinda.

Pierrette Vu Thi, the UN acting coordinator in the country, deplored the aggression and all other acts which hamper humanitarian work in DRC, stressing that it is primarily the Government's responsibility to protect both Congolese citizens and members of national and international organizations.

"We call on the Government to immediately open an inquiry to find the perpetrators of this odious act so as to bring them to justice," Vu Thi said. Humanitarian workers have been commonly targeted in recent weeks, impeding the delivery of vital aid.

The persistent fighting in eastern DRC has been linked to the attacks, which range from extortion to hostage taking to using humanitarian vehicles to carry military equipment. The attacks have also aroused a growing sense of vulnerability in humanitarian organizations.

Since August, there have been 25 such incidents in North Kivu province and 15 in South Kivu, where Malinda and Uvira are located. And since January, the two provinces have suffered nearly 140 such attacks.

"This aggression, which plunges the humanitarian family into mourning and causes the utmost alarm, far from diverting us from our vocation, will strengthen even further our resolve to always bring to the least privileged the aid which they need," Vu Thi said.

The UN has maintained a peacekeeping mission of up to nearly 20,000 uniformed personnel in the DRC since 1999 to oversee the vast country's emergence from years of civil war and factional chaos, culminating most notably in 2006 with the first democratic elections in over four decades.

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