By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
DR Congo – The Congolese army attacked villages where civilians gathered to receive measles vaccinations.
The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) denounced the attacks in North Kivu as “an abuse of humanitarian action.” Thousands of civilians were attacked when they visited sites set up specifically to combat a measles epidemic. The clinics were set up in order to provide the vaccine to workers otherwise unable to access regions controlled by the Hutu Rebels.
The aid agency said the clinics were targeted despite the security guarantees surrounding the aid camps. Now MSF fears the ramifications of this attack will affect future attempts to immunize the public. The targeting of civilians has been a major concern for charities operating in the region. United Nations (UN) support for the government has been dependent on it respecting the neutrality of civilians.
“We feel we were used as bait . . . . How will MSF be perceived by the population now? Will our patients still feel safe enough to come for medical care?” Said Luis Encinas, head of MSF programs in Central Africa.
The UN army has been helping the Congolese government in the offensive against Rwandan rebels since January 2009. Now, the Congolese government says the military operations have been suspended to allow for a UN inquiry into the allegations that Congolese soldiers were responsible for killing civilians.
A military spokesman for the Congo’s UN mission said the government was unaware of the incident.
The leaders of the rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), fled to the area in 1994 after being accused of taking part in Rwanda’s genocide and have since been fighting with the local Tutsi population. There have also been reports that more than 7,000 women and girls have been raped and more than 900,000 people forced to flee their homes.
For more information, please see:
BBC – DR Congo Army “Used Aid as Bait” – 6 Friday 2009
Reuters – Congo Army Attacked Measle Vaccine Sites-Aid Agency – 6 November 2009
VOA – Thousand Flee Ethnic Violence in Northern DRC – 6 November 2009
