Recently, about 150 people were killed in Kiwanja, Eastern Congo in what the International Herald Tribune of December 11th 2008 describes as "a study in unfettered cruelty meted out by the armed groups fighting for power and resources in Eastern Congo".
the Tribune draws one's attention to how the world's largest peace keeping force [centred in the Congo] has failed in its mandate to protect the people, and in the words of Anneke Van Woudenberg a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, "the people were betrayed not just by rebels who committed terrible war crimes against them, but by the international community that failed to protect them".
The rebel forces of Laurent Nkunda meted out death and rape on the people whilst trying to flush out it's enemies. Government- allied militias looted and meted out rape on the people, as they attempted to flee Nkunda's advancing forces..
.. And what is the largest United Nations peace keeping force anywhere in the world cites poor communication and staffing, as well as inadequate equipment and intelligence breakdowns, as reasons for failing in its mission of protecting the people..
What happened in Kiwanja ranges from a lack of appreciation of the need for a 'people- centred' peace keeping, to a blatant disregard for human life..
What happened in Kiwanja is quite simply, a tragedy.
Thursday 11 December 2008
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