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UN inquirers say rebels seen behind Congo
killingsGENEVA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - United Nations human rights investigators said on Friday they had information that Congolese rebels had apparently carried out a reported New Year massacre of nearly 500 civilians in eastern Congo.
Roberto Garreton, a Chilean lawyer who is the independent U.N. special rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani expert who is U.N. investigator for extrajudicial killings worldwide, called for the perpetrators to be tried by independent courts.
On Thursday, Congolese refugees fleeing to Tanzania supported reports by a Catholic news agency MISNA that hundreds of civilians had been killed between December 30 and January 1 by Congolese rebels at two villages south of Uvira.
The U.N. investigators, in a joint statement issued by the U.N. human rights office in Geneva, said:
"Among the apparent victims were women and elderly, as well as numerous children."
"According to the information received by the special rapporteurs, this massacre was apparently perpetrated by the armed elements of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (CRD) movement in retaliation for an attack the day before by Mai Mai fighters against the forces of the rebellion," they added.
Congolese rebels, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, launched an offensive last August to try to topple President Laurent Kabila and now control much of the eastern half of Congo.
The rebels have denied massacring civilians, but said they had killed hundreds of Burundian Hutu guerrillas in a battle where the alleged massacre took place.