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http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990114_feat2.html
UN Orders Probe In Congo Massacre
January 14, 1999
by Jerome Hule, PANA Correspondent
NEW YORK, UN (PANA) - The UN Security Council has called for an international
investigation into the recent massacre of hundreds of civilians in south Kivu of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In a statement Wednesday by its president, Celso Amorim of Brazil, the Council expressed outrage at the mass killing and demanded that all sides to the conflict cooperate in the investigation.
Press reports said more than 500 civilians were massacred in south Kivu on New Year's eve allegedly by the rebels fighting to overthrow the government of president Laurent-Desire Kabila.
The rebels have, however, denied the people were massacred, saying the victims died in battle. Last week, the government of the DRC urged the Council to condemn the killing and order it investigated. In the statement Wednesday, the Council called on the warring parties to respect humanitarian law.
It welcomed the forthcoming visit to the Congo by a UN special rapporteur on human rights, Roberto Garreton upon the invitation of the Congolese government. The council hoped that visit would bring further progress in the human rights situation in the country.
Reaffirming their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Congo, the council members urged all parties to the conflict to attend a sub -regional meeting that Thursday convened in Lusaka, Zambia, and to work toward agreeing to a ceasefire that would be promptly implemented.
The Council said the UN would continue to be involved in the Congo in support of regional mediation efforts.
The conflict in the DRC which began 2 August has drawn in several countries, including, Rwanda and Uganda alongside the rebels and Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe in support of the government.
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