The tribal militia controlling the Congolese town of Bunia is carrying out nightly massacres, executing civilians and burying them in mass graves, despite the presence of a French-led European Union combat force, a Daily Telegraph investigation has established. By day the military camp at Simbiliyabo on the eastern outskirts of Bunia looks like any other Congolese rebel installation, but at night it becomes a death camp. Around 9 every evening, drunken Hema militiamen, high on drugs and their hatred for every other tribe, pour out of the base, nestling in lush green hills to inflict terror on the residents of Bunia’s suburbs. On Monday night they came for Dieu Donne, whose real identity is being protected. He, his wife, his father, a friend named Nobi, a neighbor and two boys were taken to the headquarters of the Union of Congolese Patriots, the Hema militia that took control of Bunia last month after a fierce battle with their Lendu rivals. Dieu Donne said the UPC’s chief of staff, Floribert Aisembo, ordered his execution and that of his fellow prisoners. “They wanted to shoot us but were afraid they would be heard,” Dieu Donne said. “They said: ‘We are not going to waste our bullets on people without value like you. We are going to kill you with knives.'” Full Story
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