Human rights activists have criticised the recent appointment of military officials alleged to have been involved in massacres in Kisangani, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), during hostilities that erupted in May 2002. Gabriel Amisi and Laurent Nkunda, both from the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) former rebel movement and named brigadier-generals for a unified national army on 19 August by President Joseph Kabila, were cited by the rights groups – meeting under an umbrella organisation, the Reseau d’organisations des droits humains et d’education civique d’inspiration chretienne (Rodhecic) – as having been “the primary leaders of the Kisangani massacres”. According to Human Rights Watch, Amisi, alias “Tango Fort”, was the RCD-Goma’s assistant chief of staff for logistics while Nkunda was the commander of the 7th Brigade, based in Kisangani. They and other senior officers were directly implicated in the killings, the international human rights defence NGO said. A statement issued by Rodhecic said that groups that investigated the events of 14-16 May 2002 in Kisangani, including a mission dispatched by the UN Security Council, Human Rights Watch and local NGOs, cited the two officers in several reports. Full Story
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