Search

Discusses the intervention of a French rapid-reaction force, with support from the United Nations (UN) Security Council, in Bunia city and the war-torn province of Ituri in Congo. Description of how the French peacekeepers secured the war zone; Discussion of why the UN Bunia plan is destined for failure; Background on the ethnic conflict between the minority Hema and majority Lendu; View that the UN should have intervened earlier to prevent massacres by the militias; Issue of interventions operating under Chapter Six of the UN Charter and not offering protection to civilians; Indication that the French are operating under Chapter Seven; Outlook for the Hema militia, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), to resume fighting because the French demilitarized Bunia, but did not disarm the militias; Effort of the UN to create a provisional government; Assertion that the flow of weapons into the province must be stopped before peaceful political process can begin.

The article reports on the violence among ethnic groups in the province of Ituri in the Republic of Congo, including the Hema and Lendu. People in the province have experienced civil war, mass killings, gang rapes, looting and cannibalism. Foreign powers and United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces have intervened in order to curb violence in the province.

Reports on the commission of atrocities in Congo. Allegations of cannibalism and mass murder from fleeing Congolese civilians; Fighting between Hema and Lendu peoples; Result of Belgian colonization and President Mobutu Sese Seko's misrule.

The article reports on the activity of United Nation peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN force in Congo, known as MONUC, has a reputation for standing idly by as civilians are slaughtered.However, since nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers were murdered by a tribal militia in the north-eastern region of Ituri last month, that seems to be changing. A detachment of Pakistani blue helmets was sent to shut down a base used by the militia concerned, the FNI. In the ensuing firefight, between 50 and 60 militiamen were killed. It was the fiercest battle the UN had fought in Congo since the 1960s. MONUC's new commander, a cigar-smoking Dutch general called Patrick Cammaert, is promising more of the same. Congo's war officially ended in 2003, but parts of the country remain lawless and bloody. Ituri is home to five militias, tribally-based but often motivated more by loot than ethnic solidarity. After a brief lull last year, fighting between the Hema and Lendu tribes has rekindled in recent months. In January, Congo's transitional government invited five of Ituri's militia bosses to become generals in the still-chaotic national army, in the hope that they would encourage their troops to disarm.

Reports on the failure of United Nations peacekeepers to prevent genocide and fighting between Lendu and Hema peoples in Congo's Ituri province. Anticipation for a French-led intervention force; Commission of atrocities; Cause of Congo's regional war.