Ekip
23 March 2017•Update: 24 March 2017
By Godfrey Olukya
ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo
Local United Nations officials have informed the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government about 10 mass graves sites found in the Central Kasai province, said a UN statement Thursday.
Three of the mass graves are recent and suspected to contain dead bodies of militiamen killed by police last month, while the other seven are said to date from between last September and this January, said a United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) statement.
The oldest graves date back to just after last August, when Congolese forces killed tribal leader and rebel Kamwina Nsapum, followed by a series of clashes between government forces and his followers.
The number of bodies in the graves is not known but is estimated to be in the hundreds. Some bodies were reportedly not well buried and scavenger animals reportedly unearthed them.
Barbara Matasconi, the coordinator of the UNJHRO’s reporting and investigation, said that they went to the scene and saw human remains and they have other specific indications through the testimonies and families of the victims.
“This month, a quite precise report was sent to the government with locations and dates clarifying three mass graves around Tshimbulu," she said.
About the seven older mass graves she said, ''In December 2016 we forwarded to the authorities information about seven mass graves which, according to our research, date back to events that took place at the end of September 2016 on Nkoto in Demba territory.''
