Source: U.S. Mission to the United Nations |

Ambassador Haley on the Latest UN Report on Massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The investigators also learned that local Congolese security forces supported, and sometimes even led, the attacks

The latest UN report sadly documents something we already know: innocent men, women, and children are being brutally killed in the Kasais

NEW YORK, United States of America, August 9, 2017/APO/ --

Last week, the UN released another disturbing report on the violence in the Kasai provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During March and June of this year, UN investigators confirmed 251 people were killed, 62 of whom were children, with nearly half being under the age of eight. Witnesses told the investigators they saw people being mutilated, burned alive, and hacked to death. The investigators also learned that local Congolese security forces supported, and sometimes even led, the attacks.

Responding to the report, Ambassador Nikki Haley said, “The latest UN report sadly documents something we already know: innocent men, women, and children are being brutally killed in the Kasais, and Congolese authorities are doing nothing to stop it. Until the DRC government shows it can responsibly protect its own people from horrific acts of violence and hold murderers accountable for their crimes, the international community should question any efforts by the Congolese to seek representation in organizations like the Human Rights Council.”

The United States has already called on the DRC government to cooperate fully with an independent team of experts recently mandated by the Human Rights Council to investigate human rights abuses in the Kasais.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Mission to the United Nations.