'Stench of death' in Congo confirms resurgence of Christian terrorists (Lord's Resistance Army)

mar 31st, 2010

christists doing their usual thing to children. 

the child-molesters in the vatican may well approve of the 'methods' of these guys. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ravi

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/28/lra-congo-uganda-un

'Stench of death' in Congo confirms resurgence of Lord's Resistance Army

A rebel group thought to be spent has butchered 321 people – and exposed an international failure

Xan Rice
The Observer, Sunday 28 March 2010

LRA fighters arrive at an assembly point in Sudan in 2006 as part of a truce. Photograph: JAMES AKENA/REUTERS

Fighters from Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army have hacked or beaten to death at least 321 Congolese villagers in one of the worst single atrocities of their 23-year insurgency.

The attacks occurred in a remote part of northern Democratic Republic of Congo between 14 and 17 December last year, but their scale has only now been made public. Human Rights Watch, which today releases a report on the mass killings, says that most of the dead were men who had been tied up and then cut with machetes, or had their skulls crushed with axes or clubs. Family members later found many of the battered bodies still bound to trees.

More than 250 civilians, including 80 children, were seized during the raid that left a "stench of death" in the Makombo area of Haut Uele district, the report said. The attacks were allegedly ordered by General Dominic Ongwen, a fugitive from the International Criminal Court. United Nations human rights officials in Congo, who this month reached part of the heavily forested area where the attacks occurred, corroborated the account. They recorded the names of 100 victims and 150 abductees. But Todd Howland, director of the UN's joint human rights office in Congo, said the Red Cross had reported burying 250 people and the death toll was likely to be higher. "A figure of 321 does not sound exaggerated," he said. "It could be more than that."

The massacre is a reminder of the threat posed by the LRA rebels, who became notorious for kidnapping children and their brutal killing methods during the 18 years they terrorised Uganda before moving to Congo. It also highlights the chronic failure of governments in the region and the international community to protect civilians.

LRA rebels have killed 1,600 Congolese civilians and abducted more than 2,500 since September 2008, after peace talks broke down. Yet the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as Monuc, has only established three bases in Haut Uele and Bas Uele – an area the size of Belgium – with about 1,000 troops. Congo has tried to play down the LRA presence, as has the Ugandan military.

The Human Rights Watch report, A Trail of Death: Ongoing LRA Atrocities in Northern Congo, said the rebels used similar tactics in each village on their 65-mile journey. Pretending to be soldiers, they told villagers not to be afraid. Once people had gathered, they were seized.

"LRA combatants specifically searched out areas where people might gather – such as markets, churches and water points – and repeatedly asked those they encountered about the location of schools, indicating that one of their objectives was to abduct children," the report said. "Those who were abducted, including many children aged 10 to 15 years old, were tied with ropes or metal wire at the waist, often in human chains of five to 15 people. They were made to carry the goods the LRA had pillaged and then forced to march off with them. Anyone who refused, or walked too slowly, or who tried to escape, was killed. Children were not spared."

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