HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONDEMNS KILLING OF MONUC MILITARY OBSERVERS

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONDEMNS KILLING

OF MONUC MILITARY OBSERVERS

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 19 May (UN Information Service) -- Following is a statement issued today by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira
de Mello:

The High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly condemns the brutal killing of two military observers of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).  He conveys his deepest sympathy to the families of the observers, to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Namanga Ngongi, and to all the civilian, police and military personnel of MONUC.

The High Commissioner believes these killings, in the troubled Ituri district in the east of the DRC, confirm the need for a stronger international military presence in the region.  Although the situation has stabilized in the last few days as warring groups engaged in talks, further egregious human rights violations, and perhaps even a genocidal conflict, may not be averted unless an adequate deterrence capacity is put in place, pending the establishment of central Government authority.

The High Commissioner again urges all States with the necessary military capacity to heed the Secretary-General's request to provide troops and materiel urgently to help bring security to the region and, in turn, to foster progress in the implementation of the peace plan for the DRC as a whole.

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