The human rights group Amnesty International says the recentdramatic escalation of violence puts the eastern DRC at risk of becoming a"humanitarian catastrophe." Amnesty is calling for more UN peacekeeping troopsto be sent to the region and greater international pressure to be placed on thewarring parties.
Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of AmnestyInternational's Africa program, spoke from London to VOA English to AfricaService reporter Joe De Capua about how the current crisis could be resolved.
"Several things can actually be done at thisstage to prevent the situation deteriorating further. And the first [is] thatthe CNDP, which is one of the armed opposition groups and the one that'sfighting currently against of the government of DRC forces ? They need to stoptheir attacks, which are leading to civilians having to flee and civiliancausalities. We also need to see diplomatic pressure being applied on the CNDPand countries that have influence on the CNDP, such as Rwanda," he says.
He says that the pressure needs to come from boththe region and the international community, including the UN Security Council.
"We're calling for the United Nations SecurityCouncil to take immediate and urgent steps to maker sure that MONUC, which isthe UN peacekeeping force?is reinforced and provided with the military hardwarein order to enable it to discharge its mandate of protecting civilians ineastern DRC," he says.
Asked what real pressure could be placed on thewarring parties, Hondora says, "There are countries obviously that provide bothmoral and material support to some of these armed groups operating in easternDRC. They need to be leaned upon to stop these attacks. They're killingcivilians, women and children. And if not checked, we will see a situationwhere neighboring countries also begin to be destabilized. So, it is veryimportant for countries that are neighbors of the DRC ? Rwanda, Burundi, Ugandaand all other countries that are in the surrounding region ? to put pressure.The AU, especially the Peace and Security Council, ought to become involved inthis."
He warns that time is short. "We cannot wait tosee another situation develop in eastern DRC, which is similar to the onewitnessed between 1998 and 2002, where more than three million people died. Ithas to be stopped."