NAIROBI, 20 January (IRIN) - A rebel
group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has called on a rights advocacy
group, Human Rights Watch, to conduct an investigation into alleged acts
of cannibalism conducted by its members in the northeast of the country.
In a statement released on Monday, the
Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) denied the allegations, which it
said had been made to discredit the movement's leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.
"The MLC invites Human Rights Watch, which is an neutral and independent instrument to go to the area as soon as possible to conduct its own investigations," the MLC said.
It added that it favoured the idea of an international criminal tribunal to investigate those accused of genocide and other violations committed in Ituri District and the rest of the country since 1996.
[ENDS]
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003