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DR Congo

Minister of State Kerstin Müller condemns massacre and supports work of the UN in Eastern Congo

In the night of 8 July, at least 40 people were killed during an attack on the village of Mamba in South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The victims, mainly women and children, were locked in huts and burnt alive. Kerstin M=FCller, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, made the following statement on Wednesday (13 July):

"I condemn this most recent brutal massacre in Mamba. It shows once more that the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo rages on inflicting dreadful suffering on the local population, above all women and children. Every detail of the background to this massacre must be uncovered and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Peace and stability cannot return to the Great Lakes region until the militias in Eastern Congo have been disarmed. Therefore we welcome the robust action of the UN peacekeepers (MONUC) who, together with the Congolese Army, are taking action against these forces to re-establish security for the local population.

We continue to lend our active support to the transition process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to which there is no alternative. The Democratic Republic of the Congo must not be prevented in engaging in democratization by acts of violence."

As a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at least 3.8 million people have lost their lives since 1998. There are an estimated 3.4 million internally displaced people. A successful process of transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is of central importance for the stabilization of central Africa as a whole.