Amnesty International called for an investigation Wednesday into a former governor and two top army officials in Congo for “possible crimes against humanity” during a deadly crackdown on demonstrators last year protesting the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
The human rights group said in a report Congo’s security forces killed at least 56 people and injured 80 more, during a protest in the eastern city of Goma in August 2023.
The protest was organized by a sect called the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations and known colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters were demonstrating against the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, called MONUSCO.
The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010 after taking over from an earlier UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and to support the Congolese government in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts. However, frustrated Congolese say that no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to several protests against the UN mission.
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