UN Peacekeepers Gun Down Congo Civilians

U.N. Peacekeepers Accused in Congo Deaths

By BRYAN MEALER

KINSHASA, Congo (AP)- Human rights activists charged Tuesday that U.N. peacekeepers knowingly gunned down civilians in a raid that targeted a marketplace, pinning down dozens of people down during the biggest gunbattle in the U.N.'s six-year mission in Congo.

The human rights group Justice Plus listed names of several alleged civilian victims from a March 1 raid in eastern Congo and said they "paid with their life, while the mandate of the United Nations was to protect them."

The United Nations said its troops fired only when they were attacked, and that women and children were among those who fired weapons.
The charges Tuesday came as U.N. peacekeepers announced they were staging an assault on a militia camp, targeting fighters in eastern Congo who have killed thousands in a years-old ethnic conflict. But the militia fled the camp before the troops arrived, spokesman Mohammad Abdul-Wahab said by telephone from Bunia, capital of the violent Ituri province and some 25 miles from the targeted camp.

He said the 300 peacekeepers sent to attack the camp instead spent the day dismantling it.

Accused of years of ineffectiveness, peacekeepers now are aggressively seeking to disarm fighters after thousands defied an April 1 ultimatum to surrender weapons. Some 9,000 of an estimated 15,000 fighters gave up their weapons.

U.N forces have raided three militia camps in the past month and killed up to 75 fighters.

Justice Plus charged that peacekeepers intentionally chose a busy market day to stage a March 1 assault, ensuring civilians were caught in hours-long crossfire between heavily armed militia and several hundred peacekeepers, the Bunia-based rights group said.
The raid killed up to 60 fighters, the United Nations has said.

Justice Plus said "the testimonies collected on the spot mention at least 60 persons killed, including several civilians, and many were injured."

It also charged that the raid near Loga, 20 miles north of Bunia, was in retaliation for a militia attack a week earlier in which nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers were slaughtered and their bodies mutilated.

The United Nations said the raid was not planned in revenge.

Spokesman Kemal Saiki said they chose a market day because that is when militia leaders come out to extort from merchants. "This is the day these guys do their rackets," he said.

Saiki said helicopters made two warning passes over the market to give civilians ample time to flee. Even after they were attacked, he said, peacekeepers did not immediately start shooting.

The United Nations said last month the firefight began when peacekeepers looking to dismantle a Lendu militia camp approached the target and were fired upon.
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Will UN worshippers, like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, condemn the role of UN forces in these civilian deaths?

NO

Will the mainstream media hold the UN accountable for the slaughter of civilians?

NO

Will the entire story be completely ignored or quickly passed over by liberal outlets, because it casts a dark shadow over the UN?

YES

Will Democrats continue to push for America to subject its national interest to the will of this corrupt organization?

YES