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AFP
Democratic Republic of Congo security forces killed at least 33 people among other "serious human rights violations" during November 2011 elections, a United Nations report said Tuesday.
The damning report further tainted the November 28 polls that returned President Joseph Kabila and his party to power and were criticised by the opposition and election monitors as fraudulent.
Between November 26 and December 25, security forces also wounded at least 83 people, "mostly by bullets, and at least 16 people remain unaccounted for", the UN Joint Human Rights Office said in a report documenting the violations.
Twenty-two of those killed were shot by defence and security forces, but the toll could be much higher, said the UN, noting its investigators were unable to confirm several allegations.
"We have heard multiple accounts of Republican Guards shooting live ammunition into crowds and of the torture of arbitrarily detained individuals," said Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"The authorities must ensure that such grave violations of human rights are investigated, perpetrators brought to justice and that those who remain illegally detained are released without delay," she added.
The UN report cited a case on election day of forces in a military vehicle opening fire on a group of opposition supporters celebrating rumours of a strong showing by their champion.
"Some of the occupants of the vehicle... fired at point-blank range at two of them. One of them was shot in the chest and died before reaching the hospital," the report said.
It also related the case of a woman who was shot in the back by police chasing demonstrators who had found refuge in her backyard after their protest was broken up.
The report said several bodies were also found floating in the river in November and December, some of them beheaded, tied up or disemboweled, with bullet holes in their foreheads.
The UN probe did not include them in the tally because the victims could not be identified but it collected testimonies implicating uniformed men from the president's office.
The investigating team also said it had received credible information that several victims were buried in a mass grave by "men in military uniform and others wearing white coats".
The UN panel said that when its members went to the presumed burial site, access was denied by a dozen members of the Republican Guard.
The vast central Africa country held presidential and legislative elections on November 28 following a campaign marred by violence and claims by opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi of foul play.
Results for the presidential ballot were released in late December. Kabila has been in power since 2001.
The polls in the conflict-prone country were widely criticised as chaotic and riven with irregularities and Kabila's inauguration was largely snubbed by the international community.
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