Democratic Republic of the Congo

Peacekeepers from the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were conducting extensive patrols in the east of the country on Tuesday, one day after demonstrators set fire to buildings to protest lack of civilian protection in the face of attacks by armed groups.

More than one-third of the United Nation’s Ebola responders in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni were relocated Tuesday amid growing insecurity in the area, while the other responders remained to help combat the deadly outbreak.

The court, in the eastern city of Bukavu, also found Congo's government liable for failing to protect victims of the Raia Mutomboki militia and ordered it to pay compensation to more than 300 victims.

The UN refugee agency reports hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces are living in abject poverty and subject to mass human rights violations.

The International Criminal Court sentenced former Congolese military leader Bosco Ntaganda on Thursday to 30 years in prison for atrocities including murder, rape and conscripting child soldiers. Ntaganda, 46, was found guilty in July on 18 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for acts committed when he was military chief of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-2003.

Armed forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo said an offensive against rebel groups in the country's east has been launched while efforts continue to contain a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus. … An estimated 160 rebel groups with a total of more than 20,000 fighters are still active in the DRC's east.

Months of unrelenting militia attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are driving more people from their homes, adding to the millions already displaced and threatening to spread insecurity elsewhere in Africa's Great Lakes region, observers warn.

The UN on Friday ruled out giving any support to countries neighbouring DR Congo if they intervene militarily in the east of the country, which is plagued by militia violence. The prospect of joint military intervention by DR Congo and its neighbours has surfaced in the light of a meeting of senior military officials from five Great Lakes nations.

Recent positive trends could help transform the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into a stable country, the head of the UN operation there told the Security Council on Wednesday. … “Regional diplomatic initiatives have been rolled out, a coalition government has been put in place with an ambitious programme of action which is intended to stabilize the country, improve governance of the country and boost the level of economic development of the DRC,” she said, speaking via videoconference from the United Kingdom.