DRC: after a killing perpetrated by a drunken soldier, civil society in Ituri demands action
FARDC soldiers in North Kivu, May 24, 2012. AFP / PHIL MOORE
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After a drunken soldier killed 8 people, three soldiers and five civilians, on Sunday in Ituri, civil society is concerned about the recurrence of cases of killings perpetrated by drunken soldiers or under a emotional shock.
An increasingly recurrent phenomenon since the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri were placed under a state of siege.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa
,
Pascal Mulegwa
On Sunday, the first victims of the drunken soldier were his comrades in arms.
He first opened fire on his unit leader, a lieutenant-colonel, before neutralizing his two guards.
The civilians killed were on board a goods truck, according to Dieudonné Losa, the civil society coordinator in Ituri.
The facts took place in Bambu, a locality more than 40 kilometers from Bunia,
capital of Ituri.
“
The vehicle wanted to turn around.
It was a truck, the driver was hit, the passengers too.
It hurts.
We cannot imagine the death of a single person more, not especially on the part of the Fardc which is a regular army.
What is true is that there are more and more deaths of men where the hand of the Fardc is felt.
Not long ago, another Fardc element in Mungwalu killed a woman and her husband.
It is a desolation for us
”, explains the coordinator.
Location of Bambu, in Ituri.
© RFI
“
We strongly condemn this case”
The murderer was then neutralized by another comrade in arms.
Several other people were injured.
The politico-military authorities of the province are reassembled, especially since this is not the first case since
the establishment of the state of siege
in this area almost a year ago.
Sunday's shooting is an isolated case of indiscipline, said Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, military spokesman in Ituri.
“
We strongly condemn this case.
This case cannot undermine military discipline within the units engaged in the field of operations
, ”explains the spokesperson.
The military hierarchy has decided to deploy its civic and patriotic education service, to "
revitalize discipline
" within its units.
Long before the state of siege and outside these two provinces, a drunken soldier in July 2020 single-handedly killed 14 civilians
in Sange, South Kivu
.
Judged by a court, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Request for reforms
The army finds itself again at the center of the debates with this massacre.
With a new parliamentary session underway and a defense bill due soon, many are calling for significant action within the Congolese forces.
Faced with the phenomenon, Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji, national coordinator of the Network for the reform of the security and justice sector, calls for action.
The soldiers who are at the front experience a certain number of atrocities which can lead to certain traumas.
(…) These are very worrying questions which lead us to challenge our authorities and to give priority to the reform of the security sector.
(…) The concern for us is to have a reform that begins to put the military itself at the center of concerns in terms of improving its living conditions and in terms of strengthening its intervention capacities to to earn the public's trust.
Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji, national coordinator of the network for the reform of the security and justice sector
Sebastien Nemeth
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