North Kivu, Ituri Lawmakers Boycott Parliamentary Session Over Killing Of 100 Civilians
Since the declaration of the state of siege on May 6, 2021, more than 1,150 civilians have been killed.
Members of Parliament from North Kivu and Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday, Nov. 18, boycotted a parliamentary session during which the state of siege in their provinces was extended for the 12th time.
Both North Kivu and Ituri provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been under a state of siege since May 6, 2021.
The lawmakers, in a statement, said they regret the fact that the government had not proposed any concrete action or sent out strong signals to assuage their preoccupations which they reiterated during exchanges with the Prime Minister, Sama Lukonde.
“In the night of 14 to 15 Nov., 2021, at least 22 civilians were killed in the village of Chabusiku, in the Tsere group of Bahema chiefdom in Irumu territory of Ituri,” they said in the statement issued on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
“In the night of 11 and 12 Nov. at least 70 civilians were massacred in the village of Kisunga in the chiefdom of Bashu, Beni territory in North Kivu province.”
“The Hospital Centre of Kisunga was completely burnt down during the course of this macabre incursion. From 3 to 9 Nov. at least 52 decomposing corpses were found in different villages of the Babila Bangolo within the Babila Babombi chiefdom of Mambasa territory in Ituri, without forgetting the other atrocities in the middle and upper plateau of Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira in South Kivu province.”
They revealed that since the declaration of the state of siege on May 6, 2021, more than 1,150 civilians have been killed in different attacks in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu.
Faced with this situation, the national parliamentarians of Ituri and North Kivu have reiterated with force, their pressing appeal to the government to urgently carry out the pertinent recommendations that they submitted with a view to rapidly restore peace in the two provinces under a state of siege.
The parliamentarians had proposed to the government, the harmonization of forces with neighbouring friendly countries with a view to combating the armed groups, especially the ADF operating in the provinces.
The parliamentarians from the two provinces were received on Wednesday evening at the African Union quarter to discuss security questions in the eastern part of the country.
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