DR Congo: No Word on Missing UN Team
| Publisher | Human Rights Watch |
| Publication Date | 25 March 2017 |
| Cite as | Human Rights Watch, DR Congo: No Word on Missing UN Team, 25 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58d91fbf4.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Democratic Republic of Congo government should fully cooperate with United Nations efforts to locate a UN Group of Experts team that has been missing since March 12, 2017, in Kasai Central province, Human Rights Watch said today.
Those missing are Michael Sharp, an American; Zaida Catalán, a Swede; Betu Tshintela, a Congolese interpreter; Isaac Kabuayi, a driver; and two unidentified motorbike drivers. They were investigating widespread human rights abuses near the remote village of Bunkonde, south of the provincial capital, Kananga.
"We are extremely worried about the missing UN team," said Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The Congolese government should cooperate fully with the UN and other international investigators to do all they can to bring the team back safely."
On March 13, the Congolese government announced that Sharp and Catalán had "fallen into the hands of unidentified negative forces," but has provided no additional information.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, deployed Uruguayan peacekeepers and Tanzanian special forces on a search and rescue operation for the missing people. These efforts have suffered from a lack of cooperation from the Congolese government.
On March 18, MONUSCO expressed "serious concern over restrictions placed on its freedom of movement by security forces in Kananga," which "restrict the ability of the Mission to exercise its mandate."
This is the first time that UN experts have been reported missing in Congo, Human Rights Watch said. It is also the first recorded disappearance or abduction of international workers in the Kasai provinces, a region that until recently had been largely peaceful, unlike eastern Congo, which has long been embattled by dozens of armed groups.
