Garreton seeks help for Tutsis

The international community should take action to help ethnic Tutsis deprived of their liberty in Kinshasa and other areas of the DRC, Roberto Garreton, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the DRC, told IRIN today (Thursday). “Western countries should assist these people, including looking at the possibility of taking them in at least for a certain period, and the government should facilitate their departure, including issuing them with identity documents,” Garreton said from Geneva after his return from the DRC. He visited Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma during his week-long mission that ended on Tuesday. Between 1,000 and 2,000 Tutsis are estimated to be “deprived of their liberty” in the country, he said. Although the government says the Tutsis are being held for their own protection, the rebels charge that they are being detained or held hostage by the government, he said. The strong pressure exerted by the international community against incitement to ethnic hatred since the start of the conflict had had some effect, but more needed to be done to curb anti-Tutsi public sentiment, Garreton said.