U.N. Suspends Investigation of Alleged Congo Massacres

Secretary-General Kofi Annan suspended a human rights team’s investigation of alleged massacres in Congo on Thursday after authorities there seized a team member and his U.N. documents.

Annan didn’t withdraw the team outright, but was halting its work “in view of the serious nature of the circumstances” until a final decision was made, U.N. spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt said.

The 20 members of the U.N. team have been trying to investigate allegations that President Laurent Kabila’s Tutsi forces massacred thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees during his seven-month rebellion in the Central African country formerly known as Zaire.

Kabila succeeded in toppling longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May and restored the country’s name to Congo.

This week’s detention of Christopher Harland of Canada was the most serious action to date against a member of the U.N. team, which has been delayed and blocked repeatedly by Kabila’s government.

Harland was detained Tuesday and released Wednesday. Annan specifically noted the seizure of Harland’s official U.N. documents in suspending the team’s work.

“There is no excuse for this flagrant breach of a government’s obligations,” said Mary Robinson, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, in a statement from Geneva.