Rights violations ignored in DRC

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The global community isn't doing enough to bring justice to those accused of rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a rights group said.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights last October published a so-called mapping report that highlighted wide-ranging human rights abuses in DRC.

Human Rights Watch said that while the DRC government has taken key steps to investigate atrocities, the international community hasn't done enough to follow up on the U.N. report.

"With the best will in the world, the Congolese government cannot deal with the legacy of the country's massive abuses alone," Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "The crimes committed in Congo involved border-crossing perpetrators, placing responsibilities on many governments to ensure that justice is done."

The mapping report detailed human rights violations in the DRC from 1992-2003, detailing more than 600 incidents of violations of international law.

Last month, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, expressed concern after hundreds of prisoners escaped from prison, including a former leader of the Mai Mai militia, a rebel group suspected of playing a role in widespread sexual violence in the country.

Five humanitarian workers were among those killed in attacks last week in the DRC.