Report: Congo police targeted gangs, executed 51

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A crackdown on organized gangs in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the execution of dozens by police, Human Rights Watch said.

A report Monday by the human rights advocacy group, based in New York, said up to 51 people were executed and 33 others disappeared in "Operation Likofi," a four-month anticrime campaign in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, in 2013.

The 57-page report claims police, typically masked, dragged suspected gang members from their homes and executed them in marketplaces or open fields, without warrants or trials.

"Operation Likofi was a brutal police campaign that left a trail of cold-blooded murders in the Congolese capital," wrote Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in the report. "Fighting crime by committing crime does not build the rule of law but only reinforces a climate of fear. The Congolese authorities should investigate the killings, starting with the commander in charge of the operation, and bring to justice those responsible."

Congo President Joseph Kabila demanded the removal of gangs from Kinshasa in 2013 after complaints about violence.

The report could cause tensions between the poverty-stricken but mineral-rich country and its Western donors. The United States has provided over $181 million in humanitarian aid to the country in 2014, and the United Nations' largest peacekeeping force, of about 20,000 troops, maintain security in the Democratic Republic of Congo.