UN rights chief slams Congo government, rebels

Congolese soldiers and rebel forces must be held accountable for killing and raping civilians in the east of the country, the U.N.'s top human rights official said Friday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said it was time to face up to the truth that the army and police were among the perpetrators of violence in the region.

"The prevailing culture of impunity contributes to this wide range of serious human rights violations," Pillay said at the start of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Pillay cited one case in which a 13-year-old girl reportedly died after being viciously raped by Congolese soldiers inside a refugee camp. Some 250,000 people have been forced to seek shelter in refugee camps since rebels launched an offensive in August.

Pillay said the main rebel group CNDP, led by warlord Laurent Nkunda, was reported to be summarily executing government supporters.

"The periodic cycles of bloodshed and destruction that have for so long affected (Congo) will keep recurring unless the perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice," she told the 47-nation council.

She added that the root causes of the violence needed to be addressed to achieve permanent peace, including stopping the illegal extraction of Congo's valuable natural resources.

Congo's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva acknowledged that human rights violations are taking place in the east, but he blamed them on rebel groups.

Roger Julien Menga complained that the council's special session had been imposed on his country with haste, and said two senior government officials who were due to take part in the meeting were denied entrance visas to Switzerland.

Switzerland said the documents were provided on time.

The rights council is considering a resolution condemning the abuse of civilians in the conflict, but it is unlikely to be as strongly worded as the statement delivered by Pillay.

The council is dominated by African and Asian countries that have resisted passing judgment on fellow developing nations while supporting several resolutions critical of Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories.

The United States, which is not a member of the council but can speak during debates, recently scaled down its participation to signal its dissatisfaction with what it considers a one-sided approach taken by the Geneva-based body.