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VII. Human Rights Abuses in the Durba Gold Mines and Trade Routes

The control of Durba and adjacent gold-rich areas in Haut Uélé District, about 150 kilometers north of Mongbwalu, was contested during the war years by the three rebel movements mentioned above, RCD-ML, RCD-National and the MLC. This region was not torn by the kind of ethnic massacres and other killings that devastated Ituri, but contending forces committed serious abuses against the local people.270


An open-pit mine in the gold town of Durba in Haute Uele district.  Durba is a major gold center in northeastern Congo.  Gold from Durba is traded through the market town of Ariwara, on the border with Uganda, controlled by Commander Jerome’s FAPC who use the proceeds to support their military operations.  © 2004 Marcus Bleasdale


Although local administrators were present in Aru, the effective force in the area since 2003 has been a local armed group, the People’s Armed Forces of Congo (FAPC), under Commander Jérôme Kakwavu. According to residents of Durba, Aru, and Ariwara, Commander Jérôme’s troops committed more serious abuses than other armed forces that operated in the area. As one witness said, “Jérôme’s reign was the worst.  Who could stop Jérôme?  He would just kill you.  Even the civil authorities could do nothing.”271

As mentioned above, Commander Jérôme was originally part of the RCD-ML and in control of Durba until September 2002 when a coalition of RCD-National and MLC forces drove him out. He retreated to the nearby towns of Aru and Ariwara where he retained control over the border posts and benefited from duties charged on trade, especially on gold. In September 2002 he moved south to support the UPC in taking Mongbwalu, subsequently broke with them, and founded his own militia, the FAPC. Although based in Aru, the FAPC then allied with the FNI and shared control of Mongbwalu after March 2003. The FAPC and the FNI also shared control of gold-producing areas nearer Aru and Ariwara until mid-2004 when they fought each other for mines at Djalasiga. At that time, the FAPC broke with the FNI and renewed its alliance with the UPC.

Throughout Commander Jérôme’s frequent changes of alliances, the one constant has been his support from Uganda. They assisted him in establishing the FAPC (see above) and, according to a later MONUC investigation, left him weapons when they withdrew in 2002.272 A U.N. group of experts investigating violations to the arms embargo in eastern DRC reported in January 2005 that Uganda continued to provide weapons and ammunition to the FAPC throughout 2003 and 2004 some of which came from the UPDF military camp in Arua, just across the border from Aru in the DRC.273    Although they knew about Commander Jérôme’s human rights abuses, Ugandan soldiers supported him at least once (see below) in keeping command of the FAPC, reportedly to be sure that the gold trade and other resources remained in the hands of an ally. According to the U.N. group of experts and local sources, Ugandan soldiers again entered Congo in 2004 to support the FAPC in its fight for Djalasiga and supplied the FAPC ammunition for the battle.274

And throughout his various operations, a primary objective for Commander Jérôme has been obtaining gold. As a combatant in the RCD-ML force in August 12, 2004, Commander Jérôme wrote to OKIMO officials, saying: “From now on the army will take 60 percent of the production of Moto-Doko [gold mines] to finance its operations.”275  The following day eight combatants, led by Commander Jérôme’s second-in-command, Commander Guy Kolongo, looted 285 grams of gold from the OKIMO safe.276

Summary Executions by Commander Jérôme, 2002-2004

Human Rights Watch researchers documented five public summary executions of combatants or soldiers ordered by Commander Jérôme and carried out in his presence.  In each case there was no investigation or trial, and in some cases the public was asked to judge the fate of the accused.  

In one such case, a young combatant named Atibho was publicly executed on December 29, 2003 for having thrown a grenade, killing three people and injuring some fifty others in the central market place in Ariwara.  According to witnesses, Commander Jérôme asked persons hospitalized with injuries from the attack what should be done with the Atibho.  Several responded that he should not be killed as “they thought enough blood had been spilled already.”277  Commander Jérôme then brought the soldier to the center of town in Ariwara and asked the population what should be his fate.  According to a witness, some of Commander Jérôme’s own guard said he should be spared. The witness said,

Jérôme then said to some of his guards, “Those who said no should be whipped.”  They took out three soldiers and whipped them.. . . Then Jérôme asked the crowd again what he should do.  They said to kill the soldier. . . .Jérôme pushed him from the truck and said, “Execute him.”  One of the bodyguards then shot him in his upper back.  He wasn’t dead yet and then he shot him again in the back of his head.  The soldiers then threw the body into the truck and drove away.  His mother was there.278

According to Ariwara residents, Commander Jérôme on January 17, 2004 also asked a large public crowd to judge the fate of a combatant accused of killing motorbike taxi driver Claude Kiombe. A witness said that after the crowd called for his execution, Commander Jérôme then gave the order to kill him. “Jérôme was present throughout,” said a witness, “as were Major Theo, Commander Salumu, Captain Mutumbo and others.”279

Commander Jérôme also carried out public executions in Durba when he was in control of the 5th operational zone for the RCD-ML.  Among those so executed was a soldier called Masumboko executed in May 2002 on charges of rape and murder.280

In these cases and others documented by Human Rights Watch researchers, there were no investigations, trial procedures, or independent judgments.  Commander Jérôme was the sole arbiter of the law and, in ordering these men executed, he committed war crimes.

In an interview with Human Rights Watch researchers, Commander Jérôme said that the FAPC had a military tribunal with lawyers and judges but was unclear if it had authority to impose the death penalty. He claimed that he needed to carry out executions in order to maintain law and order.  He said, “We are in a time of war.  We are still rebels.  We are here to satisfy the population.  We need popular measures to maintain discipline.”281  Local residents, however, fear Commander Jérôme.  As one said, “There is no one to appeal to.  It is Commander Jérôme who controls everything. Civilians have no rights here at all.  The population really suffers.”282

Executing and Torturing Supposed Political Opponents

Commander Jérôme and his troops detained, beat, and killed combatants and civilians who were perceived to support Commander Jérôme’s rivals for power. In Durba in 2002 Commander Jérôme sought out persons who had been close to his predecessor and rival Colonel Monga, including a civilian named Anygobe who was killed by Commander Jérôme’s combatants in mid-2002.  Witnesses close to his home reported hearing him scream as he was taken away. His mother hoped to buy his release with two goats, but failed and Anygobe was reportedly shot the next morning and his body was dumped in an old latrine at the military camp.283

Commander Jérôme also sought out civilians accused of spying.  In early June 2002 Kamile Leta, aged 25, was arrested along with two women in Tora, a town outside Durba, accused of spying for Commander Jérôme’s enemies.   According to witnesses, Mr. Leta was taken from his cell on June 12, 2002 to see Commander Jérôme.  Shortly thereafter a guard took him behind the building, stabbed him numerous times, and left him for dead in a pit with other decomposing bodies.  Still alive, the victim crawled out of the pit and sought help from persons who took him to the hospital in Watsa.  A witness reported that he saw Mr. Leta with multiple stab wounds and covered with maggots.284  Hospital records show the victim arrived at 19:30 on June 13, 2002 with “multiple wounds on the neck and body from stabbing by the military.”285 

According to witnesses at the hospital, the territorial administrator arrived with the police commander and combatants loyal to Commander Jérôme led byCommander Banda Yowa Likimba, known as Jaguar.  Commander Jaguar, who appeared to one witness very angry, demanded to see Mr. Leta. The witness said,

We were obliged to get him.  Commander Jaguar said they would treat him themselves.  They demanded a stretcher.  They tied his hands.  They made him lie down on the stretcher and then they covered his body and his face with a sheet.  The victim was crying and said he was innocent, that he had done nothing wrong.  They took him.

About one hour later, the police commander came by and told us that the man was no longer alive.  He told us Jaguar had asked the prisoners to dig a grave.  He said Jaguar had said that since the man would not die by the knife he would now die his own way.  He kicked the man into the grave they had dug and then threw the first shovel of dirt on him.  They buried him alive.  It was in the yard of Commander Jaguar’s house.  The police commander was there throughout and he told me all this.  [Commander] Jérôme gave the order that the victim be killed in the first place. 

For two months the hospital was almost empty.  People were too scared to come for treatment after that.286  

Outright opposition to Commander Jérôme was rare, but combatants led by Raymond Isala sought to oust him and take control of the FAPC on May 22, 2003 while Commander Jérôme was across the border in Uganda.  They failed when Ugandan forces based in Arua287 crossed into Congo at the Vura border point and helped forces loyal to Commander Jérôme defeat the mutineers.288  Later that day Ugandan soldiers helped Commander Jérôme’s FAPC arrest Congolese believed to have been involved in the mutiny attempt who had fled into Uganda. Among those arrested were Jacques Nobirabo, Paul Avoci, Leti Leopold Apo, Commander Idrise Bobale and two of his bodyguards, some of whom were detained in the Ugandan military barracks in Arua. According to witnesses, Commander Jérôme and officers loyal to him killed other mutineers in Aru, including Commander Mboio, Commander Kato, Commander Rasta and others.289  The leader of the mutiny, Raymond Isala, fled.

Several days later, Ugandan Major Besisira handed over to Commander Jérôme refugees captured in Uganda, an action that violates international conventions regarding refugees.290   In some cases, the persons were delivered in a clandestine fashion, suggesting the Ugandan soldiers may have wished to avoid responsibility for having delivered them.  To further distance themselves from the eventual fate of those handed over, some Ugandan soldiers asked the FAPC not to harm the detainees and required them to sign a document promising not to harm them.291  According to witnesses, many of those handed over to Commander Jérôme were tortured and some were reportedly killed, including the cases described below.  A U.N. inquiry on Ituri reported credible testimony that Major Besisira was paid by Commander Jérôme for various services, including delivering to him FAPC combatants who had fled to Uganda. Some of these persons were reportedly later executed in Aru.292

A detainee delivered by Ugandan soldiers to Commander Jérôme on June 7, 2003 at the Ugandan military barracks in Arua said that he was returned that night with others to the military camp in Aru. He said,

The next day we were taken out and five soldiers told us we had to dig our own graves.  All of us went out and we started to dig a big hole about two meters deep.  Commander Idrise was very weak. [Commander] Jérôme came and started to threaten him and us.   He said we were under his control.  He said he would make us suffer till we died. He ordered that Idrise be beaten.  First they stripped him and then put him face down on the ground.  Some soldiers held his feet and arms while another sat on his head.  Then they beat him five hundred times with whips made from ropes and branches.  After finishing with Idrise they took [another prisoner] and pushed him with their guns.  They stripped him and then ordered he be given one hundred strokes.  They also sat on his head and held him down.  Then it was my turn and the same thing happened. Throughout all this time Jérôme was there and watched.   Then he gave the order not to give us water or food. We spent four days like that in container with nothing.  We really suffered.293

The Ugandan Major Besisira intervened on June 12 and took several of the detainees back to Uganda. After keeping them for several days, he released them, warning them to speak to no one, especially not to journalists.294  At least one of those originally detained in Uganda, Leti Leopold Apo, was supposedly executed.  Commander Idrise, suffering from diabetes and hypertension, remained in detention in Aru in very poor health until December 2004.295 

After the attempted mutiny, Commander Jérôme continued to hunt down any political opposition in the area under his control. Beginning on January 7, 2004 Commander Jérôme detained and himself interrogated persons suspected of opposing his leadership, seeking to learn the names of others who might have participated in the attempted mutiny in May, 2003.296 Detainees were beaten, sometimes twice a day, for over a week and were forced to do labour including cleaning and digging toilets.  Some of the civilians were later released.297

Arbitrary Detention and Torture 

As determined to ensure his economic dominance as his political power, Commander Jérôme authorized and carried out arbitrary detention and torture of gold traders in order to assure his own control and that of his business colleague, Mr. Omar Oria, over the lucrative trade. In one case, the ill-treatment of a victim resulted in his death.

Mr. Oria, a Ugandan citizen, is one of the largest gold traders in the area, buying gold from Durba and selling it to traders in Kampala (see below).298  According to several witnesses, Mr. Oria and Commander Jérôme had a close business relationship and Mr. Oria provided assistance, including financial assistance, to the FAPC.299  Mr. Oria told a Human Rights Watch researcher that he was not involved in politics, but that he was a contractor for Commander Jérôme and was building a hotel for him in Ariwara.300 Human Rights Watch researchers documented a number of cases of arbitrary detention and torture involving Commander Jérôme and Mr. Oria, including those described below.

On June 17, 2003 Mr. Oria and some of his employees including Likambo Lumaya, abducted Floribert301, a gold dealer whom they accused of cheating Commander Jérôme by selling him ore that was not gold. They beat Floribert with sticks, kept him overnight, and the next day took him to Commander Jérôme in Aru who, according to Floribert, “judged” him. Floribert said,

Jérôme gave the order for me to be whipped five hundred times.  [The soldiers] tied me to a tree with a rope like those use for goats.  I had my arms around the tree, facing it.  They beat me five hundred times. There were lots of military hitting me, two on the left, two on the right.  They used ropes. Jérôme and Oria were there throughout. Jérôme was sitting in a chair.302 

Floribert was then kept for three days in a shipping container, used as a place of detention, with six combatants and three other civilians. Mr. Oria arranged for his release, Floribert believes, but the next day demanded that he pay him $2,480.  “He said if I didn’t pay him the money, he would send me back to Aru,” said Floribert. “I couldn’t say anything as he was much stronger than me.” Floribert sold his home and bicycle to be able to pay the money demanded, although he saw this as extortion. He claims that the gold was good quality and that he considered taking them to justice. He said, “I thought about bringing a complaint against them but I don’t think it is possible.  How could I accuse them?  They are stronger.”303

In a similar case, Mr. Oria and his employee Likambo Lumaya abducted Lipanda Lumeri on September 28, 2003, accusing him of having stolen fifty-four grams of gold. They drove him to Commander Jérôme’s residence, a hotel named Don de Dieu, in Ariwara where Commander Jérôme, surrounded by seventeen combatants, threatened to kill Lipanda and pointed his revolver at him. At Commander Jérôme’s order, his combatants undressed him and tied his arms and legs together behind his back. They threw him in Commander Jérôme’s vehicle and took him to Angarakali, the FAPC military camp.  Lipanda said,

They [six combatants] threw me onto the ground and whipped me three hundred times, from the back down to the buttocks.  They made me count.  They whipped me with small pieces of wood. . . . Each had a stick and they were beating me at the same time. It lasted about forty-five minutes or an hour.304

Lipanda was then confined in a hole in the ground with twelve combatants and another civilian, all of whom had been beaten. He was taken out and beaten again at midnight that night and twice a day for the next four days. According to his count, he was struck at least 1,300 times. During his ill-treatment, he was urinating and excreting blood.  Lipanda said that he was told repeatedly to return the stolen gold or pay for it. He said,

I told them I didn’t have the gold or the money.  They said the gold was for Commander Jérôme and he needed money to build his house.  They said if I didn’t give the money, Jérôme would give the order for me to be killed. 

On the fifth day Jérôme came with his officers to the prison . . . and pointed his gun at me.  He said:  “Since the first day, I said I would kill you.  I don’t joke.  Today it’s the end of your life.” They made me get out of the hole and lie down. Jérôme loaded his revolver and put it to the back of my neck.305

The first revolver misfired several times, so Commander Jérôme took another weapon and shot Lipanda twice in the left hand and then twice in the right hand.  Lipanda was put back in the prison.306  Upon his release, Lipanda went to the hospital in Ariwara where the doctor said that the bones in his hands had been fractured by the bullets.307  Lipanda claimed that the missing gold had been taken by one of Mr. Oria’s employees and said he intended to file a criminal complaint against Commander Jérôme, Omar Oria and Likambo Lumaya.308  

Tolerating Abuses by Business Allies

Commander Jérôme, the most powerful person in the area, tolerated the abduction and beating of a Mr. Kokole on orders of Mr. Oria in January 2004. Mr. Kokole died of his injuries the same day.309 Commander Jérôme’s combatants protected Mr. Oria from Kokole’s family and others who demanded his arrest and escorted him to safety at the Ugandan border. 

Mr. Oria abducted Mr. Kokole in Ingbokolo and took him back to his own home where had Mr. Kokole beaten in an effort to recover $19,000 owed to him by the victim. A witness saw Kokole, dressed only in his underwear and with signs of having been badly beaten, at Oria’s house the day of his death. Kokole’s head and arms were swollen, his back showed a large wound, and there was blood visible. According to the witness, Mr. Oria and others to whom Kokole owed money were present, all trying to get him to say where he had hidden the money owed to them.  Kokole was so badly injured that he could not sit upright. At about 3p.m. five FAPC combatants arrived, one officer and his bodyguards. According to the witness, “The officer pointed a gun at him and said:  ‘If you don’t give us the money, I’ll kill you.’” When Kokole replied that the money was in Ingbokolo, the combatants threw him in a black Suzuki truck that belongs to Oria. Kokole was taken away in the truck, with the combatants accompanying it in their own vehicle. Some two hours later, the combatants delivered Kokole to the hospital.310

An agent of the Congolese government administration was present at the hospital when Kokole was brought there, about thirty minutes before he died. He said,

He [Kokole] had wounds to the chest and side of his head as if he had been hit with a hammer.  I went to Oria and asked him why he had done it.  Oria said he owed him money.   He did not deny that Kokole had been at his house.  Oria killed Kokole.311 

According to witnesses, some of Mr. Kokole’s family and others assembled in a threatening way at Mr. Oria’s house. FAPC combatants who were there fired in the air to protect Oria and escorted him to the Ugandan border so he could make his escape.312

Mr. Oria admitted to a Human Rights Watch researcher that Mr. Kokole had owed him money, that he had brought him from Ingbokolo to his own house and that he had been present when Mr. Kokole was beaten.  He denied having struck Mr. Kokole himself, saying, “I did not use my two hands to hit anyone. I did not.”313  He said he had been interrogated by Congolese police who came to Arua in Uganda to interview him, but the case has now been dropped because he had reached an arrangement with Mr. Kokole’s family, agreeing to erase his debt and to build the family a warehouse in Ariwara to provide them with income in the future.314

Commander Jérôme told Human Rights Watch researchers that another person responsible for the killing had himself died soon afterwards and hence the case was closed.315   No further investigations or arrests have been carried out for this or other cases of arbitrary arrest and torture. When Human Rights Watch researchers discussed these and other cases with Commander Jérôme, he denied that such abuses took place saying, “There is no torture here. We don’t torture people. This is wrong and ultra wrong.” (“La torture n’existe pas. On ne torture pas les gens.  C’est faux et archi-faux.’)316

Djalasiga: Continued Conflict over Gold Mines

Ugandan support to the FAPC, important at its founding and since, not only helped Commander Jérôme contend with a mutiny but more recently assisted FAPC forces in fighting to control Djalasiga and surrounding areas, part of Concession 39 of OKIMO’s reserves and home to the gold mines of Zani.317 

FNI forces and Commander Jérôme’s FAPC forces had worked together since the establishment of the FAPC in early 2003. The two agreed not to attack each other, to carry out joint patrols in areas that shared a common boundary, and to split tax and customs receipts on trade between their areas of control.  But in mid-2004 the FAPC National Secretary of Mines, Pierre Nzia, signed a contract with a Ugandan-based company to mine gold in the Zani river in Djalasiga. Once operations were launched, it was critical for the FAPC to retain control over the Zani area and they appointed administrators there.318 Soon after, there were allegations that Lendu in the area were being mistreated. 

In June 2004 FNI and the FAPC forces began fighting one another and control of Djalasiga changed hands frequently over the following months.  Tens of thousands of civilians fled their homes.319 In one counter-attack a number of senior FAPC combatants were killed and heavy weapons, including rockets and mortars, lost to attacking FNI forces.320  Commander Jérôme later admitted to a U.N. group of experts investigating violations of the arms embargo that the weapons lost had been those supplied to him by Uganda.321   In early July FAPC combatants arrested two local Lendu civilians in Aru and accused them of spying. The Lendu were summarily executed a few days later on the order of Commander Ali Mbuyi Gatanazi, whose younger brother was killed in the fighting.322 


Artisanal miners transporting tubs of raw ore mixed with dirt out of an open-pit gold mine in Durba.  Mining in open-pit mines, some as deep as 300 meters, can be precarious with frequent mud-slides and falls.  © 2004 Marcus Bleasdale


Faced with losses to the Lendu, Commander Jérôme requested assistance from Uganda.  Numerous witnesses reported seeing Ugandan soldiers arriving to assist FAPC forces.323  In one incident, Ugandan Colonel Peter Karim324 held a public meeting in the Kud’i Koka market area in Congo to support the FAPC.  He reportedly provided ammunition to Commander Jérôme to assist in the war effort.325   In a later incident on November 7, 2004 a shipment of weapons from Uganda intended for the FAPC fell into the hands of the FNI.  The U.N. group of experts investigating breaches to the arms embargo reported the captured truck contained mortars, rocket propelled grenade launchers, arms and other ammunition.326

Thomas Lubanga’s UPC forces also helped the FAPC against the FNI.  According to local sources, Commander Jérôme’s FAPC and Lubanga’s UPC negotiated a new agreement during July and September 2004, with Commander Ali representing the FAPC. In early September 2004 the two former enemies reached an agreement that included a division of control over gold mining areas as a key component.327  FAPC forces also reportedly received assistance from SPLA troops operating to the north in the DRC-Sudan border areas.328

The control of the gold in Djalasiga was one of the main causes of the conflict.  An FNI representative told a Human Rights Watch researcher that there had been dissatisfaction between the two groups and “that the FAPC wanted all the gold and the money for themselves.” “This”, he said, “created the conflict.”329 A MONUC official who sought to mediate the dispute said that although the parties refused to say why they were fighting, it was clear from the discussions that they were fighting over control of gold and other money flows.330

Local sources claimed numerous civilians were killed during the fighting over Djalasiga.331 Due to continued insecurity in the area, Human Rights Watch researchers have thus far been unable to document the human rights abuses committed.




[270] Human Rights Watch interviews, Durba and Watsa, May 10 – 14, 2004 and also interviews in Aru and Ariwara, March 6 – 7, 2004.

[271] Human Rights Watch interview, Watsa, May 12, 2004.

[272] U.N. internal report on the investigation into the plane seizure in Beni, July 25, 2003.

[273] Ibid., Report of the Group of Experts on the U.N. Arms Embargo, January 25, 2005, pages 31 – 34.

[274] Human Rights watch interviews, Bunia, October 7 – 9, 2004.  See also Report of the Group of Experts on the U.N. Arms Embargo, January 25, 2005, para 135.

[275] Letter from Commander Jérôme Kakwavu Bukande, Commander of the 5th Operational Zone to the Director of OKIMO based in Doko-Durba, No. 105/APC/EM-5 ZOPS/COMDT/2002, Watsa, August 12, 2002.

[276] OKIMO internal document, “Process Verbal De Constat Au Coffre Au Labo Durba”, signed by all present, August 13, 2002.  Document on file at Human Rights Watch.

[277] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 7, 2004.

[278] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 8, 2004.

[279] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 7, 2004.

[280] Human Rights Watch interview, Durba, May 13, 2004.

[281] Human Rights Watch interview, Commander Jérôme Kakwavu Bukande, Aru, March 8, 2004.

[282] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 6, 2004.

[283] Human Rights Watch interview, Watsa, May 12, 2004.

[284] Human Rights Watch interview, Watsa, May 12, 2004.

[285] Watsa Hospital Admittance Records for patient Kamile Leta, aged 25 from Tora.  According to hospital records the patient was admitted to the hospital on June 13 and left hospital on June 14, 2002, signed by attending doctor.  Hospital records seen by Human Rights Watch on May 13, 2004.

[286] Human Rights Watch interview, Watsa, May 12, 2004.

[287] Arua is in Uganda just opposite the Congolese town of Aru across the border.

[288] Human Rights Watch interviews, Kampala, March 10, 2004; Mongbwalu, May 4, 2004; Aru, March 8, 2004.  See also U.N. Security Council, “Special Report on the Events in Ituri”, July 2004, p. 39.

[289] Human Rights Watch interview, Mongbwalu, May 4, 2004.

[290] Human Rights watch interview, Kampala, March 10, 2004.

[291] Ibid.

[292] U.N. Security Council, Special Report on the Events in Ituri, July 2004, p. 39.

[293] Human Rights Watch interview, Kampala, March 10, 2004.

[294] Human Rights Watch interview, Kampala, March 10, 2004.

[295] Human Rights Watch interview, Bunia, December 1, 2004.

[296] Human Rights Watch interview, Aru, March 8, 2004.

[297] Ibid.

[298] Human Rights Watch interviews, Ariwara, March 6 - 8, 2004 and gold traders in Kampala, July 7 and 8, 2004.  Representatives from Machanga Ltd, a gold exporting business in Kampala, stated they bought gold from Mr. Oria.

[299] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 7, 2004.

[300] Human Rights Watch interview, Omar Oria, Kampala, March 10, 2004.

[301] The name of the victim has been changed for his protection.

[302] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 7, 2004.

[303] Ibid.

[304] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 6, 2004.

[305] Ibid.

[306] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 6, 2004.

[307] Ibid.

[308] Ibid.

[309] Human Rights Watch interviews, Ariwara, March 6 and 7, 2004. 

[310] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 6, 2004.

[311] Human Rights Watch interview, Ariwara, March 7, 2004.

[312] Ibid.

[313] Human Rights Watch interview, Omar Oria, Kampala, March 10, 2004.

[314] Ibid.

[315] Human Rights Watch interview, Commander Jérôme Kakwavu Bukande, Aru, March 8, 2004.

[316] Ibid.

[317] Human Rights Watch interviews, Bunia, October 7, 2004 and by telephone to Ariwara, October 10, 2004.

[318] Ibid.

[319] Human Rights Watch interview, OCHA official, Kinshasa, October 2004.

[320] Ibid., Report of the Group of Experts on the U.N. Arms Embargo, January 25, 2005, para 135.

[321] Ibid., para 135.

[322] Human Rights Watch interview, Bunia, October 9, 2004.

[323] Human Rights Watch interviews, Bunia, October 7 and 9, 2004 and by telephone to Ariwara, October 10, 2004.  See also Report of the Group of Experts on the U.N. Arms Embargo, January 25, 2005, para 135.

[324] Ugandan UPDF Commander Peter Karim is also mentioned in Ibid., Human Rights Watch, “Ituri: Covered in Blood”, and in the report from Judge Porter, Ibid., Porter Commission report.

[325] Human Rights Watch interview, FNI official, Bunia, October 10, 2004.

[326] Ibid., Report of the Group of Experts on the U.N. Arms Embargo, January 25, 2005, para 136.

[327] Human Rights Watch interviews, Bunia, October 7 and 9, 2004 and by telephone to Ariwara, October 10, 2004.

[328] Ibid.

[329] Human Rights Watch interview, FNI official, Bunia, October 10, 2004.

[330] Human Rights Watch interview, MONUC political officer, Bunia, October 8, 2004.

[331] Human Rights Watch interviews by telephone to Ariwara, October 10, 2004.


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