U.N. - Congo rebels carried out campaign of rape, cannibalism

KINSHASA, Congo -- A U.N. inquiry confirmed systematic cannibalism, rape, torture and killing by rebels in a campaign of atrocities against civilians in the forests of northeast Congo, with children among the victims, U.N. authorities said Wednesday.

Accused rebel groups include the Congolese Liberation Movement of Jean-Pierra Bemba, one of two key insurgent movements now promised a leading role in Congo's government under a power-sharing agreement to end the central African nation's war.

Rebels called their terror campaign Operation Clean the Slate, said Patricia Tome, spokeswoman for the U.N. Congo mission in the capital, Kinshasa.

"The operation was presented to the people almost like a vaccination campaign, envisioning the looting of each home and the rape of each woman," Tome said.

The charges are laid out in a preliminary report based on a six-day mission by U.N. investigators last week to remote Ituri province. The investigation was prompted by reports from clergy and nonprofit groups operating in the province.

The findings have been given to the U.N. Security Council and to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello urged Congolese authorities to bring the culprits to justice. "Impunity must be banished from Congo," he said during a visit to Kinshasa.

Bemba announced Tuesday that the rebel group had arrested five of its own members, including its chief of operations in Ituri province, Lt. Col. Freddy Ngalimo.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was asked at a news conference Tuesday about reports of human rights violations in Congo, including cases of forced cannibalism. Annan replied:

"I cannot confirm the claim about cannibalism. ...My envoys and the human rights experts have confirmed that there have indeed been violations, and we are in the midst of drafting a report to determine what to do."

Bemba said the five would be tried by a rebel military court.

"Those people we have arrested have been implicated in rapes, in thefts, and other complaints. Our inquiry has not yielded to us any information concerning the alleged cannibalism," he said.

The allegations named Bemba's movement and the allied Congolese Rally for Democracy-National rebel movement.