26 July 2017•Update: 26 July 2017
By Godfrey Olukya
ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a statement Wednesday that militia leader Ntabo Ntaberi, aka Sheka, who is suspected of having committed numerous atrocities in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, surrendered to the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo.
"Congolese authorities, with support from the UN, should ensure Sheka’s safety in detention and promptly bring him to justice in a fair trial before an independent, impartial and credible court," said HRW director for Central Africa, Ida Sawyer.
She added that there was a serious risk that some of Sheka’s former collaborators would want to silence him by killing him.
In January 2011, Congolese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sheka for crimes against humanity, namely mass rape.
HRW said that ever since the warrant was issued, HRW has documented many crimes committed by Sheka’s forces, namely the killing of at least 70 civilians.
In some cases, Sheka’s fighters reportedly mutilated the bodies of those killed and later paraded the body parts around towns, while chanting ethnic songs.
Numerous militia groups operate in eastern DRC.
