At its weekly conference this Wednesday July 25, 2007, MONUC stressed the United Nations concern over the security situation, conflict and humanitarian crisis in the east of the country, particularly in the Kivu provinces where 700,000 people have been internally displaced.

In a statement made in New York on Friday 20 July 2007, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned by the deterioration in the security situation in the provinces of North and South Kivu in eastern DRC.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon made an appeal to the DRC government and all the parties concerned to continue an inclusive dialogue in the Kivus, and called on the regional and international partners to support the efforts aimed at decreasing the tension in the area.

During a patrol carried out in the morning of Tuesday July 24 last, on the Rutshuru-Nyamilima axis, blue helmets from the North Kivu Brigade discovered five dead bodies in a banana plantation in the locality of Katweguru.

"All the victims were adult men, in civilian clothing, whose hands had been bound, and were dead for a few days. For the moment, neither the identity of the victims nor the culprits of these murders are known. MONUC will do all in its capacity, in collaboration with Congolese justice, to shed light on the assassination of these five people," explained MONUC spokesperson Kemal Saiki.

In addition, on 21 July, a doctor and a motor cycle driver were assassinated in Muranga in the territory of Masisi, by unidentified armed men, who fled with money and telephones.

In South Kivu, operations led by the FARDC against dissident banyamulenges led to the capture of their headquarters -Moramvia town- on July 21, as the rebels fled into the forest of Itumbwe and Rubanga. The operation left four dead and 10 injured within FARDC ranks, while dissident losses are unknown.

"MONUC firmly condemns all these murders, and we appeal for an end to these acts of violence which continue to affect the Kivu provinces, and demand that all should be done to put an end to the impunity which makes such acts possible," Mr. Saiki added.

Meanwhile, according to information compiled MONUC's Civil Affairs Division, the number of Congolese expelled from Angola has exceeded 26,500, a clear increase from last week.

Those expelled return under very difficult conditions, with cases of rape, torture and racketeering by Congolese and Angolan border security forces reported by returnees.

In Kananga on Tuesday 24 July, MONUC's Civil Affairs Division facilitated a meeting on the humanitarian consequences of the crisis with the local authorities, United Nations agencies and humanitarian actors.

Security forces in particular were recommended to respect and apply the principles of human rights, and to facilitate the access of the foodstuffs into the zone and to refugees in surrounding areas.

Distributions of drugs and non food items are underway, and an evaluation mission by experts of the International Organisation for Migration (OIM) will take place soon.

In conclusion, Mr Saiki announced that Mr. William Lacy Swing, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General in the DRC, will receive an honoury doctorate in political science from the University of Lubumbashi next Saturday 28 July 2007.