A June 12 massacre in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, carried out by Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia has left 46 civilians dead, including 23 children, in a displaced people's camp. Human Rights Watch has called for urgent investigations and measures to protect vulnerable populations in the region.
"So long as civilians in Ituri believe that nowhere is safe, the Congolese government and UN peacekeepers need to do more to stop the killings," Thomas Fessy, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a Monday news report from the organization.
The attackers targeted the Lala camp—which mainly housed Hema displaced people—during the night while residents were asleep, the news report said. The violent assault involved shooting, hacking and burning to death 23 children, 13 women and 10 men, leaving eight others injured. Congolese soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers stationed nearby in Bule failed to intervene despite being alerted to the ongoing attack.
The report emphasized that CODECO has a history of targeting civilians in the camps where they seek refuge, turning those places into sites of massacre instead of safe havens. The violence in Ituri has deep-rooted issues, including disputes over land rights, ethnic relations and control of natural resources between communities, particularly the Hema and Lendu.
The report also noted that more than 945 civilians have been killed in Ituri province since the beginning of the year, with CODECO/URDPC factions being responsible for almost half of the killings. The situation is further exacerbated by the failure of the Congolese government's military rule imposed in 2021, which has not effectively curbed violence—and even government forces have been involved in abuses against civilians.
In the aftermath of the attack, displaced people in the Lala camp remain too frightened to return, and the overall humanitarian situation in Ituri continues to deteriorate, with more than 1.6 million internally displaced people in the province alone, according to the United Nations.
Human Rights Watch is calling for urgent investigations into the killings and urges the Congolese authorities to seek support from the African Union and the United Nations, the report said. The organization stresses the need for stronger protection strategies for displaced people's camps and more responsive warning systems to prevent further attacks.
