In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the capital of the province of Tshopo, in the north-east of the country, the process of compensating victims of the “six-day war” between Uganda and Rwanda in June 2000 was relaunched by the Congolese Minister of Justice.
2 min
With our correspondent in Kissangani, Joseph Kahongo
This process of compensating victims was suspended at the beginning of July by Constant Mutamba, Congolese Minister of Justice, due to suspicions of financial embezzlement and mishandling of victims’ files, by the coordination of Frivao (Special Fund for Reparation of Compensation to Victims of Illicit Activities in Uganda).
130 million dollars have already been paid by Uganda to the DRC, as compensation on the 325 million demanded by the condemnation of the International Court of Justice. The crisis commission, set up by the Minister of Justice, presented, Saturday August 3, to the bank which keeps these funds, a first group of victims of the clashes between Uganda and Rwanda, in Kisangani, in 2000, to be compensated.
A new treatment
Having had his right leg amputated during the “six-day war”, Ghislain Mombe was one of the first batch of 18 people to benefit from the relaunch of compensation for the Kisangani war in 2000. I see a lot of difference with the way Frivao used to treat us. We were offered $250 but now, as a victim, I will get $2,000. ” he says.
The compensation amounts have been increased tenfold while other victims from the province of Tshopo and three other provinces have not yet been identified.
For the Minister of Justice, there is enough money: ” The amount that is being paid by Uganda will, in any case, make it possible to compensate, individually, the victims who are listed, with the amounts that we have decided to set as a ceiling. We are redoing the work and therefore, the commission will have to put in place a structural solution to be able to launch the rest of the process. »
The crisis commission, set up by the Minister of Justice, intends to speed up the compensation operation while continuing, at the same time, the cross-checking of the lists of more than 14,000 victims identified in the city of Kisangani.
The prioritization of victims with serious bodily injuries was requested by Constant Mutamba.
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