In January 1997 the Zairian government decided to launch a military counter-offensive to recapture territory lost to rebels in eastern Zaire. Amnesty International is gravely concerned for civilians in the area, given the record of numerous human rights violations committed by the Zairian security forces between November 1996 and February 1997. This report describes such human rights abuses, including rape, assault, killing, arbitrary arrest and the use of the death penalty, and the concern that women, members of religious groups and non-Zairians have been specifically victimized by Zairian troops. It calls on the international community to exert pressure on the Zairian government and the Alliance des forces democratiques pour la liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL) to respect the human rights of civilians in the conflict zones and elsewhere.
