The United Nations panel had investigated clashes in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, in March between Congolese forces and security guards of Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord who was runner-up in 2006 presidential elections.
In a statement released Friday in Geneva, the United Nations human rights commissioner’s office said the government killed at least 300 people last March.
The Congo defense minister, Chikez Diemu, spoke for the government.
“There are means of dealing with such serious issues, and not through the media,” Mr. Diemu said from this far eastern city in North Kivu Province where officials were gathering for peace talks with another warlord.
Congolese officials said the clashes started when Mr. Bemba’s troops took over a part of Kinshasa. Mr. Bemba, who once controlled an army of 20,000 but had only a battalion of roughly 600 men at the time, said his men were defending him from an assassination attempt.
Bookmarks