U.N. to conduct investigation into death of experts in DR Congo

The United Nations said it will conduct an inquiry into the death of two members of its investigation team in the Congolese Kasaï-Central province.

The U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Tuesday that the world body will do everything possible to ensure that justice is done.

He also entreated the Congolese authorities to conduct a full investigation into the incident to determine the cause of their deaths while they search for the four Congolese members of the team still missing.

“I urge the Congolese authorities to continue the search for the four Congolese nationals who accompanied our colleagues. The United Nations will cooperate with the authorities in the continuing search,” he added.

Bodies of two members of a U.N. group of experts who went missing since 12 March 2017 were discovered by peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) on 27 March outside of the city of Kananga, the U.N. announced.

The remains have been confirmed to be those of Michael Sharp, a U.S. citizen, and Zaida Catalan, a Swedish national. They were monitoring a sanctions regime imposed on Congo by the U.N. Security Council when they disappeared.

The Human Rights Watch expressed hope that the U.N. will locate the four Congolese team members still missing.

“An international, independent investigation is urgently needed into these deaths and disappearances, and the broader violence in the Kasai region, to help end the abuses there and bring those responsible to justice,” it added in a statement.