Rights body accuses DRC troops of war crimes

Human rights body accuses DRC troops of rape, other abuses* Urges U.N. to put pressure on Kabila * Congolese government rejects charges(Adds Congolese government reaction)By Frank NyakairuNAIROBI, May 19 (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Democratic Republic of Congo's army on Tuesday of rape and other abuses against civilians that it said amounted to war crimes, but the government rejected the charges as "lies".Congolese soldiers and the U.N. peacekeeping force MONUC have been conducting joint operations in eastern Congo targeting Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) Hutu rebels including leaders of neighbouring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.But New York-based HRW said local troops were committing atrocities in the area's remote North Kivu province.It accused government soldiers of raping more than 143 women and girls since January -- more than half the total number of rape cases documented by HRW researchers in the country."The Congolese army is responsible for widespread and vicious abuses against its own people that amount to war crimes," Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in HRW's Africa Division, said in a statement."The government should take urgent action to end these abuses. A military operation that targets the very people the government claims to be protecting can only lead to disaster."The FDLR largely melted into the bush when the government, backed first by Rwanda's army and then by the United Nations, launched the offensive.But tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced during the operations and the FDLR have retaken much of the ground they initially lost. The FDLR have also been accused of atrocities.A government spokesman rejected the charges as lies."It is becoming ridiculous ... we are going to put an end to all these (accusations)," said Information Minister Lambert Mende."This is nearly word for word the statement of the FDLR. We now have proof that HRW works supports the FDLR. I think there will be consequences. But first the government will meet to decide what measures to take," he added, not elaborating.U.N. Security Council envoys flew to Goma in eastern Congo on Monday to bolster a U.N. drive to help resolve years of conflict in the region and ultimately allow the 17,000-strong U.N. force there to leave."Security Council members should tell President Joseph Kabila that U.N. peacekeepers cannot support military operations in which war crimes are being committed," Woudenberg said. (Additional reporting by Joe Bavier in Kinshasa, Editing by David Lewis, Daniel Wallis and Richard Balmforth)