Human Rights Watch has denounced the murder of 180 civilians and the rape of at least 90 women by troops and rebels in the past two months in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Rwandan rebel forces, government army soldiers, and their allies have raped at least 90 women and girls since late January 2009" in Nord and Sud Kivu provinces, HRW said in a statement sent to AFP Thursday.

"The Rwandan rebel forces have also been implicated in the deaths of most of the 180 civilians killed during this period," the non-governmental organisation said, citing reports from witnesses.

"The Rwandan Hutu militia called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked and burned dozens of villages and towns in Masisi and Lubero territories (North Kivu) as well as in Kalehe territory (South Kivu) in recent weeks, committing numerous deliberate killings, rapes, and acts of looting," HRW said in the statement, also published on its website.

"Blaming government military operations, the FDLR deliberately targeted civilians, used them as human shields, and accused civilians of having betrayed them. According to witnesses and victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the FDLR have been implicated in the killings of at least 154 civilians since 23 January."

"The FDLR are deliberately killing and raping Congolese civilians as apparent punishment for the military operations against them," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, accusing the fighters and their commanders of war crimes.

The detailed report came out to coincide with a UN Security Council debate Thursday on the latest report by the UN secretary-general on the peacekeeping force in Congo.

HRW "called on the UN Security Council to press the Congolese government to remove human rights abusers from its armed forces and end rights violations, including attacks against women and girls," the watchdog movement said, after a joint operation against the FDLR by the DRC army and troops from neighbouring Rwanda between 20 January and 24 February.

The Kinshasa government has absorbed several Congolese former rebel forces and militias into its army since a war that raged across the country between 1998 and 2003. HRW argued that with no vetting policy, the military includes "former enemies (...) with no salaries, rations, or any formal training, increasing the likelihood of future human rights violations."

"Protection of civilians can only be taken seriously if known human rights abusers are removed from the ranks of the Congolese army," said Van Woudenberg. "The Security Council should seek an immediate answer from the Congolese government on when it will carry out such arrests and what it will do to stop further rape and killing by its troops before it gives any support to the military operations."

The detailed report is available on the Internet at: http://www.hrw.org/

AFP

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