Two United Nations experts investigating violence in the Congo were confirmed dead. They had disappeared in the same region that three bodies turned up recently. The third body is believed to be the group’s interpreter.
Michael Sharp of the United States and Zaida Catalan of Sweden had been missing since March 17 from the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An investigation into the cause of death is ongoing, and criminal acts are being looked at.
Farhan Haq, U.N. deputy spokesman for the secretary-general, mentioned four companions that could have been involved in wrongdoing.
“Obviously given that they have been found dead, we believe that there is likely grounds that this was a form of a criminal act, but we need to determine cause of death. There are a number of things that will be determined during the course of an inquiry. We’ll look into what their security conditions had been, what might have happened to them, as well as of course to the four Congolese nationals for whom we are continuing to search,” he said.
