U.N. says Congo rebels use cannibalism

UNITED NATIONS -- Rebels used looting, killing, violence against women and cannibalism as "premeditated tools of war" in northeastern Congo, according to a new U.N. report.

U.N. investigators took testimony from over 500 people during their mission to look into acts of cannibalism and other human rights abuses that took place between October and December in the area between the northeastern towns of Mambasa and Beni.

According to the investigators from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, 173 killings and executions were reported including 12 incidents of cannibalism. The report was released Thursday.

When rebels took the town of Mambasa on Oct. 12, there were "massive rapes, as well as systematic lootings, destruction of health infrastructures and forced labor," the report said. It named the two rebel groups as the Congolese Liberation Movement and the Congolese Rally for Democracy-National.

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