A prominent American researcher has been expelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo for publishing a report linking soldiers to the massacres of civilians, the government and the researcher’s organization said on Saturday.
Authorities in the DRC expelled Jason Stearns, the director of the Congo Research Group at New York University, weeks after the published the contentious report.
Stearns, who makes regular research visits to the DRC, was accused of making false declarations to immigration services, government spokesman Lambert Mende said.
“(Immigration authorities) wanted to present him to a judge but finally they decided to expel him,” Mende said, adding that he did not have any details on the nature of those declarations.
Its statement said the authorities referred to Stearns’ report about the massacres, without giving further detail.
Last month’s report said that soldiers in Congo’s army had participated in massacres of civilians in the country’s northeast since 2014, although it said it was unclear to what extent the military hierarchy was involved.
Mende sharply criticized the report at a news conference in the days after it was released, accusing Stearns of “abusive generalization”.
