An International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) delegation arrived in Kinshasa on Monday for its first-ever investigation into the war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past two years.

The delegation, which will be in the country for five days, will hold meetings with the DRC government, civil groups and representatives of international organizations in DRC, the ICT said in a communique, adding that the probe is aimed at evaluating the possibility of cooperation with the African country.

In the DRC, 3.5 million people have been killed since 1997, according to a UN report. Rape, torture, forced migration and recruitment of child soldiers have been common in the country.

But as the ICT was set up on July 1, 2002, it can only deals with the war crimes that occurred afterwards.

The ICT has decided to investigate the northeast region first, where more than 50,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced because of inter-tribal fights.

The ICT decided last September to investigate the war crimes inthe DRC, and DRC President Josef Kabila promised last March to cooperate with the tribunal.

Source: Xinhua