France, July 1 -- Hit by a funding crisis, largely linked to a cut in the United States' contribution, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been forced to announce the suspension of a fact-finding mission into human rights abuses committed in eastern DRC.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, announced last week that this mission could not go ahead "until - and unless - the funds are available."

"The situation is very worrying," a UN employee in the DRC confirmed.

In an email sent to RFI journalists, the High Commissioner wrote that he regretted that the next stage of the process could not be completed given that voluntary contributions are down by $60 million (€51 million) this year.

The major...