UVIRA, Democratic Republic of Congo –Violence is on the rise in eastern Congo, with attacks by the Rwandan FDLR rebel group increasing in recent months despite U.N. mission chief Roger Meese’s claims of “significant progress regarding the security situation in recent years in eastern DRC,” in a briefing to the U.N. Security Council last month. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Congo, or MONUSCO, told the council that “the security environment and the related threat to civilian population, our highest priority concern, must be viewed on a localized basis to obtain a full understanding of the remaining threats.”
Civil society representatives here in eastern Congo’s North and South Kivu provinces offer contrasting, far less optimistic assessments, having continuously watched as the long-feared FDLR militia keeps a stranglehold on their villages, committing atrocities to hold their unwilling host communities subdued.
“He has come a long ways to tell long lies,” said a member of the Shabunda civil society group when they heard of Special Representative Meece’s briefing at the Security Council. The FDLR has assaulted Lulingu and Kigulube mining sites on May 22-23 displacing more than 10,000 people in surrounding villages. In the first village, local police elements had fled, so people collected food to entice the attackers to end the onslaught, but the FDLR wouldn’t let up, the civil society group reported. The Norwegian Refugee Council program coordinator told the Enough Project that it had to suspend its programming for two weeks as the security situation worsened on the Shabunda road.
Just days before Meece’s briefing to the Security Council, a U.N. mission to South Kivu, led by Catherine Bragg, the U.N.’s deputy emergency relief coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, emphasized the ongoing challenges to security, which continue to leave civilians in harm’s way and prevent conflict-affected communities from accessing international assistance. Bragg noted that with 1.5 million displaced persons in the South and North Kivu provinces, the humanitarian situation was worrying. Most of this displacement was triggered by Hutu combatants from the FDLR who moved in throughout South Kivu territories to fill gaps left by the Congolese army units as they went to the arm y regimentation centers in recent months. As a result, administrators in the villages and towns of Shabunda, Kabare, Fizi, Mwenga, and Kalehe have been calling for the Congolese army to come back, in spite of the abuses perpetrated by the Congolese soldiers. These communities are effectively choosing between the lesser of two evils.
Shortcomings on civilian protection
Caught between an abusive Congolese army and predatory rebel groups including the FDLR and an array of other militias, many Congolese continue to be confused about the role of U.N. peacekeepers in civilian protection.
Most recently, at least 70 women have been raped near the town of Fizi allegedly by forces commanded by Colonel Kifaru, after he deserted the army with more than 150 fighters. Some troops under Kifaru’s command were convicted of crimes against humanity for raping 50 women in the same town on New Year's Day. Although the BBC subsequently reported that Kifaru had “surrendered” to the Congolese army, subsequent comments by Congolese army officials indicate that Kifaru was welcomed back into the army with open arms, and is unlikely to face prosecution.
FLDR attacks are also on the rise in North Kivu. Speaking to local press in Goma, Congo‘s Minister of Higher Education Professor Mashako Mamba, who barely escaped FDLR attack in May in Katwiguru, 15 miles from Kiwanja town in northern Goma, said, “What we have seen is what the population goes through on a daily basis. The security situation in the east must be of concern to everybody, and authorities must join forces and reinforce existing efforts to better protect the populations and secure security throughout the country.”
Three weeks after the attack on the minister’s convoy, an FDLR group in the vicinity of Kiwanja launched an attack inside nearby Virunga National Park, killing a number of civilians as well as some park rangers. In Kiwanja, the community directed its grief at the MONUSCO contingent and the Congolese army by setting up barricades all around MONUSCO base in Kiwanja and roadblocks on the streets. Angry people were shouting “MONUSCO go back home if you can’t help kick FDLR out of this country!”
There continues to be deep skepticism regarding the U.N. role in Congo. As a former Congolese colonel in Kabare, another hotbed of FDLR’s atrocities, told Enough, “Congo has never been as important for the west as Afghanistan or Serbia are, and it does no matter if the U.N. mission is led by an American because for the Americans, Congolese are still indigenous and in desperate need for civilization. We may cry to death and die to the last one, but since the U.N. has a different agenda, totally different from what they state officially they are here for, they will never open fire against the FDLR.”
The U.N. peacekeeping presence has deterred attacks by armed groups against civilians but only in areas around their bases. For local populations in eastern Congo, the U.N. peacekeepers’ mandate has always been an enigma that the U.N. alone understands and can explain, a police officer in Kamituga told the Enough Project in a phone conversation. But the police officer pointed out that not all the blame falls on MONUSCO. “If our own government doesn’t make it a priority to protect its people, how do you expect strangers who came here just to make a living to risk their lives attacking ruthless combatants like the FLDR?” he said.
Another Kabila-Kagame deal in the offing?
Perhaps no one is more in need of being able to show progress to secure the Kivus than President Joseph Kabila.
Both in Kigali and Goma, the latest security news indicates backroom deals between Rwandan and Congolese presidents on the possible relocation of 3,000 FDLR combatants further into Congo’s Maniema province. The plan would be mutually beneficial: While it would allay Rwanda’s security concerns over a possible alliance between the FDLR and Rwandan dissidents, especially General Faustin Kayumba, it also aims to give Joseph Kabila an election campaign boost after failing thus far to provide security to the Kivus since he was elected in 2006. Kabila has reportedly secured the services of former Belgium military intelligence officer Jean Pierre Breyne to lead talks with FDLR leadership, Generals Sylvester Mudachumura and Gaston Iyamuremye (aka Ramuli). Delegates to the talks also include Jean-Luc Kuye Ndondo and Father Rigobert Minani, both members of the Congolese Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
With elections slated for next November, it appears that President Kabila seeks to stabilize the Kivus by re-launching the 2005 Rome Agreement whereby Hutu combatants were offered the option of either settlement in Congo if they accept disarmament or voluntary repatriation to Rwanda. If successful, this would help Kabila meet the commitments he’s made to the residents of the Kivu provinces about providing security. However, FDLR leaders have reportedly demanded some steep conditions, including about $1 million (claiming it was promised to them in Rome talks), direct talks with Kagame to secure leadership positions in his government, and an end to cross-border incursions by the Rwandan military.
Amid rumors of renewed collaboration between Kabila and Kagame to deal with the FDLR threat, civil society groups and opposition politicians fear the possibility of more violence in eastern Congo. Having lived through successive cross-border incursions by Rwanda, many eastern Congolese perceive Rwandan intervention as the primary source of the displacement, killing, rape, and wholesale plunder of their natural resources that has occurred since 1996. In this context, the rumored plans to relocate Hutu combatants and the continuing efforts by the Rwandan government to quell dissident activity in eastern Congo are a cause for concern.
LRA in the Spotlight, as African Union Considers New Joint Effort
In an uncommon show of interest, the U.N. Security Council held a private meeting late last week to discuss the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. It was the first time in nearly two years that the Council discussed the LRA as a stand-alone issue in an official meeting. The permanent observer of the African Union to the U.N., Ambassador Téte António, and the permanent representatives of Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic attended the meeting. Ambassador António updated the Security Council about the proposed A.U. initiative on the LRA.
The press statement issued post-meeting contains the usual sweeping diplomatic demands – “an end to all attacks on civilians by the LRA, (…) all LRA elements to surrender and disarm” – that are unlikely to be fulfilled. But importantly, the statement emphasized the need for coordination among the regional governments, which is particularly necessary given that intra-regional tensions are one of the key shortcomings of current efforts to apprehend LRA leaders and protect civilians. The Security Council also recalled the International Criminal Court’s outstanding arrest warrants for LRA leaders, including Joseph Kony, and encouraged states to cooperate in implementing the warrants.
The press statement welcomed the A.U. initiative on the LRA, which aims to strengthen military operations against the group, civilian protection, and DDRRR (demobilization, disarmament, repatriation, resettlement, and reintegration). A.U. Ambassador António reportedly told the Security Council that the A.U. will submit a report to the organization’s Peace and Security Council in August and is expecting a decision on the proposal at the end of the year.
The Security Council requested that the U.N. Office for Central Africa, located in Libreville, Gabon, engage with the A.U. and facilitate cooperation between the two organizations on issues related to ending the LRA crisis. The council also requested that U.N. Secretary-General Ban keep them informed on developments regarding the LRA, including submitting a report on the LRA threat as well as related regional and U.N. efforts in October.
The details of the proposed initiative are still being worked out at A.U. headquarters in Ethiopia, but broadly, it would create an “A.U. authorized mission” and include four main components: 1) a Regional Task Force, or RTF, consisting of the four regional armies; 2) an A.U. special envoy for the LRA; 3) a RTF headquarters which would house a joint operations center; and 4) a joint coordination mechanism, responsible for coordinating efforts between the AU, the regional governments, and partners.
It is not clear in what ways and to what extent the A.U. proposal, if authorized by the Peace and Security Council, will change the current military operations and other efforts. It could help address intra-regional tensions and improve communication between the regional governments. The A.U. LRA special envoy in particular may also help improve communication and coordination between the governments and the U.N. on apprehension, civilian protection, DDRRR, and humanitarian assistance.
The Security Council may take up the LRA issue again in November, when Portugal, which has expressed interest in addressing the LRA, takes its turn as the body’s president.
Many [people in South Sudan] also remain vulnerable to the activity of armed militias in the border states of Unity, Jonglei, and Upper Nile to the North, and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the state of Equatoria regions to the south. The United States has provided significant support for South Sudan over the years, and we will remain a steadfast partner as South Sudan seeks to peacefully meet these challenges.
Meanwhile, regular reports of LRA attacks documented by local and international media underscore the need for high-level attention. In particular, Radio Miraya recently reported an attack by the LRA in Raga County in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state, which borders Sudan’s South Darfur state. LRA activity near Darfur could signal possible attempts by the group to seek financial or material support from Khartoum. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army accused the LRA of abducting six people. According to U.N. OCHA, the LRA carried out another attack in Raga County between the months of January and March this year, while no LRA attacks occurred there last year. Enough has not yet been able to confirm where in Raga County the recent attack occurred.
Article from the Kongo Times " DRC, Rwanda Plans a New Invasion of the Congolese Territories"
The article is in French but here is a brief summary: Rwanda has not yet quenched it's thirst for the mineral wealth of the Eastern Congo. In the past the Rwandan government justified its invasions of the Congo by saying they were tracking and subduing the elements of the FDLR (Force Democratique pour la Liberations du Rwanda) a group of Hutu militia whom the government blamed for the genocide. Today they have shifted focus to rebel and mercenary forces in the border areas just above Goma, whom they say are threatening the security of Rwanda and of the Park of the Virunga
The Rwandan police has enounced a new justification for any invasion by announcing the arrest of 6 suspected "terrorists" who were said to be plotting attacks on Rwanda from the Virunga Forest in the Congo. According to a communique released by the police: " The criminals that were arrests were under the command of colonel Norbert Ndererimana, known as Gaheza and who directs armed groups based in Binza, Rutchuru, and the Park of the Virunga in Nord Kivu, Eastern DRC."
Is it time to hold Rwanda, Uganda and other neighboring countries responsible for their actions in the Congo? Should the US withold support to countries that have commited human rights violations in the Congo? The Leahy Law's goal is to prevent US military assistace to foreign military units that have committed human right violations with impunity. Read the article by Scott Morgan by clicking on the document.
The Hills belong to Them The need for international Action on the Congo's conflict mineral trade is a good document by Global Witness summarizing the war in the Congo, interplay of various rebel groups, UN assessment of the situation and role of conflict minerals.
Sept 16 2010 Congo's Ban on Mining an Incomplete Solution to Conflict Minerals, Says Enough Project
Washington, D.C. – In order to decrease violence fueled by the global trade in conflict minerals, Congo's recent ban on mineral exports must be accompanied by long-term efforts to reform the trade, including a certification process, says the Enough Project. Last week, President Joseph Kabila announced a mineral export ban on the conflict-ridden and mineral-rich Walikale territory in North Kivu, which was then followed by a full export ban on all minerals mined in the eastern Congolese provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema.
“President Kabila has opened the policy window to reform on conflict minerals,” said Enough Policy Manager David Sullivan. “However, the ban will not promote an end to the ongoing conflict unless it is accompanied by concrete plans to deliver army reform, certification of mineral exports, and opportunities for peaceful development.”
“Certification is the critical next step to altering the dynamics of minerals being traded for guns in Congo,” said Enough Project Consultant Sasha Lezhnev. “The Obama administration should work with the governments of the region to implement a certification process for these minerals. The certification process should build on lessons learned from the Kimberley Process for conflict diamonds, including independent monitoring.”
The trade in conflict minerals is a critical driver of the war in eastern Congo, the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Armed groups, including units of the Congolese army, earn hundreds of millions of dollars per year trading in the mineral ores for tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold, which are essential to consumer electronics, jewelry, and other industries. Measures in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed by President Obama in July, require companies registered in the United States to report on steps taken to ensure they are not financing armed groups and military units in eastern Congo.
“This ban should in no way relieve companies of their responsibility to ensure that their supply chains are not contributing to violence in Congo,” said Enough Policy Analyst Aaron Hall. “Export bans are difficult to enforce, could increase smuggling, and could hurt the livelihoods of Congolese miners. The Congolese government and the international community should work together on a comprehensive follow-up plan, which must include security sector reform and a focused strategy for dealing with the FDLR.”
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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, the Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. For more information, please visit www.enoughproject.org.
Leaked UN report accuses Rwanda of possible genocide in Congo
Unprecedented investigation by human rights commissioner says Hutu deaths 'cannot be put down to margins of war'
A UN Goma camp area in 1994. Two years later, the Rwandan army attacked the Goma camps, which were full of Hutu refugees, forcing hundreds of thousands deeper into Zaire. Photograph: Jon Jones/Sygma/Corbis
The United Nations has accused Rwanda of wholesale war crimes, including possibly genocide, during years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
An unprecedented 600-page investigation by the UN high commissioner for human rights catalogues years of murder, rape and looting in a conflict in which hundreds of thousands were slaughtered.
A draft version of the report, revealed by Le Monde and expected to be published next month, says the abuses, over a period of seven years and two invasions by Rwanda, amount to "crimes against humanity, war crimes, or even genocide" because the principal targets of the violence were Hutus, who were killed in their tens of thousands.
Among the accusations is that Rwandan forces and local allies rounded up hundreds of men, women and children at a time and butchered them with hoes and axes. On other occasions Hutu refugees were bayoneted, burned alive or killed with hammer blows in large numbers.
It is the first time the UN has published such forthright allegations against Rwanda, a close ally of Britain and the US.
The Rwandan government reacted angrily to the report today, dismissing it as "amateurish" and "outrageous" after reportedly attempting to pressure the UN not to publish it by threatening to pull out of international peacekeeping missions. Rwanda's Tutsi leaders will be particularly discomforted by the accusation of genocide when they have long claimed the moral high ground for bringing to an end the 1994 genocide in their own country. But the report was welcomed by human rights groups, which called for the prosecution of those responsible for war crimes.
The report by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) covers two periods: Rwanda's 1996 invasion of the country then called Zaire in pursuit of Hutu soldiers and others who fled there after carrying out the 1994 genocide of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis, and a second invasion two years later that broadened into a regional war involving eight countries.
Rwanda's attack on Zaire in 1996 was initially aimed at clearing the vast UN refugee camps around Goma and Bukavu, which were being used as cover by Hutu armed forces to continue the war against the new Tutsi-led government in Kigali.
Hundreds of thousands of the more than 1 million Hutus in eastern Zaire were forced back to Rwanda. Many more, including men who carried out the genocide but also large numbers of women and children, fled deeper into Zaire. They were pursued and attacked by the Rwandan army and a Zairean rebel group sponsored by Kigali, the AFDL.
The UN report describes "the systematic, methodical and premeditated nature of the attacks on the Hutus [which] took place in all areas where the refugees had been tracked down".
"The pursuit lasted months and, occasionally, humanitarian aid intended for them was deliberately blocked, notably in the eastern province, thus depriving them of things essential to their survival," the report said.
"The extent of the crimes and the large number of victims, probably in the several tens of thousands, are demonstrated by the numerous incidents detailed in the report. The extensive use of non-firearms, particularly hammers, and the systematic massacres of survivors after camps were taken prove that the number of deaths cannot be put down to the margins of war. Among the victims were mostly children, women, old and ill people."
The report goes on to say that "the systematic and widespread attacks have a number of damning elements which, if proved before a competent court, could be described as crimes of genocide".
The UN also adds that while Kigali has permitted Hutus to return to Rwanda in large numbers, that did not "rule out the intention of destroying part of an ethnic group as such and thus committing a crime of genocide".
The Zairean army collapsed in the face of the invasion and Rwanda seized the opportunity to march across the country and overthrow the longstanding dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko. Laurent Kabila was installed as president. He promptly changed the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Rwanda invaded again in 1998 after accusing the new regime of continuing to support Hutu rebels. The following five years of war drew in armies from eight nations as well as 21 rebel groups in a conflict that quickly descended in to mass plunder of the DRC's minerals as well as a new wave of war crimes.
The UN report accuses Angolan forces of using the cover of the war to attack refugees from Angola's conflict-plagued Cabinda province who had fled to the DRC. Angola is accused of "executing all those they suspected of colluding with their enemies". Angolan soldiers also raped and looted, the UN investigation said.
International human rights groups welcomed the UN report and said it should be used to bring the accused to trial. "This is a very important report," said Human Rights Watch. "We hope that it can form the basis for ending the impunity that has protected the people responsible for some of these crimes."
The UN's damning conclusions will prove hugely embarrassing to Rwanda, which is attempting to project itself as a rapidly modernising state that has put its brutal recent history behind it.
President Paul Kagame's office attempted to dismiss the report. "It's an amateurish NGO job, and it's outrageous," said a spokeswoman, Yolande Makolo. "Nobody reasonable believes that it's helpful to anybody. The countries mentioned in the draft report have rejected it and will continue to reject it."
Makolo did not comment on reports that Kagame last month warned the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, that Rwanda would pull its troops out of peacekeeping missions in Darfur and elsewhere if the report was made public. Le Monde said that threat was reiterated in a letter to Ban by Rwanda's foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the leaked draft was not the final version and the report to be published next month had undergone revisions.
"It's only a draft from about two months ago and the proper final version will come up very soon," he said.
But if there are substantial differences, the UN is likely to stand accused of bowing to pressure from Rwanda.
Atrocities detailed in the OHCHR document seen by Le Monde
Kinigi, 7 December 1996 "Elements from the AFDL/APR killed nearly 310 civilians, many of them women and children. The troops had accused the local population, mostly Hutu, of sheltering Interahamwe [Hutu paramilitaries, who] had already left the village. At first the troops sought to reassure the civilians [whom they gathered together] in several buildings, including the adventist church and the primary school. In the afternoon, troops entered these buildings and killed the villagers with hoes or axes to the head."
Luberizi, 29 October 1996 "Elements from the AFDL/APR/FAB [Burundi's armed forces] killed around 200 male refugees. The victims were part of a group of refugees told by the troops to regroup so that they could be repatriated to Rwanda. The troops separated the men from the rest of the group and killed them with bayonets or bullets. The bodies were then buried in mass graves [near to] the church."
Bwegera, 3 November 1996 "They burned alive 72 Rwandan refugees in Cotonco (cotton company) headquarters, one kilometre from the village."
Mutiko, December 1996 "Special units from the AFDL/APR started to hunt down refugees, killing several hundred. Once they had been intercepted at barriers put up by the troops, the victims were given food and told to get into UN lorries waiting at the exit of the village. The victims were then taken out on to the road, then killed with blows to the head with canes, hammers and axes. The troops encouraged the local population to take part in the killings."
• This article was amended on 27 August 2010. A heading in the timeline above suggested that the human rights report came from the UNHCR. This has been corrected.
UN calls for action over DRC rapes
Aid groups say rebels had raped nearly 200 women and boys in Luvungi township [EPA]
The UN Security Council has demanded that efforts be stepped up to prevent a repeat of the reported mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) a few weeks ago.
Council members on Thursday voiced open dissatisfaction at the late response of UN peacekeepers in the country, blaming the weak reporting line at the ground level.
Earlier this week a UN human rights team reported that at least 154 civilians were raped and assaulted by rebels from the FDLR and Congolese Mai Mai who occupied the town of Luvungi from July 30 to August 3.
UN forces in DR Congo have said they were only informed of the incident more than a week after it happened, even though they had a base just 30 kilometres from the scene in the country's violent east.
The council suggested in a statement that the 20,000-strong UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo (Monusco) peacekeeping force needed at least to improve its communications with the local population.
Preventive measures
The statement issued after an unscheduled meeting called by the United States and France "demanded that all possible steps should be taken to prevent such outrages in the future" and called on DR Congo to bring the culprits to justice.
A DR Congo government spokesman in Kinasha said on Thursday the country's security forces need more on-the-ground support from the international community to prevent future attacks.
Following the reported rapes Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, sent Atul Khare, a senior aide and deputy peacekeeping chief, on a fact-finding mission to Congo.
The 15-member council said it expected to hear from Khare "what more could be done to ensure more effective protection of civilians".
Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador presiding over the council this month, said they wanted "a very serious, sober evaluation ... of what happened and why" when Khare returned to New York on September 8.
On Wednesday Roger Meece, a senior UN envoy in DRC, announced plans to improve communications and prevent any recurrence of sexual violence in the country, including a proposal to have villages report to the UN's forward operating base at Kibua every day.
Late response
UN officials have said they only heard of the rapes from aid group International Medical Corps (IMC) on August 12, and then sent protection and fact-finding teams.
FDLR rebels said they were "in no way involved" in the recent mass rapes [EPA]
They blamed a roadblock by rebels for their failure to find out sooner.
But the New York Times on Thursday quoted the IMC as saying it first notified UN workers of the rapes on August 6.
John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said his Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs "was informed by IMC locally ... that there had been some kind of incident in that area. I don't know whether it was the sixth of August".
"We were aware, not while it was happening, certainly, but at some point after that, and obviously we were very concerned and started to express our concern about it at that stage," he added.
Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said she raised ways of improving communications in Thursday's debate, suggesting radios and satellite phones could be used, though she said she did not know how feasible they were.
Criticisms
Guy Momat, a Congolese journalist, criticised Monusco saying the reported violence "is not the first" such incident that occurred close to the UN base.
"Do you remember in 2008, in November, there, 150 Congolese [were] killed in Kiwanja province, and it was just a mile away from the Monusco camp," he told Al Jazeera.
"The Monusco is there, it is a big force, but if you see the situation on the field, we can say this is a failure, nothing happened, people, civilian people, are not protected and they [Monusco] don't have a proper mandate."
Meanwhile the leader of the FDLR, one of the groups accused of carrying out the mass rapes, denied any involvement and wants an independent commission to investigate the attacks.
The FDLR is "in no way involved in these odious actions and takes umbrage at the baseless accusations launched against them by [Ban Ki-moon] the secretary-general of the United Nations", Callixte Mbarushimana, the group's executive secretary, said in a statement from Paris on Thursday.
Mbarushimana said: "The FDLR raises serious questions on the real motives that led the high authority of the UN to rush to incriminate them before even carrying out a preliminary inquiry into these odious acts."
The group urged the UN to "set up without delay an independent international commission tasked with shedding full light on all these criminal acts", saying it was ready to "collaborate with this commission" with Khare.
March 31, 2010
Escalation in Central Africa: Will it be Resolved?
By Scott A Morgan
There are times when Politics resembles both a Drama and a Comedy. Events will occur or even be manipulated to ensure an outcome for one group or faction so they can either gain or retain power. Sometimes some of these events will resemble a Punchline. Although it is difficult to determine whether or not it is a Drama, a comedy or both the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo falls into this unique situation. Events have been occurring at a rapid rate and some of them are not just in Africa. Some have occurred in other locations in the world.
This situation started to form when the UN Security Council announced that it was reducing the number of personnel involved with MONUC (United Nations Mission in the Congo) by 2,000 by the End of June 2010. This is the initial step in the UN exiting the country amid a controversial mission that has seen little accomplished. The removal of the UN Mission is a plank in the reelection campaign of President Joseph Kabila.
Another factor that influences this situation is the recent passage by the United States Senate of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Act. This bill has generated some controversy as it is seen by many people as giving the US Military a greater role in the Mission to rein in the LRA. The Acholi People of Uganda are concerned that this Legislation Places more Confidence in the abilities of President Museveni of Uganda.
Another Piece of Legislation that could influence US Policy the Congo Conflict Minerals Act still is in Committee in the Senate. A similar version in the House of Representatives has had 4 new co-sponsors sign on recently. This Bill seeks to promote Peace within the DRC and to monitor the traffic of Gold, Coltan, cassiterite and wolframite.
While these actions were taking place in Washington and in other locations reports of violence were sporadic. It seems that every couple of weeks that there were attacks along the DRC-Sudanese Border. Then there were raids in the Central African Republic. Then it would be Southern Sudan. While this was going on the UN backed Operation Amani Leo was releasing Body Counts in such a manner that one could have been reminded of the Five O’Clock Follies in Saigon and Riyadh in previous conflicts.
Then came what some could be the game changer. Human Rights Watch released a report last week which stated that in December 2009 the LRA launched a campaign that killed over 321 people in the Congo. An effort to defeat the LRA Operation Lightning Thunder which was launched with some support from the United States was not successful. The release of the report has caused some interesting events to occur.
It has been announced that the UN Security Council will soon travel to the DRC and assess the situation first hand. There now are calls for MONUC to stay in the country now. Some people have argued that the much maligned mission needs to remain in the Congo. But there is an interesting caveat that could occur as well.
Currently there is a US Military and Private Security Mission in Kisangani working to train a FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) Battalion about how to respect Human Rights. There is also a liaison team with the Ugandan Military as well. So if the House passes the LRA Bill the US has Military Assets already in position to conduct Operations if the President deems them to be necessary.
The LRA Bill has revealed a schism in some of the Grassroots movements here in the US. There are elements that do not want to see any American Troops in the Congo under any circumstance. There are also others who are demanding that the Obama Administration take a more decisive role in this rapidly changing climate. These groups have been able to motivate people to raise funds and contact their Members of Congress to demand some form of action.
Adding the sum of this information together is not hard. The Problem is whether or not it’s a Drama or a very warped Black Comedy worthy of Dr. Strangelove.
The Author Comments on US Policy towards Africa and publishes Confused Eagle on the Internet. Confused Eagle can be found at confusedeagle.livejournal.com
US Marines to train Congolese army battalion in basic skills, discipline and human rights
By Associated Press
8:56 AM EST, February 23, 2010
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — U.S. military officials say U.S. Marines have begun training Congolese troops in volatile Eastern Congo.
Col. Thomas Crowder says 30 Marines from the U.S. Africa Command are training a battalion of Congolese soldiers in the city of Kisangani. Crowder said Monday the 8-month program for the battalion, which can consist of about 1,000 soldiers, will cover military basics but also will focus on human rights training. Human rights groups have previously accused Congo's poorly trained and irregularly paid army forces of attacking civilians.
The U.S. Africa Command, or Africom, is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and was formally activated in 2008. Before then, U.S. military programs in Africa were split among three other commands.
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Uganda kidnapped around 135 villagers, including children, in two attacks this week along the border in Democratic Republic of Congo's north, a church official said on Friday.
LRA fighters raided on Tuesday as residents gathered for a funeral, before returning to mount a second attack the following day, he said. This week's attack is the latest in a series by the LRA, one of Africa's longest-running rebellions (AP)
Source: UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Date: 04 Jun 2009
Bujumbura, Burundi 4 June 2009 - The UN Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Alan Doss, today called on regional governments to join forces against those who oppose peace in Congo (DRC) to prevent violence from spreading across their frontiers. "To achieve that, we must all work to reinforce and revitalize regional institutions, to help keep the neighborhood in check and its interests in balance," he said. Mr. Doss was delivering the keynote address to academics and policymakers at the States at Regional Risk (SAAR) Conference.
Mr. Doss underlined that without a threshold level of State authority and rule of law in the DRC, and in the surrounding region, the prospect of recurrent emergency responses would continue to hover over the Great Lakes. "Everyone has a stake in seeing this does not happen," he continued, "the international community must assist the DRC to build credible State institutions capable of safeguarding the country's resources and the rights and interests of its people."
He said also that if Congo is to win the battle for peace and stability, the army and police must respect human rights and gain the trust of those they are supposed to protect. He said that impunity within Congo's security forces must end and elements who have consistently abused power must be progressively removed. "This will take time, but I can say that of late we have seen a new openness on the part of the Government, to recognize and deal with the problem", he said.
Mr. Doss said that MONUC's first priority was the protection of civilians. "Rooting out the FDLR and other armed groups will not be easy and unless there are further surprises, it will not happen overnight," he said. "These operations are not without humanitarian risk. We are doing our utmost to minimize these risks through "pre-emptive protection", which means not only putting military pressure on the FDLR but also helping the FARDC to improve its performance, including the conduct and discipline of its armed forces. The same applies for other operations being conducted against the LRA and the remaining militia elements in Ituri".
Mr. Doss said the Congolese security forces are a key part of the solution. "Without effective and accountable military and police, the security and stability of the state will always be at risk," he said.,
The SARR Conference was organized by the University of Burundi and the Institute of Critical International Studies (ICIS) at Emory University, with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the United States Institute of Peace.
Congo Conflict Mineral Disclosure Act Introduced
May 8th, 2009
Companies registered in the US that sell products using columbite-tantalite (also known as coltan), cassiterite or derivatives from minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo or neighboring countries will be required to annually disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission the origin of those minerals. This provision is contained in new legislation called the Congo Conflict Mineral Act 2009 (S.891) introduced on April 23 the by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Russ Feingold (D-WI).
The sale of minerals is linked to the funding of killings, atrocities and rapes crimes committed by armed groups in Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congo Conflict Mineral Act brings accountability and transparency to the importation and sale of mineral products from Congo by disclosure of their origin. Cassiterite, Colton and tantalite are minerals commonly used in cell phones, laptop computers and other electronic products used by millions of people in the United States and other developed countries.
In addition to the disclosure of origin, the Congo Conflict Mineral Minerals Act takes the following actions:
Calls on the United States Government to support multilateral efforts to investigate, monitor and stop all activities of extractives resources that contribute to violations by illegally armed groups.
Requires the State Department to monitor closely the financing of armed groups in mineral rich Eastern Congo.
ACT TODAY, contact your Senators to tell them that you support this legislation and ask them to co-sponsor and support the Congo Conflict Minerals Act - S.891. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask the operator to connect you with your Senator’s office.
Commentary: Obama can end 'reign of terror'
updated 11:33 a.m. EDT, Thu April 9, 2009
Commentary: Obama can end 'reign of terror'
Story Highlights
John Prendergast: Central African governments recently attacked two militia groups
He says U.S. supported these efforts against the deadly militias
Battle isn't over, he says; to stop now leaves people facing a "wounded lion"
Prendergast: Obama administration needs to back a comprehensive peace strategy
Editor's note: John Prendergast co-founded Enough, a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity, at the Center for American Progress, a think tank that says it is dedicated to "progressive" policy. Prendergast was director of African affairs at the National Security Council and special adviser at the State Department during the second Clinton term. He is co-author with actor Don Cheadle of the bestseller, "Not on Our Watch."
John Prendergast says leadership by the administration can help protect civilians in Central Africa.
(CNN) -- In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, President Obama has inherited another military challenge started by his predecessor. This off-the-radar drama is unfolding under the forest canopy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its consequences could end up becoming deadlier than the two better-known cases, unless the Obama administration demonstrates the leadership of which it is capable.
With U.S. planning and logistical support, central African governments have recently joined forces to hit two very large hornet's nests. These military offensives have not achieved their purported objectives, but they have already had severe impacts on the civilians caught in the crossfire.
The two hornet's nests are two central African militias that most Americans have never heard of: the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known as the FDLR.
For over 15 years, these militias have committed some of the world's worst human rights abuses with near total impunity for their actions. The LRA is a Ugandan militia specializing in the abduction of children to be used as soldiers and sex slaves. The FDLR, whose leadership contains some of those responsible for Rwanda's genocide in 1994, uses mass rape as its war tactic of choice.
Political deals among central African governments, which the U.S. helped broker, led to the joint U.S.-supported military operations against both of these groups, which are now coming to an end despite having perhaps only made matters worse. In the case of the LRA, regional governments cooperated in planning an attack on the LRA's headquarters in a Congolese game park late in 2008. However, advance warning and poor execution gave the LRA leadership time to escape.
The LRA has since proceeded to carry out a trademark killing and abduction spree. In the absence of any plan to protect civilians, and now that the military operations are ending, the LRA has brutally murdered nearly 1,000 people since December and driven perhaps 200,000 people from their homes in both Congo and southern Sudan.
In the FDLR's case, the Rwandan and Congolese governments struck a deal in January that allowed Rwanda's forces to enter Congo and undertake operations with Congolese soldiers against the FDLR.
Again, no provisions were made for the protection of civilians, despite the FDLR's long and brutal track record of attacking defenseless communities when provoked. The United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo was not involved in the operation.
Now that Rwandan forces have withdrawn, the FDLR is systematically raping women and girls. About 160,000 people have been displaced so far by the FDLR's reprisals, but that is the tip of the iceberg.
Although it is encouraging that regional governments have taken responsibility to challenge these insidious forces, the strategies employed to date have made the human rights and humanitarian crises even worse.
Military force should be only one component of more comprehensive strategies to deal with the militias. First, strong U.S. diplomatic engagement is essential in shaping a larger peace strategy for central Africa. Naming a special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, to deal multilaterally with these overlapping issues, would be a step forward.
Second, the U.S. must help finish the job it started and support the apprehension of the leadership of the LRA and FDLR. A Congolese bishop pleaded that the world should not leave, now that a wounded lion has been unleashed. He is right. If the U.S. washes its hands of these efforts now, the threats to civilians will be higher than before.
Third, the U.S. should work with regional governments and U.N. forces to better protect civilians. It is a major challenge to deploy regional government and U.N. forces in ways that maximize civilian protection in the forests of the Congo, but it is not impossible.
Many more things have to occur, such as building the capacity of the Congolese state, undertaking army reform, pressuring international supporters of the FDLR and LRA, supporting International Criminal Court efforts to introduce accountability, and dealing with the "conflict minerals" that fuel violence in Congo and power our cell phones and laptops.
Certainly, the LRA and FDLR are incorrigible militias responsible for some of the worst human rights atrocities of the last half century, and the responsible use of international military force is a required part of their neutralization. But a comprehensive peace strategy is needed for central Africa, of which military tools are only one component. The new Obama administration has a real opportunity to help end the reign of terror of two of the biggest human rights offenders of our time.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Prendergast.
March 20, 2009
French President to Visit Congo to Promote Peace
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will pay an official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo next week, according to the French Embassy in the central African country.
At the invitation of Congolese President Joseph Kabila, Sarkozy will arrive on March 26 to promote the already good ties between Kinshasa and Paris, especially their political, economic and diplomatic relations, said French Ambassador Pierre Jacquemot.
Sarkozy's schedule includes talks with Congolese officials and a speech in the National Assembly (parliament), according to the ambassador.
The French leader vows to contribute to DR Congo's stability and reconstruction in its eastern region, where insurgency has been largely knocked out in the recent joint operations of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
"We are ready, we French, we Europeans and we members of the world Bank to contribute to the reconstruction in the East. It's a formidable bet for the peace" in DR Congo, as its situation affects the entire Great Lakes region, said the French diplomat.
Paris wants Kinshasa to take the opportunity to revive the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGEL), which brings together Burundi, Rwanda and DR Congo. But Sarkozy's recent remarks on the sharing of resources between DR Congo and Rwanda sparked a strong reaction from Congolese nationalists, who staged a protest in front of the French Embassy this week and threatened more during Sarkozy's upcoming visit.
DRC: North Kivu - Salesian missionary community attacked
Unidentified gunmen attacked the Salesian missionary community at the
Industrial Technical Institute in Goma (capital of North Kivu,
north-east province of the Democratic Republic of Congo), not far from
the headquarters of the United Nations mission in DR-Congo (MONUC).
According to the ANS Salesian Info Agency, the armed group assaulted
the five religious living in the Institute and looted the building: the
Rector of the community, Fr. Firmin Kikoli, and Brother Alonso Honorato
are both in hospital being treated for injuries suffered in the attack,
but doctors confirmed that both are out of danger. It is still unknown
whether the incident was the work of common thieves or of a rebel
group. The community of the Industrial Technical Institute in Goma was
the first Salesian foundation in the city, now it is at the heart of a
great crisis. Opened in 1981, the "Saint John Bosco" Institute has a
secondary school, a festive oratory and various pastoral activities.
November 5, 2008
Democratic Republic of the Congo – Refugees at Goma
(ANS – Goma) – In front of the entrance to the Don Bosco Center in Ngangi, Goma, a thousand people are waiting their turn: most of them are women and their children, but there is also a large number of children on their own who lost their parents during the recent flight. All are in a line to be registered as refugees at the Center. They are people from the north of the Congolese city, many from Rutshuru, where the armed attack started last Wednesday. And it was in Rutshuru that the refugee camps were burned, so that last week there was a renewed trek by thousands of desperate people toward Goma. In recent hours many of these are once again leaving the city with all their belongings on their shoulders as they try to return home or to find refuge in the camp at Kibati. There are 15,000 people there, all without shelter, all in the open during the cold nights at 5,000 feet elevation. No one has a realistic estimate of the number of refugees who entered the city and how many there are in the refugee camps. Many found accommodation with family or friends, but according to the international agencies many have been lost sight of. The refugees at Don Bosco are placed in the large sheds that are usually employed for Sunday Mass, which have a sheet metal roof and solid brick walls. They are given water and food twice a day and medical assistance. At the Don Bosco clinic a dozen babies suffering from serious gastroenteritis and diarrhea are being cared for. “Every day the 3,800 children and youngsters are going to school, which apart from one day has always remained open. Lessons are given on a regular basis; all the teachers are there,” says Gavin Braschi, the one in charge of VIS projects in Goma. “At lunch time they all eat, often the only meal of the day. To these mouths another 1,000 refugees welcomed at the Center have been added. But no one has had to go without a meal.”
