Showing posts with label FDLR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDLR. Show all posts

Friday, July 26, 2013

Violence in DR Congo and Great Lakes region gets all-out attention from the UN Security Council

Report by DipoNews.com dated Thursday, 25 July 2013:
Violence in the DRC and Great Lakes region gets all-out attention from the UNSC

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been the topic of multiple United Nations Security Council (UNSC)'s meetings this month: On July 11, Under-Secretary-General of Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous introduced the latest UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) report; on July 19, the Group of Experts (GoE) sent its interim report to the DRC Sanctions Committee; and on July 22, Azerbaijani Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev and Chair of this Committee presented his conclusions to the UNSC.

The upsurge in violence in the DRC and the Great Lakes region between the UN/Congolese troops and several armed groups including the March 23 Movement (M23), the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF-NALU) and the Mayi Mayi Kata-Katanga prompted a UNSC ministerial on July 25 whose presidential statement reiterated the international community's support for the implementation of the commitments under the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework agreed on February 24.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (see his remarks and report), the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, and Mr. Ban's Special Envoy for the Great  Lakes region, Mary Robinson, briefed the UNSC on their trip to the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda on May 22-24. The UNSC welcomed the announcement made by the World Bank of USD 1 bn in planned funding for development projects in the Great Lakes region and commended "the personal diplomatic engagement" of SG Ban and reaffirmed its strong support to Mrs Robinson who was encouraged "to lead, coordinate and assess" the implementation of national and regional commitments under the PSC Framework in view of the next meeting of the "11+4" Regional Oversight Mechanism scheduled for September.

The meeting took place amid growing fears voiced by humanitarian organizations about a possible UN-led military offensive which could make the humanitarian situation worse. The diplomats focused on Resolution 2098 and the further implementation of the decision to create a 3,000-strong intervention brigade as part of the MONUSCO. Also, the regional oversight mechanism of the PSC Framework held its first meeting in Addis Ababa on May 26 and welcomed the establishment of a technical support committee to define regional benchmark, several days after the M23 carried out attacks in the Mutaho area, in the vicinity of Goma.

Additional attacks targeted the Congolese army on July 11 in Kamango and the MONUSCO on July 14 along the Muba-Kamango axis at the initiative of the ADF-NALU,   which resulted in several casualties and prompted over 60,000 refugees to flee to neighboring Uganda. Besides, the UNSC took note that hundreds of M23 combatants, including individuals listed by the UN sanctions regime concerning the DRC, fled from the DRC into Rwanda on March 18, however appreciating the initial steps swiftly taken by the government of Rwanda to handle this situation.

Once again, the UNSC demanded that all the armed groups cease immediately all forms of violence and fully disband and disarm. According to French Minister delegate for development Pascal Canfin, "these attacks severely compromised regional and international efforts to find a lasting solution to the crisis in the Great Lakes region," that's why France and other countries have urged the "swift implementation" of the MONUSCO intervention brigade. 
Read more
Renewed fears on DRC's stability as M23 advances towards Goma, civilians flee to Uganda
Rwanda and South Korea (ROK) increase bilateral cooperation, sign one Development agreement
Click on the links at source: 
http://www.diplonews.com/intro/2013/20130726_UNSCFocusOnDRC.php

Friday, December 03, 2010

DR Congo/Rwanda: FDLR in nuclear materials deals - FDLR rebels keeping unsold Uranium –says UN

ACCORDING to the below copied reports, a United Nations Investigative Report in the DR of Congo has unearthed information that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels possess large portions of deadly Uranium, which they have since failed to sell.

The report, released by UN investigators, this week, indicates that the FDLR rebels, mainly Ex-FAR genocidal forces, are stuck with hundreds of kilograms of Uranium, a mineral used to make nuclear weapons.

UN experts revealed that the FDLR rebels discovered a deposit of precious minerals, which included six 70-kg canisters of uranium in Walikale territory of eastern DRC, after a tip-off by local chiefs.

Full story below.

Rwanda: FDLR in Nuclear Material Deals
Source: The New Times - www.newtimes.co.rw
Author: Edmund Kagire
Date: Thursday, 02 December 2010
Reprinted at allafrica.com
(Kigali) — A United Nations Investigative Report in the DRC has unearthed information that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels possess large portions of the deadly Uranium, which they have since failed to sell.

The report, released by UN investigators, this week, indicates that the FDLR rebels, mainly Ex-FAR genocidal forces, are stuck with hundreds of kilograms of Uranium, a mineral used to make nuclear weapons, which they have failed to sell for the last 2 years.

According to the report, the rebels have been trying to sell the deadly mineral on the black market.

UN experts revealed that the FDLR rebels discovered a deposit of precious minerals, which included six 70-kg canisters of uranium in Walikale territory of eastern DRC, after a tip-off by local chiefs.

The minerals were found in 2008 in a hidden underground vault.

The UN investigators say Sylvestre Mudacumura, the FDLR High Commander General tried to sell the Uranium through "his long-time business associate, Evariste Shamamba, of Établissement Namukaya".

"Établissement Namukaya subsequently held the canister for over a year without finding a buyer, and it was eventually returned to a pastor living in Kalehe," reads the report released Monday to the UN Security Council.

The investigators describe the material as "un-enriched uranium" - meaning it cannot be used to make nuclear bombs in its current form. The amount would not be enough to create even a small amount of fissile material, said the UN team.

Since the FDLR - through their contacts could not find a buyer for more than a year, they gave up, suggesting they are still in possession of some of the mineral.

The report also noted that joint Rwanda-DR Congo military operations have pushed the rebels out of the known mines, but the rebels have moved into mines in far rural areas.

The UN experts said they had given Interpol details of the attempted trade as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring illicit traffic from DRCs Katanga Province, where there are Uranium deposits.
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FDLR rebels keeping unsold Uranium –says UN
Source: Rwanda News Agency (RNA) - rnanews.com
Author: RNA Reporters
Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2010; 11:19. Copy in full:


Text message from Établissement Namukaya agent wishing to sell alleged uranium on behalf of the FDLR rebels. This same company also sells minerals for Congolese soldiers - using Kigali, Bujumbura and Kampala as the transit routes (Courtesy photo)

Kigali: Rwandan FDLR rebels are keeping hundreds of kilograms of Uranium – a mineral used to make atomic weapons, for which they have failed to get a buyer for two years now, according to UN investigators.

Subscribe to read more...
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Wikileaks desnuda la política exterior de EEUU: revelan esfuerzos ...


El Diario CoLatino - 2 days ago
Se trata de un material que aporta novedades relevantes sobre el manejo de asuntos de gran repercusión mundial, como el programa nuclear de Irán, ...

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Click on FDLR label here below to view previous reports.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

UN sanctions 4 FDLR leaders in DR Congo - Congo Siasa blog is back - New UN Group of Experts Report is out

Press Release from the Permanent Missions to the UN of France, the UK, and the US on the Designation for Sanctions of Four Additional Individuals in the DRC
Source: United States Mission to the United Nations - usun.state.gov
New York, NY
Wednesday, 01 December 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States submitted to the Security Council’s Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, three FDLR leaders and one individual responsible for targeting children in situations of armed conflict, to be added to the list of individuals and entities subject to a worldwide travel ban and asset freeze.

These four individuals are: Gaston IYAMUREMYE, Félicien NSANZUBUKIRE, Innocent ZIMURINDA and Leodomir MUGARAGU.
Members of the Committee agreed on 1 December 2010 that these four individuals be placed on the Committee’s list of designees for DRC sanctions.

These designations demonstrate the international community’s continued determination to fight against those who oppose the disarmament of rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and those responsible for the recruitment of children and serious human rights abuses.

The UN sanctions regime for DRC was renewed for a further 12 months on 29 November 2010 through the adoption of UNSCR 1952. As part of their work the Group of Experts have developed a clear set of due diligence guidelines for the minerals supply chain in eastern DRC. These guidelines, which the Security Council supported taking forward in SCR 1952, will help avoid financing further conflict in eastern DRC.

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States will continue to work with members of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions Committee to identify the individuals and entities that meet the criteria in Resolution 1857 (2008).

Background
The UN Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo is responsible for monitoring UN Member State implementation of the sanctions in place in the DRC. The Committee comprises all 15 members of the Security Council, and was authorized by Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1596 (2005) to list individuals and entities for an assets freeze and travel ban. The Committee decided on 1 December 2010 to list the four individuals named below, whose actions have undermined stability in the DRC. Their designation follows a request to the Committee from the Governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Those now under UNSC sanctions as a result of the Committee’s action today include:

1. Gaston IYAMUREMYE, born in 1948 in Musanze District (Northern Province), Rwanda. According to multiple sources, including the UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts, Gaston Iyamuremye is considered a core member of the FDLR military and political leadership and has become the group’s president. Gaston Iyamuremye also ran Ignace Murwanashyaka’s (previous President of the FDLR) office in Kibua, DRC until December 2009.

2. Félicien NSANZUBUKIRE, born in 1967 in Murama, Kinyinya, Rubungo, Kigali, Rwanda. Félicien Nsanzubukire has been a member of the FDLR since at least 1994 and operating in eastern DRC since October 1998. The UNSC DRC Sanction Committee’s Group of Experts reports that Félicien Nsanzubukire supervised and coordinated the trafficking of ammunition and weapons between at least November 2008 and April 2009 from the United Republic of Tanzania, via Lake Tanganyika, to FDLR units based in the Uvira and Fizi areas of South Kivu.

3. Innocent ZIMURINDA, born in 1975 or on September 1, 1972 , in Ngungu, Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC. Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was an officer in the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) which was integrated into the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) in early 2009.

According to multiple sources, Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda, in his capacity as one of the commanders of the FARDC 231st Brigade, gave orders that resulted in the massacre of over 100 Rwandan refugees, mostly women and children, during an April 2009 military operation in the Shalio area.

The UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts reported that Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was witnessed first hand refusing to release three children from his command in Kalehe, on August 29, 2009.

According to multiple sources, Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda, prior to the CNDP’s integration into FARDC, participated in a November 2008 CNDP operation that resulted in the massacre of 89 civilians, including women and children, in the region of Kiwanja.

In March 2010, 51 human rights groups working in eastern DRC posted a complaint online alleging that Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was responsible for multiple human rights abuses involving the murder of numerous civilians, including women and children, between February 2007 and August 2007. Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda has also been accused in the same complaint to be responsible for the rape of a large number of women and girls.

According to a May 21, 2010, statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Innocent Zimurinda has been involved in the arbitrary execution of child soldiers, including during operation Kimia II. According to the same statement, he denied access by the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) to screen troops for minors. According to the UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts, Lt Col Zimurinda holds direct and command responsibility for child recruitment and for maintaining children within troops under his command.

4. Leodomir MUGARAGU, born in 1954 or 1953, in Kigali, Rwanda or Rushashi (Northern Province), Rwanda. According to open-source and official reporting, Leodomir Mugaragu is the Chief of Staff of the Forces Combattantes Abucunguzi/Combatant Force for the Liberation of Rwanda (FOCA), the FDLR’s armed wing. According to official reporting, Mugaragu is a senior planner for FDLR’s military operations in the eastern DRC.

###

PRN: 2010/303
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CONGO SIASA BLOG IS BACK!

New UN Group of Experts Report is Out
Source: Congo Siasa - congosiasa.blogspot.com
Date: Wednesday, 01 December 2010
Excerpt:
Congo Siasa is back, just in time for the new UN Group of Experts' report. It's a great report, chock full of useful information on the situation in the Kivus, and I'll have an exclusive interview with members of the Group here in a few days. For now, some of the highlights of the 190 page document: ...
Read more at congosiasa.blogspot.com authored by Jason Stearns. Here is a copy of Jason's Blogger profile:
I have been working on the conflict in the DR Congo for the past nine years, most recently as the Coordinator of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Congo (2008). I have also worked for Heritiers de la Justice, a local human rights NGO (2001), the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC (2002-2004) and the International Crisis Group (2004-2007). A book I wrote on the conflict, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, is due to be published soon. I am currently getting my PhD at Yale University.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

ICC - France arrests Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana in Paris for war crimes committed in DR Congo’s Kivu province in 2009

ACTING on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), French police arrested Callixte Mbarushimana, vice-president of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), on Monday, 11 October 2010, in his Paris apartment. He stands charged of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in DRC in 2009.

The ICC alleges that Mbarushimana planned a series of crimes from his base in France with the intention of creating a humanitarian catastrophe, then extorting concessions of political power from the international community.

Almost two million people are internally displaced in eastern DRC’s Kivu provinces, in large part due to the activities of the FDLR.

Full story below.



Photo: Callixte Mbarushimana, seen here in 2004 (AFP)

Analysis: Rebel leader’s arrest just one step in fight against impunity in DRC
Source: IRIN - www.irinnews.org
Date: Thursday, 21 October 2010:
(LONDON) - The recent arrest in Europe of a senior Rwandan militia leader is a welcome step in the fight against impunity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but real progress in the protection of civilians depends on the apprehension of commanders on the ground, according to analysts.

Acting on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), French police arrested Callixte Mbarushimana, vice-president of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), on 11 October in Paris. He stands charged of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in DRC in 2009.

Almost two million people are internally displaced in eastern DRC’s Kivu provinces, in large part due to the activities of the FDLR.

International and local human rights groups applauded Mbarushimana’s arrest which comes after a long and controversial military campaign to stamp out the Hutu-dominated group that formed in DRC after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

But they suggest impact on the ground - where a brutal campaign of murder and rape allegedly committed by FDLR soldiers has blighted the lives of civilians - will be minimal.

“It is clear from the latest military operations that the FDLR is weakened, and the arrest of individuals in Europe just weakens them even further,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“But will it stop them attacking civilians? I fear not. I think that we’ve seen in the past that it doesn’t have an immediate impact on behaviour on the ground, because there has been this division between the political movement [in Europe] and the military leadership in the field.”

Mbarushimana took over the FDLR’s political wing following the November 2009 arrests of FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka and his deputy Straton Musoni in Germany. They remain in German custody charged, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, with bearing command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by FDLR troops eastern DRC.

ICC allegations

The ICC alleges that Mbarushimana planned a series of crimes from his base in France with the intention of creating a humanitarian catastrophe, then extorting concessions of political power from the international community.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said the latest arrest could help demobilize the FDLR “After 16 years of continuous violence, this could be an opportunity to finally demobilize the group,” said ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in a press release. “Their leaders are gone.”

But not everyone is convinced that FDLR will give up their fight so easily. Fidel Bafilemba, the eastern DRC field researcher for the Enough Project, says the soldiers on the ground care little for international warrants for European leaders. “Why should this [latest] arrest make a difference that the arrest of Ignace Murwanashyaka didn't make?” he said.

In fact, one of the most shocking incidents in DRC’s recent history occurred long after Murwanashyaka and Musoni were taken into custody - the rape of hundreds of women near Walikale in August, allegedly by FDLR soldiers and their Congolese Mayi-Mayi allies.

Many recent atrocities attributed to the FDLR have come in apparent response to the military campaigns against them by the Rwandan and DRC armies assisted by the UN peace-keeping force in DRC, known as MONUSCO (formerly MONUC).

“What I fear with FDLR is that they have shown when under military pressure they attack Congolese civilians,” said Van Woudenberg. “The recent rapes in Walikale are a prime example of the FDLR and their Mayi Mayi allies punishing Congolese people for their perceived support for these military operations against them.”

Independent DRC analyst Jason Stearns describes the military approach to date as clumsy and says it has worsened the humanitarian catastrophe in the east. He is also unconvinced that targeting Europe-based FDLR will stamp out the rebels.

“We should crack down on the diaspora, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that in the larger scheme of things it’s not going to be by any stretch of the imagination the key factor in dealing with the FDLR,” said Stearns, the former head of the UN Group of Experts on Congo. “There are other much more important issues to deal with than the diaspora.”

He believes that MONUSCO and others should be reaching out to the commanders on the ground who were not involved in the Rwandan genocide - many of whom are tired of life in the forest and the constant military pressure. “There has been relatively little outreach to them,” he said.

“We need to find out who the genocidaires [those who took part in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide] are in the FDLR, but we just don’t know. It’s hard to engage in this outreach to commanders if you are operating with this lack of information.”

DRC army accused of crimes against humanity Stearns proposes third country exile for FDLR members found not to be involved in violations of international law and who do not want to return to Rwanda.

“Powerful signal”

International Crisis Group’s central Africa senior analyst, Guillaume Lacaille, agrees that military offensives alone will not end the violence and that FDLR military leaders in the field should be given the opportunity to relocate, but within the DRC.

“Those who accept to leave the FDLR could be relocated in a western province of the Congo in exchange for disarmament, rather than accept immediate repatriation to Rwanda,” he said.

Lacaille, however, insists the arrest of Mbarushimana and the others is also an important part of the process of bringing peace to eastern DRC.

“It sends a powerful signal that directing from Europe a criminal group operating in Congo will have serious consequences,” he said. “In the past, leaders of armed groups were led to believe that they could operate safely from comfortable Western capitals. The ICC and the governments of Germany and France demonstrated clearly that it is not possible any more.”

Enough’s Bafilemba also sees the new ICC case as a positive step towards ending impunity in DRC, but expects more from the court. That means warrants for crimes committed by all sides in the conflict including the national army which this week came under pressure from Margot Wallstrom, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict, who accused its soldiers of murdering and raping villagers in Walikale.

Van Woudenberg, meanwhile, is calling on the Rwandan government to do its part in ending the violence.

“As long as the political space in Rwanda is not opened up to the Hutu, the problem of the FDLR will continue,” she said. The lasting solution to this problem of Hutu and their political space is Rwanda and Rwanda will need to open this political space.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame responded to this oft-voiced view in his 6 October swearing-in speech that followed his 93 percent landslide victory in an August election:

“…That there is no political space … what do you mean? The political space is well and fully occupied by the people of this country. And if the people of this country has spoken in such numbers and freely, who are you to question anything they have said? Where do you come from? From Mars?” lc/am/cb
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A Win Against Impunity: Callixte Mbarushimana Arrested in Paris
Source: warcrimes.foreignpolicyblogs.com
Written by: Brandon Henander
Date: Tuesday, 12 October 2010. Excerpt:
[...] What many find most offensive is that Mbarushimana was a U.N. employee during the Rwandan genocide; he used that priviledge to further the genocide by identifying employees to be killed, identifying safe-havens designated by the U.N. and evacuation points to Hutu militias; and personally carried out genocidal murders himself. Up to a dozen eye witnesses have come forward testifying that Mbarushimana supervised killings of Tutsis during the genocide and/or pulled the trigger himself.

The ICTR failed to sign his indictment in 2001 alleging that his role in the genocide was not large enough to warrant prosecution in front of the special tribunal, even though he was implicated in over 30 murders and grossly abused his position as an international civil servant. Unfortunately he went on to help mastermind killings and other war crimes and crimes against humanity that rose to the level of severity worthy of consideration before an international criminal venue.
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Related Reports
  1. Court refuses to release Callixte Mbarushimana from detention


    Rwanda News Agency (registration) - 3 days ago
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  5. The French-American Foundation Weekly Breif


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    I don't know if you have seen it, but he speaks about the case of Callixte Mbarushimana, saying that he wants to look at the UN's failure in that and that ...
  8. Rwandan War Crimes Suspect Makes First Appearance in French Court


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    Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana, accused of war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), makes his first appearance in a French court on ...
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    Inner City Press: Okay, the next question is does the UN have any comment on the arrest in Paris of Callixte Mbarushimana? Spokesperson: I know who you mean ...

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Hotel Rwanda inspiration Paul Rusesabagina accused of funding terrorism - Rwandan police arrest opposition leader Victoire Ingabire

Paul Rusesabagina who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda has been accused of funding terrorism and seeking to overthrow the country's government.

Mr Rusesabagina, who in 2005 was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honour by former US President George W. Bush, insists he has done nothing wrong.

Rwandan police say they have arrested the country's most prominent opposition leader Victoire Ingabire and are accusing her of forming a terrorist organisation.

Full story below.

Hotel Rwanda inspiration accused of funding terrorism
Source: The Daily Telegraph.co.uk
By Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg
Published: 1:56PM BST 28 Oct 2010

The man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda has been accused of funding terrorism and seeking to overthrow the country's government.



Photo: Paul Rusesabagina



Photo: Actor Don Cheadle (right) played the part of Paul Rusesabagina in the film Hotel Rwanda (Reuters)
Paul Rusesabagina, who was declared a hero by the international community for shielding hundreds of Tutsis from the 1994 in his hotel, is alleged to have sent money from the US to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu-majority rebel group whose commanders were implicated in the killings.

Mr Rusesabagina, who was played by Don Cheadle in the film, insists he has not sent money to Rwanda for at least seven years and dismissed the allegations as part of a smear campaign against him because he opposed the government of Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, in the past.

Martin Ngoga, Rwanda's most senior prosecutor, claimed he had hard evidence that Mr Rusesabagina, 56, sent money to two FDLR commanders in Burundi and Tanzania via the Western Union from San Antonio, Texas, where he has a home.

"Those who want to continue considering him as a hero can go on," Mr Ngoga said. "We consider him a serious criminal suspect and we are challenging whoever speaks on his behalf to tell us whether he never sent money to these FDLR commanders we have in custody."

It is alleged that the money was designed to fund the recruiting of fighters for a new military wing of FDU-Inkingi, a Hutu opposition party headed by Victoire Ingabire.

Miss Ingabire was remanded in custody earlier this month on charges of forming a terrorist group. Mr Ngoga alleged that the FDLR commanders in custody have given evidence against both Miss Ingabire and Mr Rusesabagina.

Mr Rusesabagina, who in 2005 was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honour by former US President George W. Bush, insists he has done nothing wrong.

"It is the latest step in a campaign against me by the Rwandan government that has included public insults, lies and physical harassment," he said.

"My foundation is advocating for a truth, justice and reconciliation process to try to foster sustainable peace in Rwanda ... but anyone who opposes Kagame inside or outside the country is treated with this kind of harassment."

No formal charges have yet been filed against him.

More than 500,000 Rwandans, mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were killed in Rwanda's genocide.
Mr Kagame, an ethnic Tutsi, has tried to downplay the role of ethnicity in post-genocide Rwanda, and people in the country rarely refer to themselves as Hutu or Tutsi and can face charges for speaking publicly about ethnicity.

But he has been criticised by human rights groups who accuse his regime of iron-fisted control and of silencing opposition politicians and media outlets with arrests and attacks in the run up to August president election.
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Rwandan police arrest opposition leader
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Date: Thursday, 14 October 2010



Photo: Rwandan authorities say Ms Ingabire, pictured, was implicated during investigations into the activities of a former commander of a Hutu militia group. (AFP/GETTY)
Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday, police said in a statement. Human rights groups accuse the Rwandan government of using allegations of terrorism to stifle opposition.

Rwandan authorities say Ms Ingabire was implicated during investigations into the activities of a former commander of a Hutu militia group operating in neighbouring Congo who was arrested on Wednesday.

Police claim this is the military wing of Ms Ingabire's party.

Ms Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years to challenge President Paul Kagame who was re-elected in August elections. She was barred from contesting the poll.

Rwandan police say they have arrested the country's most prominent opposition leader and are accusing her of forming a terrorist organisation.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

UN chief calls for investigation into attack by Mai-Mai and FDLR in North Kivu, eastern DR Congo

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
From United Nations – Office of the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General - Wednesday, 25 August 2010/via APO:
(NEW YORK) - The Secretary-General is outraged by the rape and assault of at least 154 Congolese civilians, during an attack by armed elements of the Mai-Mai and the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is another grave example of both the level of sexual violence and the insecurity that continue to plague the DRC.

The Secretary-General reiterates his call on all armed groups in the DRC to lay down their weapons and join the peace process. The Secretary-General further calls on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to investigate this incident and bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes and renew efforts to bring an end to insecurity in the eastern part of the country.

The United Nations supports the efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight impunity and ensure the protection of civilians from violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.

Given the seriousness of the incident, the Secretary-General has decided to dispatch immediately Assistant Secretary-General Atul Khare, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations to the DRC. He has also instructed his Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, to take charge of the UN’s response and follow-up to this incident.`
- - -

RDC : rapports de violences sexuelles au Nord Kivu, à l’Est de la République démocratique du Congo
NEW YORK, 25 août 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Déclaration du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies.

Le Secrétaire général est indigné par les viols et les agressions sexuelles dont ont été victimes au moins 154 civils congolais lors d’une attaque par des éléments armés Mai-Mai et les Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) à l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Ces graves incidents illustrent à nouveau le niveau de violence sexuelle ainsi que l’insécurité qui continuent d’affecter la RDC.

Le Secrétaire général réitère son appel à la démobilisation des groupes armés en RDC et leur adhésion au processus de paix en cours. Le Secrétaire général appelle aussi les autorités congolaises à mener une enquête sur ces incidents, à poursuivre en justice les auteurs de ces crimes, et à renouveler leurs efforts pour mettre fin à l’insécurité qui sévit dans cette partie du pays.

Les Nations Unies soutiennent les efforts du Gouvernement de la RDC visant à lutter contre l’impunité et à protéger les civils contre les violations du droit international humanitaire et des droits de l’homme, notamment toutes les formes de violence sexuelle.

Étant donné la gravité de cet incident, le Secrétaire général a décidé de dépêcher immédiatement le Sous-secrétaire général aux opérations de maintien de la paix, Atul Khare, en RDC. Il a également demandé à sa Représentante spéciale pour la violence sexuelle dans les conflits, Margot Wallström, de diriger les initiatives des Nations Unies en réponse à cet incident ainsi que d’en assurer le suivi.
Click on labels here below to view reports in the archives of Congo Watch.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

UN investigates claims of unreported February massacre in N.E. DR Congo

A senior UN official says as many as 100 people were killed in the alleged attack, which is believed to have taken place in February

John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said on a visit to the country that an investigation was under way.

If the claims are true it would bring the number of people killed between December and March to more than 500.

The UN says that in the same period, more than 300 others - nearly half of them children - were abducted. An unknown number of villagers were also mutilated, according to the UN.

Source: BBC News - see report here below, plus eight others from DR Congo.

Photo of DR Congo LRA kidnap victim:
“They told me I was talking too much”


U.N. Says Congo Rebels Killed Scores in Village

LRA kidnap victim Marie Mbolihundele, who says she was held by three LRA rebels in a northern area of Niangara, DR Congo two weeks ago, says they sliced her lips off and one of her ears.
"They ordered me to lie down on the ground and they told me I shouldn't scream or they would kill me," she said.

"I started to pray, and then they pulled my lips with pliers and cut them off with a knife. Then they told me to run, so I stood up and fled."
Source: BBC report (see below) by Thomas Fessy in DR Congo 02 May 2010.

Photo: A 23-year-old woman wore a bandage in a Niangara, Congo, hospital on Saturday, 17 days after a group of Lord’s Resistance Army rebels cut off her lips and right ear during an attack. (Photographer Jehad Nga for The New York Times) Source: NYT report here below.

U.N. Says Congo Rebels Killed Scores in Village
From The New York Times
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Saturday 01 May 2010
(KISANGANI, Congo) - United Nations officials said Saturday that the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel force killed up to 100 people in a previously unreported massacre in the remote northeastern corner of this country.

Details are still emerging of exactly what happened. But according to John Holmes, the United Nation’s top humanitarian official, the L.R.A. struck a small village in February, two months after it killed more than 300 people from several villages in the surrounding area.

United Nations investigators have spoken with several witnesses and victims of the massacre in February, including two fishermen who said they saw dozens of bodies.

But the investigators have been unable to reach the exact location because of the difficulties of traveling in one of the most rugged and isolated corners of Africa.

Mr. Holmes said that while recent military operations may have weakened the L.R.A., “they are still capable of wreaking absolute havoc — and they still do.”

He said he learned about the February attack on Saturday, when he met with local authorities and victims in Niangara, an old trading post hidden away in the Congolese jungle that has recently been ringed by roving bands of L.R.A. marauders.

One of the people he met was a young woman whose lips had been sliced off last month. She was attacked by rebels while working in her field, she said Saturday, sitting in a hospital bed, her face a mask of gauze and tape.

“They told me I was talking too much,” she said.

The L.R.A. has been waging a brutal and bizarre rebellion for more than 20 years, starting in northern Uganda in the late 1980s.

Originally, it said it was guided by the Ten Commandments, but soon it was breaking every one, massacring and mutilating civilians and becoming notorious for kidnapping young children and turning them into 4-foot-tall killing machines.

The Ugandan Army eventually drove the L.R.A. out of Uganda but the rebels simply marched into neighboring northeastern Congo, where they set up bases in isolated areas.

Recently, the Ugandan military has killed dozens of fighters hiding out in Congo and the Central African Republic, though the L.R.A.’s leader, Joseph Kony, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on crimes against humanity, is still on the loose.

In the December massacre, the L.R.A. killed more than 300 people in a brutal recruitment campaign near Niangara, in which a few dozen rebel fighters abducted hundreds of civilians, marching them in a human chain from village to village. Along the way, the fighters beat to death men, women and children they did not want to keep in their ranks.

“For anyone saying that the L.R.A. is finished, I would be careful not to count them out,” Mr. Holmes said. “They have an amazing capacity to regenerate themselves, especially by kidnapping children.”
Top UN man investigates massacre claims in DR Congo
From BBC News by THOMAS FESSY in DR Congo
03:48 GMT, Sunday, 2 May 2010 04:48 UK - excerpt:
Nearly half the people abducted by LRA were children, the UN says

Photo: Nearly half the people abducted were children, the UN says

A senior UN official says as many as 100 people were killed in the alleged attack, which is believed to have taken place in February.

John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said on a visit to the country that an investigation was under way.

If the claims are true it would bring the number of people killed between December and March to more than 500.

Mr Holmes said rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army had carried out the massacre in the village of Kpanga in the north-east of the country, near the border with southern Sudan and the Central African Republic.

After visiting the remote town of Niangara, near the site of the alleged killings, Mr Holmes said an investigation had been launched to find out exactly what had happened.

It would bring the total number of people killed in DR Congo between December and March to more than 500.

The UN says that in the same period, more than 300 others - nearly half of them children - were abducted. An unknown number of villagers were also mutilated, according to the UN.

Among them is Marie Mbolihundele, who says she was held by three LRA rebels in a northern area of Niangara two weeks ago. She says they sliced her lips off and one of her ears.

"They ordered me to lie down on the ground and they told me I shouldn't scream or they would kill me," she said.

"I started to pray, and then they pulled my lips with pliers and cut them off with a knife. Then they told me to run, so I stood up and fled." (...)
An Indian peacekeeper from Monuc

Photo: An Indian peacekeeper from Monuc, the United Nations Mission in Congo, on patrol. (Photograph: Emmanuel Braun/Reuters) Source: see Guardian report here below

Lord's Resistance Army massacres up to 100 in Congolese village
From The Guardian
By ASSOCIATED PRESS ‎(NIANGARA, DR Congo)
Sunday 02 May 2010 - excerpt:
Among recent victims Holmes met was Cornelia Yekpalile, a 23-year-old mother of four, who was mutilated 18 days ago when she went to fields near her village of Kpizimbi, set in dense forest in north-eastern Congo, to collect spinach-like pondu leaves to cook for lunch.
At Niangara hospital, where she is being cared for by Médecins sans Frontières, Yekpalile said she would not be going home when her wounds healed.

"There's no security in the villages," she said. "Here there are soldiers."

She said she had no idea why the rebels hacked off her lips and her right ear. "I was crying for mercy and crying 'Oh my God, oh my God, help me.' They said they would kill me if I carried on making a noise and then they did this," she said, pressing a bandage to a mouth covered in plaster.
UN says investigating LRA massacre of 100 in Congo
From The Washington Post
By THOMAS HUBERT (Reuters) in NYANGARA, DR Congo
(Additional reporting and writing by David Lewis; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
Sunday 02 May 2010; 10:38 AM - excerpt:
Leontine Masini, another resident, spoke of a six-month ordeal that ended when she escaped as the fighters were asleep.

"They take wooden sticks and ask those who have been captured to hit someone with that stick on the head. If you don't kill that person, you are being hit too," she said.

The 25 year-old said she had witnessed so many murders that "there is no way" to put a number on it. "I did hit people. I didn't kill them, so I got hit, too," she added.
UN reports massacre of 100 villagers in Congo
From The Associated Press by MICHELLE FAUL in NIANGARA, Congo
Sunday, 02 May 2010 - excerpt:
When Holmes visited the village of Mwenga on Friday, he was met by women singing a poignant song. "We are the living dead. They rape us! There's no life without women. There can be no Congo without women," they sang. Tears ran down the faces of some of the chanting women.

On Sunday, Holmes visits Mbandaka in northwest Congo, where a new rebellion has erupted. Enyele militiamen this month attacked U.N. peacekeepers guarding the airport, killing a Ghanaian peacekeeper and a South African pilot along with some 20 civilians.

That rebellion, in Equateur province, began between tribesmen fighting over farming and fishing rights. But the Enyele militiamen, in an Easter Sunday attack, targeted strategic and government locations. It took Congolese troops and U.N. peacekeepers two days' fighting to retake the airport. (...)

Mattia Novella, field coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said they see few wounded patients. "As I understand it, they do not wound, they kill, that's why we don't received many injured people."
Ugandan Rebels Kill 100 Civilians in Congo, UN Says (Update1)
From Bloomberg BusinessWeek
By MICHAEL J. KAVANAGH in KISANGANI, DR Congo
Sunday, 02 May 2010, 5:52 AM EDT
(Editors: Alastair Reed, Stephen Taylor.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kavanagh in Kisangani at mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net) - excerpt:
The LRA has killed almost 1,800 Congolese civilians since 2007, including 407 since December, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The February attacks could bring the total above 500, it said. (...)

A joint military operation against the rebels by the Congolese and Ugandan armies began in December 2008, with the Ugandans getting support and training from the U.S. The offensive has weakened and scattered the LRA throughout northeastern Congo, southern Sudan and the Central African Republic, Holmes said. “Unfortunately, this scattering makes it even more dangerous than before,” he said.

The rebels are now traveling in groups of five to 10, attacking villages and threatening civilians, Holmes said. As many as 300,000 people have been displaced by LRA attacks and hundreds have been kidnapped, according to the OCHA. (...)

The region where the rebels operate is remote and hard to access, complicating efforts by the army and peacekeepers to secure villages and provide aid to the displaced.

The Congolese government has asked the UN peacekeepers to leave the country by 2011, something Holmes said would be detrimental to the fight against the LRA. “The presence of MONUC in the territory is essential in terms of protection of civilians,” he said.

“We’ve tried to finish this movement militarily many times. We’ve tried politically with a peace accord that wasn’t signed,” he said. “It’s up to the international community to come up with a solution to end this reign of terror.”
UN says Congo pull-out would undermine aid work
From The Washington Post
By THOMAS HUBERT (Reuters) in BUKAVU, DR Congo
(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Maria Golovnina)
Saturday, 01 ‎May 2010‎ - excerpt:
Aid groups say Congo's national army is responsible for atrocities against the civilians they are charged to protect.

The U.N. is resisting pressure from Congolese President Joseph Kabila to start pulling out its force, known as MONUC, by the 50th anniversary of Congo's independence on June 30. (...)

U.N. peacekeepers have been in the central African nation since a 1998-2003 war that killed millions. The force has since grown in the world's largest global peacekeeping mission.

Congo's government says however that it is time for U.N. forces to pull out because of increasing evidence that its forces are prepared to fill the gap left by MONUC's departure.

During Holmes' visit to south Kivu, a region in Congo's east where Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels are active, a villager told him she was afraid of government forces in the next town.

"The 14th brigade, which is based in Kitutu and has a bad reputation, must be taken out for our protection," she told him.

Belgium's ambassador to Kinshasa, Dominique Struye de Swielande, said this month he was concerned about a hasty withdrawal of MONUC forces.
UN relief chief speaks out against Ugandan rebel violence in DR Congo
From UN News Centre - Saturday 01 May 2010 - excerpt:
In Niangara today, Mr. Holmes heard first-hand accounts from survivors, including one woman whose lips and ear had been torn off two days ago in a typically barbaric and inexplicable attack.

“This is unacceptable. We need a rapid solution to what has become a regional crisis,” he emphasized.

In meetings with authorities and humanitarian workers in the area, the official voiced concern that the possible drawdown of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUC, could have negative effects on the protection of civilians and on humanitarian access.

“MONUC is a deterrent for the LRA, and its presence is also essential to humanitarian operations in this province,” he stated. “I am concerned that their departure could increase the suffering of civilians, and reduce our ability to help them.”

Seven UN agencies and 23 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) carry out humanitarian work in Orientale Province's Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele districts, combined are home to at least 320,000 persons uprooted by LRA-related violence.

Due to the ongoing threat posed by the group's presence, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have little prospects of returning home in the near future.

Aid workers have been able to reach nearly two-thirds of the displaced population, but face obstacles on a daily basis due to insecurity and the inaccessibility of many of the IDPs in an area with little or no road coverage.

Yesterday, Mr. Holmes visited uprooted people in Mwenga, approximately 80 kilometres south-west of the city of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, also in northeast DRC.

“Civilians continue to suffer enormously and disproportionately in this armed conflict,” he said in Mwenga, where he helped launch a new feeding programme of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

North and South Kivu provinces have been ravaged by armed conflict mainly pitting DRC's national army against insurgents of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, better known as FDLR, the group's French acronym.

Local armed militias and bandits also contribute to insecurity in the two Kivu provinces, where an estimated 1.4 million people are internally displaced, more than 70 per cent of whom live with host families, increasing the burden on a population with already-scarce resources.
D.R. Congo: UN Humanitarian Chief Condemns LRA Violence
From United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Saturday 01 May 2010 (via ReliefWeb):
(Kinshasa/New York/Geneva, 01 May 2010): On the third day of his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes visited the troubled Haut-Uele District of Orientale Province, located in north-eastern DRC on the border with Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).

"In this district, the Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] has continued to commit horrific atrocities against civilians, who are now displaced with no prospect of going back home any time soon", Mr. Holmes said after a visit to Niangara, located approximately 90 kilometres west of the district capital Dungu. "This is unacceptable. We need a rapid solution to what has become a regional crisis," he said.

The area was the scene of one of the worst massacres recently committed by the LRA. During the second week of December 2009, over 300 civilians were reportedly killed and over 250, including at least 80 children, kidnapped. Since December 2007, around 1,800 civilians are thought to have been killed by the LRA, and 2,400 abducted, throughout the province. In Niangara, Mr. Holmes was able to hear first hand appalling testimony from survivors, including one woman whose lips and ear had been torn off two weeks ago in a typically barbaric and inexplicable attack.

During meetings with authorities and humanitarians there and in the provincial capital Kisangani, Mr. Holmes expressed concern that the possible drawdown of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) would have negative effects on the protection of civilians and humanitarian access. "MONUC is a deterrent for the LRA, and its presence is also essential to humanitarian operations in this province", he stated. "I am concerned that their departure could increase the suffering of civilians, and reduce our ability to help them", he added.

In addition to the DRC, the LRA has attacked civilians in Southern Sudan and the CAR, since being driven out of Northern Uganda some years ago.

Seven United Nations entities and 23 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) carry out humanitarian work in the Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele districts. The districts host at least 320,000 persons internally displaced by LRA-related violence. Because of the continued threat posed by the LRA's presence, they have little prospects of returning home in the near future. Humanitarians have been able to assist an estimated 65% of the displaced population, but they face obstacles on a daily basis due to persistent insecurity and the inaccessibility of many of the displaced, in an area with little or no road coverage.

For further information, please call: OCHA Kinshasa: Maurizio Giuliano, +243 995 901 533, giuliano@un.org; Stefania Trassari, +243 99 2906637, trassari@un.org; OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org,
OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int

The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors [end of copy]

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

FDLR Inc: Congo’s multinational rebels, one of Africa's most feared militias

The German authorities have arrested leaders of a militia which operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo - but how strong is the case against them? The BBC's East Africa Correspondent Peter Greste investigates.

The FDLR is one of Africa's most feared militias
The FDLR is one of Africa's most feared militias

From BBC News
By the BBC's East Africa Correspondent Peter Greste, 18 November 2009:
FDLR Inc: Congo’s multinational rebels
Over the past few months, I have been investigating connections between war crimes allegedly committed by the FDLR in the Congo, and their leaders living in Europe.

One of them is Callixte Mbarashimana, an unlikely-looking warlord, elegantly dressed in a suit, tie and overcoat. With his neatly trimmed goatee and easy smile, he looks more like a university professor than the second-most powerful man in one of Africa's most feared militias.

Mr Mbarashimana is the executive secretary of the FDLR - one of the most potent rebel forces fighting in the dense forests and bush-land along the eastern frontier of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They are, he says, "a military-political organisation to protect Rwandan refugees and … to liberate the Rwandan people from the yoke of the fascist regime of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front)".

'Conglomeration'

These are claims that gall human rights workers, the United Nations and countless Congolese civilians, who accuse the FDLR of a catalogue of abuses, including mass rape, murder, forced recruitments, child soldiers, using slaves to illegally exploit minerals.

"It's just a conglomeration of criminals," according to the head of the UN's programme to demobilise the region's armed groups, Greg Alex. "What have they done in the Congo that's been righteous?"

According to UN investigators, FDLR executives operate relatively freely in North America, and Europe. Those connections have infuriated peacekeeping officials in the Congo who have repeatedly called on host governments to dismantle the support structure that keeps the rebels fighting.

"The linkages are clear," said a frustrated Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, head of the UN's peacekeeping force in the province of North Kivu.

"The FDLR has remained cohesive as it is now because of the political leadership in Europe. These are people that encourage those in the field to kill, to rape every day. These are crimes, so they should be prosecuted."

'Commander-in-chief'

The FDLR's president, Ignace Murwanashyaka, lives in Mannheim in Germany. He was arrested on Tuesday, charged with being a leader of a terrorist organisation, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ignace Murwanashyaka

German authorities accuse Ignace Murwanashyaka of war crimes

In interview after interview, serving and former FDLR officials told me that he is not only the ideological and political force behind the movement, he is its supreme military commander.

He is "like President Obama," according to the FDLR's spokesman in the Congo who goes by the nom de guerre of "La Forge".

"Just as President Obama is also the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, so President Murwanashyaka is our military leader as well."

The BBC has obtained a log of calls from satellite phones owned by senior FDLR commanders that shows a regular and consistent communication with leaders in the diaspora, notably Ignace Murwanashyaka.

The evidence - supported by testimony from former officers - suggests that he personally directed strategy and approved operations.

FDLR Inc: Congo’s multinational rebels

The UN estimates over a thousand civilians have been killed this year

Child soldiers

Captain Busokoye Donat is a former FDLR officer now in Rwanda under the demobilisation scheme. He used to be in charge of officer training before taking over what he described as "civil defence" - which is training civilian supporters in weapons and military tactics.

"You have to understand that in our organisation, Dr Murwanashyaka is like God," he said.

"He might not give tactical orders - that's the job of the officers who know the situation on the ground - but every operation is run past him for approval."

"He knows everything that happens in the field."

I asked Donat about reports that the FDLR is recruiting child soldiers.

"We have been losing a lot of troops through DDRRR (the UN's demobilisation programme) so we have to go to schools to get more soldiers. We have no choice," he said.

"Does Dr Murwanashyaka know this?" I asked.

"I told you. Dr Murwanashyaka knows everything that happens."

Donat also linked the leader to attacks on innocent villagers.

"I personally saw a telegram in which President Murwanashyaka told commanders that they should attack villages to force civilians to flee."

"That's to put pressure on the international community and Rwanda to negotiate with us," Donat said.

Justice

Before his arrest, we asked Mr Murwanashyaka for an interview. He referred us to his executive secretary Callixte Mbarashimana in Paris.

Callixte Mbarashimana

Callixte Mbarashimana defends the FDLR's human rights record

Mr Mbarashimana denied complicity in war crimes. "I am in a country where justice works. I am ready to face justice if there are any allegations that come with evidence."

"I have always claimed my innocence and I am ready - I repeat ready - to face justice if they come with allegations."

Mr Mbarashimana fiercely defended the FDLR's human rights record. "There is no FDLR policy to attack any civilian population," he said. "We condemn all those abuses. We have consistently called for an international investigation so that they can identify the authors of those abuses and bring them to justice. That is our policy."

The French authorities told me Mr Mbarashimana has broken none of their laws. They said free speech legislation protects his right to act as the organisation's spokesman, and they have not received any formal request for an investigation.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

UN ends Congo campaign - 21,000 peacekeepers in DRC

Report from BBC News online at 23:01 GMT, Wednesday, 16 December 2009:
UN ends criticised Congo campaign
The UN envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo says a joint military operation against rebels will be concluded at the end of this month.

Alan Doss told the UN Security Council that the campaign in the east of the country had "largely achieved" its goal of weakening the Rwandan Hutu rebels.

The operation was criticised by rights groups, who accuse Congolese government troops of killing and raping civilians.
UN experts had said the campaign failed to dismantle militia infrastructure.

But Mr Doss declared that had not been the objective, as the rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is deeply entrenched in eastern Congo.

He did acknowledge there was a dilemma at the heart of the peacekeeping mandate to both protect civilians and work with an undisciplined Congolese army.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch said the offensive had seen 1,400 civilians murdered this year by both Congolese troops and rebels.

New mandate

Mr Doss told the Security Council that Congolese troops backed by the UN force "will now concentrate on holding ground recovered from the FDLR and preventing attacks on civilians in areas of vulnerability".

The FDLR has been active in eastern Congo for 15 years.

Some of its older members are accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, which targeted the Tutsi minority and claimed about 800,000 lives.

Mr Doss said during the first half of next year UN officials would propose a realistic plan for reconfiguring the 21,000-strong peacekeeping force in Congo, known as Monuc, which has been deployed in the country for the past 10 years.

Diplomats say a draft resolution submitted to the Security Council would extend the peacekeepers mandate by five months.

At that point, the idea would be to begin phasing them out of combat and into a programme to reform the army and police forces, says the BBC's Barbara Plett at the United Nations in New York.
KEY STORIES
File picture of an FDLR rebelRebels Inc 
Is the feared FDLR being run from Europe? 
BACKGROUND