1,200 people die every day as result of conflict in DRC: UN confirms 6 ex-rebels die of hunger

Photo: Mai Mai fighters are being integrated into the army - BBC report 17 Feb 2006:

Six former rebels who were being integrated into the Democratic Republic of Congo's army have died of hunger, the United Nations has confirmed.

The ex-Mai Mai fighters were at a training camp in Kamina in the east.

The UN says it has repeatedly protested that rations and payments are not reaching ex-rebels in training centres.

Under the terms of the 2002 peace deal, rebel militia are being integrated into the army as the country prepares for elections to be held by June.

Eighteen army brigades are supposed to be fully trained by the middle of this year, but the UN says that so far only six are fully functional.

Some 17,000 UN peacekeepers are in DR Congo in the lead-up to parliamentary and presidential polls due in April, in what will be DR Congo's first national multi-party elections for four decades.

A possible presidential run-off will take place in early June.

Conflict is still continuing in the east, where bands of militia groups still terrorise civilians and use the rich minerals and timber of the region to finance their operations.

The Mai Mai militiamen were a nationalist Congolese government reserve in the east of the country

Several neighbouring countries - including Rwanda and Uganda - were drawn into DR Congo's brutal conflict which led to some 3m deaths.

The BBC's World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says the Mai Mai are fiercely nationalistic and implacably anti-Rwanda.

On Monday, the UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said the after-effects of the five-year conflict were responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 people every day.

Kiva: Loans that change lives, become a lender to a small business in Africa

Kiva website states it provides a new, sponsor a business option for individuals to connect with small enterprises in developing countries through flexible loans and invites readers to become a lender to a small business in Africa and be reimbursed for the loan.

Sounds like a good initiative. Not sure how it all works. According to the website, Kiva is experiencing a huge outpouring of support and cannot list businesses fast enough. Excerpt:

"Latest journal from Peace Poultry Tororo, Uganda , January 3, 2006: This business has received loan money worth $300. The money has already been put in business to increase the stock."

Source: Trey's blog.

UN says won't support Congo army if abuses continue

United Nations peacekeepers will stop fighting alongside Congolese government forces if they continue to commit human rights violations during operations, the world body said on 8 Feb 2006.

The U.N. mission began documenting army abuses after government soldiers killed two people suspected of being militiamen in December, hacking off their limbs and burning their remains in the middle of a town in north-eastern Congo.

UK-based Amnesty International on Wednesday also called for the government, as well as rebels and militia groups that continue to operate in eastern Congo three years after the end of a civil war, to be held accountable for abuses.

NATIONAL ARMY

As Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for elections due by the end of June, U.N. peacekeepers are arming, supporting and fighting alongside poorly paid and ill-equipped government soldiers in an attempt to pacify the lawless east.

Under peace deals that ended Congo's five-year war, tens of thousands of fighters from a plethora of rebel factions, militia groups and units loyal to Kinshasa's government were supposed to be integrated into a cohesive national army.

But just a handful of integrated brigades have been set up and all units are poorly paid, lack training and discipline and have virtually no equipment or logistical support.

Amnesty International said the failure to build a unified army was contributing to instability in the east, where access to resources and ethnic conflicts continue to fuel violence.

Civilians have been complaining for some time of abuses by soldiers, particularly after the United Nations transported hundreds of Congolese troops late last year into the remote town of Aba, where Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels were thought to be based.

"The U.N. brought the soldiers to chase away the LRA rebels. But we now want them back as they were not as bad as these guys who are raping and stealing," one resident told Reuters by phone from the remote province, which borders Sudan.

Congo is due to hold elections by the middle of this year but ongoing insecurity is threatening the process and, experts say, killing 1,000 people daily on top of the 4 million thought to have died from war-related hunger and disease since 1998.

Full report (Reuters) by David Lewis.

Ugandan LRA terrorist group chief Joseph Kony flees Southern Sudan into DR Congo

See Sudan Watch One of the world's most wanted men: Ugandan LRA terrorist group chief Joseph Kony flees Southern Sudan into DR Congo - UN calls NGOs into Kony hunt.

Songs by child soldiers in DRC's Aveba disarmament camp

Save the Children UK journalist Suzanne Fisher recently travelled to the Aveba Transit Camp, a disarmament camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo that helps children who have been associated with armed groups.

Suddenly she found a group of children started to sing. They were not members of a choir and had no formal musical training but knew the same songs and performed them in perfect five part harmony for Suzanne, who had basic recording equipment with her. Here are links to the recordings of those songs.

UK grad student Jennifer of Soldier Child rightly describes it as a truly remarkable recording. Please listen to video clip and tell me you don't care.



More recordings and info at Save the Children UK 25 January 2006.

Read Suzanne Fisher's Staff Diary published 2005.

UN WFP Emergency Report 27 Jan 2006 re DR Congo

UN World Food Programme Emergency Report 27 January 2006 re DR Congo:

(a) The security situation was extremely volatile in areas located at 50 - 100 km south of Bunia. Violent clashes between government troops and militias from Forces de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) occurred throughout the week. The violence caused massive movements of displaced people to several locations near Bunia (Bogoro, Kotoni, Marabo, and Zumbe). In Kotoni, over 403 displaced households (some 2,800 persons) were assisted with 16 tons of WFP food by Cooperating Partner (CP) German Agro Action (GAA).

(b) In another incident, on 23 January, eight UN peacekeepers were killed and five others injured during a four hour exchange of fire with armed people in the Garamba National Park, near the borders of Sudan and Uganda.

(c) Since 19 January, insecurity has worsened in North Kivu province. Violent clashes between dissident and loyalists troops took place in Rutshuru and between governmental troops and untamed militias. According to the CP Solidarite, more than 17,000 people have been displaced to areas in the northeast of Butembo. In addition, over 10,000 people are reported to have crossed into Uganda.

(d) In South Kivu province, Government troops focused on ousting Front Démocratique pour la Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) from the Bukavu-Mwenga axis. From the forest in which they hide, FDLR militias raided several villages under the government troops' protection. In addition to the long history of armed violence, the population in Ruzizi Plain are adversely affected by drought that lasted from September to end November. Production of staple food including corn, sorghum and beans was insufficient. WFP and FAO are considering the distribution of seeds and seeds protection food packages, provision of WFP safety net rations to families of malnourished children, rehabilitation of the irrigation system in the area through food for work activities and a reforestation programme.

(e) In Maniema province, WFP's cooperating partner Action de la Cooperation Technique pour le developpement (ACTED) is planning to start therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes in Kabambare in early February 2006. A nutritional survey carried out by ACTED in March 2005 found global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate as high as 14.8 percent. The area of Kabambare, 400 km from Kindu, received no assistance for a lengthy period of due to poor road conditions. According to ACTED, about 1,500 people may need food assistance under the nutritional programme.

(f) In Bunia (Ituri district), WFP released 74 tons of food, including 56 tons to GAA for displaced persons and other groups at high risk. Between 12 and 20 January, WFP provided 230 tons of food to 26,600 internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the Beni-Oicha-Eringeti axis through CP Lutheran World Federation (LWF). In Uvira (South Kivu province), WFP provided three-month food packages for 1,000 returnees resettled by UNCHR in Uvira and Baraka.

UN urged by Uganda to rout out LRA from Sudan, DRC

Today, China's Xinhua reports the Ugandan government has appealed to the UN and the international community to rally behind its efforts to rout out the rebels currently hiding in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to a report from the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) Radio on Sunday, the call was made by Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa at the UN Security Council meeting.

Kutesa told the meeting that a group of Ugandan rebels continue to terrorize innocent people in northern Uganda, Sudan and the DRC.

3 killed in DR Congo army base attack 60 mls north of Goma

29 Jan 2006 Sapa-AFP report says three people were killed and seven others wounded after a group of unknown assailants attacked an army installation in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official told AFP.

The official said soldiers of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) killed three attackers and sustained the seven injuries on their side during the ensuing battle with the assailants who raided the army headquarters in Rutshuru, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Goma.

Congo President Holds First Peace Meeting

This blog should be named Congo(s) Watch. Please note the Democratic Republic of Congo, also known as DR Congo or DRC is not the same place as the Republic of the Congo. See DRC and the Congo on map here in sidebar. This blog mainly concentrates on the humanitarian crisis in DRC.

However the President of Republic of Congo has just been appointed head of the African Union. The Washington Post reports today that 'Denis Sassou-Nguesso launched his role as a top African peace mediator on Sunday, meeting with the prime minister of civil war-divided Ivory Coast days after taking over as African Union head.'

Note, the report points out the OAU was disbanded in 2002 after 39 years because it was widely considered an ineffective talking shop. For the last three years, Sassou-Nguesso has also headed the Central African Economic Community, or CEMAC.

Uganda tells UN it wants to fight rebels in E Congo too

The Ugandan military is ready to "deal with" rebels in neighboring Congo who killed eight U.N. soldiers this week, President Yoweri Museveni said on Thursday.

"We told the UN they should allow us to go and deal with them in [Eastern} Congo, because we know how to fight those criminals," Museveni said during celebrations at an airfield marking two decades since his National Resistance Movement seized power.

"They didn't listen to us," he added.

"The other day I saw (the LRA) had killed some of their people ... We are ready, if the Congolese government and the UN want us to deal with that issue, we shall deal with it."

He thanked the Sudanese government and former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army for letting Ugandan troops operate in southern Sudan, where the LRA has hideouts.

Full report CNN Jan 26, 2006.



Photo: Workers in Uganda Tuesday offload caskets holding bodies of UN peacekeepers killed in East Congo. (AFP/CNN)

UN demands justice for Congo peacekeeper killers

The UN Security Council on Wednesday denounced the killing of eight U.N. soldiers in Congo this week and pressed Congo's government to quickly bring the attackers to justice, reports Reuters Jan 25, 2006:

Eight Guatemalan peacekeepers were killed and five seriously wounded on Monday in a battle with rebels from neighboring Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army or LRA.

They were among about 80 Guatemalan soldiers who came under attack during a reconnaissance mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Garamba National Park, on the border with Sudan.

"The LRA have conducted a long-running and vicious insurgency in northern Uganda which has caused the death, abduction and displacement of thousands of innocent civilians in Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the council said in a unanimous statement.

It called on Congo's transitional government "immediately to take all necessary measures to bring to justice those responsible for this attack."

U.N. Congo peacekeepers retreat

The UN Mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUC, said Tuesday the Garamba Park operation was canceled and peacekeepers taken to the city of Kisangani, reports United Press International Jan 24, 2006:

Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert, division commander for peacekeepers in eastern Congo who was visiting UN World HQ in New York, told reporters Tuesday the remaining peacekeepers were extracted by helicopter from the scene of the battle.

The mission said local authorities estimated 50,000 internally displaced people were sheltered in churches and schools.

President of Congo (Brazzaville) to succeed Obasanjo as AU chair - diplomatic sources

See Sudan Watch Sudan withdraws candidacy for AU presidency.

UN says 8 peacekeepers killed in eastern Congo

Eight Guatemalan special forces soldiers deployed as U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Congo were killed and five wounded in a battle with Ugandan rebels on Monday in the second deadliest attack on the UN force.

The force, known as MONUC, said 80 Guatemalans had been on a reconnaissance mission for the past 10 days in Congo's Garamba National Park, on the border with Sudan, looking for members of neighboring Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)."

Full story GOMA, Congo (Reuters) 23 Jan 2006.

Thousands flee clashes between DRC troops, militia

From a report by SAPA, 19 Jan, 2006 [via Coalition for Darfur with thanks]:

An offensive by troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against militia armies in the volatile east has driven 122,000 people from their homes, the United Nations mission in the DRC (Monuc) said on Wednesday.

'A new wave of 46,000 people has been displaced since November 2005 in districts of Nord-Katanga which are still the theatre of military operations against armed groups roaming the region, bringing the total number of displaced persons to 122,000,' Monuc deputy spokesperson Eliana Naaba said.

Much further north, an armed gang loyal to a renegade general on Wednesday attacked an army position at Runyonyi in Nord-Kivu province, according to the local military commander, Colonel Jean-Marie She Kasikila, who accused Rwandan troops of backing the rebels."

Blogging Rwandan genocide feature film Shooting Dogs

Today, Congo Watch received an email from a new blog called Shooting Dogs about a film starring John Hurt. The film is called Shooting Dogs and tells the story of what happened at the Ecole Technique Officielle during the Rwandan genocide.

Note this excerpt from post by David Belton the film's producer who gained a BAFTA nomination for his work:

Tom asks, "Do you think we did a good job out there?" I look at him. Ever since I came back from the genocide in Rwanda six years before I have enjoyed the praise of my colleagues at work, my tour of duty out there worn like a medal on my chest. Now this. The ice twirls around my glass. I'm struggling for an answer - looking at Tom, trying to read in his face a motive behind the question. I almost feel defensive - what the hell kind of question is that anyway. He takes a deep breath, "Because, you see, I don't think we did. We left and we should have stayed."

Also, see Shooting Dog's other blog called Rwandan Survivors. It is dedicated to the survivors of the genocide and aims to provide a platform for anyone to write their views on subjects raised. Good luck David! I've found genocide to be a bit of a conversation stopper :)

Africa's rebels take their battles online

Washington Post article by Emily Wax 14 January 2006.

[via The Blog Herald with thanks]

MSF list of ten most under-reported stories of last year

What we should worry about, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres:

Chechnya
Northern Uganda
Northeastern India
Congo
Colombia
Southern Sudan
Ivory Coast
Somalia
Haiti
HIV/AIDS

Those are the ten most under-reported stories of last year.

Read full story at Contango: Our responsibility.

DR Congo backs new constitution

The Democratic Republic of Congo has approved a new constitution which paves the way for historic presidential and parliamentary elections in March.

According to official results from the 18 December referendum, released on Wednesday, 84.31% voted in favour of the constitution to 15.69% against.

The new charter allows greater autonomy for some of the huge country's mineral-rich regions.

DR Congo's people voted for the constitution in December.

Full report BBC 12 January 2006.

The Lancet 2006: Mortality in the DR of Congo: a nationwide survey

British medical journal, The Lancet recently published a report on mortality in DR Congo. Louis at Telegraphe Congolais says the report is not available online but he has managed to blog an excerpt.