The UN force in DR Congo is the biggest in the world. The leader of a DRC militia group is to be sent to the world court over the killing of UN troops, a Congolese human rights group says Voice of the Voiceless, reported BBC Mar 17, 2006. Excerpt:
Thomas Lubanga was arrested a year ago after nine Bangladeshi United Nations peacekeepers were killed in the volatile north-eastern Ituri region.
This would be the first case dealt with by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Dutch city of the Hague.
The ICC was set up to deal with war crimes and genocide around the world.
Mr Lubanga was brought out of his jail in the capital, Kinshasa, by the Congo military on Thursday and informed that he will be judged by the ICC, according to Congolese human rights group Voice of the Voiceless.
Mr Lubanga is accused of having ordered the killing of the peacekeepers in February 2005 and of being behind continuous insecurity in the area.
Several teams of ICC investigators have been sent to Ituri in recent months where more than 50,000 people have died since the inter-ethnic war began in 1999.
Thomas Lubanga's ethnic Hema Union of Congolese Patriots has been battling their Lendu rivals, partly for control of Ituri's large deposits of gold.
Some 17,000 UN peacekeepers are in DR Congo, tasked with ensuring that elections planned for June go smoothly.
They have been backing up the Congolese army as it conducts raids against the numerous rebel groups based in the east.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Uganda: Kony Joins Otti in eastern DRC?
allAfrica.com report March 16, 2006 by F. Ahimbisibwe (New Vision, Kampala)
THE Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) chief, Joseph Kony, has joined his deputy Vincent Otti in the Garamba National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kony left his hideout in southern Sudan on Tuesday with over 70 soldiers, according to the army sources.
Army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the army had confirmed that Kony had crossed, prompting the UPDF to reinforce deployment at Uganda's border with the DRC.
"We have stepped up security and we are on high alert although Kony and his men are weakened. We do not want to take chances. We have to ensure that our people at the border are safe," he said.
Kulayigye said they had alerted the DRC authorities and the United Nations to disarm or arrest the rebels.
"Since we are not allowed to cross over and hunt them down, we have alerted DRC authorities to find them and annihilate them wherever they may be hiding," he said.
THE Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) chief, Joseph Kony, has joined his deputy Vincent Otti in the Garamba National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kony left his hideout in southern Sudan on Tuesday with over 70 soldiers, according to the army sources.
Army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the army had confirmed that Kony had crossed, prompting the UPDF to reinforce deployment at Uganda's border with the DRC.
"We have stepped up security and we are on high alert although Kony and his men are weakened. We do not want to take chances. We have to ensure that our people at the border are safe," he said.
Kulayigye said they had alerted the DRC authorities and the United Nations to disarm or arrest the rebels.
"Since we are not allowed to cross over and hunt them down, we have alerted DRC authorities to find them and annihilate them wherever they may be hiding," he said.
13,000 Sudanese refugees in DR Congo
UN refugee worker killed in Sudan, reports the BBC March 16, 2006:
Two gunmen attacked an office of the UN refugee agency in southern Sudan, killing a local guard and wounding two workers, the agency says.
The UNHCR said it was still seeking more details about the attack in the southern town of Yei.
Following the attack, the planned return of refugees in Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended. The UNHCR says there are still 350,000 Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries follwing a 21-year war. More than 13,000 refugees are in DR Congo.
The two wounded UNHCR employees are being treated in hospital in the southern capital, Juba, before being airlifted in Nairobi, Kenya.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the attack was a "shocking" event.
Two gunmen attacked an office of the UN refugee agency in southern Sudan, killing a local guard and wounding two workers, the agency says.
The UNHCR said it was still seeking more details about the attack in the southern town of Yei.
Following the attack, the planned return of refugees in Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended. The UNHCR says there are still 350,000 Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries follwing a 21-year war. More than 13,000 refugees are in DR Congo.
The two wounded UNHCR employees are being treated in hospital in the southern capital, Juba, before being airlifted in Nairobi, Kenya.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the attack was a "shocking" event.
Monday, March 06, 2006
DR Congo peace force may get EU backup
Sapa-AP report from Brussels Mar 6, 2006 excerpt:
European Union (EU) defence ministers will seek to flesh out plans today to send an EU military force to back United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country prepares for presidential elections.
The defence ministers, meeting in Innsbruck, Austria, also will review plans for EU states to pool a small part of their defence budgets for co-operative research - a move critics have denounced as a threat to national control over military affairs.
The possibility of increased European assistance to the faltering international peacekeeping mission in Sudan, led by the African Union, would feature during the two-day meeting, EU officials said.
A request from the UN for European troops to bolster the 16000-strong mission in Congo has underscored the EU's difficulties in building up its own effective military capability.
Previous attempts to establish a rapid reaction, combined EU force have failed.
Although the plan entails only a few hundred, highly mobile troops able to rush to potential trouble spots for a few months, in this instance as Congo holds its elections, the EU has struggled to find states willing to lead or contribute to the force.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers last week, diplomats said France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium had stepped forward to lead a possible force in Congo, although some were insisting on strict conditions on how their troops could be used.
Officials were hoping for firmer offers to come from the Innsbruck meeting, although they said much would depend on a debate expected later in the month in the German parliament on the possible deployment of German troops.
EU officials in Brussels said options under discussion included the deployment of 200-450 European soldiers to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, ahead of the June 18 presidential election.
Up to 800 additional troops would be held on standby outside Congo ready for rapid intervention if there is trouble.
European Union (EU) defence ministers will seek to flesh out plans today to send an EU military force to back United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country prepares for presidential elections.
The defence ministers, meeting in Innsbruck, Austria, also will review plans for EU states to pool a small part of their defence budgets for co-operative research - a move critics have denounced as a threat to national control over military affairs.
The possibility of increased European assistance to the faltering international peacekeeping mission in Sudan, led by the African Union, would feature during the two-day meeting, EU officials said.
A request from the UN for European troops to bolster the 16000-strong mission in Congo has underscored the EU's difficulties in building up its own effective military capability.
Previous attempts to establish a rapid reaction, combined EU force have failed.
Although the plan entails only a few hundred, highly mobile troops able to rush to potential trouble spots for a few months, in this instance as Congo holds its elections, the EU has struggled to find states willing to lead or contribute to the force.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers last week, diplomats said France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium had stepped forward to lead a possible force in Congo, although some were insisting on strict conditions on how their troops could be used.
Officials were hoping for firmer offers to come from the Innsbruck meeting, although they said much would depend on a debate expected later in the month in the German parliament on the possible deployment of German troops.
EU officials in Brussels said options under discussion included the deployment of 200-450 European soldiers to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, ahead of the June 18 presidential election.
Up to 800 additional troops would be held on standby outside Congo ready for rapid intervention if there is trouble.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Rev. Theodore Ngoy holes up in SA's DRC embassy
A DR of Congo opposition leader who was arrested in December has escaped from custody and sought sanctuary in the South African embassy, reports The Star March 2, 2006:
Father Theodore Ngoy, a candidate in the presidential election planned for June, told reporters yesterday he had slipped his police guard and fled to the embassy after making a court appearance.
He said he was seeking political asylum from South Africa because of his "imprisonment and bad treatment" in police custody since his arrest on December 29 for allegedly insulting the head of state. Full story.
Update Mar 7: Thanks to Congo Watch reader The Malau for pointing out it is Rev. Theodore Ngoy, and not Father. He is an evangelical/pentecostal/non-denominational pastor.
Father Theodore Ngoy, a candidate in the presidential election planned for June, told reporters yesterday he had slipped his police guard and fled to the embassy after making a court appearance.
He said he was seeking political asylum from South Africa because of his "imprisonment and bad treatment" in police custody since his arrest on December 29 for allegedly insulting the head of state. Full story.
Update Mar 7: Thanks to Congo Watch reader The Malau for pointing out it is Rev. Theodore Ngoy, and not Father. He is an evangelical/pentecostal/non-denominational pastor.
Friday, March 03, 2006
DR of Congo: peacekeepers help army against rebels
United Nations press release via Scoop 2 March 2006:
In the second military operation this week of its kind, some 300 United Nations peacekeepers, backed by helicopter gunships, are helping the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dislodge militia said to have been looting and enslaving locals in the eastern region of the vast country.
The UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) reported today that Congolese troops have been fighting for the past six days to dislodge the militia members from the town of Tchei, some 60 kilometres south-east of the Ituri region's main town, Bunia. The blue helmets involved come from MONUC's Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Moroccan contingents.
On Monday, the mission announced that another 300 'blue helmets,' also backed by combat helicopters, were helping the army further south to drive out rebels from neighbouring Rwanda, where they have been operating for the past 10 years in the heavily forested area north of Bukavu, the main city of the South Kivu region.
"MONUC is intervening to bring security to the region and assure the protection of the civilian population," the mission said in a statement on that operation against Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The Hutus moved across the border in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutus, in which 800,000 people are estimated to have died.
The operations were the latest in recent months in which MONUC has played a more active role in seeking to bring stability to the eastern DRC as the country prepares to hold national elections in June to cement its transition from a six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives through fighting and the attendant humanitarian catastrophe - the most lethal conflict in the world since World War II.
In the second military operation this week of its kind, some 300 United Nations peacekeepers, backed by helicopter gunships, are helping the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dislodge militia said to have been looting and enslaving locals in the eastern region of the vast country.
The UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) reported today that Congolese troops have been fighting for the past six days to dislodge the militia members from the town of Tchei, some 60 kilometres south-east of the Ituri region's main town, Bunia. The blue helmets involved come from MONUC's Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Moroccan contingents.
On Monday, the mission announced that another 300 'blue helmets,' also backed by combat helicopters, were helping the army further south to drive out rebels from neighbouring Rwanda, where they have been operating for the past 10 years in the heavily forested area north of Bukavu, the main city of the South Kivu region.
"MONUC is intervening to bring security to the region and assure the protection of the civilian population," the mission said in a statement on that operation against Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The Hutus moved across the border in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutus, in which 800,000 people are estimated to have died.
The operations were the latest in recent months in which MONUC has played a more active role in seeking to bring stability to the eastern DRC as the country prepares to hold national elections in June to cement its transition from a six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives through fighting and the attendant humanitarian catastrophe - the most lethal conflict in the world since World War II.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
UN peacekeepers, govt troops attack rebel groups in DRC
Via Xinhuanet March 2, 2006:
UN peacekeepers and government troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched an attack against rebel groups in the eastern region to pave the way for the country's upcoming June elections, said a UN special mission spokesman on Wednesday.
In the operation, which is aimed at creating a stable environment for the country's first elections in more than 40 years, UN peacekeepers and government troops fought on two fronts.
One was in the northeastern Ituri region, where about 500 blue-helmets (UN troops), and 2,500 government troops fought with an unknown number of militia, said the spokesman.
The UN and government troops used over 40 armored cars and several fighter and transport helicopters to fight the militia, who have used the region as a base for attacking and robbing civilians.
Another 300 Pakistani blue-helmets and 1,000 government troops fought with anti-government militia in the eastern province of Sud-kivu and set up outposts to keep Rwandan anti-government forces from spreading in the region.
The DRC, formerly Zaire, is rich in minerals but is still suffering from the effects of its last war, from 1998 to 2003, which left nearly 4 million people dead, mostly from disease and hunger.
The war officially ended in 2003, but bands of gunmen, who have refused to disarm, continue to terrorize civilians in large areas of the country, particularly in the lawless but mineral-rich eastern region. Enditem
UN peacekeepers and government troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched an attack against rebel groups in the eastern region to pave the way for the country's upcoming June elections, said a UN special mission spokesman on Wednesday.
In the operation, which is aimed at creating a stable environment for the country's first elections in more than 40 years, UN peacekeepers and government troops fought on two fronts.
One was in the northeastern Ituri region, where about 500 blue-helmets (UN troops), and 2,500 government troops fought with an unknown number of militia, said the spokesman.
The UN and government troops used over 40 armored cars and several fighter and transport helicopters to fight the militia, who have used the region as a base for attacking and robbing civilians.
Another 300 Pakistani blue-helmets and 1,000 government troops fought with anti-government militia in the eastern province of Sud-kivu and set up outposts to keep Rwandan anti-government forces from spreading in the region.
The DRC, formerly Zaire, is rich in minerals but is still suffering from the effects of its last war, from 1998 to 2003, which left nearly 4 million people dead, mostly from disease and hunger.
The war officially ended in 2003, but bands of gunmen, who have refused to disarm, continue to terrorize civilians in large areas of the country, particularly in the lawless but mineral-rich eastern region. Enditem
Sunday, February 26, 2006
38,000 people die every month in Congo's continuing conflict: ICG
Source: Xinhua People's Daily Online 26 Feb 2006:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains a humanitarian disaster despite the presence of UN troops and the recent approval of a new constitution that paved the way for elections in April, said a report from a think tank on Saturday.
As many as 38,000 people continue to die every month as a result of the ongoing conflict in the central African country, while the world's attention has been focused instead on the conflicts in Sudan's Darfur region and Cote d'Ivoire said the latest report issued from the Washington-based International Crisis Group.
Most of the deaths result from malnutrition and easily preventable diseases such as fever, malaria and diarrhea, which turn deadly because insecurity restricts access to basic infrastructure and sanitation, it said.
The report said poor relations between the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda have heightened tensions and made resolution of the respective conflicts more difficult.
The DRC still hosts many militia groups often backed by outside powers and interests, and its mineral wealth and weak border controls have allowed many of these to become self-sustaining. The economy is in tatters, and ethnic and regional fault-lines are both many and deep, it said.
Insecurity is prevalent throughout the country, with the population destitute and exposed to high rates of crime. In many larger towns and cities, protests and riots may erupt in response to the failure of the transitional government, which came to being in July 2003, when Joseph Kabila remained the president, joined by four vice-presidents representing the former government, former rebel groups and the political opposition, according to the report.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains a humanitarian disaster despite the presence of UN troops and the recent approval of a new constitution that paved the way for elections in April, said a report from a think tank on Saturday.
As many as 38,000 people continue to die every month as a result of the ongoing conflict in the central African country, while the world's attention has been focused instead on the conflicts in Sudan's Darfur region and Cote d'Ivoire said the latest report issued from the Washington-based International Crisis Group.
Most of the deaths result from malnutrition and easily preventable diseases such as fever, malaria and diarrhea, which turn deadly because insecurity restricts access to basic infrastructure and sanitation, it said.
The report said poor relations between the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda have heightened tensions and made resolution of the respective conflicts more difficult.
The DRC still hosts many militia groups often backed by outside powers and interests, and its mineral wealth and weak border controls have allowed many of these to become self-sustaining. The economy is in tatters, and ethnic and regional fault-lines are both many and deep, it said.
Insecurity is prevalent throughout the country, with the population destitute and exposed to high rates of crime. In many larger towns and cities, protests and riots may erupt in response to the failure of the transitional government, which came to being in July 2003, when Joseph Kabila remained the president, joined by four vice-presidents representing the former government, former rebel groups and the political opposition, according to the report.
Friday, February 24, 2006
South Sudanese in "LRA Triangle" flee Ugandan LRA rebels
Coalition for Darfur points us to a Sapa-AFP report 24 Feb 2006 that claims deadly raids by the LRA have forced scores of villagers in southern Sudan to flee their homes to spend nights in the bush fearing abductions and killings, a German humanitarian group has said. Excerpt:
The insurgents have been carrying out raids in vast southern Sudan belt called the "LRA Triangle" which lies between Rasola town near the DR Congo border, the region's capital Juba and Lokukei town near the Ugandan border.
"The threat imposed by the LRA forces the local population to leave the village during the night to hide in the bush," said Klaus Stieglitz, the deputy director of Sign of Hope.
Last week, LRA fighters attacked villages around Rajef, 12 kilometres south of Juba and brutally hacked to death three people, including a 70-year-old man and looted cassava farmland, the group said.
"It is a shame that these people nearly feel like animals. They are in fact deprived of their human dignity," he said after touring villagers around Rejaf and Nimule outposts in southern Sudan, where the group delivered humanitarian support.
In areas outlying Nimule, about 150 kilometres southeast of Juba, the insurgents have abducted at least 92 people, including children, and villagers believe that most of them are still held by the ruthless insurgents, they said.
"The villagers told us they can identify the attackers as the LRA because of the ethnic Acholi accent in their language," Stieglitz told a press conference in Nairobi. Sapa-AFP
The insurgents have been carrying out raids in vast southern Sudan belt called the "LRA Triangle" which lies between Rasola town near the DR Congo border, the region's capital Juba and Lokukei town near the Ugandan border.
"The threat imposed by the LRA forces the local population to leave the village during the night to hide in the bush," said Klaus Stieglitz, the deputy director of Sign of Hope.
Last week, LRA fighters attacked villages around Rajef, 12 kilometres south of Juba and brutally hacked to death three people, including a 70-year-old man and looted cassava farmland, the group said.
"It is a shame that these people nearly feel like animals. They are in fact deprived of their human dignity," he said after touring villagers around Rejaf and Nimule outposts in southern Sudan, where the group delivered humanitarian support.
In areas outlying Nimule, about 150 kilometres southeast of Juba, the insurgents have abducted at least 92 people, including children, and villagers believe that most of them are still held by the ruthless insurgents, they said.
"The villagers told us they can identify the attackers as the LRA because of the ethnic Acholi accent in their language," Stieglitz told a press conference in Nairobi. Sapa-AFP
Annan welcomes DR of Congo's new legal framework
Press Release: United Nations via Scoop 23 February 2006:
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the new Constitution and electoral laws of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the United Nations is helping to organize one of the biggest polls in which it has ever participated.
"These steps mark important milestones in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Mr. Annan said in a statement released by his spokesman.
"The Secretary-General looks forward to the early publication by the Independent Electoral Commission of an electoral calendar providing for the timely holding of free, fair and transparent elections," the spokesman added, pledging all possible UN support for the elections and the Congolese peace process as a whole.
In December, about 25 million Congolese registered to vote in a referendum to endorse the Constitution, paving the way for the country's first free elections in more than four decades and one of the biggest polls - with 36,000 vote offices and nearly 200,000 electoral agents - in which the UN has participated.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the new Constitution and electoral laws of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the United Nations is helping to organize one of the biggest polls in which it has ever participated.
"These steps mark important milestones in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Mr. Annan said in a statement released by his spokesman.
"The Secretary-General looks forward to the early publication by the Independent Electoral Commission of an electoral calendar providing for the timely holding of free, fair and transparent elections," the spokesman added, pledging all possible UN support for the elections and the Congolese peace process as a whole.
In December, about 25 million Congolese registered to vote in a referendum to endorse the Constitution, paving the way for the country's first free elections in more than four decades and one of the biggest polls - with 36,000 vote offices and nearly 200,000 electoral agents - in which the UN has participated.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Rwandan genocide feature film and blog: Shooting Dogs
Further to Congo Watch blog entry Jan 20 re Rwandan genocide feature film Shooting Dogs, it now looks likely that BBC Films and the UK Film Council are releasing the film on March 31, 2006.
[Via Coalition for Darfur with thanks]
[Via Coalition for Darfur with thanks]
Forbes' list of the world's most corrupt countries includes DR Congo, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Kenya
ComingAnarchy.com publishes Forbes' list of the world's most corrupt countries and notes 9 of the 16 countries are in Africa. DR Congo is one of them. Here is the list, in no particular order:
Chad
Bangladesh
Turkmenistan
Myanmar (aka Burma)
Haiti
Nigeria
Equatorial Guinea
Ivory Coast
Angola
Tajikistan
Sudan
Somalia
Paraguay
Pakistan
Kenya
DR Congo
Chad
Bangladesh
Turkmenistan
Myanmar (aka Burma)
Haiti
Nigeria
Equatorial Guinea
Ivory Coast
Angola
Tajikistan
Sudan
Somalia
Paraguay
Pakistan
Kenya
DR Congo
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
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.
Monday, February 20, 2006
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:
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.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
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.
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.
Monday, February 06, 2006
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.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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.
(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.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
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.
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.
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