World ignores Republic of Congo's crisis - U.N.

Report by David Lewis in Kinkala, Congo, via Reuters 23 Apr 2005:

Less than 3 percent of funds needed to tackle a humanitarian emergency in the Republic of Congo have been received, highlighting the oil-producer's plight as a forgotten nation in crisis, the United Nations said.

Congo's civil war officially ended in 1999 but sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer has no peacekeeping force and is struggling to disarm former rebels who continue to attack civilians in the Pool region, far from international eyes.
"This is scandalous. We need to have a better response to this emergency," Aurelien Agbenonci, the head of the U.N. in Congo, told Reuters in an interview.

"Of the nearly $22 million needed, just over 20 percent has been promised and under three percent has actually been given," he said. "This is a low-level conflict which appears not to interest people as there is neither war nor peace."

Despite the official truce, clashes in 2002 and 2003 between government soldiers and the rebels, known as Ninjas, rocked the peace process and undermined a disarmament programme in the central African country of three million people.

Thousands of Ninjas, named after ancient Japanese warriors glamourised by Hollywood, who have not been disarmed and are no longer part of a structured rebel movement roam around the Pool region west of the capital Brazzaville.

Known for their trademark purple scarves and Rasta-style dreadlocks, the gunmen live off civilians and reguarly hijack the train that links the landlocked capital to the oil-producing coastal town of Pointe Noire.

There are no international peacekeepers in Congo, a former French colony, and analysts say the government seems unwilling, or unable, to put an end to the attacks in Pool.

The U.N. is due to open an office in Kinkala, a town at the heart of the Pool region, but Agbenonci said media attention on other conflicts around the world had taken its toll and the lack funds meant several aid agencies working in Pool may shut down.

"I also know many aid workers who used to work here but who have ended up being pulled out and sent to Darfur. This is very symbolic of our problem," he said.

According to the U.N., thousands were killed during Congo's war -- some put the toll as high as 10,000 -- and some 150,000 civilians fled the latest bout of violence in March 2003.

Although Congo is rich in oil, Pool is an economic backwater where many schools have remained closed for up to eight years, there are few health facilities and the road to the coast has been reduced to deeply rutted paths cut into the red soil.

Agbenonci said the humanitarian and economic woes of the region needed to be addressed to avoid reigniting the conflict.

"The stability of the Pool is the stability of the whole of Congo but it doesn't seem to be a priority. There are no resources in Pool, just its people," he said. "There is a very free flow of weapons, so there is still a risk of rebellion."

"This place is a time bomb we need to defuse."

Bush Holds Talks with Rwandan Leader at White House

MONUC newswire report via VOA 16 April, 2005:

President Bush met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the White House to discuss efforts to bring peace to Central Africa's troubled Great Lakes region.

They also discussed a host of other regional issues from peacekeeping in southern Sudan and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo to helping bring elections to Burundi.

On all, the Rwandan leader says Mr. Bush vowed to continue his engagement in African affairs. "We requested the president to use his powers to help Africa in different ways, in socioeconomic development, in assuring there is peace and security not only in our region but also in the whole continent. And the president was very supportive of that," he said.

The two presidents also discussed the possible return to Rwanda of ethnic Hutu involved in the country's 1994 genocide of ethnic minority Tutsi.

Many of those responsible for that violence fled to what was then Zaire and continued to destabilize the provinces of North and South Kivu.

Now, some of those former fighters say they are renouncing violence, condemning genocide, and are ready to return home.

Bush administration officials this week welcomed that declaration, urging rebels to demonstrate their commitment to peace by turning over all weapons to U.N. monitors in Congo and proceed without delay to organize their return to Rwanda.

President Kagame, who led a Tutsi rebellion to stop the genocide, says those former adversaries will be welcomed home. "They made a wrong choice of staying in the bush in Congo and earlier on made the wrong choice of associating themselves with the ideology of genocide. We did talk about their offer to disarm and return home, and we will facilitate that," he said.

Ending insecurity in eastern Congo is the biggest reason given by Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda for involving themselves in two civil wars in Congo in the last ten years.

MONUC: 10,000 militiamen have been disarmed in DRC

DRC Monitoring 4/04/2005 Tom Tshibangu/MONUC:

About 10,000 militiamen have been disarmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to MONUC.

The disarmament process officially ended on April 1st, and ever since, all militiamen who have not surrendered their weapons are regarded as enemies by UN peacekeepers.

Yesterday, UPC, one of the militias still active in Ituri, distanced itself from its most radical elements. As a result, UPC regards all militiamen who refuse to surrender arms as outlaws. This is the first time the UPC leadership commits itself to demobilisation this clearly. At the same time, 500 elements of the FAPC were disarming in the locality of Montawa in Ituri. RFI's special envoy Pauline Simonet was there witnessing this.

(Pauline Simonet): Their weapons pointed at the sky, the FAPC militiamen are happy to lay down their weapons in the Montawa camp. When their names are called, they will each step forward in turn to hand over their weapons to the UN peacekeepers and members of the National Commission for Disarmament (CONADER) who register them.

Among the ex-militiamen, a sad-faced 25-year-old woman, Nzale Mukavu, is also participating in the disarmament process. She had been used as as sex slave. "In the army, as I'm a girl, I was always disturbed. There are times when, even without your consent, you must obey your commander's orders." And if for example, a commander wants to have sex, can't you refuse? "You cannot. If you refuse, they will beat you. And eventually I had two children in the army"

After laying down their weapons, the ex-militiamen are sent to the transit camp at Aru, 20 km away, where they must spend 4 days being sensitised. They have the choice between two options: civilian and military life. Those who opt for civilian life are given some basic commodities and $50 to help ease their reintegration. One of them is Bratoto Zaki, a 28-year-old man. According to him, there are still numerous militiamen out there who resist the disarmament process.

"It is better to continue sensitising the others who are not here in Congo, who have fled to Uganda and Sudan. Or others who have hidden their weapons in their villages. People need to be sensitised so that they come to hand over their arms as we have done."

Two reintegration projects are to be put in place notably by UNDP, but NGOs deplore the slowness in setting up these projects.

http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=6442

PAP Missions to Probe Ivory Coast, DRC Conflicts

April 12, 2005 report via AllAfrica by Matome Sebelebele in Pretoria:

Two Pan African Parliament (PAP) missions will pay separate visits to the conflict-ridden Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) next month, to assess the situation there.

The teams will then report back and make recommendations to PAP and subsequently to the African Union (AU) on ways to help the two nations attain peace after millions of people there were killed, raped and displaced, further fueling the humanitarian crisis there.

This emerged at the final day of the African Parliament's third session held in Johannesburg, yesterday.

The high-powered missions are however yet to be announced.

Amongst other things, the continental body has vowed to mount pressure on outstanding African countries to accede to the self-imposing African Peer Review Mechanism, seen by many as a crucial instrument in holding leaders accountable for underdevelopment and maladministration.

To this end, the institution has praised President Thabo Mbeki for his fruitful mediation role in Ivory Coast, saying it was "pleased" to note the successful conclusion of long-running talks.

The once-prosperous cocoa producing country is emerging from a tit-for-tat two year-old conflict that saw President Laurent Gbagbo fighting off rebels in a power struggle, widely claimed to be perpetuated by the former French colonial masters.

The delegates agreed in Tshwane last week to disarm rebel forces and militias as well as settling a dispute over citizenship requirements for candidates to the presidency, which was used to bar main opposition leader Alassane Ouattara from running for elections in this regard the last time.

However a key sticking point - Article 35 of that country's constitution that stipulates that both parents of a presidential candidate must be Ivorian - has been left hanging for the moment.

Speaking to reporters after two weeks of deliberations, PAP president Gertrude Mongella said the Parliament sought to have its own report to further give it a clear picture on the ground.

The mission will be the second such following the one on Darfur that expressed concerns at the repeated violations of ceasefire agreements, stalled Abuja peace talks and the growing humanitarian crisis in the region.

In its report, the seven-member Darfur mission, headed by Ugandan Adbul Katuntu, urged PAP to sound a call on the Sudanese government to "immediately" disarm the Janjaweed rebels blamed for undermining peace agreements there, which MPs argued were not party to.

The report however painted a picture of a distressed population besieged by fear and distrust of the authority, of displaced people living under "inhumane conditions", calling for PAP to set up a trust fund for humanitarian assistance as well as an ad hoc committee on Darfur.

Meanwhile, PAP has thrown its weight behind the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who today received a report on Sudan's reconstruction and developmental needs from Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma at the International Donor Conference in Oslo, Norway.

On a coup in Togo, MPs took their hats off for Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo's "courageous and principled action" by halting an unconstitutional take over of government there.

Congo seeks reparations from Uganda at World Court

Thanks to Carine at ::the.exiled.afrikan:: for pointing out the following report - via Reuters by Paul Gallagher (additional reporting by David Lewis in Kinshasa) dated April 11, 2005:



Photo: A De Beers employee holds the largest uncut diamond ever displayed in Canada. The 616-carat Dutoitspan diamond, discovered in Kimberley, South Africa, is too flawed to cut and is valued at US$3 million. Stringer photo.

THE HAGUE, April 11 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo accused Uganda on Monday of "massive" human rights abuses, looting and destruction in a war on its territory and demanded compensation from its neighbour at the World Court.

The Congo -- rich in gold, diamonds and timber -- was the battleground for rebels, local factions, tribes and neighbouring countries, including Uganda, in a 1998-2003 war in which 4 million people died, mainly from hunger and disease.

"Uganda played a considerable role in the murderous war which tore apart the Congo for five years," Congolese representative Maitre Tshibangu Kalala told the court at the start of public hearings on Monday.

Congo took Uganda to the World Court in 1999, accusing it of responsibility for human rights abuses and "armed aggression". It called for compensation for what it said were acts of looting, destruction and removal of property.

Congo says Uganda committed "violations of international humanitarian law and massive human rights violations", the World Court said in a statement.

Cases at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, can take years to be completed. The court is the U.N.'s highest and its ruling in the case will be final and not subject to appeal.

Uganda has filed a counter claim, accusing Congo of responsibility for attacks on Ugandan citizens and diplomatic buildings in Kinshasa and unspecified acts of aggression against Uganda.

A Ugandan representative declined to comment on the case and said his country would outline its position on Friday.

Congo's Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy was quoted by U.N. radio as saying reparations could amounts to billions of dollars.

CHANGING MOTIVES

Rwanda and Uganda invaded Congo after rebel factions backed by them took up arms in 1998 to topple the late President Laurent Kabila, who was supported by Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe.

A ceasefire was negotiated in 1999 and Ugandan troops finally pulled out in 2002.

A U.N. report in November 2001 said the initial motivation for Rwanda and Uganda to intervene in the central African nation had been to secure their borders.

But over time the lure of natural resources became the primary motive for staying in many areas of the former Zaire and perpetuating the warfare, the report said.

U.N. officials have accused Ugandan commanders of stealing gold, diamonds and timber, although Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has rebuffed such charges, saying there is nothing of value in the country to exploit.

Under a 2003 peace deal, a power-sharing government was set up to shepherd the Congo to elections this year, but armed groups still rule much of the country as local strongmen protect privileges built up during the war.

Uganda, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Congo pledged in September 2002 to stop interfering in each other's affairs in a new regional bid to end Congo's war.

But a U.N.-commissioned report in January singled out Uganda for failing to control cross-border trade into the Congo's lawless northeastern district of Ituri, where warlords prosper amid a local conflict that has killed 60,000 people since 1999.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11204656.htm
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Photo: Ugandan army soldiers display weapons captured from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in Kipwayi hills, some 50 miles inside Sudan near the border with Uganda. US lawmakers called for greater international efforts to bring peace to northern Uganda and stop the exploitation of children by opposition rebels there. (AFP/File/Peter Busomoke) April 7, 2005.

Uganda in court over DRC claims

Uganda is accused of massacring Congolese civilians writes Geraldine Coughlan at BBC News from The Hague, April 11, 2005. Here is a copy of her report:

The International Court of Justice at The Hague is starting to hear a complaint filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against Uganda.

The DRC accuses its neighbour of invading its territory, committing human rights violations and massacring Congolese civilians. It is also demanding reparations for destruction and looting allegedly carried out by Ugandan troops.

Uganda denies the claims and accuses the DRC of acts of aggression.

In 1999 the DRC asked the court to put a stop to acts of aggression by Uganda, which it said were a serious threat to peace and security in central Africa. In a provisional ruling in 2000, the Court ordered both sides to refrain from any conflict - which could aggravate the case.

Last year, the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda started peace negotiations.

The DRC filed a similar complaint against Rwanda with the World Court in 2002.

DR Congo's atrocious secret

Here is a copy of a report by the BBC's excellent Africa correspondent, Hilary Andersson who did award-worthy reporting on Darfur, Sudan.

Despite a peace deal signed two years ago to end the long-running civil war, violence is continuing in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. And in the province of Ituri, Hilary Andersson finds evidence of cannibalism by some rebels:

There is a part of the world where atrocities go beyond all normal bounds, where evil seems to congregate. Almost everyone who has ever worked there will know where I am talking of. The area is not very large on the map of Africa. But the region in and north of the forests of central Africa has hosted Rwanda's genocide, the massacres in Burundi, the devastation of southern Sudan, the mutilations in Uganda, and the atrocities of the north-eastern Congo.

And so I had the usual feeling of dread when we flew into the area on this trip. We left the acacia-lined, sunswept plains of east Africa and, as we approached, the sky began to darken. We began to descend through black clouds that hugged the huge forests below. We landed in a ferocious rainstorm in the small town of Bunia in the north-east of the Congo.

'Hole in Africa's heart'

The Congo is a vast territory, the size of western Europe. The war is not about any principle at all, violence has just moved in where there is no authority But it has been called the hole in the heart of Africa, because much of it is a giant power vacuum.

In the north-east, at least seven warlords are locked in brutal scramble for personal power and control. Lots of the fighters are children. Rape is more widespread than possibly anywhere else on Earth. And the war is not about any principle at all, violence has just moved in where there is no authority.

Mutilation

We visited a refugee camp set in a small valley, a piece of land like a basin. Around its rims the United Nations patrolled to keep the militia out. It reminded me of the atrocities in Bosnia, where at a certain point individuals turned into human devils.

In an afternoon every person we spoke to, without exception, had witnessed not just killing but horrific mutilation. The children had sunken, troubled eyes. The women looked exhausted and the men were bursting with what they had to tell. Their relatives had their hearts ripped out, their heads cut off, their sexual organs removed. This, it seemed, was the standard way of killing here. Why? You want to know why?

Yes there is war, but this is different. This is not just killing, or taking territory. It is deliberate mutilation on a scale that makes you reel with horror. It reminded me of the atrocities in Bosnia, where at a certain point individuals turned into human devils, bent on doing not just the worst they could but the most atrocious.

Militia attack

We met a woman who I will call Kavuo, not her real name. Survivors of militia attacks remain in hiding for fear of further violence. To talk to her about her story we had to travel to a remote location in the jungle, where we could not be seen or heard by others. What she had to speak of is an atrocity shrouded in secrecy here, an atrocity. It is taboo to even speak of it.

The events she told me about happened two years ago and hers was one of the first public testimonies of its kind. Kavuo was on the run with her husband, her four children and three other couples. They had spent the night in a hut, and got up in the morning to keep moving. But they had barely left the hut when six militia men accosted them. Kavuo and the women were ordered to lie with their faces on the ground. The militia ordered Kavuo's husband and the other men to collect firewood. Then the women were told to say goodbye to their husbands. They obeyed.

The militia then began to kill the men one by one. Kavuo's husband was third. Her testimony is that the militia men lit a fire and put an old oil drum, cut into two, on the flames. I will omit other details. But Kavuo says the militia cooked her husbands parts in the drums and ate them.

Beliefs perverted

Those who have studied the region say cannibalism has a history there but as a specific animist ritual, carried out only in exceptional circumstances. Fighters told us that those who carry out such acts believe it makes them stronger. What has happened now is that the war has turned Congo's society upside-down.

Warlords are exploiting this, and perverting existing beliefs for their own ends. Fighters told us that those who carry out such acts believe it makes them stronger. Some believe they are literally taking spiritual power from their victims. That once they have eaten, they have the power of the enemy. These atrocities are also designed to instil utter fear into the enemy.

Anarchy

It is estimated that four million people have died in the Congo as a result of the long running war. That is truly staggering. It is more than those killed by Cambodia's Pol Pot and more than those killed in Rwanda. Most people have died of hunger and disease that the violence has left in its wake.

Kavuo lost four of her children to illness and malnutrition even before her husband was killed. Now she lives in a remote village in the forest, and cannot afford to look after her surviving children. If this is her story, imagine how many others are like it and the numbers begin to make a horrifying sort of sense.

As we flew out of the Congo, I could see the vast forests below, thick with trees, infested with malaria, and barely accessible. A huge area that few outsiders venture into an area where evils happen that are rarely reported.

The blood red sunsets, the streaks of black clouds a weird sort of echo. Anarchy is not just a word. In the north-eastern Congo we saw its reality. What is happening there is proof of the scale of devastation that chaos can invite, and of the terrifying human capacity for unleashing deliberate evil on the innocent.

[This was broadcast on Thursday, 7 April, 2005 at 1100 BST on BBC Radio 4]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4424909.stm

DRC: World's Most Neglected Emergency

Here is a copy of a post at the new IRC blog [see the amazing photo Kathleen Sands has published at her post]:

The IRC and sister agencies are calling the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo "the world's most neglected emergency," pushing for a stronger mandate for U.N. peacekeepers in the country.

Despite a tenuous peace agreement and the installation of a transitional government in 2003, much of this huge country remains dangerously insecure.

The U.N. Security Council's vote last week to extend the peacekeepers' mission in Congo comes at time of increasing violence. The ongoing insecurity and a widespread breakdown of the overall health infrastructure mean that over 30,000 people are dying every month from easily preventable and treatable diseases.

"The international response to the humanitarian crisis in Congo has been grossly inadequate in proportion to need," says IRC's health director, Dr. Rick Brennan. "Our findings show that improving and maintaining security and increasing simple, proven and cost-effective interventions such as clean water, immunizations and basic medical care would save hundreds of thousands of lives in Congo.

"There's no shortage of evidence. It's sustained compassion and political will that is lacking."

Posted By: Kathleen Sands | Africa, Emergency Response, Health

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opens its first investigation: DRC

Just for the record, here is a copy of an Article at the International Criminal Court, re DRC:

The Hague, 23 June 2004

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, announced his decision to open the first investigation of the ICC. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) will investigate grave crimes allegedly committed on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1 July 2002. The decision to open an investigation was taken after thorough consideration of the jurisdiction and admissibility requirements of the Rome Statute. The Prosecutor has concluded that an investigation of grave crimes in the DRC will be in the interest of justice and of the victims.

The OTP has been closely analyzing the situation in the DRC since July 2003, initially with a focus on crimes committed in the Ituri region. In September 2003 the Prosecutor informed the States Parties that he was ready to request authorization from the Pre-Trial Chamber to use his own powers to start an investigation, but that a referral and active support from the DRC would assist his work. In a letter in November 2003 the government of the DRC welcomed the involvement of the ICC and in March 2004 the DRC referred the situation in the country to the Court.

Millions of civilians have died as a result of conflict in the DRC since the 1990s. The Court's jurisdiction extends to crimes committed after 1 July 2002, when the Rome Statute of the ICC came into force. States, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have reported thousands of deaths by mass murder and summary execution in the DRC since 2002. The reports allege a pattern of rape, torture, forced displacement and the illegal use of child soldiers.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, said:

"The opening of the first investigation of the ICC is a major step forward for international justice, against impunity and for the protection of victims. The decision to launch an investigation has been taken with the cooperation of the DRC, other governments and international organizations."

The Chief Prosecutor underscored his intention to focus the investigation on the perpetrators most responsible for grave crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC now being committed in the DRC.

Since the Chief Prosecutor assumed office last year the OTP has grown from 7 staff members to 55 members today. By the end of 2004 it is expected to grow further to some 120 members. The investigative staff of the OTP, headed by Deputy Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, includes professionals and NGO investigators with an international background.

The Rome Statute of the ICC makes a distinction between a preliminary analysis and a formal investigation of a situation where crimes under the Court's jurisdiction are allegedly being committed. Before initiating an investigation the Prosecutor must analyze the available information and ensure that the conditions laid down in the Rome Statute are satisfied.

For questions and further information please contact Christian Palme, Media Relations Officer of the OTP. He can be reached at + 31 (0) 70 515 8487 (office) or + 31 (0) 64 616 3997 (mobile).

UN attacks DR Congo militia camps

From BBC News online April 2, 2005:

The United Nations military in the Democratic Republic of Congo have carried out an attack on militiamen who refused to surrender their weapons.

A UN battalion backed by helicopters targeted two rebel camps south-west of the main town of Bunia in Ituri region.

"Shots were exchanged... , a number of militiamen fled with the arrival of the UN forces," the UN mission in the DR Congo (Monuc), said in a statement.

It gave no details on any arrests or weapons seized.

Col Hussein Mahmoud, the deputy force commander, said earlier the operation would send a message to other militias that the UN would destroy all their camps.

It was intended to show "we mean business", Col Mahmoud said.

The UN vowed to take a tough line against Ituri's warring ethnic militia after a disarmament deadline expired, with fewer than half of 15,000 fighters giving up their weapons.

Child soldiers

Col Mahmoud has accused the militias - from the Lendu tribe - of committing an appalling catalogue of murder and rape.

Vicious ethnic warfare, fuelled by ready access to weapons, has cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians in the province.

UN envoys had twice urged the militiamen to join the disarmament process - agreed to by the main militia groups in Ituri last September - but they refused.

Half the fighters in the eastern Ituri region are under 18 years old and some are as young as eight, UN officials say.

They have been caught up in ethnic violence that has left many civilians dead and many more homeless.

Some leaders have been rewarded with high-ranking posts in the new integrated Congolese army, the BBC's Ishbel Matheson in Ituri says.

But other powerful warlords have dragged their feet over the weapons surrender, our correspondent says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4403841.stm

U.N. gets tough as militias terrorize eastern Congo

April 1 2005 report via MONUC:

Goma/Nairobi (dpa) - Criticised as ineffective, the United Nations mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has rung up yet another defeat.

Overnight Friday, the deadline passed for the voluntary disarmament of the country's militias and not even half of the 15,000 fighters in eastern Congo's strife-ridden Ituri region had handed in their weapons.

In reality, disarming militias was not the job of U.N. peacekeepers but of the new Congolese army.

Alas, that army does not exist, so the militias have been left to terrorize the civilian population.

"The worst humanitarian catastrophe is currently happening here,'' says Johannes Wedenig of the U.N. children's aid group UNICEF in the eastern city of Goma.

Yet because the political situation is so complicated and the conflict so long in running, the situation never features prominently in the media.

In contrast, the Darfur conflict in western Sudan, where there are relatively clear fronts, has moved donor nations in the past year to spend profusely. The international community donates 89 dollars a person for Sudan and 3.2 dollars for every Congolese.

In the east of the Congo, a huge country the size of western Europe, around 800,000 people have fled their villages. According to estimates of the International Rescue Committee, a thousand people continue to die every month from the effects of the conflict. Many of these are shot by plunder seeking militias; others flee to the bush where they are taken by hunger and disease.

Most of those who make it to refugee camps are traumatized. "Women have been raped, many have witnessed the murder of family members," says Wedenig.

"The conditions in the camps are horrible," he adds, saying there is only a tarp and a pair of wooden sticks for every family to build an emergency shelter.

And the rekindled fighting is making it difficult to provide food for the refugees.

"The aid workers often cannot reach the camps for days," Wedenig says. And since March, it has rained almost daily and people are starting to contract cholera.

Control of the region's natural resources is the primary concern of the numerous armed groups. As the world market for tin has risen threefold, militia leaders have won considerable profits controlling areas in the Congo where tin ore is extracted.

The U.N. mission so far has been able to act very little. The 17,000 soldiers they command in colossal Congo is exactly the same size as the force deployed to Sierra Leone, which is about the size of Ireland.

According to political research organization Crisis Group, at least 50,000 troops are needed to bring peace to the eastern Congo as the country's interim government in Kinshasa has nearly no influence in the remote area.

The deputy commander of the U.N. mission, Hussein Mahmoud, has now announced tough action against the militias.

"We will pursue them and apprehend them," he warned. Alas, the U.N. soldiers have more than adult soldiers to deal with. An estimated half of the militia forces are composed of children, the youngest of whom are elementary school age.

http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=6245

Rwandan Hutu Rebels Denounce Genocide, Halt War

Here is an astounding report via Reuters March 31, 2005:

Rwanda's main Hutu rebel group announced on Thursday they were ending their war against Rwanda and for the first time denounced the 1994 genocide of Tutsis that has been blamed on many of their members.

A delegation representing the rebel organization, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made the announcement after secret negotiations at the Sant'Egidio religious community in the heart of Rome.

"The FDLR condemns the genocide committed against Rwanda and their authors," FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka said, reading from a statement. "Henceforward, the FDLR has decided to transform its fight into a political struggle."

Hutu rebels are accused of taking part in the massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Until Thursday, many FDLR fighters had denied genocide occurred, calling the killings tit-for-tat attacks.

Murwanashyaka said his group was ready to cooperate with international justice and would lay down its arms in a bid to end the "catastrophic humanitarian" situation in the region.

The Hutu rebels were chased out of Rwanda following the genocide, taking refuge in the jungles of neighboring Congo.

Since then they have been at the center of tensions in the vast country's eastern region where violence, hunger and disease have killed millions of people.

A representative of the Democratic Republic of Congo hailed the FDLR move, saying it was an historic moment for Africa.

'TURNING POINT'

"Even a month ago it was impossible to believe that they would issue such a strong statement," Congo's roving ambassador, Antoine Ghonda, told Reuters. "We are confident that this will be the turning point in ending the conflict, but they will need guarantees from Rwanda."

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was encouraged by the FDLR statement and called on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to do everything necessary to ensure the rebels' voluntary disarmament and return to Rwanda, chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Annan had directed the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo "to do everything possible within its means to facilitate this process," Eckhard said.

The FDLR constitutes the largest grouping of Hutu rebels in eastern Congo, estimated at about 14,000 fighters, although there are Burundian Hutus who also operate in the east.

Tiny but militarily powerful Rwanda has invaded its huge neighbor twice, in 1996 and 1998, saying it had a right to hunt down the rebels and has threatened to launch fresh cross-border raids unless they are neutralized.

Richard Sezibera, Rwandan President Paul Kagame's adviser on the Great Lakes, told Reuters from Kigali that the FDLR statement was welcome if true.

"If they have renounced the struggle they should totally disarm. We shall know how serious they are if and when they disarm," he said.

The peace talks started in Rome two months ago but they were kept secret amid fears Rwandan authorities might undermine them, government officials and diplomats in Congo said.

Rwanda has long been accused of using the FDLR as a pretext for continued military, political and economic intervention in the mineral-rich but lawless east of Congo.

In its statement, the FDLR recognized the "catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Great Lakes" and urged an international inquiry into "crimes committed" in the region.

The FDLR also called for Rwandan refugees to be allowed back into their country. Disarmament officials estimate there may be as many as 30,000 FDLR dependents in Congo.

GUARANTEES

Diplomats in Rome said it was now up to the Rwandan government to provide guarantees that disarmed rebels could return home safely and be awarded full legal rights.

Returning former FDLR fighters to the killing grounds of 1994 would not pose a problem, Sezibera said.

"We've had a long process of integrating these groups. They don't pose an insurmountable challenge. The important thing is that they cease to be a security threat to Rwanda," he said.

However, FDLR fighters suspected of involvement in the genocide would be investigated and tried, he added.

U.N. and government officials in Kinshasa said there would be a follow-up meeting in Rome on Saturday at which the different groups, including the United Nations, would discuss the methods and timing of the disarmament and repatriation.

U.N. sources said they hoped the process would begin within a matter of weeks.

Sant'Egidio is a Roman Catholic movement of lay people who seek to advance peace around the world. Its greatest diplomatic success came in 1992 when it helped reach a deal to end 16 years of civil war that killed 1 million people in Mozambique. (Additional reporting by Katie Nguyen in Nairobi, David Lewis in Kinshasa, Ed Stoddard in Johannesburg and Irwin Arieff in New York)

Copyright 2005 Reuters News Service. Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures.

A dream to establish a university in the Congo and grow a Silicon Valley

Today, whilst blog hopping, I came across a post by Macnamband, an American in Morocco, dated December 19, 2004. Incase the link becomes broken, here is a copy in full titled "Meeting Mr. Kombo" ...

"Marina and I arrived at the French protestant church in Casablanca about 9:30. A mass was starting. Many clandestines and of course, David Brown, pastor and protector, was there. There were two clandestines as well. He introduced us to two Congolese (Brazzaville) journalists and advocates, Mr. Kombo and his associate, Mr. Bouithy. David's notion was that as journalists we might help each other.

We sat down. Mr. Kombo layed out the problem, which is that as Southern Europe is the object of desire for many Moroccans, Morocco is the object of desire for many Congolese. Particularly students.

According to Mr. Kombo there are more than 500 students and refugees in Casablanca and 35 more in Marrakech. And others in Tanger and Fez. Some number of these are clandestines, which is to say they came to the country illegally, to escape abuses real or imagined and end up in the hills around Tanger or Mellila. Or else they came legally, these are students, but have been unable to secure their cartes de sejours. Then there are the students at the end of their education who can't pay their tuition and so can't take their exams or receive their diplomas. And fnally, the students who come to do graduate work and again because they don't have enough money, fall into local ruin.

Some of these students get Congolese government money to study here, but bureaucratic systems at both ends have made the situation increasingly desperate. They can't open bank accounts or receive checks. They are endlessly threatened with expulsion, even if in school, and can't get regular jobs. They end up in tiny apartments, living as best they can on the black market economy that supports so many Moroccans.

Mr. Kombo patiently explained it all, Mr. Bouithy filled in the blanks. But what do you want? I asked.

How can we get American help? How can we get the attention of the American public?

You can't, I thought. You can't, you're dead. You'll have to find another way.

I suggested they skip trying to get the attention of the American public and approach the private sector. George Soros... Who knows?

But the most interesting part of the conversation came when they suggested their real motive, or dream is perhaps the better word: to establish a university in the Congo. What a dream they have. A large technical university where students could learn the IT trade. They have it clearly in mind.

How could you do it, we asked.

They outlined it how it would work and explained that you could not build it in Brazzaville because of the people who support such a project live in the north. They suggested it could be built near Pointe Noire. Near where the petrol companies are. They would certainly support it, wouldn't they?

And as we talked it seemed like such a small thing to do. Why Bill Gates could probably finance it at the drop of a hat, say a $2 million hat to start. Why not? It could serve people from all over the region, from Angola and Gaban and even the RDC. It could be an engine like Stanford and around it could grow a Silicon Valley. Why not? Everyone wants it, Mr. Kombo said, except perhaps certain ethnic and politcal groups, and actually it might be a trick to get the land and of course you would need to build an infrastructure as well....

He stopped. These are not big problems. Pas de problem.

After nearly two hours Marina and I disappeared into the streets of Casa. And later the more we talked about building the university, the more it occurred to us that it was anything but simple, that in the end, this is why no one wants to touch Africa, even though everyone agrees that the real solution is investment. If you want to keep the clandestines out of Europe, the French should be building factories in the Congo. And sure, someone, should build a university so students wouldn't have to leave... And it could all be done, if only there were the will and if only people would let it happen, would open the way.

But that doesn't happen easily in Africa, whether in Casa or in Brazzaville and so you are stuck with your stone."

Congo arrests militia leader

Mar 22, 2005 news via tvnz.co.nz New Zealand:

Congolese security services have arrested the head of a militia group accused of widespread human rights violations in the lawless northeastern district of Ituri, the government and militia sources said.

Congo has been under pressure from the United Nations and foreign governments to hunt down those responsible for 60,000 deaths in the district since 1999 and to find the killers of nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers who died there last month.

A government spokesman confirmed the arrest of Thomas Lubanga but declined to give any details.

"The international community says he is responsible for atrocities during his time in Ituri but he is not thought to be involved in the killing of the Bangladeshis," a security source said.

A senior member of Lubanga's Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) said he was arrested and sent to Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa on Saturday.

"His arrest is arbitrary and does not conform to any procedures," UPC secretary general John Tinanzabu told Reuters.

Lubanga had been based in Kinshasa for more than a year and had registered the UPC, an ethnic Hema rebel group, as a political party, Tinanzabu said.

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis with a death toll outstripping that of Sudan's Darfur region, the UN said last week.

The conflict in mineral-rich Ituri pits various ethnic-based militias against each other and has displaced some 100,000 people since December, hampering the former Belgian colony's efforts to recover from a wider five-year war.

Security sources said that Lubanga was being held alongside eight other military and political leaders from Ituri after several weeks of house arrest.

International pressure to arrest Ituri's warlords, some of whom have joined Congo's national army as part of a peace deal, increased last month after the Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed in an ambush by unknown gunmen.

Security services arrested Floribert Ndjabu, head of the ethnic Lendu-dominated Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) militia, earlier this month along with an FNI commander and a general allied to the group.

The UN has stepped up efforts to disarm militia groups in the past few months. It said on Monday some 550 militiamen had disarmed in the district in the last two days alone.

"The growing number of militia members giving in their weapons and joining the reintegration process indicates that the recent political and military efforts in the district are staring to bear fruit," the UN mission said in a statement.

The prosecutor for Ituri and UN human rights experts have been gathering evidence of crimes carried out in the district.

Those accused will be tried either in a Congolese court or the International Criminal Court, due to try those responsible for crimes committed in Ituri after July 1, 2002.

Konono No 1 - Congotronics

Konono No 1- or to give them their full name, Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe Konono No 1 de Mingiedi - come from Kinshasa (formerly Leopoldville) the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They play their own hand-built 'Congotronic' sound system, featuring giant 'likembe' thumb pianos and carved wooden microphones built from scratch with old car alternator magnets. Bandleader Mingiedi began to accomodate this ad-hoc technology when Kinshasa's increasing traffic noise started to drown out his likembe.


Left: mixing desk - right: microphone made of carved wood

The Guardian UK says Konono No 1 could be one of the unexpected successes of the year. Richard in New Zealand writes this:

"Check these guys out, they live in the Congo, make their own mics out of wood and bits of cars and sound like this. Amazing, my computer aided, condenser mic boosted, effect ridden stuff never sounded this good. It's got this cool techno, dare I say it, Jungle, thing going down. Full credit.

This story is a testament to the power of the web (how they're broadcasting their stuff round the globe) and their spirit as muso's. It's also interesting to note the universality of music, I'm assuming these guys don't listen to a lot of house but they wind up creating the same grooves as you're likely to hear in any London club. Respect."

Good luck to them. Let's hope their music hits the big time and generates worldwide publicity for the people suffering in DRC.
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George Medal Awarded

On 18 March 2005 Colonel Paul Anthony Jobbins OBE RD MSc, a Royal Marine Reserve, was honoured for his actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004 and received the George Medal.

"Col Jobbins was responsible for tactical control of all UN forces in Bukavu, the major city in the eastern Congo, when serious fighting broke out and the city fell to insurgents in June 2004. Women were raped, innocent children murdered and homes pillaged. Throughout this dangerous period, unarmed and at great personal risk, Col Jobbins worked ceaselessly to conduct negotiations with faction commanders, arrange the withdrawal of all forces and rescue UN personnel and Congolese civilians. Col Jobbins drove through crossfire to meet with a dissident General, persuaded him to halt his advance, and personally rescued many terrified civilians, often under fire. He personally ensured the safety of thousands of civilians and is cited for his commitment and courage, and his gallant leadership under fire." [via Jules]

The savagery in the Congo is beyond imagination

As reported in earlier posts here, militiamen grilled bodies on a spit and boiled two girls alive as their mother watched, U.N. peacekeepers charged, adding cannibalism to a list of atrocities allegedly carried out by one of the tribal groups fighting in northeast Congo.

Militiamen and renegade soldiers have raped and beaten tens of thousands of women and girls in eastern Congo, and nearly all the crimes have gone unpunished.

"The victims have suffered, but they want their stories told", writes Jackie Martens for the BBC in the Congo.

Below is a copy of Jackie's report of January 24, 2004, that tells the story of the savagery of men in the Congo and victims like Vumi who is shunned by her community because of what men have done to her [photos courtesy Ali's blog]:

"We have many stories like this that make us shed our tears, I used to cry, but have now become more desensitised... this happens all over this area, sometimes to children as young as nine" says Care worker Jeanne Banyere.



The war in Congo, estimated to have killed three million people and involving armies from seven different countries, is coming to an end. But, as United Nations troops move into areas previously ravaged by war, the true horror of what was wrought on the population is now emerging.

It was after a torturous two-hour drive along a windy dirt road, high up in the mountains, that we found Vumiliar Lukindo - or just Vumi. As we walked forward to meet the tiny 16-year-old, she doubled over, clutching her stomach and trying to cover her feet with the faded cloth she had wrapped around her body. She averted her eyes. Urine covered her feet.

Vumi suffers from incontinence, and cannot sit down because of the pain, the result of a horrific rape incident last October.

"The attack happened at night, and we were forced to flee into the bush," she said, in a voice barely more than a whisper. "Four men took me. They all raped me. At that time I was nine months pregnant." "They gang-raped me and pushed sticks up my vagina - that's when my baby died - they said it was better than killing me." The men then stole her few belongings and her community, unable to live with the smell, shunned her. Now she hopes only to be healed.



Community rejection

In a country ravaged by war, where rape is used as a weapon and having a gun means you can act with impunity, Vumi is not alone. Spending only a few hours in Kitchanga, a small, sleepy village supplemented by many refugees of this conflict, we met many other women with equally horrific stories to tell, but who wanted such stories told.

Kahindo Ndasimwa, dressed in little more than rags, told of how militia attacked her village one night two years ago, forcing her to flee into the bush. The 40-year-old was then repeatedly raped by four men - their legacy a continual stream of urine down her legs.

Bahati Ndasimwa, a 24-year-old with a round friendly face - but eyes that told of torture - said she was raped by too many men to count. Her community then also rejected her.

Violent rape

Furaha Mapendo was staked to the ground with her legs splayed by 10 men, who then had their way with her. With her eyes staring fixedly at the ground, the 24-year-old told of how the men pushed sticks and various objects into her for an entire night, six years ago.

These women all suffer from vaginal fistula, a medical condition found in countries with poor health infrastructure, which is usually a result of poor childbirth care. In this part of the world, it is caused by violent rape. The walls between the vagina, bladder and anus are torn, resulting in severe pain and debilitating incontinence.

"We have many stories like this that make us shed our tears," said Jeanne Banyere, or Mama Jeanne to all who know this remarkable woman. "I used to cry, but have now become more desensitised. This happens all over this area, sometimes to children as young as nine."

Medical aid

Mama Jeanne - who also looks after 62 orphans - is one of a handful of dedicated people from the Women's Protestant Federation that network these remote parts of the Congo, providing counselling and hope to these women.

They are often the only chance these women, ostracised by their communities, have of getting to Docs (Doctors on Call for Service) and getting the vital operation they need to rebuild their vaginas.

Docs runs a medical centre in the centre of Goma, a large town with little infrastructure situated close to the Rwanda border. It provides training through experience for local doctors while helping the community. Faced with an increasing number of women in desperate need of this operation, but lacking resources, facilities and space, Docs has erected two big white tents in their compound. The tents are full of women waiting for their turn on the operating table.

'Bad things'

It is here that we found Dr Longombe Ahuka, a 48-year-old father of three. Dr Ahuka is the general surgeon at Docs tasked with undertaking this delicate operation. Together with two other doctors he has trained, this team has performed reconstructive surgery on more than 90 women, allowing them to return to their communities.

Dr Ahuka is no stranger to this war. He was forced to flee from the hospital he was working in when it was attacked by armed militants. Hundreds were killed and the hospital looted. "I saw so many bad things, it is an honour for me to also be able to repair [them]," he said.

'Savagery beyond imagination'

The surgeon recounted one case of a woman who had the barrel of a gun inserted into her vagina. The soldier then opened fire.

"The savagery we have here is beyond imagination," he said. "They use all kinds of objects they can lay their hands on," he added, making a plea for the "world to be told about it, to be told of this reality".

The women waiting face a double blow. Associated with rape is the risk of being infected with HIV. Of all the cases Dr Ahuka dealt with between May and October last year, 24% were HIV positive.

Women's dignity

Safari Masika was waiting for her second operation when we met her. Depending on the severity of the injury, up to four operations are needed for complete reconstruction. Wrapped only in a green bed sheet, the diminutive woman told of a brutal attack, one which had left her with a miscarriage and isolated from her community. Looking me straight in the eyes, this proud 42-year-old mother of eight told of how, after this operation, she would once again be "able to stand with other people and praise God".

The men who perpetrated this violence will probably never be brought to justice. But for the brave women we met, at least this operation gives them the opportunity to once again live their lives with dignity.

Further reading October 26, 2004 BBC: Report shows DR Congo rape horror.
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UN says hostages are used as sex slaves and to 'ferry gold'

The following is an extract from a March 7, 2005, Associated Press report in The Star titled "Women and children kill villagers in DRC":

Children as young as eight and women have taken part in militia attacks on villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo's violent Ituri province, killing dozens of people and forcing more than 70 000 from their homes.

UN spokesperson Kemal Saiki said militias suspected of killing nine UN peacekeepers in north-eastern DRC had also taken thousands of people hostage to use as sex slaves and to ferry gold.

Peacekeepers negotiated the release of about 1,500 hostages last month and helped another 3,700 who were kidnapped and later released by an ethnic Lendu militia, said Major Aamer Zahid, a spokesperson for UN troops in the DRC, on Saturday.

Zahid said it was unclear how many hostages were still being held by the militia.

UN peacekeepers killed about 60 militia fighters last week after being fired upon near the village of Loga 30km north of Bunia, the UN said. That marked the largest number of militants killed by UN peacekeepers since 1999.



In the Lendu community, everyone is a fighter

For years, regional Lendu militias have targeted members of the rival Hema tribe. Fighting between their militias has killed more than 50 000 people since 1999, according to UN officials and aid groups.

Dozens have died in raids since December, prompting the UN to send peacekeepers to several areas in the region to provide security. More than 70 000 people are now living in temporary camps in the area.

Villagers in the village of Che - 60km north of Bunia - said on Saturday that children and women were among their attackers in a raid last month in which 18 people died and many homes burnt down.

Saiki said entire Lendu villages customarily attacked their rivals, usually under the cover of pre-dawn darkness.

Many survivors of Lendu raids have remarked that they began with the blow of a bull-horn. Lendu women were usually among those pulling the trigger or looting after the killing was done, Saiki said.

"During the day these women could be at home grinding manioc, and two hours later have a machete or AK-47 blowing you away," Saiki said. "In the Lendu community, everyone is a fighter."

A human rights group in the capital, Kinshasa, is investigating claims by residents in Loga that women and children were among those killed last week by UN peacekeepers.

The Ituri conflict is a bloody sideshow to the DRC's five-year, six-nation war that is said to have killed between 2,7-million and nearly 4-million people, according to aid groups. The war formally ended in 2002, and a transitional government took office a year later but it has struggled to extend its writ to the long-ungoverned east. - Sapa-AP.
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War on Women

"When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion." --Ethiopian proverb
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UN action over DR Congo abuse

Excerpt from a BBC report dated March 18, 2005:

The abuse allegations rocked the UN mission in DR Congo. The UN has fired one employee and suspended six others without pay over allegations of sexual misconduct in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhardt said one other member of the peacekeeping mission in DR Congo had resigned instead of facing disciplinary action. He said action had now been taken against 17 civilian mission staff.

UN peacekeepers have been accused of using food and money to pay girls as young as 12 to have sex with them. The former chief of staff of the DR Congo mission (Monuc), Jacque Grinberg, was among three people cleared of charges.

Allegations of sexual exploitation by peacekeepers in DR Congo started emerging around the eastern town of Bunia in early 2004. About 150 cases were reported. In February, the UN announced that its troops in DR Congo had been ordered not to have sexual relations with Congolese.

About 16,700 UN peacekeepers are deployed in Congo to help secure a peace deal that ended the 1998-2002 war involving half a dozen African nations.

UN reports atrocities in Congo. Congo death toll nearing 4m

Please do not miss the below copied report from the Guardian UK by Sarah Left and agencies, dated 17 March, 2005.

Photos courtesy Ali's excellent blog and commentary on the Congo, a country where the world's greatest humanitarian crisis is going unnoticed by the rest of the world.

When reading the report, please bear in mind that in December of last year, the death toll was reported as 3.8 m. Now, nearly 4 million people have died in Congo since the start of war between government troops, militias and armed tribal groups, that began in 1998. Most of the deaths are due to hunger and disease brought on by the men fighting and, I believe, half of the victims are women and children. After blogging about Darfur for almost a year, I have come to the conclusion that men really are barbarians. Even animals are not sadistic.

In my view, African women, supported by the rest of the women in the world, could make a powerfully Gandhi like march and stand. Call for male rapists to be castrated and those responsible for crimes against humanity be arrested and put on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It seems obvious (to me anyway) that all the male African leaders (are there any women in leading positions?) are either incompetent or corrupt, or both. None of them seem capable of managing a country and maintaining law and order.

The only glimmer of hope I see is through women who are capable of taking a peaceful stand. Collectively, en masse, women could sort out the men from the boys and the games they all play. Enough is enough. Child soldiers, slavery and using rape as a weapon of war must stop. Put sand in the cogs of macho toys and castrate the rapists. The UN needs to take a firmer stand on behalf of the rest of the world. Rebels and governments responsible for crimes against humanity should cease all violence and be forced into peace talks until solutions are agreed or be put on trial at The Hague. I am serious.

Take a good look at Ali's blog and these photos along with the Guardian's report:

Armed militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kidnapped hundreds of rival tribe members, tortured, mutilated, raped and decapitated their victims, and even boiled alive and ate two girls in front of their mother.

The humanitarian crisis in north-east Congo's embattled and lawless district of Ituri has replaced Sudan's Darfur region as the worst in the world, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said yesterday, launching the report on abuses allegedly committed by the Forces of Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI). He said the fighting is killing thousands every month.

The UN report summarised testimony from witnesses gathered over a year. It found hundreds of people have been kidnapped by militias in the region and that some have been killed by torture and decapitation. Those not killed are held in labour camps and forced to work as fishermen, porters, domestic workers and sex slaves.

The UN mission in Congo said its human rights experts had interviewed 120 people who managed to escape the attacks by the FRPI, one of five ethnic armed groups operating in Ituri. The militia hails from the Ngiti tribe, which is close to the Lendu ethnic group, the Hema's main rivals in Ituri.



"Vital organs were said to have been cut off and used as magic charms. There were also reports that [ethnic] Hema children were thrown on to arrows stuck into the ground," the report said.

"Those responsible for atrocities will be brought to justice," Major General Patrick Cammaert, the Dutch Navy commander of UN forces in Congo, said. He said the UN mission in Congo (Monuc) was working to cut off weapons supplies to armed militias, which apparently entered the country from neighbouring Uganda across Lake Albert.

Monuc is resolved to "proceed with actions against the armed groups refusing to lay down weapons and integrate into the disarmament process," said Gen Cammaert. He called on the militiamen to follow the example set by one of the Ituri armed groups in the district of Aru, the Armed Forces for the Congolese People, which was allowing itself to be demobilised by peacekeepers and reintegrated into the community.

FRPI militiamen were suspected of killing nine UN peacekeepers in a February 25 ambush. On March 1, militiamen fired on Pakistani peacekeepers and the peacekeepers fought back, killing up to 60 fighters, UN officials said at the time.

Nearly 4 million people have died in Congo since the start of a six-nation war that began in 1998, most succumbing to hunger and disease brought on by the conflict. Though foreign armies left Congo under a peace accord in 2002, fighting has continued between government troops, militias and armed tribal groups.



Women in the region have been brutally victimised, and not only by the militias. An internal UN investigation concluded that peacekeepers had engaged in widespread sexual abuse of women in Congo.

Yesterday's report contained the first detailed charges of cannibalism to emerge since the war, when occasional charges surfaced.

The UN report was accompanied by a separate account from Zainabo Alfani in which she described to UN investigators being forced to watch rebels kill and eat two of her children in June 2003.

The report said, "In one corner, there was already cooked flesh from bodies and two bodies being grilled on a barbecue and, at the same time, they prepared her two little girls, putting them alive in two big pots filled with boiling water and oil." Her youngest child was saved, apparently because at six months old it didn't have much flesh.

The woman herself was gang-raped by the rebels and mutilated. Ms Alfani survived to tell her horror story, but she died in hospital on Sunday, nearly two years after the attack, of Aids contracted during her torture, the UN report said.

She gave her account in February, but the UN waited to publish it until after her death, for fear she would become a target for reprisal.

The head of Monuc, William Swing, is due to fly to New York along with Gen Cammaert, and will brief the UN security council on the DRC situation on Wednesday March 23. The next day, he is scheduled to address the US congress and hold talks with several US officials.

Special report on the Congo at the Guardian - Tens of thousands raped by militias in Congo conflict - March 8: Babies and elderly not spared, rights group reports.



Bunia residents cheer as French soldiers arrive, Friday, June 6 2003 outside the U.N. compound in Bunia, Congo. An advance party of French troops has arrived in this northeastern corner of Congo to prepare the ground for the arrival of an EU-led force intended to stabilize the region after hundreds were killed in more than a week of tribal fighting. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)



An official uses a stick to keep internally displaced people at bay, Friday, June 20, 2003 at a food distrubution centre outside the United Nations compound in Bunia, Congo. Unknown assailants have abducted two unarmed U.N. military observers after attacking their residence in northeastern Congolese city of Beni. Beni is 155 kilometers (96 miles) southwest of Bunia where fighting among tribal militia has killed 500 people, mainly civilians, since the beginning of May.(AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

Useful links

AllAfrica.com Congo-Kinshasa
Le Congo Sans Frontieres
Congonline
Official Web Site of the Permanent Mission of the DRC
Child charity work, fundraising & volunteering with Save the Children UK
Special reports on the Congo.

African Union plans up to 7,000 troops for Congo

There are some great posts by Congolese bloggers that I shall be linking to at a later date. At the moment I am on a blogging break and unable to write original commentary. Today, I am simply filing some recent news reports for future reference:

ADDIS ABABA, March 16 (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) said on Wednesday it planned to send between 6,000 and 7,000 troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help disarm militias threatening peace in the region, officials said.

The AU said the presence of militiamen originally from neighbouring Rwanda and other marauding gunmen in eastern Congo remained a major source of tension and instability in Central Africa's Great Lakes region.

The AU's Commissioner for Peace and Security Said Djinnit told a news conference the Congo plan was in its early stages and could not give any details on deployment.

Funding for the mission was yet to be secured, he said, calling on the 53 nations of the AU to provide logistical assistance and troops.

The AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) said the planned force would target an estimated 20,000 fighters from the Interahamwe Hutu militia and former Armed Forces of Rwanda (ex-FAR) soldiers who took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

"The Peace and Security Council has decided that time has come for strong and decisive action by the AU and the international community to neutralise and disarm the ex-FAR/ Interahamwe and other armed groups operating in the region," Djinnit told the news conference, which followed a two-day council meeting.

Last year Rwanda's President Paul Kagame threatened to send troops into Congo to pursue the rebels but was dissuaded after the international community promised to deal with the problem.

The African Union currently has a force of about 3,000 in Sudan's troubled Darfur region and is planning to send troops to Somalia to help disarm militias there.

But the cash-strapped organisation was hard-pressed to field the Darfur force and is reliant on donors to pay for the bulk of the deployments.

The U.N. force in Congo numbers 16,000, making it the world body's biggest peacekeeping operation. The force has given militia fighters in lawless eastern Congo until the beginning of next month to give up their guns voluntarily.

The two-day meeting was attended by military experts from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

UN calls Eastern Congo worst humanitarian crisis - superseding the catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan

The following editorial is by Lisa Schlein, Geneva, 16 March 2005 via Voice of America:

The U.N. top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, says the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, displacing Sudan's Darfur region, which until recently held that dubious distinction. 

U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, says he in no way means to minimize the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.  But, he says aid operations in this conflict-ridden region of Sudan have been very effective.  He says thousands of aid workers are providing needed assistance to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war.

"They have made so great progress in dealing with the needs of the displaced population, that I would, in fact, now not today use the term the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world,” he said.  “I think there are many more preventable deaths in the eastern Congo, which is probably the largest forgotten and neglected emergency today in the world."

Mr. Egeland says more lives are lost in eastern Congo than anywhere else in the world.  He says a human life in the Congo is worth as much as a human life in Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia or any other high profile emergency in the world.

"It is beyond belief that we are not treating Eastern Congo as more of an intolerable and acute crisis when a survey showed last year, which still holds, that 1000 people died every day connected to the conflict and the crisis,” he added.  “I mean preventable deaths from disease and so on.  That is a tsunami every five, six months, year in and year out now for at least six years."

Human rights organizations estimate about one million people in eastern Congo have died from disease and war in the past six years.  Mr. Egeland says about three million people there are in acute need of assistance.

The U.N. humanitarian official says rape is widespread in both Congo and Darfur.  He says in both situations, many thousands of women have been sexually abused, with little regard or sympathy from their governments.  He says in western Darfur, there now are cases of women who are pregnant and not married who are being charged under Sharia law.

"As I understand it, charged for not being married.  We believe some of those are raped and that is the reason they are abused,” he said.  “It is the ultimate insult to charge women who may have been raped for being pregnant."

Mr. Egeland says he brought this matter up at the highest levels with the Sudanese authorities when he was recently in Khartoum.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-16-voa38.cfm

Sex-assaults by men continues unchecked in Congo

Nicole Itano is a freelance reporter based in Johannesburg. She has travelled several times to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here is a copy of her latest report dated 13 March, 2005 via WeNews:

In the jungles and border towns of eastern Congo, a civil war staggers on, largely ignored. So far tens of thousands of women and girls have been sexually assaulted during this humanitarian crisis, according to Human Rights Watch.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (WOMENSENEWS)--A woman is gang-raped by six soldiers, in front of her husband and children, while their companion assaults her 3-year-old daughter. A 13-year-old girl dies, vomiting blood, two days after being brutally raped by a group of militants. A United Nation's peacekeeper trades a desperate woman two eggs for sex.

The stories are horrifying and endless and come from a new report by Human Rights Watch, evidence of the ongoing tragedy in a forgotten corner of Africa.

In the jungles and border towns of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world's greatest humanitarian crises staggers on largely ignored by the international community. Millions have died or been displaced. And tens of thousands of women and girls have been victims of sexual assault.

"Something we are increasingly seeing in conflict zones, in wars, is that rape is being used as a weapon of war," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher on the Democratic Republic of Congo for Human Rights Watch.

"This isn't just soldiers on occasion wanting a bit of sex. This is becoming part of conduct of war. In that sense Congo is not unique. What's particularly frightening, of course, is the scale of what's happening in the Congo."

Rape Used as Intimidation, Punishment

A report released March 7 by Human Rights Watch report says combatants on all sides of the Congo's complicated conflict are guilty of widespread sexual violence and that little has been done to slow the violence or prosecute those responsible.

Rape has been used to intimidate communities into submission, to punish them for supporting other groups and, in parts of Eastern Congo where the conflict is driven by ethnic hatred, to terrorize members of other ethnic groups. In a few reported cases, men and boys were also raped.

One humanitarian-aid worker is quoted in the report as saying the women of her region, the tumultuous Ituri area in Eastern Congo, could "write a whole library about the use of rape."

Worse, those sent to protect the people of Congo by the international community have not only failed to protect the country's women, but have contributed to their exploitation.

In recent months, the United Nation's peacekeeping force there, known as MONUC, has been grappling with allegations that its troops have been involved in widespread sexual misconduct, including rape and child prostitution.

"The places which have been subjected to the worst sexual violence is where we're having some of the worst allegations of sexual misconduct by peacekeepers," Jane Rasmussen, a U.N. official responsible for implementing new sexual-conduct programs in the Congo, told Women's eNews last year during her investigations into allegations.

"The fact is that women are so degraded already that it almost starts to become normal to them. One girl commented to me ruefully that at least MONUC pays."

In January, the United Nations released the results of their own investigation into the allegations and concluded that while many of the specific cases could not be collaborated there was "a pattern of sexual exploitation by peacekeepers contrary to the standards set by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations."

Low-Scale, Deadly Conflict Continues

The civil war officially ended in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast nation about the size of Western Europe, almost two years ago. The country is also home to the world's largest United Nation's peacekeeping force.

But despite the presence of peacekeepers and the installation of a power-sharing government in the capital city Kinshasa in mid-2003, a low-scale but deadly conflict involving a number of small militias and armies continues, especially in the eastern region of Ituri near the border with Uganda.

In December last year, the International Rescue Committee, a New York-based human rights organization, released a mortality study saying that 31,000 people were still dying in the Congo each month, many of them children killed by war-related disease or malnutrition. In all, the organization estimated that almost 4 million people had died since the beginning of the conflict in August 1998.

The sexual violence continues as well. In the northeastern city of Bunia in Ituri, the site of much recent conflict, the French aid group Doctors Without Borders says 40 women and girls come to their medical center each week seeking help. The Human Rights Watch report too details an endless litany of violence against women.

One woman told them how she was gang-raped by six soldiers, in front of her husband and children, while their companion assaulted her 3-year-old daughter. Another described how her 13-year-old niece died, vomiting blood, two days after being brutally raped by a group of militants.

The violence will only end, Human Rights Watch says, when perpetrators begin to believe there will be consequences for their actions. But as their report notes, the Congo's capacity for prosecuting those accused of sexual violence remains limited. Unless there is increased political will locally and greater international support for the local justice system few Congolese women have much hope of seeing justice done.

"A key lesson learned from this is that peacekeeping missions will only have a degree of success if they can tackle the culture of impunity and hold people accountable, and that's in case of rape and a host of other human-rights abuses," said Van Woudenberg.

Handful of Cases Prosecuted

Although human rights groups believe that tens of thousands of women have been sexually assaulted during the last six years of conflict, only a handful of cases have been prosecuted by local courts or military officials.

Even peacekeepers accused of sexual misconduct are rarely held accountable, the U.N. admits. Under international law, peacekeepers remain under the legal authority of their home countries, most of whom have little political will to punish soldiers for such crimes, says Rasmussen.

In Bunia, a European Commission-supported court has successfully prosecuted 10 people for sexual violence and has cases pending against nine others. While the number prosecuted for sexual assault remains small and only a few were militants, Human Rights Watch cites the case as an example of how international support can strengthen the Congo's justice system, but also of how little is being done. So far, the Bunia court is the only like it in the country.

Most important, the organization says, is to begin holding high-rank commanders accountable for their actions. International courts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have found that rape can amount to torture and that commanders guilty of encouraging rape are guilty of war crimes.

Stopping the violence and prosecuting those guilty of human rights violations in Congo will require a major scale-up of involvement by the international community, which many rights groups believe is still being neglected by donors and international news organizations.

In 2004, according to the International Rescue Committee, the world spent just $188 million on humanitarian aid there, an amount that equals just $3.23 a person, compared to $89 per person in the Sudan the same year and $138 per person in Iraq the previous year.

"There's lots of talk about how we're going to support the justice system, especially around sexual violence which everyone claims is such an important issue," said Van Woudenberg. "But there's not very much action behind the talk."

For more information:

Human Rights Watch--
"Seeking Justice: The Prosecution of Sexual Violence in the Congo War":
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/drc0305/

International Rescue Committee--
"Democratic Republic of Congo: 3.8 Million Dead in 6 Year Conflict":
http://www.theirc.org/index.cfm/wwwID/2129

MONUC--Investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(Adobe PDF format):
http://www.monuc.org/downloads/0520055E.pdf