An operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, involving helicopter gunships and 1,900 UN and Congolese troops, has taken a key town from a rebel militia.
The town of Nioka has been captured, UN military spokesman Major Hans-Jakob Reichen, told the BBC.
The town, 80km (50 miles) north of Bunia, had been a rebel stronghold.
The joint operation, which began on Thursday, was against a militia led by Peter Karim. He has now fled northwards, the UN says.
Two of his bodyguards have been captured and the UN and Congolese troops hope to take him as well.
The militia he leads has been accused of atrocities against civilians in the region, which borders Uganda and Sudan.
Full report (BBC) 24 Dec 2005.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Angelina Jolie and John Prendergast's Congo Journal
Note Congo Journal by Angelina Jolie, John Prendergast and read Ripples of Genocide: Journey Through Eastern Congo.
[via Ali's Salon with thanks]
[via Ali's Salon with thanks]
'Cursed' gold - on the trail from militia-controlled gold mines to Uganda
See On the trail of DR Congo's 'cursed' gold, a report by BBC correspondent Will Ross in Mongbwalu dated 3 June 2005.
Note he is following the gold trail to Uganda which begins in Mongbwalu, in DR Congo's Ituri district.
Note he is following the gold trail to Uganda which begins in Mongbwalu, in DR Congo's Ituri district.
DR Congo 'backs new constitution'?
DR Congo's infrastructure has been wrecked by war and misrule but on 20 Dec 2005 BBC report also says DR Congo 'backs new constitution'.
According to the report, voters in the DRC have overwhelmingly backed a new post-war constitution in a referendum, early results indicate - and the president of DRC's electoral commission said the 'yes' campaign had won 78% of votes, compared to 21% for the 'no' campaign, on a 34% count.
However, according to a 16 Dec 2005 BBC report - DR Congo set for 'mystery' vote - voters in DR Congo were set to vote on a new constitution last Sunday but many complained they did not know what it contained.
Photo: These women queued for a copy of the draft constitution.
Photo: This man is one of the lucky few who has got a copy of the constitution.
Read BBC's Q&A: DR Congo vote.
Photo (AFP/BBC) Huge crowds turned out to welcome President Joseph Kabila when he made his first official visit to Bukavu.
Vist Ali's Salon of News and Thought for DRC news and list of Presidential Candidates.
According to the report, voters in the DRC have overwhelmingly backed a new post-war constitution in a referendum, early results indicate - and the president of DRC's electoral commission said the 'yes' campaign had won 78% of votes, compared to 21% for the 'no' campaign, on a 34% count.
However, according to a 16 Dec 2005 BBC report - DR Congo set for 'mystery' vote - voters in DR Congo were set to vote on a new constitution last Sunday but many complained they did not know what it contained.
Photo: These women queued for a copy of the draft constitution.
Photo: This man is one of the lucky few who has got a copy of the constitution.
Read BBC's Q&A: DR Congo vote.
Photo (AFP/BBC) Huge crowds turned out to welcome President Joseph Kabila when he made his first official visit to Bukavu.
Vist Ali's Salon of News and Thought for DRC news and list of Presidential Candidates.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Photos from the Rutshuru mission
Good news, Louis of Telegraphe Congolaise is safe, well and blogging. See Too much gun talk, keep on scrolling and be sure to click on each of the photos for great magnification and read On the march.
Asylum questions for DR Congo
What happens to asylum seekers who are sent home? As part of a BBC World Service investigation, Jenny Cuffe has followed the footsteps of failed asylum seekers sent back from Europe to the Democratic Republic of Congo. What she found raised questions over how European governments are treating those they deport. Full story 1 Dec 2005 (BBC). Note, the report says:
Although Africa's bloodiest conflict has cost an estimated four million lives since 1998, many EU countries judge it safe to send failed asylum seekers back. They say that there is a transitional government which plans elections next year.
Malnutrition is widespread in Congolese prisons. United Nations has described the regime in DR Congo's prisons as one of rape and torture. If prisoners do not have relatives to bring them food, they may eventually die of starvation, it reports.
Human rights lawyer Celestin Nikiana has started to list the prisoners in Makala. He has found two of the prisoners to be former asylum seekers who have been there for more than five years without charge: Alain Londole, who was returned by Belgium, and Willy Ayi-Ansha, sent back by Italy. Mr Nikiana believes there is at least one other asylum seeker, returned from Belgium, being kept in the prison's political wing.
The UN has also criticised unofficial jails run by DR Congo's national intelligence service. These are said to be places where prisoners are subjected to "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and even torture". Human rights campaigners say they have information that one former asylum seeker is being kept in one of these secret centres.
Although campaigners have warned some people deported from Europe may be put at risk, they have not yet been able to produce convincing evidence.
Although Africa's bloodiest conflict has cost an estimated four million lives since 1998, many EU countries judge it safe to send failed asylum seekers back. They say that there is a transitional government which plans elections next year.
Malnutrition is widespread in Congolese prisons. United Nations has described the regime in DR Congo's prisons as one of rape and torture. If prisoners do not have relatives to bring them food, they may eventually die of starvation, it reports.
Human rights lawyer Celestin Nikiana has started to list the prisoners in Makala. He has found two of the prisoners to be former asylum seekers who have been there for more than five years without charge: Alain Londole, who was returned by Belgium, and Willy Ayi-Ansha, sent back by Italy. Mr Nikiana believes there is at least one other asylum seeker, returned from Belgium, being kept in the prison's political wing.
The UN has also criticised unofficial jails run by DR Congo's national intelligence service. These are said to be places where prisoners are subjected to "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and even torture". Human rights campaigners say they have information that one former asylum seeker is being kept in one of these secret centres.
Although campaigners have warned some people deported from Europe may be put at risk, they have not yet been able to produce convincing evidence.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
DR Congo troops to Uganda border
"We have transported 300 Congolese soldiers to Aba in our helicopters and another 200 are on the way there by road," United Nations military spokesman Thierry Provendier said, Reuters reports.
The force will number 1,000 men by the end of this week, he said.
Full report (BBC) October 4, 2005.
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Uganda UN Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
The force will number 1,000 men by the end of this week, he said.
Full report (BBC) October 4, 2005.
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Uganda UN Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
UN airlifts Congo troops to deal with Uganda's LRA rebels
The U.N. has airlifted several hundred Congo government soldiers to a remote corner of the country to deal with heavily armed Ugandan LRA rebels who have entered and refuse to disarm, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday.
The helicopters flew the troops to Aba, an isolated town near the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern border with Uganda and Sudan, U.N. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thierry Provendier said in Kinshasa.
Full report Kinshasa, Oct 4 (Reuters)
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Uganda UN Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
The helicopters flew the troops to Aba, an isolated town near the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern border with Uganda and Sudan, U.N. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thierry Provendier said in Kinshasa.
Full report Kinshasa, Oct 4 (Reuters)
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Uganda UN Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
UN mission in DR Congo has said it intends to use all means necessary to drive out the LRA
LRA rebels are suspected of ambushing a civilian pick up truck in north east Uganda, shooting the driver and two passengers, and killing a fourth with an axe, repots the BBC October 4, 2005.
Note, the report states "DR Congo has warned Uganda not to try to disarm an LRA force in its territory" - and ends by saying "the UN mission in DR Congo has said it intends to use all means necessary to drive out the LRA group."
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Africa Khartoum Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
Note, the report states "DR Congo has warned Uganda not to try to disarm an LRA force in its territory" - and ends by saying "the UN mission in DR Congo has said it intends to use all means necessary to drive out the LRA group."
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Africa Khartoum Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
Monday, October 03, 2005
Ugandan troops amass at border of DR Congo
From Michael at Uganda-CAN October 3, 2005:
Thousands of Ugandan troops have begun gathering at the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the West Nile region of Uganda, purportedly in preparation to engage Lord's Resistance Army forces across the border, reports AllAfrica. A contingent of approximately 400 LRA forces crossed into Congo over a week ago, and requests from UN and Congolese officials for the LRA to disarm have been ignored.
Although Uganda's Minister of Defense last week claimed that Uganda would under no circumstances enter the DRC, President Museveni has this week stated that if UN and Congolese troops do not take immediate and aggressive action, Uganda's military would be sent across the border. Uganda played a central role in destabilizing eastern Congo during the civil war that ended in 2004, and many fear that if Ugandan forces cross the border again, more chaos could ensue. Several small armed insurgencies still plague the region today.
Uganda-CAN urges the Government of Uganda and UN to delay attacks on the group until robust efforts have been made to open negotiations with the rebels.
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Africa Khartoum Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
Thousands of Ugandan troops have begun gathering at the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the West Nile region of Uganda, purportedly in preparation to engage Lord's Resistance Army forces across the border, reports AllAfrica. A contingent of approximately 400 LRA forces crossed into Congo over a week ago, and requests from UN and Congolese officials for the LRA to disarm have been ignored.
Although Uganda's Minister of Defense last week claimed that Uganda would under no circumstances enter the DRC, President Museveni has this week stated that if UN and Congolese troops do not take immediate and aggressive action, Uganda's military would be sent across the border. Uganda played a central role in destabilizing eastern Congo during the civil war that ended in 2004, and many fear that if Ugandan forces cross the border again, more chaos could ensue. Several small armed insurgencies still plague the region today.
Uganda-CAN urges the Government of Uganda and UN to delay attacks on the group until robust efforts have been made to open negotiations with the rebels.
Tags: Congo DR Congo Sudan Africa Khartoum Uganda DRC LRA terrorists
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Submissions Welcomed For Spotlight On Darfur 2
If you wish to contribute a blog entry for Spotlight on Darfur 2, please contact Eddie Beaver at Live From The FDNF in time for 16 October 2005 deadline.
Jim Moore, co-founder of Sudan: Passion of the Present, recently posted a note from Eddie on this initiative with an important PINR report from Michael Weinstein.
Note, Catez Stevens in New Zealand initiated and hosted Spotlight on Darfur 1 round up of posts authored by 14 different bloggers from around the world. Jim Moore, in praise of this, writes:
"In my view this work is so fine as to be almost historic. It combines the literary quality of a small, carefully edited book, with the global accessibility of works on the web."
Last May, Catez also produced The Darfur Collection.
Image courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers Live 8 Live From The FDNF Darfur Collection Spotlight on Darfur
Jim Moore, co-founder of Sudan: Passion of the Present, recently posted a note from Eddie on this initiative with an important PINR report from Michael Weinstein.
Note, Catez Stevens in New Zealand initiated and hosted Spotlight on Darfur 1 round up of posts authored by 14 different bloggers from around the world. Jim Moore, in praise of this, writes:
"In my view this work is so fine as to be almost historic. It combines the literary quality of a small, carefully edited book, with the global accessibility of works on the web."
Last May, Catez also produced The Darfur Collection.
Image courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers Live 8 Live From The FDNF Darfur Collection Spotlight on Darfur
UN investigates DR Congo graves
A UN spokewoman told the BBC the remains were believed to be those of Congolese and Rwandan Hutus killed by Rwandan soldiers in 1996.
At the time the Rwandan Army was venturing into the DR Congo trying to find those responsible for mass genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
The graves were exhumed by Congolese troops.
Tags: Africa genocide Hutus Rwandan DR Congo Rwanda Congolese
At the time the Rwandan Army was venturing into the DR Congo trying to find those responsible for mass genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
The graves were exhumed by Congolese troops.
Tags: Africa genocide Hutus Rwandan DR Congo Rwanda Congolese
DR Congo militia deadline expires
A deadline set by the Democratic Republic of Congo for all foreign militias to leave the country passes.
Full story at BBC News Africa 30 Sep 2005.
Photo: Militia have been most active in the east of DR Congo (BBC)
A peace deal ended DR Congo's civil war in 2002, but the government exerts little control in the east.
Uganda has meanwhile threatened to use force against Lord's Resistance Army rebels sheltering in DR Congo.
Photo: UN patrols are a reminder that life is still far from normal in eastern DR Congo.
17,000 United Nations peacekeepers in DR Congo are not enough, said Ibrahim Gambari, UN under secretary general for political affairs.
"To disarm them all will require an enormous peacekeeping force, which the UN doesn't have, and which member states are not willing to fund," he said.
Uganda and Rwanda sparked DR Congo's civil war by invading and supporting local militias, after accusing DR Congo of backing rebel groups.
Under the 2002 peace deal, all militias were supposed to be disarmed.
Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo UN Rwanda
Full story at BBC News Africa 30 Sep 2005.
Photo: Militia have been most active in the east of DR Congo (BBC)
A peace deal ended DR Congo's civil war in 2002, but the government exerts little control in the east.
Uganda has meanwhile threatened to use force against Lord's Resistance Army rebels sheltering in DR Congo.
Photo: UN patrols are a reminder that life is still far from normal in eastern DR Congo.
17,000 United Nations peacekeepers in DR Congo are not enough, said Ibrahim Gambari, UN under secretary general for political affairs.
"To disarm them all will require an enormous peacekeeping force, which the UN doesn't have, and which member states are not willing to fund," he said.
Uganda and Rwanda sparked DR Congo's civil war by invading and supporting local militias, after accusing DR Congo of backing rebel groups.
Under the 2002 peace deal, all militias were supposed to be disarmed.
Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo UN Rwanda
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Diamond miners laboring in an illegal mine of the DR Congo
"Before you buy that next piece of gold and diamond jewelry for your loved ones or for yourself, remember these images of the laborers and slaves who suffered to extract, cut, and polish that beautiful jewel from the jungle," writes Bill at Jewels in the Jungle:
Tags: Africa fair trade diamond miners DR Congo gold human rights
"Help save lives by supporting the rule of law and justice, transparency in the diamond and gold mining industries and trade, fair wages, and humane working conditions for the people shown in these photo essays."
Tags: Africa fair trade diamond miners DR Congo gold human rights
Monday, September 26, 2005
Congo army says will forcibly disarm Ugandan rebels
MONUC report Sep 26 confirms the Democratic Republic of Congo's army said on Sunday it would forcibly disarm 400 Ugandan rebels who have crossed into the northeast of the country and are refusing to lay down their weapons:
Museveni to occupy Southern Sudan?
A blogger in America, Menya Kilat, has an interesting theory on connections between Uganda and Southern Sudan and wonders if LRA leader Kony is the red herring to allow Museveni occupy Southern Sudan.
It is a theory I do not share. But, when it comes to African politics, nothing would surprise me.
The US recognises the LRA as a terrorist organisation.
A report today by the BBC says Kony remains with his fighters in southern Sudan and the UN says it has held a meeting with LRA rebels for the first time.
Kony's deputy Vincent Otti is in DR Congo talking to the UN. Uganda says Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
[Cross posted to Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch]
Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo
"A regional military commander, General Padiri Bulenda, told Reuters he would have to disarm the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in order to prevent thousands of Ugandan soldiers from crossing the border into the Congo to hunt them down."The report ends by saying:
"Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly warned Congo's fragile transitional government that he would take action against Ugandan rebels in Congo if he felt they were a threat to his country.- - -
A source close to Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila called the presence of Ugandan soldiers on Congo's border "a distraction from pressure being applied on Museveni because of his meddling in Congo and attempts to prolong his presidency at home"."
Museveni to occupy Southern Sudan?
A blogger in America, Menya Kilat, has an interesting theory on connections between Uganda and Southern Sudan and wonders if LRA leader Kony is the red herring to allow Museveni occupy Southern Sudan.
It is a theory I do not share. But, when it comes to African politics, nothing would surprise me.
The US recognises the LRA as a terrorist organisation.
A report today by the BBC says Kony remains with his fighters in southern Sudan and the UN says it has held a meeting with LRA rebels for the first time.
Kony's deputy Vincent Otti is in DR Congo talking to the UN. Uganda says Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
[Cross posted to Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch]
Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo
Friday, September 23, 2005
Congo Refugees Return, Determined to Vote
Note this post by Publius Pundit pointed out by Captain Marlow [with thanks]
CONGO'S REVOLUTIONARIES
Thousands of Congo's displaced exiles are returning to their homeland in extreme hardship solely for the privilege of voting. Don't anyone ever tell me they had the option to vote here in the states and just didn't do it. Look at what these brave revolutionaries in Congo are doing.
The news item is here and Robert or I will put together a news and blogger roundup if there is any further information we can get:
Thousands of Congolese refugees are piling their furniture, bicycles, pots and pans onto barely seaworthy boats and heading back to their war-ravaged homeland, determined to vote in presidential elections.
"I want peace, I want to vote and I want a good life for my children," said Mukato Selemani after crossing Lake Tanganyika aboard a blue barge from Tanzania on Saturday, nine years after fleeing pillaging gunmen. A real citizen will not miss the elections.
Selemani, 29, does not even know if his village still exists.
But he joined the thousands of refugees making the journey back home in hopes of voting in the election next year - their vast mineral-rich country's first in nearly half a century.
Read the whole thing here.
Photo: An unidentified woman refugee carries her belongings from a boat on Lake Tanganyika near the town of Baraka, Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, Sept, 17, 2005.
Those in Tanzania represent nearly half of an estimated 380,000 Congolese refugees still living in neighboring countries, said Jan Hesemann, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Congo, with nearly 30,000 of those who escaped the war having returned since last October.(AP Photo/Anjan Sundaram/Yahoo)
Refugees DR Congo Africa DRC Congo
CONGO'S REVOLUTIONARIES
Thousands of Congo's displaced exiles are returning to their homeland in extreme hardship solely for the privilege of voting. Don't anyone ever tell me they had the option to vote here in the states and just didn't do it. Look at what these brave revolutionaries in Congo are doing.
The news item is here and Robert or I will put together a news and blogger roundup if there is any further information we can get:
Thousands of Congolese refugees are piling their furniture, bicycles, pots and pans onto barely seaworthy boats and heading back to their war-ravaged homeland, determined to vote in presidential elections.
"I want peace, I want to vote and I want a good life for my children," said Mukato Selemani after crossing Lake Tanganyika aboard a blue barge from Tanzania on Saturday, nine years after fleeing pillaging gunmen. A real citizen will not miss the elections.
Selemani, 29, does not even know if his village still exists.
But he joined the thousands of refugees making the journey back home in hopes of voting in the election next year - their vast mineral-rich country's first in nearly half a century.
Read the whole thing here.
Photo: An unidentified woman refugee carries her belongings from a boat on Lake Tanganyika near the town of Baraka, Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, Sept, 17, 2005.
Those in Tanzania represent nearly half of an estimated 380,000 Congolese refugees still living in neighboring countries, said Jan Hesemann, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Congo, with nearly 30,000 of those who escaped the war having returned since last October.(AP Photo/Anjan Sundaram/Yahoo)
Refugees DR Congo Africa DRC Congo
Uganda says top LRA rebel wants asylum in DR Congo
Uganda-CAN picks up on a report by New Vision that claims President Museveni has demanded the immediate extradition of Kony and remnants of his army that have recently crossed into the DR Congo (DRC).
According to the report, sixty fighters led by Kony's second-in-command Vincent Otti recently fled northern Uganda and southern Sudan to cross into northeastern DRC. The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) claimed the rebels are hiding in Garamba game park in the DRC.
- - -
Uganda says top LRA rebel wants asylum in DR Congo
The deputy leader of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is asking for political asylum in Congo after fleeing into its remote northeastern jungles, Uganda's defence minister said today.
Uganda says Vincent Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
But the Congolese government said on Friday it had no information about the group's presence on its territory or of any asylum request.
See full story Sep 23 2005 (Standard)
Tags: DR Congo Sudan Africa Congo Uganda DRC
According to the report, sixty fighters led by Kony's second-in-command Vincent Otti recently fled northern Uganda and southern Sudan to cross into northeastern DRC. The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) claimed the rebels are hiding in Garamba game park in the DRC.
- - -
Uganda says top LRA rebel wants asylum in DR Congo
The deputy leader of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is asking for political asylum in Congo after fleeing into its remote northeastern jungles, Uganda's defence minister said today.
Uganda says Vincent Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
But the Congolese government said on Friday it had no information about the group's presence on its territory or of any asylum request.
See full story Sep 23 2005 (Standard)
Tags: DR Congo Sudan Africa Congo Uganda DRC
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
US promises support for military operations to fight LRA
Xinhua reports that US National Security Advisor Steve Hadley has assured Uganda of his country's cooperation in the planned joint operation between Uganda, Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) against remnants of rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
On a group of LRA ebels entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through southern Sudan, Hadley said US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton will take up the matter of UN Observer Mission in Congo to improve UN presence and performance in the DRC.
LRA rebels have killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced over 1.4 million people in their 19-year-old rebellion in northern Uganda.
[via Uganda-CAN with thanks]
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Live 8 DR Congo Uganda LRA Uganda-CAN MONUC SPLA US
On a group of LRA ebels entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through southern Sudan, Hadley said US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton will take up the matter of UN Observer Mission in Congo to improve UN presence and performance in the DRC.
LRA rebels have killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced over 1.4 million people in their 19-year-old rebellion in northern Uganda.
[via Uganda-CAN with thanks]
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Live 8 DR Congo Uganda LRA Uganda-CAN MONUC SPLA US
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Africa's peace seekers: Petronille Vaweka
Out of the mist of a rural African morning, a great lion springs into the path of a young woman walking to work in the fields.
Tail twitching, the beast stares at her, ready to pounce.
But she knows better than to flinch. Moving slowly, she bends her knees and places her iron hoe gently in the dirt.
Staring straight back, she begins talking to the lion. "I'm not your enemy," she says. "I'm only going to the field, and I won't hurt you."
The lion watches. The woman stands silently. Moments pass. With a swish of his tail, the lion leaps away.
Petronille Vaweka, a top official ineastern Congo, grew up hearing this story about her grandmother's courage. She tells it today as a defining tale in her own life - a life devoted to using the power of words to disarm the gun-toting militias that stalk the villages in this lawless corner of Africa.
"If you are facing someone who is violent, you must never use force," Ms. Vaweka recalls her grandmother saying. "The first thing is to put down all your instruments. Then look at them, right into the eye."
- - -
The militia leader's conditions were clear: No large contingent of bodyguards could come with her; no United Nations peacekeepers. Vaweka, on a mission to free two kidnapped government workers, would be allowed to negotiate for their freedom accompanied only by her husband and a few aides.
She agreed, despite the militia's menacing reputation. The Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri (FRPI in French, the main language) is one of the groups implicated in the brutal killing of nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in a Feb. 25 ambush. FRPI leader Germain Katanga is now in prison awaiting trial.
Vaweka knew this was her task, and hers alone. She's the top official in the fledgling government of Ituri, a province the size of West Virginia in a country as big as Alaska and Texas combined. Ituri is one of Congo's richest regions - and one of its most violent. It's chockablock with gold, diamonds, oil, and coltan (a rare ore used in cellphones and laptops). But the UN estimates that 60,000 people have died here since 1999. Greedy outsiders - including leaders in neighboring Uganda and Rwanda - have stoked ethnic tensions and supplied the region's many militias with weapons to fight for control of the riches.
Read full story by Abraham McLaughlin, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, September 14, 2005.
- - -
BRINGING ORDER:
Photo: Petronille Vaweka (center) talks with an Army chief. (Jiro OSE/Special to the CS Monitor)
- - -
TIMELINE:
Click here to see at a glance the march to peace in Congo, Africa's heartland.
- - -
A SHADOW OF THEIR PAST PRESENCE:
Photo: Many of the militias, like this one on the streets of Fizi, in eastern Congo, are now part of the new national army forged under a peace deal signed in 2003.
FINBARR O'REILLY/REUTERS/CS Monitor
- - -
PEACEKEEPERS:
Members of the UN mission in Congo, known as MONUC, patrol Bunia. There are more than 16,000 UN troops and police in the country.
JAMES PALMER/WPN/CS Monitor
- - -
A COLLECTOR'S ITEM:
Photo: An AK-47 rifle is given to a United Nations peacekeeper as part of the disarmament process in Bunia, Congo.
GUY CALAF/WORLD PICTURE NEWS/CS Monitor
Tags: Africa Congo
Tail twitching, the beast stares at her, ready to pounce.
But she knows better than to flinch. Moving slowly, she bends her knees and places her iron hoe gently in the dirt.
Staring straight back, she begins talking to the lion. "I'm not your enemy," she says. "I'm only going to the field, and I won't hurt you."
The lion watches. The woman stands silently. Moments pass. With a swish of his tail, the lion leaps away.
Petronille Vaweka, a top official ineastern Congo, grew up hearing this story about her grandmother's courage. She tells it today as a defining tale in her own life - a life devoted to using the power of words to disarm the gun-toting militias that stalk the villages in this lawless corner of Africa.
"If you are facing someone who is violent, you must never use force," Ms. Vaweka recalls her grandmother saying. "The first thing is to put down all your instruments. Then look at them, right into the eye."
- - -
The militia leader's conditions were clear: No large contingent of bodyguards could come with her; no United Nations peacekeepers. Vaweka, on a mission to free two kidnapped government workers, would be allowed to negotiate for their freedom accompanied only by her husband and a few aides.
She agreed, despite the militia's menacing reputation. The Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri (FRPI in French, the main language) is one of the groups implicated in the brutal killing of nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in a Feb. 25 ambush. FRPI leader Germain Katanga is now in prison awaiting trial.
Vaweka knew this was her task, and hers alone. She's the top official in the fledgling government of Ituri, a province the size of West Virginia in a country as big as Alaska and Texas combined. Ituri is one of Congo's richest regions - and one of its most violent. It's chockablock with gold, diamonds, oil, and coltan (a rare ore used in cellphones and laptops). But the UN estimates that 60,000 people have died here since 1999. Greedy outsiders - including leaders in neighboring Uganda and Rwanda - have stoked ethnic tensions and supplied the region's many militias with weapons to fight for control of the riches.
Read full story by Abraham McLaughlin, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, September 14, 2005.
- - -
BRINGING ORDER:
Photo: Petronille Vaweka (center) talks with an Army chief. (Jiro OSE/Special to the CS Monitor)
- - -
TIMELINE:
Click here to see at a glance the march to peace in Congo, Africa's heartland.
- - -
A SHADOW OF THEIR PAST PRESENCE:
Photo: Many of the militias, like this one on the streets of Fizi, in eastern Congo, are now part of the new national army forged under a peace deal signed in 2003.
FINBARR O'REILLY/REUTERS/CS Monitor
- - -
PEACEKEEPERS:
Members of the UN mission in Congo, known as MONUC, patrol Bunia. There are more than 16,000 UN troops and police in the country.
JAMES PALMER/WPN/CS Monitor
- - -
A COLLECTOR'S ITEM:
Photo: An AK-47 rifle is given to a United Nations peacekeeper as part of the disarmament process in Bunia, Congo.
GUY CALAF/WORLD PICTURE NEWS/CS Monitor
Tags: Africa Congo
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Sudan: Spotlight on Darfur 1 and The Darfur Collection
Huge thanks to Catez Stevens in New Zealand for initiating and hosting Spotlight on Darfur 1, a great round up of posts authored by 14 different bloggers from around the world.
Catez also produced The Darfur Collection last May.
Please email Catez at Allthings2all if you have a post for the next Spotlight on Darfur 2 or 3.
Picture courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.
Thanks to Global Voices for their third post and links to Congo Watch featuring this initiative.
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers blogburst
Catez also produced The Darfur Collection last May.
Please email Catez at Allthings2all if you have a post for the next Spotlight on Darfur 2 or 3.
Picture courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.
Thanks to Global Voices for their third post and links to Congo Watch featuring this initiative.
Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers blogburst
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