ICC: Trial of two DR Congo militia leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolom, to open Sept 24

Note that the FPRI was a militia formed towards the end of 2002, with backing from Uganda, according to the ICC charge sheet.  Ituri is a mineral-rich district of DR Congo that borders Uganda and Sudan.

Trial of two DR Congo militia leaders to open Sept 24: ICC
Friday, 28 March 2009 report by AFP:

THE HAGUE — The trial of Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo, two former militia leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, will begin on September 24, the International Criminal Court announced Friday.

Both men are charged with having committed war crimes, including using child soldiers and attacking civilians, and crimes against humanity, including murder rape and sexual slavery.

Katanga, 30, also known as "Simba," or lion, is accused of having led the Patriotic Resistance Front in Ituri (FRPI), which operated in the east of the country.

The FPRI was a militia formed towards the end of 2002, with backing from Uganda, according to the ICC charge sheet.

Its members, who belonged to the Lendu and Ngiti ethnic groups, are suspected of having carried out massacres against the Hema ethnic group.

Ngudjolo, 37, is accused of having been the leader of the Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI), which operated in the same district. The FNI was made up of Lendu fighters.

The charges against both men arise out of a joint attack on the village of Bororo, in Ituri on February 24, 2003, by the two groups they are alleged to have led.

A pre-trial chamber of the court decided earlier this month to join the two cases.

Ituri is a mineral-rich district of DR Congo that borders Uganda and Sudan with a population of between 3.5 and 5.5 million people made up of 18 different ethnic groups.

FDLR and PARECO have surrounded the village of Pinga, some 80 km north-east of Walikale in North Kivu

The various rebel attacks in North Kivu have since last year displaced over 250,000 people, while in Orientale region, nearly 190,000 have been displaced in the last six months, and some 16,000 refugees have fled to South Sudan.

Friday, 27 March 2009, report by UNHCR:
Displacement in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

UNHCR is seriously concerned about the plight of thousands of civilians who have fled their homes to escape daily attacks by the many armed groups operating in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Heavily armed militia from the so called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and an allied militia group, PARECO, have surrounded the village of Pinga, some 80 km north-east of Walikale in North Kivu. A joint UN assessment team, including UNHCR, which visited the area this week, has reported that FDLR and PARECO forces were sighted some 2 km on the south, west and north-west edges of Pinga, causing panic among its 8,500 population, including some 2,000 previously internally displaced persons.

According to local residents the armed groups have repeatedly raided villages in and around Pinga, robbing villagers of their meagre resources – basically food and money.

Meanwhile, further to the east, more than 20,000 people have been driven out Kirumba, Kayna and Kanyabonga villages in the Rutshuru district of North Kivu, by various armed groups over the past several weeks. The displaced fled into the forest after their homes were plundered and torched.

In the far north-eastern area of Haut Uele in Orientale province, a UNHCR convoy with 22 tonnes of much needed assistance destined for displaced people in Faradje was forced to turn back following reports of fresh Lords Resistance Army (LRA) attacks. The convoy, which had reached Kitambala, was forced to turn back to Aru on the DRC-Uganda border yesterday because of reported LRA attacks this week in Tadu, Munia and Sururu, some 80 km south of Faradje. The situation in Faradje is said to be tense and residents have begun to flee the town.

Further LRA attacks have also been reported in Amadi and Banda in the neighbouring district of Bas Uele. Local authorities say there is a heavy concentration of internally displaced people in the town of Dingila, where they have already registered some 2,800 displaced persons. The majority of the displaced are staying with host families, but others have sought refuge in the town's churches. Another 11,000 who left Banda have fled to Dakwa, 85 km from Banda, and some 6,000 to Amadi.

The various rebel attacks in North Kivu have since last year displaced over 250,000 people, while in Orientale region, nearly 190,000 have been displaced in the last six months, and some 16,000 refugees have fled to South Sudan.

France seeks to exploit Africa - DR Congo has major uranium reserves

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony. He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

March 27, 2009 report from BBC News:
Sarkozy outlines Congo peace plan

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested using the mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo to help bring peace to central Africa.

Addressing parliament in Kinshasa, he also praised Congolese President Joseph Kabila's joint operation with Rwanda against rebels earlier this year.

The region has been plagued by rival militias for more than a decade.

He said the region's people could become rich by working together or continue to fight and remain poor.

French nuclear giant Areva's chief executive has taken advantage of the visit to sign a deal to exploit uranium in DR Congo.

Sarkozy is forgetting that Congo has been sharing its wealth with the world for such a long time - what has it got in return?

Congo responds to Sarkozy

No further details were released but DR Congo has major uranium reserves and was the source of some of the raw material for the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in World War II.

Mr Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony.
He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

Sarkozy's Africa policy shift

Addressing Kinshasa's national assembly in the first visit by a French president to the former Belgian colony in a quarter of a century, Mr Sarkozy suggested Kinshasa and its Great Lakes neighbours work together for their mutual benefit.

"The peoples of central Africa will not be changing their address.

"If they can develop good neighbourly relations, the peoples of central Africa will have a rich and peaceful life. If it's a case of might is right, the peoples of central Africa will stay poor and unhappy," he said.

He gained a round of applause from MPs for saying that Congolese sovereignty would not be violated.

Uproar

Preparations for the visit were overshadowed by comments Mr Sarkozy made in January when he suggested DR Congo share its mineral wealth with Rwanda as a way to end violence around the main eastern city of Goma.

The idea triggered uproar with the Congolese media accusing Paris of seeking a "Balkanisation" of the country and trying to use DR Congo's mineral wealth to help mend its ties with Rwanda.

Paris and Kigali have been at loggerheads for years over who is to blame for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 people were slaughtered.

Kinshasa resident Jean Pierre Mafuta told the BBC News website:

"What Mr Sarkozy is forgetting, is that DR Congo had been sharing its wealth, its people and its land with the world for such a long time - what has the Congo got in return?"

Ahead of the visit, aides in Mr Sarkozy's office said: "There is no French peace plan, no plan to share riches, it is not the right moment," reported AFP.

On Thursday Mr Sarkozy also praised as "brave" the Congolese leader's decision to invite Rwandan troops into his country in January for a five-week joint operation against rebel militias plaguing the neighbours' border.

The move was politically sensitive as Rwanda has twice invaded the country in recent years and many Congolese distrusted the Kigali forces' presence.

The aim of the military campaign was to flush out rebel forces each government has accused the other of backing and which have been at the heart of the region's conflicts since Rwanda's genocide.

The DR Congo parliament's speaker was forced to quit on Wednesday after criticising Mr Kabila's decision to let in the Rwandan troops.

Central African Republic catches 100 "fake" rebels

Central African Republic catches 100 "fake" rebels
From Reuters by Paul-Marin Ngoupana Wed Mar 11, 2009

DESSIKOU, Central African Republic, March 11 (Reuters) - Some 100 youths were caught posing as rebels in Central African Republic, hoping for cash and other benefits offered to fighters demobilising under a peace process, the government said.

The country, one of the poorest in the world despite its vast natural resources, is trying to implement a shaky peace process after years of civil conflicts and military coups.

"The group of 100 youths told us at the beginning of our discussions that some were from the APRD and some from the UFDR," Communications Minister Cyriaque Gonda told Reuters on Tuesday, referring to two of the country's rebel groups.

"At the end they admitted they had come from Bangui posing as ex-rebels to profit from the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process which will be starting soon," Gonda said at a disarmament camp in Dessikou where the men were caught, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui.

Nineteen-year-old Bonaventure Gomtoua, one of those exposed as a fraud, told Reuters: "We were pushed to do this because in Bangui we are faced with unemployment and poverty."

The peace process between the country's government and a number of rebel groups began last year, but progress has been slow.

One rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Central African People (FDPC) rejected the government's peace deal last month and announced a new rebel alliance, saying the government had broken a number of its promises to the group.

On Tuesday, 350 members of the FDPC protested at Camp Leclerc, a military camp being used for disarmament in Bouar, 375 km (235 miles) northwest of Bangui, over what they said was unfair treatment by the government.

A group of nearly 200 of them threatened to march on Bangui, but agreed to return to Camp Leclerc after authorities agreed to give them 16,000 CFA each ($31) and 5 million CFA francs ($9,750) a month to feed the group, an FDPC official said.

A senior advisor to President Francois Bozize said the peace process was on track.

"For now, the essentials are done. We can be sure that the demobilisation and reintegration campaign will start in two to three months," Dieudonne Stanislas Mbango told Reuters.

Regional instability and wars in neighbouring Chad, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo have worsened internal conflicts in the landlocked former French colony, which has attracted some foreign investment in its rich mineral reserves.

French state-controlled nuclear energy group Areva (CEPFi.PA) is due to start mining uranium in Central African Republic in 2010.

London-listed Gem Diamonds (GEMD.L) has been prospecting for alluvial diamonds in some of the country's rivers, but scaled back its presence this year after disappointing early results. (Writing by Joseph Penney; editing by Alistair Thomson)

Ugandan LRA rebel commander "Lt. Col" Okello Yape killed in southwest of Ri-Kwangba, DR Congo

Uganda's top rebel commander killed in DR Congo
March 11, 2009 KAMPALA, March 10 (Xinhua) --

A senior commander of Uganda's notorious rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has been killed during the on-going joint military operation to wipe out the rebel group holed up in northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Lt. Col" Okello Yape, whose role in the LRA is not yet clear, was killed in southwest of Ri-Kwangba, a remote border area in southern Sudan, according to a statement of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) on Tuesday.

The UPDF has called Yape's death as "another blow to the LRA" following the recent capture of "Col." Thomas Kwoyello, a senior rebel commander alleged ranking 4th in the rebel group.

Kwoyello, who was shot in the stomach and captured last week during the operations in southeast of Ri-Kwangba, has been transferred here for treatment.

Six more LRA fighters were killed during the weekend skirmish while three abductees were freed, the statement said.

The joint military operation was launched mid-December last year by UPDF with forces from DRC and southern Sudan to flush out the LRA after its leader, Joseph Kony repeatedly refused to sign an already negotiated peace agreement.

The offensive has, however, attracted some criticism due to its failure to prevent retaliatory attacks on civilians by the rebel group. UN and humanitarian agencies estimate that the rebel group has killed some 900 civilians since late last year.

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, who is paying a working visit to the U.K. early this week, was quoted by a State House statement on Monday saying that the rebel leadership "has a chance to take advantage of amnesty if he stops fighting."

The rebel leadership, including Kony and two of his top commanders, are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The LRA's two decade long insurgency has left tens of thousands of people killed and some two million uprooted in northern Uganda before it spilt into neighboring southern Sudan and DRC.

Editor: Yan

ICC seeks new charges for Congo warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba

March 6, 2009 THE HAGUE (AFP) —
ICC seeks new charges for Congo warlord

International Criminal Court judges asked prosecutors Thursday to refile charges against ex-DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba so he can be tried for war crimes as a military, rather than political commander.

The court has "decided to adjourn (January's) confirmation of charges hearing... and to ask the prosecutor to consider submitting an amended document," a statement on the court's website said.

"In the decision of 4 March 2009, the Chamber indicates that the evidence submitted by the prosecutor appears to establish that a different crime, within the jurisdiction of the court, was committed."

The judges consider that the facts of the case "may amount to a different type of responsibility, namely the criminal liability as a commander or superior."

Lawyers for Bemba said in the January hearing that members of his militia group accused of atrocities in the Central African Republic (CAR) were not under his command.

They argued before the court in The Hague that the men, deployed in 2002 to help put down a coup, were under the command of then-CAR president Ange Felix Patasse.

The court has given the defence until 24 April 2009 to respond, with an opportunity for alleged victims to make submissions first.

Bemba -- a former DR Congo vice-president and presidential election loser in 2006 -- held a dual role as president and commander-in-chief of his Movement for the Liberation of Congo.

The former role may not allow the prosecution sufficient leeway to establish criminal responsibility.

The MLC entered the Central African Republic in an unsuccessful bid to stave off a coup against Patasse.

ICC prosecutors allege they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape, torture and murder while on Central African territory.

The 46-year-old Bemba, who fled DR Congo in April 2007, was arrested on 24 May 2008 by Belgian authorities and transferred to the ICC on 3 July.

The prosecution is seeking to hold Bemba criminally responsible for five counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity including rape, torture and murder, committed on the territory of Central African Republic from October 2002 to March 2003.

David Nyekorach Matsanga, LRA Chief Peace Negotiator, told VOA the news of Kwoyelo’s capture could be a hoax

Uganda's LRA Rebel Spokesman Skeptical of Top Rebel Commander's Capture - From Voice of America by James Butty Washington, DC 05 March 2009:

A spokesman for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels is denying Ugandan government announcement that it has captured a top LRA commander in a joint operations with the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

A Ugandan army spokesman says troops captured Thomas Kwoyelo, who is believed to be fourth-in-command of the rebel group Tuesday in the remote forests in northeastern Congo.

David Nyekorach Matsanga, LRA Chief Peace Negotiator, told VOA the news of Kwoyelo’s capture could be a hoax.

“Most of the time when the Ugandan government talks about capturing commanders or people surrendering it becomes a hoax. If they have said they have Kwoyelo with them, they should always bring Kwoyelo. We know who he is, we know what he looks like, and most people have doubted the picture they have put on TV is Kwoyelo’s picture,” he said.

The caption of a picture on a Ugandan government website shows a man the caption said was Kwoyelo being assisted by Ugandan army officers as he disembarks a plane on arrival at Entebbe military airbase.

Still Matsanga said the picture is part of Ugandan government propaganda to prove to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo that the joint military operation in eastern Congo is working.

“That is not the Thomas that everybody knows, and therefore we don’t think it is proper because this is a story that was brought they wanted to justify their stay in Congo by saying the operation is going on very well. Yet this operation is going on very badly,” Matsanga said.

He said military operations against the LRA will not bring peace to northern Uganda. In fact Matsanga said it would only worsen the situation.

“This is why I went to Tanzania to deliver a petition to the Secretary General of the United Nations and to all the people concerned in this conflict, Riek Machar of Sudan and Salva Kiir of Sudan that there is need for a ceasefire followed by a discussion on the ICC arrest warrant (against LRA leader Joseph Kony),” he said.

Matsanga said ICC arrest warrants against Kony and some of top commanders should be suspended to allow the LRA leader and his fighters to assembly in the Congolese border town of Rikwamba to sign the final peace agreement.

Uganda army captures LRA commander Thomas Kwoyelo in DR Congo's NE Garamba National Park

From AFP 4 March 2009 (KAMPALA)
Uganda army captures rebel commander:

Uganda's army announced Wednesday the capture of a commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, the first top insurgent to be arrested in a three-month-old regional military drive against the militia.

Thomas Kwoyelo, believed to be the LRA's fourth-in-command, was seized in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern Garamba National Park Tuesday, army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said.

"We had contact with the rebels yesterday. Thomas was injured and is now in our custody. We also have some of the fighters who were with him, while others ran away," Kulayigye told AFP.

Uganda, DR Congo and south Sudan armies launched a joint military operation against the rebels in December after elusive LRA chief Joseph Kony refused to sign a final peace deal with the Kampala government.

Kony is yet to be arrested and his fighters have killed hundreds of civilians while fleeing the onslaught.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila are to meet Wednesday to review the operation and decide whether Ugandan troops will remain in DR Congo.

Kabila had said Ugandan troops were to leave DR Congo by the end of February, but they have yet to withdraw.

Kony's rebels are accused of having raped and mutilated civilians, forcibly enlisting child soldiers and of massacring thousands during two decades of conflict.

DRC, Ugandan leaders to meet over joint operation against rebels

From African Press Agency 3 March 2009:
DRC, Ugandan leaders to meet over joint operation against rebels

APA Kampala (Uganda) Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni and his DR Congo counterpart Joseph Kabila are set to meet by the end of this week to discuss issues related to the ‘Operation Lightning Thunder’ which was aimed at flushing out the illusive rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) under the command of General Joseph Kony.

The two leaders will decide whether the Ugandan troops should continue pursuing the LRA within their hide out in the Garamba national park in Congolese territory or call off the operation.

The spokesman of the Ugandan military Major Felix Kulaigye confirmed on Tuesday that officers from the DRC and Uganda have been discussing the future of the joint armed operation they began three months ago against the rebels responsible for widespread atrocities inside Congo and Uganda.

The Congolese government is under pressure from nationalist politicians to end the joint operation. Kulaigye indicated that the two presidents are to meet this week to decide on the issue.

About 4,000 Ugandan troops are since last December involved in this operation codenamed ‘Lightning Thunder’ with a similar number of Congolese troops.

There are fears that the withdrawal of the Ugandan troops is likely to give room for the rebesl now in disarray to regroup, a challenge the two presidents are expected to discuss.

However, the exact date of the two leaders’ meeting has not yet been established.

US military provided 17 advisers, $1m in fuel, satellite phones and intelligence for raid on LRA in DR Congo

The US sent 17 advisers from AFRICOM to work with UPDF on Operation Lightning Thunder against LRA in DR Congo.

Source: Sunday Monitor report by Angelo Izama, Kampala 25 February 2009:
US, Uganda to discuss military cooperation

A US military official, Brig. Gen. D. Christopher Leins is in Uganda to discuss military cooperation.

This visit comes in the backdrop of a New York Times article which revealed details of US military assistance to the UPDF in operation “Lightning Thunder”.

The article said, at the request of Uganda, the US sent 17 advisers from its new Africa Command to which Gen. Leins belongs, to work with UPDF on the Garamba operation.

It also said the US military provided a million dollars in fuel as well as satellite phones and intelligence for the operation which it said was personally authorised by ex-US President George Bush.

Yesterday, Army Spokesman, Felix Kulayigye said the UPDF had made no further requests for assistance from the American military and that there was no “on-going” assistance currently to operation Lightning Thunder.

Earlier, the army in a press release said Gen. Leins and the Chief of Defence Forces Gen Aronda Nyakairima, met at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters in Mbuya and discussed mutual cooperation.

In a follow-up interview, Maj. Kulaigye said Lightning Thunder was only mentioned in brief and that the discussion was focused on training assistance for officers.

The US Embassy also said the hunt for Kony had not been discussed.

Rwanda priest Emmanuel Rukundo jailed for genocide

BBC report Friday, 27 February 2009
Rwanda priest jailed for genocide:

A former Rwandan priest has been given a 25-year jail sentence for committing genocide, sexual assault and kidnapping during the 1994 killings in Rwanda.

Emmanuel Rukundo, a former army chaplain, took part in the abduction of Tutsis who sought refuge at a seminary, many of whom were later killed.

A UN war crimes court also convicted him of the attempted rape of a young Tutsi woman.

Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 100 days.

Rukundo was arrested in Geneva in 2001 and will receive credit for the time already spent in detention.

The court said that Rukundo monitored local Tutsis and was often accompanied by soldiers and militiamen during the violence.

"The accused was found to have abused his moral authority and influence to promote the abduction and killing of Tutsi refugees," the UN court said.

"Rukundo's acts were clearly part of the genocide," said Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva after the judgement had been delivered.

"When he committed these crimes, he intended to completely or partially destroy the Tutsi ethnic group."

Prosecutors had demanded life in prison for Rukundo.

He is the second Roman Catholic priest to have been convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.

Rukundo has up to 30 days to appeal against his sentence.
- - -

RWANDA'S 1994 GENOCIDE

6 April: Rwandan Hutu President Habyarimana killed when plane shot down
April-July: An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus killed
July: Tutsi-led rebel movement RPF captures Rwanda's capital Kigali
July: Two million Hutus flee to Zaire, now DR Congo

Ugandan LRA rebels attack across CAR border-colonel

Ugandan LRA rebels attack across CAR border-colonel
Wed Feb 25, 2009
By Paul-Marin Ngoupana

BANGUI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Ugandan rebels crossed into Central African Republic and ambushed an army patrol triggering clashes that killed several fighters, a colonel in the republic's armed forces said on Wednesday.

The ambush raises fears of more attacks in Central African Republic by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters fleeing a Ugandan-led multinational offensive against their hideouts in northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Our men were on a routine patrol on Friday when they were ambushed by LRA fighters," said the army colonel, who declined to be identified. The attack happened in the remote southeast of the country, which is sandwiched between Congo and Sudan.

"They were routed by the heavy retaliation from our soldiers. One of our officers and a soldier were injured ... I cannot give the exact number we killed, but those who survived were chased to the other side of the Sudan border," he said.

LRA rebels have killed nearly 900 civilians in a string of reprisal attacks against villages across the border in northeastern Congo since the Ugandan army began an offensive against their positions there in mid-December.

The LRA and its reclusive leader Joseph Kony has waged a 22-year war against the Kampala government, devastating northern Uganda through years of killing, looting and kidnapping of children as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

Kony and many of his fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan in 2005 and established bases in northeast Congo's Garamba National Park, which Ugandan warplanes targeted in a bombing spree when it launched its latest campaign.

The LRA fighters have since spread out and split up into several different groups.

Fearing they would cross the border, Central African Republic sent extra soldiers last month to step up patrols in its remote southeastern region, where LRA fighters invaded and kidnapped around 150 people in a looting spree in early 2008.

"The chief of staff sent several military detachments to reinforce our soldiers and they are mounting daily patrols to defend against any eventuality and prevent the LRA who have been hunted and dispersed in small groups in the forest of Congo and southern Sudan ending up in our territory," he said.

Isolated and chronically poor despite gold, diamond and uranium deposits, CAR faces its own internal conflicts.

Bands of gunmen and several rebel groups are still active in the north despite talks late last year that was meant to end years of instability. (Writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by David Lewis and Katie Nguyen)

The Arrow Boys confront LRA in Sudan's Western Equatoria State

From Miraya FM (Sudan) Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Boys confront LRA in Western Equatoria:

A group of fighters known as arrow boys that are spread in various parts of Western Equatoria State expressed readiness to fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) that has engaged in attacks against civilians lately in the State.

The Arrow boys are group of boys who use traditional weapons such as bows, arrows, spears and clubs, treated with poisonous to fight the Lord Resistance Army LRA.

The arrow boys are all over the Western Equatoria State but particularly from Maridi, Mundri, Ezo and Ibba counties.

Raphael Monuku the head of the Arrow boys in Manikakara Payam in Ibba county, said that, "LRA movement appears to be a defeated movement, it has no access to ammunitions and any warfare machinery after joint military attacks launched by the Ugandan, and Congolese troops in mid December 2008.

Reports said that the LRA are using axes, knifes, and woods, to kill the innocent civilians.

The recent attacks on Manikakara in Western Equatoria State caused a lot of destructions and deaths both in Ibba and Maridi Counties.

As a result the citizens especially in the LRA spotted areas don't sleep anymore in their houses, in fear for a surprise attack by the rebels.

But the question remains, can the arrow boys with their manner of fighting be able to defeat the LRA after the Government of South Sudan refused to arm the citizens of Western Equatoria to defend themselves for security considerations.

- - -

Arrow Boys: A Ugandan Militia Fights Off the LRA

After terrorising Uganda for 20 years, the LRA has met its match.
By Peter Eichstaedt in Soroti, Uganda (No. 51, 19-Jan-2006)

At the Thursday market in Arapai, about ten kilometres outside of Soroti on Uganda’s dry eastern plains, you can get just about anything.

You can buy a cow, a goat, a bicycle, fat stalks of fresh sugar cane, dried peanuts, handmade rope, or even have your machete sharpened.

Fifty kilos of dried kasava root can be ground by hand on a flat stone into flour for bread that will feed you for a month.

The most popular item in the market is malwa, the locally made brew. It’s a lightly fermented grain served in clay pots with hot water and sipped through a long reed.

You can sit in the shade of the thatched roofs for several hours and drink all you want for about 25 US cents. It’s the way locals spend the day, meet friends and catch up on the latest news.

That locals safely walk miles to crowd this market is due to a feared homegrown militia called the Arrow Boys formed less than three years ago.

These local fighters have quickly become the only organised force to defeat the infamous Lords Resistance Army, which for the past 20 years has terrorised northern Uganda, southern Sudan and eastern Congo.

The LRA has kidnapped thousands of boys and girls, converting them into vicious child soldiers and sex slaves. Those who resist are brutally killed or maimed and left to die.

But the Arrow Boys are inflicting serious losses on the LRA.

When the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued indictments this past fall against LRA leader Joseph Kony and four of his top commanders, one was already dead.

“We put him out of action,” said Robert Adiama, one of the militia founders who served as its top intelligence officer. He is now the district’s top government official.

“The LRA faced their first blow in Teso,” he said of the region around Soroti, adding that the Arrow Boys killed or captured more than 40 LRA commanders in the past couple of years.

The key to the Arrow Boys’ success against the LRA has been strong community support and an efficient intelligence network.

“When the LRA is going to move south from Pader,” said Adiama, “we know about it three days ahead of time.” Pader is one of Uganda’s northern districts where the LRA continues to cause havoc despite the presence of the Uganda military.

“We help the people,” he said. “We prepare the community to respond and ask the government for help in doing it.”

The government support comes in weapons distributed throughout villages. And, when an LRA attack occurs, the militia is quickly formed and pursues the rebels.

“The only way to control the situation is rapid response,” explained Adiama.

Because the Arrow Boys have been so successful, they have been incorporated into the ranks of the Ugandan military and have received training, weapons and pay.

The Arrow Boys also protect the region against raids by the Karamajong, the notorious neighbouring ethnic group that has a reputation as cattle rustlers.

“They kill our people when they come,” said Adiama. “They steal our cattle.”

One Arrow Boys commander recently ordered Karamojong cattle rustlers to be shot on sight. The order has resulted in three deaths, one by hanging and decapitation.

“We are not an aggressive people,” insisted Adiama. “If they (Karamajong) want our cows, they can buy them. If they think we have their cows, take us to court.” Otherwise, he says, “armed men stealing cows should be shot”.

Because of years of attacks by the LRA and the Karamajong, thousands of Teso people live in the protected refugee camps serviced by the World Food Programme.

But this, he says, has created social problems, “The people of Teso are not used to camp life. It is like being in prison.”

Although some in the Arrow Boys recently have been accused of selling weapons for cash, skimming money from payrolls and random violence, it has not dampened local enthusiasm for them.

“They rescued me from the LRA,” said Daniel Emoru, a 40-year-old who rides a bicycle and sells pottery.

His father-in-law was killed by rebels and children from his village were taken. But with the Arrow Boys, he says, “We feel safe because the rebels no longer roam the area.”

In the village of the Arasai, where just two years ago the LRA killed 20 villagers and kidnapped four children, one of whom is still missing, the Arrow Boys are admired.

“If possible, they should increase their numbers,” said one villager as he and others played the traditional African game of komweso.

“They have worked hard,” said Jackie Okurut, 45, who weaves rope in the shade of his tiny stall at the Arapai market. “We are now in peace because they did good. Let them continue their work because the Karamajong are still bothering us.”

Under the shady pavilions where they serve malwa, the sentiment is the same. “We are now safe,” said Celestion Elibu, one of the patrons, “but we are still haunted by the memory of our dead relatives.”

Most still turn a wary eye to the north where the LRA remains active. Because of them and the Karamajong, the Arrow Boys remains a vital regional defense force.

“I have a lot of hope the security will improve as long as the government remains stable,” said Adiama, but quickly added, “while the LRA is active, the region is vulnerable.”



Villagers near the eastern Ugandan town of Soroti enjoy a game of omweso in a region cleared of LRA rebels the local militia called the Arrow Boys. Peter Eichstaedt photo.

Peter Eichstaedt is a senior editor with the Uganda Radio Network. URN correspondent Joseph Elunya contributed to this report.

Anglican Archbishop of Sudan has called on the UK and US to help catch Kony

BBC report 23 February 2009 by Martin Plaut, BBC Africa analyst - excerpt:

The Anglican Archbishop of Sudan has called on the UK and US to help catch Ugandan rebel, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader, Joseph Kony.

Daniel Deng said he believes he is hiding in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan.

LRA attacks have increased since forces from Uganda, South Sudan and DR Congo launched an assault on him in December.

The archbishop told the BBC Mr Kony's capture appeared beyond the abilities of the governments of the region.

Central Africa has already suffered 20 years of terror inflicted by the LRA.

On a visit to London, the archbishop said that international support was needed to locate him and "bring him to book".

See full report: West asked to catch Uganda rebel.

Amnesty International USA demands that UNMIS tells ICC & MONUC of whereabouts of Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen

From Amnesty International USA
PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2009

United Nations should not aid fugitives from international justice

Amnesty International is demanding that the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) co-operates with the International Criminal Court (ICC) by providing the whereabouts of Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen to facilitate their arrest and surrender.

In a letter to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, Amnesty International expressed its concern that UNMIS were preparing to help return the two men, who are leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), to their native Uganda. Ugandan officials have repeatedly and publicly stated that they will not arrest and surrender the LRA leaders to the ICC.

“UNMIS is bound by the Negotiated Relationship Agreement between the ICC and the UN, which requires that the two bodies cooperate closely with each other,” said Martin Macpherson, Amnesty International’s International Law and Organizations programme. “If UNMIS were to hand the two men over to the Ugandan authorities, the UN would effectively help prevent their arrest and surrender to the ICC and this would amount to an obstruction of justice.”

Amnesty International urges UNMIS immediately to provide the ICC, as well as the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), with all information about the whereabouts of Odhiambo and Ongwen to facilitate their arrest and surrender to the ICC. The same information should be provided to any state that is able and willing to arrest and surrender the suspects to the ICC.

The organization also calls on UNMIS not to facilitate the return of the two men to Uganda unless Uganda pledges to arrest them immediately and surrender them to the ICC.

Background

The arrest warrant for Okot Odhiambo lists 10 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enslavement and forced enlisting of children. The arrest warrant against Dominic Ongwen lists seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enslavement and inhumane acts.

During 2008 and in the past months of 2009, LRA forces are believed to have abducted hundreds of people including women and children, and committed a number of other human rights violations, including unlawful killings, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan and the Central Africa Republic.

LRA fighters trapped: Congo spokesman

LRA fighters trapped: Congo spokesman
February 14, 2009 KINSHASA (AFP) —

The remnants of the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army are trapped by opposing forces in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and will have to surrender, a Congolese government spokesman said Saturday.

"We think that Joseph Kony is with them," he said, referring to the head of the LRA, the target of a joint operation by Congolese, Ugandan and south Sudanese forces launched in December.

"The hard core of the Lord's Resistance Army is in a swampy forest in the Garamba national park," spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP, putting their numbers at about 250.

"They have no way out of these swamps except to surrender," he said.

Mende said the rest of the LRA had surrendered or disbanded, adding that the aim of the joint operation against the rebels had almost been achieved.

He said that Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni would meet on the border between their two countries before the end of February to assess the situation.

The Ugandan spokesman for the joint operation said it was "just a matter of time" before the LRA was finally defeated, but refused to say how long it might take.

"Operations will... go on until Kony terrorists are routed out of DRC," Deo Akiiki said, adding that "reviewing will only occur where necessary."

Contacted by telephone from Kampala, Akiiki said the "LRA's capacity to abduct and kill has been gravely reduced since the ground forces took control of the situation."

"They are being starved and no longer have time to sit or plan as our forces reduce their numbers daily," he said. "We are sure we now have got all and it is a matter of time till we stop LRA madness once and for all."

Operation Lighting Thunder was launched on December 14 after Kony repeatedly balked at signing a peace agreement already inked by Kampala in April 2008.

The LRA began its rebellion against Kampala more than two decades ago and is accused of committing atrocities against civilians in northern Uganda, south Sudan, northeastern DR Congo and the Central African Republic.

The operation has been criticised for sparking revenge attacks by the rebels against unprotected civilians in the remote border region.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said Tuesday that the LRA had carried out attacks of "appalling brutality," calling the situation "very worrying."

The United Nations said late last month that 130,000 people had been displaced in northern DR Congo after fresh LRA attacks.

Congo, Rwanda forces kill 40 Hutu rebels in air raids

From Bloomberg
Congo, Rwanda Forces Kill 40 Hutu Rebels in Air Raids (Update2)
By Franz Wild, February 13, 2009:

Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan military forces said they killed more than 40 Hutu rebels during air attacks.

The joint force yesterday staged an air raid on a group of commanders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, who were meeting in Kashebere, in the Masisi area of Congo’s eastern North Kivu province, according to a statement signed by operations chief Lieutenant-General John Numbi.

Congolese and Rwandan forces are fighting together to oust the rebels from eastern Congo, a region from which they have staged attacks against Rwanda. The coalition “just moved into higher speed by using air support to increase pressure on” the FDLR, according to the statement.

About 4,000 Rwandan soldiers on Jan. 20 crossed into Congo’s North Kivu province to launch the joint mission to forcibly disarm the FDLR. The group’s leaders sought refuge in Congo’s forests after taking part in the killing of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

Several attempts to eradicate the Hutu rebels have triggered wars in the region in which more than 5 million people have died since 1998, mostly due to war-related hunger and disease.

FDLR Killings

In response to the offensive, the FDLR has “brutally slaughtered” about 100 civilians and raped more than a dozen women, including a nine-year-old girl, New York-based Human Rights Watch said today in an e-mailed statement. Others were stopped from leaving their villages, it said.

“The FDLR have a very ugly past, but we haven’t seen this level of violence in years,” Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “We’ve documented many abuses by FDLR forces, but these are killings of ghastly proportions.”

Ground forces destroyed a “heavily defended” FDLR division headquarters near Nyabiondo, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) northwest of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, according to the statement by the joint operations force.

“Here too the death toll is very heavy,” it said. “The survivors threw the bodies of their companions in the river.”

The FDLR accuses civilians who live near them of betraying its fighters, said Jerome Monobo, a civil society leader in Nyabiondo.

“The people are totally traumatized, they don’t know what to do,” Monobo said today on the phone from Nyabiondo. “They’re too scared to get food in the fields.”

FDLR spokesman Laforge Fis had two mobile phones switched off or out of network coverage when Bloomberg News called seeking comment.

Air Strikes

The air strikes came in response to FDLR fighters firing on a helicopter from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, Monuc, which was in the area to encourage rebels to disarm and return to Rwanda, according to the statement.

Monuc confirmed its helicopter had been fired on. It couldn’t yet confirm the air strikes, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich said today on the phone from Kinshasa, the capital.

Congo turned on the FDLR, with which it collaborated last year, UN investigators said in a December report, in exchange for Rwanda’s arrest of rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda. Rwanda on Jan. 22 detained Nkunda, whose fighters last year defeated Congo’s army in several battles, displacing 250,000 civilians in North Kivu.

Nkunda’s military chief General Jean Bosco Ntaganda, who last month deposed Nkunda, has since agreed to integrate his forces into Congo’s army and join the FDLR hunt.

Peacekeepers

Monuc, which has 6,300 peacekeepers in North Kivu, has been unable to protect civilians because they haven’t been informed about the strikes, Human Rights Watch said.

Another rebel group in Congo, Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, responded to attacks by Congolese and Ugandan forces on its jungle headquarters by killing more than 900 civilians in the Haut-Uele region in December and January, according to the UN.

Congo’s President Joseph Kabila on Jan. 31 said Rwanda’s troops would leave before the end of this month. Ugandan troops, who are still pursuing the LRA near the border with Sudan, are scheduled to leave tomorrow, he said.

Congo’s 85th army brigade, which is made up of former militia fighters, has left a mining zone it controlled in the western Walikale region of North Kivu to be integrated with other forces, army spokesman Captain Olivier Hamuli said today by phone from Goma.

The news was welcomed by tin miner Kivu Resources Ltd., which in October suspended plans to develop its Mpama Bisie concession, the country’s biggest, because of the insecurity the soldiers caused.

Congo, Africa’s top tin producer, ships three-quarters of its tin exports out of Goma.

“We’re hoping they will keep the military off the mine now,” Kivu Resources Managing Director in Congo Brian Christophers said by phone from Johannesburg. “If the security is correct, we’ll return, but we still have to wait and see.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Johannesburg at fwild@bloomberg.net.

Lubanga–incarcerated in The Hague, thousands of miles away from his stronghold–still wields great influence in Ituri

From Coalition for the ICC's blog In Situ 6 February 200 by Freddy Kitoko
The future of the ICC rests on the success of its first trial

Since the Lubanga trial opened on 26 January, we in the Congo have been closely watching proceedings unfold at the International Criminal Court. The trial’s opening sparked keen interest among victims affected both directly and indirectly by the successive abuses of power that the DRC has come to know. But the retraction of the statement made by an ex-child soldier witness who fought in Thomas Lubanga’s army, the U.P.C., has resulted in diminished interest among Congolese observers.

To us it is clear that Mr. Lubanga–incarcerated in The Hague, thousands of miles away from his stronghold–still wields great influence in Ituri where his supporters continue to almost blindly obey him. This was perhaps never more the case than when the Court announced it would suspend his trial. Large numbers of people in Ituri prepared for the return of “the liberator” as some referred to him.

Last week’s incident also highlights the fact that the Prosecutor’s office did not give sufficient guarantees to the witness, in terms of his own security and the security of his loved-ones who live in Ituri. His loved-ones could have easily been targets of retaliation by Lubanga’s followers who stand ready to receive their leader should he ever be released.

We have always expressed our concerns about the quality as well as the quantity of evidence that the prosecution holds and the way the victims and witnesses were selected. We hope that this episode is only a minor incident and that the rest of the trial will continue normally because in the end, the court is gambling with its credibility during this first, most historic of trials.

Freddy Kitoko is a Congolese lawyer with the Lubumbashi Bar and member of the human rights organization, African Association of Human Rights (ASADHO).

British, Ugandan army chiefs discuss volatile DR Congo, Somalia

British, Ugandan army chiefs discuss volatile DR Congo, Somalia
February 11 2009 report by Xinhua from waltainfo.com:

British and Ugandan army chiefs met here on Monday and discussed the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Somalia, a statement from the Ugandan army said.

According to the statement from the army's spokesman's office, Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of General Staff of the British Army and Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Chief of Defense Force of Uganda People's Defense Force, discussed Uganda's hunt for rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army in eastern DR Congo and its peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

The statement did not give details of the discussions but said Gen. Dannatt had come to follow up on issues of mutual concern and military cooperation.

This was the first time since Uganda, a former British colony, gained independence in 1962 that a British general of that level visited the country.

Gen. Nyakairima said the Ugandan military has now built up capacity which has enabled it to defend the country and execute pan-African missions.

He told his guest that local problems need local solutions and therefore the need to build the capacity of the Ugandan army, since it plays a significant role in regional stability.

Gen. Dannatt pledged continued cooperation in training and capacity building of the Ugandan army, noting that Britain has historical ties with Africa and has a responsibility to maintain it.

DR Congo: New LRA attacks force Congolese to flee to Southern Sudan

Report from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date: 10 Feb 2009:

DR Congo: New LRA attacks force Congolese to flee to Southern Sudan

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 10 February 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

At least six people were killed and another 21 kidnapped Saturday night in an attack by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's resistance Army (LRA), on the town of Aba in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The LRA rebels also plundered the local Protestant parish and hospital.

This latest attack sent thousands of Congolese fleeing to Southern Sudan. According to our team in Southern Sudan, some 5,000 Congolese refugees from Alba arrived over the weekend in the town of Lasu, some 50 kms from the DRC border. They said thousands more are on the way. The refugees told UNHCR staff in Lasu on Sunday that 90 per cent of Aba's 100,000 population had fled the town and many more could be expected to arrive in Southern Sudan in the next few days. Our team witnessed large concentrations of refugees in three locations along the Lasu-Yei road. The new arrivals are occupying schools and church buildings along the road.

People in DRC's north-eastern Oriental province have been exposed to brutal and deadly attacks by the LRA since last September. A rough estimate of the total number of people forcefully displaced since then now stands at almost 150,000. Some 900 Congolese have been killed by the Ugandan rebel group over the past five months in the north-east.

Meanwhile, our team in Dungu, a regional centre in the Haut Uele territory of the north-east DRC, trained 60 local Red Cross officials and others on conducting a re-registration exercise in the neighbouring villages around Dungu. The aim of the exercise is to obtain more accurate information about the displaced population and their intentions.

Relative calm is returning to areas around Dungu and our partners report the first signs of return to a number of villages north of the town. We continue to rush aid to the area. Over the weekend a second convoy of 14 trucks brought another shipment of plastic sheeting, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets and soaps. These aid items will be distributed to the displaced population sheltering in the villages south of Dungu.