A South African court found four men guilty on Friday of an attempt to murder an exiled former Rwandan general in front of his home in Johannesburg.
The general said the attack was ordered by Rwandan president Paul Kagame.
Two other suspects were acquitted for the shooting, which took place in 2010 and that injured Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the court said.
Nyamwasa, a former top aide to Rwanda's president, fell out with him in 2010 and fled to South Africa where he was granted political asylum. Nyamwasa and others accuse Kagame of ordering two attempts on his life. They also accuse him of ordering the murder of another critic of the Rwandan government, colonel Patrick Karegeya, who was a former Rwandan spymaster. Karegeya was found strangled in a Johannesburg hotel in December last year. Karegeya, who was also exiled in South Africa, was Nyamwasa's friend and former colleague.
Rwanda's government has denied any involvement in the attacks.
Karegeya's nephew, David Batenga, said he was pleased the four men were found guilty but discouraged that the other two were not. Sentencing is set for 10 September.
Rwanda's government has been praised for making impressive progress in the delivery of public services since the 1994 genocide. However, Human Rights Watch says freedom of expression is tightly controlled and that the government has threatened critics, and obstructed opposition parties and independent civil society.
In Rwanda on Friday, two senior army officers were charged with inciting the public against the government. Brigadier general Frank Rusagara and colonel Tom Byabagamba were also charged in a military court with illegal possession of firearms and spreading falsehoods. The two were arrested last week.
Byabagamba once was the commander of the elite force in charge of Kagame's security. Rusagara, who retired from the army last year, had recently served as the defence attache at Rwanda's diplomatic mission in Britain. His driver, retired sergeant Francois Kabayiza, was also charged.
Source: The Guardian
Showing posts with label Rwanda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rwanda. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2014
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
DR Congo: US Should Urge Rwanda to End M23 Support
The United States government should publicly support sanctions against Rwandan officials backing the armed group M23, which has been responsible for widespread war crimes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. M23 rebels, whose commanders have been implicated in serious abuses, captured the city of Goma on November 20, 2012.
“The US government’s silence on Rwandan military support to the M23 rebels can no longer be justified given the overwhelming evidence of Rwanda’s role and the imminent threat to civilians around Goma,” said Tom Malinowski, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “The US government should support urgent sanctions against Rwandan officials who are backing M23 fighters responsible for serious abuses.”
Rwandan military support for the M23 rebels has been evident in their offensive that began on November 15, Human Rights Watch said. Several civilians living near the Rwandan border told Human Rights Watch that they saw hundreds of Rwandan army soldiers crossing the border from Rwanda into Congo at Njerima hill, Kasizi, and Kabuhanga in apparent support of M23 fighters. Human Rights Watch has also documented several incidents in which Rwandan and Congolese soldiers fired across the border from either side between November 16 and 20.
A draft of the final report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, soon to be published, alleges that the Rwandan government has provided “direct military support to M23 rebels” and that the “M23’s de facto chain of command includes General Bosco Ntaganda and culminates with the Rwandan Minister of Defense General James Kabarebe.” Ntaganda is on the UN sanctions list and is sought on arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Human Rights Watch has independently established that the Rwandan army has regularly provided significant military support to the M23, including overseeing operational planning, providing weapons and ammunition, recruiting at least 600 people in Rwanda to fight for the M23, training new recruits, and deploying Rwandan army troops to eastern Congo in direct support of M23 rebels.
Over the past seven months, Human Rights Watch has documented widespread war crimes by M23 rebels in eastern Congo, including summary executions, rapes, and forced recruitment, including of children. Rwandan officials may be complicit in war crimes through their military assistance to M23 forces throughout this period, Human Rights Watch said.
The draft UN Group of Experts’ report says that, “Rwandan officials coordinated the creation of the rebel movement as well as its major military operations” and “provided military support to M23 through permanent troop reinforcement and clandestine support by RDF [Rwandan Defence Forces] special units.” The Group of Experts found that “RDF commanders operated alongside M23 and provided logistical support during the July 2012 operations which enabled the capture of Bunagana, Rutshuru, Kiwanja and Rumangabo.” During these operations, “the rebels killed one [UN] peacekeeper at Bunagana and fired on the [UN peacekeeping] base at Kiwanja,” the report states.
The Group of Experts also documented support to the M23 by commanders of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force. While stating that “Rwandan officials exercise overall command and strategic planning for M23,” they note that “senior Government of Uganda officials have also provided support to M23 in the form of direct troop reinforcement in DRC territory, weapons deliveries, [and] technical assistance.”
“The fall of Goma to the M23 magnifies the security risks to civilians in eastern Congo,” Malinowski said. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the US should press for sanctions that target not only the M23 but the foreign officials backing their atrocities.”
The Group of Experts has recommended individual sanctions against several Rwandan and Ugandan officials named in its report.
The M23’s latest offensive began on November 15 with M23 rebels fighting UN peacekeepers and Congolese army forces as the rebels progressed toward Goma. By the early afternoon of November 20, after heavy fighting in and around Goma, the M23 had taken control of key areas of Goma. Congolese army soldiers had fled the town, while UN peacekeepers were still present.
Human Rights Watch has received reports of at least 11 civilians killed and dozens of others wounded during the fighting in and around Goma since November 15. An estimated 80,000 people are newly displaced in the area around Goma, including an estimated 60,000 who were in a displacement camp about 10 kilometers outside Goma, according to the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
“The US should endorse all measures that would enable UN sanctions against Rwandan officials who are assisting the M23,” Malinowski said. “All parties to the conflict should take urgent measures to protect civilians and stop abuses.”
Background on the M23
The M23 is largely made up of soldiers who took part in a mutiny from the Congolese army between late March and May 2012. Many were previously members of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a former Rwanda-backed rebel group that integrated into the Congolese army in January 2009. Bosco Ntaganda, who was then a general in the Congolese army, initially led the mutiny. In May, Col. Sultani Makenga, a former colleague of Ntaganda in the CNDP, announced he was beginning a separate mutiny. In the days that followed, Ntaganda and his forces joined Makenga. The new armed group called itself the M23. The M23 claimed the mutiny was to protest the Congolese government’s failure to fully implement the March 23, 2009 peace agreement (hence the name M23), which had integrated them into the Congolese army.
Some of the M23’s senior commanders have well-known histories of serious abuses, committed over the past decade in eastern Congo as they moved from one armed group to another. They have been responsible for ethnic massacres, recruitment of children, mass rape, killings, abductions, and torture. Before the mutinies, at least five of the M23 leaders were on a UN black list of people with whom the UN would not collaborate due to their human rights records.
Ntaganda has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2006 for recruiting and using child soldiers in Ituri district in northeastern Congo in 2002 and 2003. In July, the court issued a second warrant against him for war crimes and crimes against humanity, namely murder, persecution based on ethnic grounds, rape, sexual slavery, and pillaging, also in connection with his activities in Ituri.
Human Rights Watch has documented numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity by troops under Ntaganda’s command, as well as by other M23 commanders, including Col. Makenga, Col. Innocent Zimurinda, Col. Baudouin Ngaruye, and Col. Innocent Kayna.
On November 12, 2012, the UN Security Council added Makenga to its list of individuals under sanctions, including an asset freeze and a travel ban. On November 13, the US imposed sanctions on Makenga, which includes an asset freeze and forbids American citizens from undertaking any transactions with him.
Source: Human Rights Watch
“The US government’s silence on Rwandan military support to the M23 rebels can no longer be justified given the overwhelming evidence of Rwanda’s role and the imminent threat to civilians around Goma,” said Tom Malinowski, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “The US government should support urgent sanctions against Rwandan officials who are backing M23 fighters responsible for serious abuses.”
Rwandan military support for the M23 rebels has been evident in their offensive that began on November 15, Human Rights Watch said. Several civilians living near the Rwandan border told Human Rights Watch that they saw hundreds of Rwandan army soldiers crossing the border from Rwanda into Congo at Njerima hill, Kasizi, and Kabuhanga in apparent support of M23 fighters. Human Rights Watch has also documented several incidents in which Rwandan and Congolese soldiers fired across the border from either side between November 16 and 20.
A draft of the final report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, soon to be published, alleges that the Rwandan government has provided “direct military support to M23 rebels” and that the “M23’s de facto chain of command includes General Bosco Ntaganda and culminates with the Rwandan Minister of Defense General James Kabarebe.” Ntaganda is on the UN sanctions list and is sought on arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Human Rights Watch has independently established that the Rwandan army has regularly provided significant military support to the M23, including overseeing operational planning, providing weapons and ammunition, recruiting at least 600 people in Rwanda to fight for the M23, training new recruits, and deploying Rwandan army troops to eastern Congo in direct support of M23 rebels.
Over the past seven months, Human Rights Watch has documented widespread war crimes by M23 rebels in eastern Congo, including summary executions, rapes, and forced recruitment, including of children. Rwandan officials may be complicit in war crimes through their military assistance to M23 forces throughout this period, Human Rights Watch said.
The draft UN Group of Experts’ report says that, “Rwandan officials coordinated the creation of the rebel movement as well as its major military operations” and “provided military support to M23 through permanent troop reinforcement and clandestine support by RDF [Rwandan Defence Forces] special units.” The Group of Experts found that “RDF commanders operated alongside M23 and provided logistical support during the July 2012 operations which enabled the capture of Bunagana, Rutshuru, Kiwanja and Rumangabo.” During these operations, “the rebels killed one [UN] peacekeeper at Bunagana and fired on the [UN peacekeeping] base at Kiwanja,” the report states.
The Group of Experts also documented support to the M23 by commanders of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force. While stating that “Rwandan officials exercise overall command and strategic planning for M23,” they note that “senior Government of Uganda officials have also provided support to M23 in the form of direct troop reinforcement in DRC territory, weapons deliveries, [and] technical assistance.”
“The fall of Goma to the M23 magnifies the security risks to civilians in eastern Congo,” Malinowski said. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the US should press for sanctions that target not only the M23 but the foreign officials backing their atrocities.”
The Group of Experts has recommended individual sanctions against several Rwandan and Ugandan officials named in its report.
The M23’s latest offensive began on November 15 with M23 rebels fighting UN peacekeepers and Congolese army forces as the rebels progressed toward Goma. By the early afternoon of November 20, after heavy fighting in and around Goma, the M23 had taken control of key areas of Goma. Congolese army soldiers had fled the town, while UN peacekeepers were still present.
Human Rights Watch has received reports of at least 11 civilians killed and dozens of others wounded during the fighting in and around Goma since November 15. An estimated 80,000 people are newly displaced in the area around Goma, including an estimated 60,000 who were in a displacement camp about 10 kilometers outside Goma, according to the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
“The US should endorse all measures that would enable UN sanctions against Rwandan officials who are assisting the M23,” Malinowski said. “All parties to the conflict should take urgent measures to protect civilians and stop abuses.”
Background on the M23
The M23 is largely made up of soldiers who took part in a mutiny from the Congolese army between late March and May 2012. Many were previously members of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a former Rwanda-backed rebel group that integrated into the Congolese army in January 2009. Bosco Ntaganda, who was then a general in the Congolese army, initially led the mutiny. In May, Col. Sultani Makenga, a former colleague of Ntaganda in the CNDP, announced he was beginning a separate mutiny. In the days that followed, Ntaganda and his forces joined Makenga. The new armed group called itself the M23. The M23 claimed the mutiny was to protest the Congolese government’s failure to fully implement the March 23, 2009 peace agreement (hence the name M23), which had integrated them into the Congolese army.
Some of the M23’s senior commanders have well-known histories of serious abuses, committed over the past decade in eastern Congo as they moved from one armed group to another. They have been responsible for ethnic massacres, recruitment of children, mass rape, killings, abductions, and torture. Before the mutinies, at least five of the M23 leaders were on a UN black list of people with whom the UN would not collaborate due to their human rights records.
Ntaganda has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2006 for recruiting and using child soldiers in Ituri district in northeastern Congo in 2002 and 2003. In July, the court issued a second warrant against him for war crimes and crimes against humanity, namely murder, persecution based on ethnic grounds, rape, sexual slavery, and pillaging, also in connection with his activities in Ituri.
Human Rights Watch has documented numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity by troops under Ntaganda’s command, as well as by other M23 commanders, including Col. Makenga, Col. Innocent Zimurinda, Col. Baudouin Ngaruye, and Col. Innocent Kayna.
On November 12, 2012, the UN Security Council added Makenga to its list of individuals under sanctions, including an asset freeze and a travel ban. On November 13, the US imposed sanctions on Makenga, which includes an asset freeze and forbids American citizens from undertaking any transactions with him.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Widespread human rights abuses committed by Congo rebels
Rebels in eastern DRC who allegedly are receiving support from neighbouring Rwanda have committed widespread war crimes including dozens of rapes and killings, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday. Congo’s eastern hills — haunted by armed groups for nearly two decades — have seen six months of bloody clashes after hundreds of soldiers defected from the army, sparking a conflict that has forced at least 220 000 people to flee their homes.
United Nations experts say that Rwandan officials have provided logistical support and troops to the uprising, known as M23, although Kigali strongly rejects the claims. Allegations of widespread human rights abuses by M23 come as efforts to find a solution to the crisis appear to be stalling, with the UN’s peacekeeping head saying the deployment of a neutral force to tackle the rebels remains “only a concept”.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Tuesday that at least 33 of M23’s own fighters had been executed for trying to desert, while 15 civilians also had been deliberately killed in rebel held territories since June.
“The M23 rebels are committing a horrific trail of new atrocities in eastern Congo,” Anneke van Woudenberg, HRW’s senior Africa researcher, said.
The rights group said it had based its research on nearly 200 interviews and had uncovered evidence of at least 46 women and girls who had been raped.
One victim said that M23 fighters had burst into her home, beaten her son to death and repeatedly raped her before dousing her legs in petrol and setting her ablaze, the rights group said.
M23 did not respond to telephone calls and messages requesting comments on Monday night, but HRW said that M23’s leader, Colonel Sultani Makenga, denied allegations of human rights abuses, including widespread forced recruitment.
“We recruit our brothers, not by force, but because they want to help us... That’s their decision,” Makenga is quoted as saying.
HRW also said that at least 600 men and boys have been forcibly or unlawfully recruited in neighbouring Rwanda, with recruitment continuing after allegations of Rwandan complicity were published in an interim UN report in June.
“The United Nations Security Council should sanction M23 leaders, as well as Rwandan officials who are helping them, for serious rights abuses,” van Woudenberg said.
NO NEUTRAL FORCE YET
Rwanda’s leaders have denied any involvement in the M23 rebellion, and have accused the U.N. team behind the report of bias, but that has not stopped several international partners, including the United States and Sweden, from suspending aid to Kigali.
A recent lull in fighting has seen opinions as to the real situation on the ground diverging, with the UK restarting some of its blocked budget support, saying that Rwanda was constructively engaged in the search for a solution.
But in his message to regional leaders at a conference over the weekend, UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that the humanitarian situation remained dire, and that he was “deeply concerned by continuing reports of external support to the M23.”
The regional meeting in Kampala, which Rwandan president Paul Kagame did not attend, failed to hammer out the details of a proposed neutral force to police the border between Congo and Rwanda, despite an offer of troops from Tanzania.
On Monday the U.N. under secretary general in charge of peacekeeping poured cold water on the idea of the world body providing direct backing for a neutral force, which has been agreed in principle by both Kinshasa and Kigali.
“I think the concept needs to be fleshed out... I would not think that the security council would be in a position to make a determination just on an idea,” Herve Ladsous told journalists at a press conference in Kinshasa.
Source: Times Live
United Nations experts say that Rwandan officials have provided logistical support and troops to the uprising, known as M23, although Kigali strongly rejects the claims. Allegations of widespread human rights abuses by M23 come as efforts to find a solution to the crisis appear to be stalling, with the UN’s peacekeeping head saying the deployment of a neutral force to tackle the rebels remains “only a concept”.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Tuesday that at least 33 of M23’s own fighters had been executed for trying to desert, while 15 civilians also had been deliberately killed in rebel held territories since June.
“The M23 rebels are committing a horrific trail of new atrocities in eastern Congo,” Anneke van Woudenberg, HRW’s senior Africa researcher, said.
The rights group said it had based its research on nearly 200 interviews and had uncovered evidence of at least 46 women and girls who had been raped.
One victim said that M23 fighters had burst into her home, beaten her son to death and repeatedly raped her before dousing her legs in petrol and setting her ablaze, the rights group said.
M23 did not respond to telephone calls and messages requesting comments on Monday night, but HRW said that M23’s leader, Colonel Sultani Makenga, denied allegations of human rights abuses, including widespread forced recruitment.
“We recruit our brothers, not by force, but because they want to help us... That’s their decision,” Makenga is quoted as saying.
HRW also said that at least 600 men and boys have been forcibly or unlawfully recruited in neighbouring Rwanda, with recruitment continuing after allegations of Rwandan complicity were published in an interim UN report in June.
“The United Nations Security Council should sanction M23 leaders, as well as Rwandan officials who are helping them, for serious rights abuses,” van Woudenberg said.
NO NEUTRAL FORCE YET
Rwanda’s leaders have denied any involvement in the M23 rebellion, and have accused the U.N. team behind the report of bias, but that has not stopped several international partners, including the United States and Sweden, from suspending aid to Kigali.
A recent lull in fighting has seen opinions as to the real situation on the ground diverging, with the UK restarting some of its blocked budget support, saying that Rwanda was constructively engaged in the search for a solution.
But in his message to regional leaders at a conference over the weekend, UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that the humanitarian situation remained dire, and that he was “deeply concerned by continuing reports of external support to the M23.”
The regional meeting in Kampala, which Rwandan president Paul Kagame did not attend, failed to hammer out the details of a proposed neutral force to police the border between Congo and Rwanda, despite an offer of troops from Tanzania.
On Monday the U.N. under secretary general in charge of peacekeeping poured cold water on the idea of the world body providing direct backing for a neutral force, which has been agreed in principle by both Kinshasa and Kigali.
“I think the concept needs to be fleshed out... I would not think that the security council would be in a position to make a determination just on an idea,” Herve Ladsous told journalists at a press conference in Kinshasa.
Source: Times Live
Thursday, August 2, 2012
US threatens Rwandan President Kagame over support for Congolese rebels
Last week the US Office of Global Justice warned the administration of Rwandan President Paul Kagame that it could face prosecution on war crimes charges if it continues to support M23, a rebel militia operating near Goma in Eastern Congo’s Kivu province.
Stephen Rapp, the chief of the US Office of Global Justice, the entity responsible for the prosecution of war crimes, told the Guardian last week that “the Rwandan leadership may be subjected to charges of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity” for arming the M23 militia.
Following Rapp's statements, the Obama administration declared that it would end part of its military aid program to Rwanda, after a UN report was published outlining Rwanda's current leadership's active involvement in supporting the M23 rebels. The Obama administration had been accused of refusing to release the report to conceal Rwanda's involvement. The report has been leaked to the media, however.
In an emailed statement, US State Department spokeswoman Helen Fuller Renner said: “The United States government is deeply concerned about the evidence that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups, including M23. We will not obligate $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 Foreign Military Financing funds that were intended to support a Rwandan academy for non-commissioned officers. These funds will be reallocated for programming in another country.”
The M23 force is led by Rwandan-born General Bosco Ntaganda, a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA)—the military arm of Kagame’s movement, which took power during the 1994 civil war and genocide in Rwanda. He then allegedly joined the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed militia active during the Congo wars of the early 2000s.
Nicknamed the “Terminator”, Ntaganda has been sought by the International Criminal Court since 2006 for crimes against humanity, including the procurement of child soldiers.
In April, Ntaganda led soldiers in a “mutiny” against US-backed forces in the Congolese army. Made up of a former rebel militia in the Congo, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), the rebels now call themselves M23, or March 23 Movement, taken after their March 23, 2009 peace agreement with the Congolese government. The mutiny reportedly occurred due to dissatisfaction among the troops with the Congolese army and with low pay.
The rebels have conquered several towns in Eastern Congo near the Ugandan border. It is expected that the militia will take the provincial capital of Goma.
Washington’s hypocrisy is on full display, given that the US has supported the Kagame regime for nearly two decades since it came to power—despite widely publicized allegations that it committed war crimes during its invasion of Rwanda in 1994 and incursions into the Congo. The sudden claim of US outrage at Rwanda's support for rebels accused of committing atrocities in Southern Congo is entirely cynical.
Rwanda has a history of carrying out Washington's bidding in the region, including by deploying its military forces in Darfur, Sudan, supposedly to support US “peacekeeping” efforts. Rwanda has received explicit US support and praise under several US presidents, including Obama. The US has extensively funded its Rwandan proxy, including providing military aid for armaments and training.
The sudden about-face of the US stance towards its Rwandan proxy must be viewed in the context of the broader intervention by Washington and its allies in Africa—including the ouster last year of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and particularly the NATO war in Libya.
Rwanda's support of Ntaganda and M23 has become no longer “convenient” for Washington. What this development shows is how quickly the US can turn on a former ally. As with the US-backed military aggression which resulted in aggression against Libya and the murder of Gaddafi, Kagame faces the threat of regime change.
Washington’s criticisms of Kagame come amid an escalating assertion of US imperialist interests in Central Africa. As the World Socialist Web Site reported last October, Washington deployed “special operations” troops to the region, under the false pretext of “neutralizing Joseph Kony” the leader of the Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army, a militia accused of war crimes.
A major goal of US operations in Africa is to block the spreading influence of China, which has made significant economic inroads on the continent. Washington’s criticisms of Rwanda have come amid escalating concerns over Rwandan economic ties with China. (See: “Tensions emerge between Rwanda and Western backers”)
US State Department cables released by Wikileaks show that Washington has been keeping a close watch on Rwanda-China economic ties.
Referring to meetings by Rwandan officials with a Chinese delegation, the cables took note of Rwanda's economic agreements with China and loans from Beijing for the construction of buildings to house the Office of Foreign Affairs and to finance a railway project. China also agreed to consider funding the construction of a new stadium, a women's center, and a Confucius Institute. Rwanda requested the delegation for duty-free access to Chinese markets, and Rwandan rice cultivation and road projects were discussed.
As Rwanda is a transportation gateway for the Congo’s vast resources to the global market, it goes without saying that China's “control by investment” of a railway project traversing Rwanda through to a port in on the East coast of Tanzania would raise concerns in Washington.
Source: World Socialist Web
Stephen Rapp, the chief of the US Office of Global Justice, the entity responsible for the prosecution of war crimes, told the Guardian last week that “the Rwandan leadership may be subjected to charges of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity” for arming the M23 militia.
Following Rapp's statements, the Obama administration declared that it would end part of its military aid program to Rwanda, after a UN report was published outlining Rwanda's current leadership's active involvement in supporting the M23 rebels. The Obama administration had been accused of refusing to release the report to conceal Rwanda's involvement. The report has been leaked to the media, however.
In an emailed statement, US State Department spokeswoman Helen Fuller Renner said: “The United States government is deeply concerned about the evidence that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups, including M23. We will not obligate $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 Foreign Military Financing funds that were intended to support a Rwandan academy for non-commissioned officers. These funds will be reallocated for programming in another country.”
The M23 force is led by Rwandan-born General Bosco Ntaganda, a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA)—the military arm of Kagame’s movement, which took power during the 1994 civil war and genocide in Rwanda. He then allegedly joined the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed militia active during the Congo wars of the early 2000s.
Nicknamed the “Terminator”, Ntaganda has been sought by the International Criminal Court since 2006 for crimes against humanity, including the procurement of child soldiers.
In April, Ntaganda led soldiers in a “mutiny” against US-backed forces in the Congolese army. Made up of a former rebel militia in the Congo, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), the rebels now call themselves M23, or March 23 Movement, taken after their March 23, 2009 peace agreement with the Congolese government. The mutiny reportedly occurred due to dissatisfaction among the troops with the Congolese army and with low pay.
The rebels have conquered several towns in Eastern Congo near the Ugandan border. It is expected that the militia will take the provincial capital of Goma.
Washington’s hypocrisy is on full display, given that the US has supported the Kagame regime for nearly two decades since it came to power—despite widely publicized allegations that it committed war crimes during its invasion of Rwanda in 1994 and incursions into the Congo. The sudden claim of US outrage at Rwanda's support for rebels accused of committing atrocities in Southern Congo is entirely cynical.
Rwanda has a history of carrying out Washington's bidding in the region, including by deploying its military forces in Darfur, Sudan, supposedly to support US “peacekeeping” efforts. Rwanda has received explicit US support and praise under several US presidents, including Obama. The US has extensively funded its Rwandan proxy, including providing military aid for armaments and training.
The sudden about-face of the US stance towards its Rwandan proxy must be viewed in the context of the broader intervention by Washington and its allies in Africa—including the ouster last year of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and particularly the NATO war in Libya.
Rwanda's support of Ntaganda and M23 has become no longer “convenient” for Washington. What this development shows is how quickly the US can turn on a former ally. As with the US-backed military aggression which resulted in aggression against Libya and the murder of Gaddafi, Kagame faces the threat of regime change.
Washington’s criticisms of Kagame come amid an escalating assertion of US imperialist interests in Central Africa. As the World Socialist Web Site reported last October, Washington deployed “special operations” troops to the region, under the false pretext of “neutralizing Joseph Kony” the leader of the Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army, a militia accused of war crimes.
A major goal of US operations in Africa is to block the spreading influence of China, which has made significant economic inroads on the continent. Washington’s criticisms of Rwanda have come amid escalating concerns over Rwandan economic ties with China. (See: “Tensions emerge between Rwanda and Western backers”)
US State Department cables released by Wikileaks show that Washington has been keeping a close watch on Rwanda-China economic ties.
Referring to meetings by Rwandan officials with a Chinese delegation, the cables took note of Rwanda's economic agreements with China and loans from Beijing for the construction of buildings to house the Office of Foreign Affairs and to finance a railway project. China also agreed to consider funding the construction of a new stadium, a women's center, and a Confucius Institute. Rwanda requested the delegation for duty-free access to Chinese markets, and Rwandan rice cultivation and road projects were discussed.
As Rwanda is a transportation gateway for the Congo’s vast resources to the global market, it goes without saying that China's “control by investment” of a railway project traversing Rwanda through to a port in on the East coast of Tanzania would raise concerns in Washington.
Source: World Socialist Web
Saturday, July 21, 2012
British firm linked to Congo's illicit mineral trade
The continuing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being fuelled by western companies who are buying the country's minerals without properly checking their origins, a new report alleges today.
Global Witness says the Congolese army and other armed groups in the east of the country control much of the mining and trade in tin ore (cassiterite), coltan, wolframite – often using forced labour.
The report argues the trade is prolonging the 12-year conflict there, which has seen mass killings and rape. About 100,000 people have been driven from their homes in the past few months alone.
"As long as the warring parties can fund themselves through international trade, they will continue to be able to inflict widespread violence on the population," said Patrick Alley, the director of Global Witness.
The report calls for UN sanctions against foreign firms that buy the minerals from intermediaries without exploring who was profiting from their purchase. Many of the firms accused are Belgian but Global Witness also calls for UN sanctions against a British firm, the London-based Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC), whose subsidiary, Thaisarco, buys tin ore in eastern Congo.
Global Witness acknowledges that Thaisarco purchases minerals from legal, government-authorised brokers, but argues the firm should do more to find out who is supplying those brokers. It points to a UN resolution calling for sanctions, including the freezing of assets of individuals or companies helping Congolese armed groups through the trade in natural resources.
The report alleges Thaisarco's main supplier in the South Kivu region, the centre of the conflict, gets its tin ore from mines controlled by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the main warring factions. Its leaders include Rwandan Hutus involved in the 1994 genocide.
AMC has denied any wrongdoing, saying it has always followed UN guidance in its trade in the region and is in the process of implementing more thorough measures aimed at increasing the transparency of the tin trade.
"Both AMC and Thaisarco have always sought to comply with the requirements and recommendations of the UN in respect of minerals originating in the DRC. In accordance with this, Thaisarco purchases DRC minerals subject to a recently enhanced, formal and detailed due diligence programme which ultimately is aimed at providing transparency throughout the supply chain," the statement said.
The new industry-wide measures, know as the Tin Supply Chain Initiative, were launched on 1 July, after the Global Witness report was completed.
"The Supply Chain Initiative has traceability of the minerals as its key objective in order to ensure that the trade does not benefit renegade or rebel groups," AMC said. The foreign office issued a statement yesterday recognising that illegally traded minerals were "one of the factors in the instability in eastern DRC".
Source: The Guardian
Global Witness says the Congolese army and other armed groups in the east of the country control much of the mining and trade in tin ore (cassiterite), coltan, wolframite – often using forced labour.
The report argues the trade is prolonging the 12-year conflict there, which has seen mass killings and rape. About 100,000 people have been driven from their homes in the past few months alone.
"As long as the warring parties can fund themselves through international trade, they will continue to be able to inflict widespread violence on the population," said Patrick Alley, the director of Global Witness.
The report calls for UN sanctions against foreign firms that buy the minerals from intermediaries without exploring who was profiting from their purchase. Many of the firms accused are Belgian but Global Witness also calls for UN sanctions against a British firm, the London-based Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC), whose subsidiary, Thaisarco, buys tin ore in eastern Congo.
Global Witness acknowledges that Thaisarco purchases minerals from legal, government-authorised brokers, but argues the firm should do more to find out who is supplying those brokers. It points to a UN resolution calling for sanctions, including the freezing of assets of individuals or companies helping Congolese armed groups through the trade in natural resources.
The report alleges Thaisarco's main supplier in the South Kivu region, the centre of the conflict, gets its tin ore from mines controlled by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the main warring factions. Its leaders include Rwandan Hutus involved in the 1994 genocide.
AMC has denied any wrongdoing, saying it has always followed UN guidance in its trade in the region and is in the process of implementing more thorough measures aimed at increasing the transparency of the tin trade.
"Both AMC and Thaisarco have always sought to comply with the requirements and recommendations of the UN in respect of minerals originating in the DRC. In accordance with this, Thaisarco purchases DRC minerals subject to a recently enhanced, formal and detailed due diligence programme which ultimately is aimed at providing transparency throughout the supply chain," the statement said.
The new industry-wide measures, know as the Tin Supply Chain Initiative, were launched on 1 July, after the Global Witness report was completed.
"The Supply Chain Initiative has traceability of the minerals as its key objective in order to ensure that the trade does not benefit renegade or rebel groups," AMC said. The foreign office issued a statement yesterday recognising that illegally traded minerals were "one of the factors in the instability in eastern DRC".
Source: The Guardian
Sunday, August 22, 2010
At Least 150 Women Raped in Weekend Raid in Congo
A mob of Rwandan rebels gang-raped at least 150 women last month during a weekend raid on a community of villages in eastern Congo, United Nations and other humanitarian officials said Sunday.
The United Nations blamed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or F.D.L.R., for the attack. The F.D.L.R. is an ethnic Hutu rebel group that has been terrorizing the hills of eastern Congo for years, preying on villages in a quest for the natural resources beneath them.
The raided villages are near the mining center of Walikale, known to be a rebel stronghold, and are “very insecure,” said Stefania Trassari, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Rape is something we get quite often.” But she and other United Nations and humanitarian officials said that this attack was unusual because of the large number of victims and the fact that they were raped by more than one attacker simultaneously.
On the evening of July 30, armed men entered the village of Ruvungi, in North Kivu Province. “They told the population that they were just there for food and rest and that they shouldn’t worry,” said Will F. Cragin, the International Medical Corps’ program coordinator for North Kivu, who visited the village a week after their arrival. “Then after dark another group came,” said Mr. Cragin, referring to between 200 and 400 armed men who witnesses described as spending days and nights looting Ruvungi and nearby villages. “They began to systematically rape the population,” he said, adding, “Most women were raped by two to six men at a time.”
The attackers often took the victims into the bush or into their homes, raping them “in front of their children and their families,” Mr. Cragin said. “If a car passed, they would hide.” The rebels left on Aug. 3, he said, the same day the chief of the area traveled through the villages and reported horrific cases of sexual violence. “We thought at first he was exaggerating,” Mr. Cragin said, “but then we saw the scale of the attacks.”
Miel Hendrickson, a regional director for the International Medical Corps, which has been documenting the rape cases, said, “We had heard first 24 rapes, then 56, then 78, then 96, then 156.” “The numbers keep rising,” she said. The United Nations maintains a military base approximately 20 miles from the villages, but United Nations officials said they did not know if the peacekeepers there were aware of the attack as it occurred. A United Nations military spokesman, Madnoje Mounoubai, said information was still being gathered. The F.D.L.R., which began as a gathering of fugitives of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has grown into a resilient and savage killing machine and an economic engine in the region.
The United Nations, Congo and Rwanda began a military offensive against the group in early 2009, but since then, humanitarian organizations say, cases of rape have risen drastically. “It’s awful,” Ms. Trassari said. “The numbers are quite worrying.”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited eastern Congo in 2009 to raise awareness about widespread rape in the region, calling it “evil in its basest form,” and the United States pledged $17 million to the Congolese government to fight sexual violence.
Source: New York Times
The United Nations blamed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or F.D.L.R., for the attack. The F.D.L.R. is an ethnic Hutu rebel group that has been terrorizing the hills of eastern Congo for years, preying on villages in a quest for the natural resources beneath them.
The raided villages are near the mining center of Walikale, known to be a rebel stronghold, and are “very insecure,” said Stefania Trassari, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Rape is something we get quite often.” But she and other United Nations and humanitarian officials said that this attack was unusual because of the large number of victims and the fact that they were raped by more than one attacker simultaneously.
On the evening of July 30, armed men entered the village of Ruvungi, in North Kivu Province. “They told the population that they were just there for food and rest and that they shouldn’t worry,” said Will F. Cragin, the International Medical Corps’ program coordinator for North Kivu, who visited the village a week after their arrival. “Then after dark another group came,” said Mr. Cragin, referring to between 200 and 400 armed men who witnesses described as spending days and nights looting Ruvungi and nearby villages. “They began to systematically rape the population,” he said, adding, “Most women were raped by two to six men at a time.”
The attackers often took the victims into the bush or into their homes, raping them “in front of their children and their families,” Mr. Cragin said. “If a car passed, they would hide.” The rebels left on Aug. 3, he said, the same day the chief of the area traveled through the villages and reported horrific cases of sexual violence. “We thought at first he was exaggerating,” Mr. Cragin said, “but then we saw the scale of the attacks.”
Miel Hendrickson, a regional director for the International Medical Corps, which has been documenting the rape cases, said, “We had heard first 24 rapes, then 56, then 78, then 96, then 156.” “The numbers keep rising,” she said. The United Nations maintains a military base approximately 20 miles from the villages, but United Nations officials said they did not know if the peacekeepers there were aware of the attack as it occurred. A United Nations military spokesman, Madnoje Mounoubai, said information was still being gathered. The F.D.L.R., which began as a gathering of fugitives of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has grown into a resilient and savage killing machine and an economic engine in the region.
The United Nations, Congo and Rwanda began a military offensive against the group in early 2009, but since then, humanitarian organizations say, cases of rape have risen drastically. “It’s awful,” Ms. Trassari said. “The numbers are quite worrying.”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited eastern Congo in 2009 to raise awareness about widespread rape in the region, calling it “evil in its basest form,” and the United States pledged $17 million to the Congolese government to fight sexual violence.
Source: New York Times
Saturday, August 14, 2010
‘Disturbing Events’ Marred Rwanda Leader’s Re-election, U.S. Says
The United States has expressed concern about “disturbing events” surrounding last Monday’s presidential election in Rwanda in which the incumbent drew 93 percent of the votes. The National Security Council said in a statement on Friday that progress has been made in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. “We remain concerned, however, about a series of disturbing events prior to the election, including the suspension of two newspapers, the expulsion of a human rights researcher, the barring of two opposition parties from taking part in the election, and the arrest of journalists,” said the statement, which was issued by the council’s spokesman, Mike Hammer.
The statement did not congratulate the incumbent, Paul Kagame, for his re-election. His nearest rival, Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo of the Social Democratic Party, won 5 percent of the vote, according to final election results released Wednesday.
Rwanda’s stability and prosperity will be difficult to sustain without broad political debate and open political participation, Mr. Hammer said.
Critics say the Rwandan election campaign was marred by government repression. Human rights groups pointed to mounting violence during the period before the election after the fatal shooting of a local journalist and the killing of an opposition official who was found nearly beheaded in July. The government denied involvement.
“Democracy is about more than holding elections,” Mr. Hammer said. “A democracy reflects the will of the people, where minority voices are heard and respected, where opposition candidates run on the issues without threat or intimidation, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are protected.”
The statement also said that the council had “expressed our concerns to the government of Rwanda, and we hope the leadership will take steps toward more democratic governance, increased respect for minority and opposition views, and continued peace.”
Source: New York Times
The statement did not congratulate the incumbent, Paul Kagame, for his re-election. His nearest rival, Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo of the Social Democratic Party, won 5 percent of the vote, according to final election results released Wednesday.
Rwanda’s stability and prosperity will be difficult to sustain without broad political debate and open political participation, Mr. Hammer said.
Critics say the Rwandan election campaign was marred by government repression. Human rights groups pointed to mounting violence during the period before the election after the fatal shooting of a local journalist and the killing of an opposition official who was found nearly beheaded in July. The government denied involvement.
“Democracy is about more than holding elections,” Mr. Hammer said. “A democracy reflects the will of the people, where minority voices are heard and respected, where opposition candidates run on the issues without threat or intimidation, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are protected.”
The statement also said that the council had “expressed our concerns to the government of Rwanda, and we hope the leadership will take steps toward more democratic governance, increased respect for minority and opposition views, and continued peace.”
Source: New York Times
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Former Rwandan official gets 25 years for genocide
A former administrator accused of transporting soldiers to kill thousands of people during Rwanda's 1994 genocide received a 25-year sentence on Tuesday, a United Nations court said. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, found Dominique Ntawukulilyayo (68) guilty of genocide. "The Trial Chamber ... convicted Dominique Ntawukulilyayo, sub-prefect of Gisagara sub-prefecture in Butare, of genocide and sentenced him to 25 years of imprisonment," the tribunal said on its website.
Ntawukulilyayo, who was the deputy administrator of Rwanda's southern Gisagara district, was acquitted of other charges of complicity in genocide and direct and public incitement to commit genocide. He was arrested in France in October 2007 and transferred to the UN detention facility in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha a year later.
In their indictment, prosecutors said Ntawukulilyayo transported soldiers to a hill where thousands of refugee Tutsis had gathered after he promised to feed and protect them. "Ntawukulilyayo transported soldiers to Kabuye hill, who joined other assailants in an extensive attack, leaving possibly thousands of Tutsis dead," the tribunal said.
Ethnic Hutu militia and soldiers butchered 800 000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in just 100 days between April and June 1994.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Ntawukulilyayo, who was the deputy administrator of Rwanda's southern Gisagara district, was acquitted of other charges of complicity in genocide and direct and public incitement to commit genocide. He was arrested in France in October 2007 and transferred to the UN detention facility in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha a year later.
In their indictment, prosecutors said Ntawukulilyayo transported soldiers to a hill where thousands of refugee Tutsis had gathered after he promised to feed and protect them. "Ntawukulilyayo transported soldiers to Kabuye hill, who joined other assailants in an extensive attack, leaving possibly thousands of Tutsis dead," the tribunal said.
Ethnic Hutu militia and soldiers butchered 800 000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in just 100 days between April and June 1994.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Rwanda: End Attacks on Opposition Parties
Opposition party members are facing increasing threats, attacks, and harassment in advance of Rwanda's August 2010 presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the government to investigate all such incidents and to ensure that opposition activists are able to go about their legitimate activities without fear.
In the past week, members of the FDU-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda - new opposition parties critical of government policies - have suffered serious incidents of intimidation by individuals and institutions close to the government and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). One member of the FDU-Inkingi was beaten by a mob in front of a local government office. The attack appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance. "The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections."
The Rwandan government and the RPF have strongly resisted any political opposition or broader challenge of their policies by civil society. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide, or "genocide ideology," as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics. The current RPF-dominated government has been in power in Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide.
Victoire Ingabire, president of the FDU-Inkingi, has faced an intensive campaign of public vilification since she returned from exile in the Netherlands in January 2010. She has been widely condemned in official and quasi-official media and described as a "negationist" of the genocide for stating publicly that crimes committed against Hutu citizens by the RPF and the Rwandan army should be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.
Ingabire received a phone call on February 3 from the executive secretary of Kinyinya sector, Jonas Shema, who told her that she should come with her colleagues to the local government office to collect official documents required for their identity cards. When Ingabire and Joseph Ntawangundi, a party colleague, arrived outside the local government office, they were met by a group of people. Two men jostled Ingabire, grabbed her by the arms, and stole her handbag, which contained her passport. The attackers shouted, "We don't want génocidaires here!" and, "We don't want people with genocide ideology!" Ingabire managed to run to her car unharmed; some of the men threw stones at the car as it drove off.
The men then turned on Ntawangundi and beat him severely. He described to Human Rights Watch being attacked for about 45 minutes by scores of young men who punched him, kicked and scratched him, threw him into the air, and ripped his clothes. They stole his watch, glasses, and shoes. The attack appeared to be designed not only to hurt Ntawangundi, but also to humiliate him. At one point, at least six people held him in the air, with his feet apart, and carried him toward a tree. They insulted him and shouted phrases such as: "We don't want you here! You have no right to an identity card!"
The attack appears to have been well organized. On several occasions, when the beatings became particularly brutal, individuals who appeared to be leading the group ordered the others to stop - for example, when the assailants each picked up a stone from a pile on the ground and prepared to throw them at Ntawangundi. Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that policemen and members of the Local Defense Force were present during the attack, but did not try to stop it - nor did Shema, the executive secretary, seem to make any effort to call for assistance. Eventually, alerted to the attack by other members of the FDU-Inkingi, police from the nearby station intervened. The mob followed Ntawangundi to the police station and stayed there for about 10 minutes. The police claim they have opened an investigation, but have declined to provide any information on whether there has been any progress or any arrests made.
When Human Rights Watch representatives met with Ntawangundi the day after the beating, he was visibly suffering from his injuries and was finding it painful to walk. Although he had been given pain medication when he went to a hospital for treatment, he said pain remained in his kidneys, back, and head.
Rwandan government and police authorities have offered a different version of events, claiming that residents of Kinyinya who had been waiting for their identity documents for a long time became angry and reacted spontaneously against Ingabire and her colleague when they allegedly jumped the line. This version was broadcast widely on Rwandan and international media. In a telephone conversation with Human Rights Watch, police spokesperson Eric Kayiranga minimized the incident, but said that the police were investigating. Human Rights Watch tried to contact Shema several times, but he was unavailable.
Three days later, on February 6, police arrested Ntawangundi on accusations of participation in the genocide. They told him that a gacaca court, a community-based court set up to try crimes committed during the genocide, had convicted him in absentia. He was initially detained at the police station at Remera, in Kigali, but was not told of the specific charges against him. His Rwandan lawyer was not allowed to see him on February 6, though a foreign lawyer was allowed to see him the next day. He was transferred to Kimironko prison on February 8.
The FDU-Inkingi has stated that Ntawangundi was living abroad during the genocide, and that he had never heard about the accusations against him until the day before his arrest when an article containing these allegations was published in the New Times, a Rwandan newspaper that is closely aligned with the government.
In a separate development on February 4, the Green Party president, Frank Habineza, was talking with a party member in a Kigali restaurant when a man Habineza did not know approached and greeted him by name. The man, who would not give his own name, asked Habineza to recruit him to the Green Party.
The man then asked Habineza why he was rejecting those who had helped him (a reference to Habineza's former links with the RPF), and why he had been spending time with Ingabire. He warned Habineza that he was being watched and that "they" knew what he was doing and whom he was seeing. The man gave accurate details of appointments Habineza had attended and was scheduled to attend. He told Habineza: "We're monitoring you very closely. Be careful." The man's identity remains unclear, but his comments indicate that he may have close government connections. "This escalation of attacks against opposition party members does not bode well for the election," Gagnon said. "The Rwandan government should immediately investigate these incidents, bring those responsible to justice, and make sure that the interference with opposition parties stops."
Government opponents and critics have repeatedly faced threats and obstacles to legitimate political activity in Rwanda. In 2009, several meetings of the Green Party and the PS-Imberakuri - another opposition party - were broken up by police, in some cases violently. Both parties have since found it difficult to obtain the official authorization to hold meetings. Political parties need to be officially registered before they can offer candidates in the elections, and some of the intimidation seemed designed to obstruct this process. PS-Imberakuri finally managed to register in November. The Green Party has still not succeeded, despite several attempts. Green Party members have come under pressure to give up their political activities, and some have received anonymous phone calls asking for information about Habineza and his travel plans. In late 2009, Bernard Ntaganda, leader of the PS-Imberakuri, was summoned before the Senate to answer accusations of "genocide ideology" in connection with public statements he had made criticizing the government. Ntaganda's case is still pending before the Senate, which has indicated that the case may be referred for criminal prosecution.
Political opposition activities were also tightly restricted during the September 2008 legislative elections, when RPF candidates won 79 percent of the vote. European Union observers noted procedural irregularities in over half the polling places, RPF domination of the media, and the absence of political plurality, due in part to the fear of "genocide ideology" accusations.
Source: Human Rights Watch
In the past week, members of the FDU-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda - new opposition parties critical of government policies - have suffered serious incidents of intimidation by individuals and institutions close to the government and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). One member of the FDU-Inkingi was beaten by a mob in front of a local government office. The attack appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance. "The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections."
The Rwandan government and the RPF have strongly resisted any political opposition or broader challenge of their policies by civil society. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide, or "genocide ideology," as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics. The current RPF-dominated government has been in power in Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide.
Victoire Ingabire, president of the FDU-Inkingi, has faced an intensive campaign of public vilification since she returned from exile in the Netherlands in January 2010. She has been widely condemned in official and quasi-official media and described as a "negationist" of the genocide for stating publicly that crimes committed against Hutu citizens by the RPF and the Rwandan army should be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.
Ingabire received a phone call on February 3 from the executive secretary of Kinyinya sector, Jonas Shema, who told her that she should come with her colleagues to the local government office to collect official documents required for their identity cards. When Ingabire and Joseph Ntawangundi, a party colleague, arrived outside the local government office, they were met by a group of people. Two men jostled Ingabire, grabbed her by the arms, and stole her handbag, which contained her passport. The attackers shouted, "We don't want génocidaires here!" and, "We don't want people with genocide ideology!" Ingabire managed to run to her car unharmed; some of the men threw stones at the car as it drove off.
The men then turned on Ntawangundi and beat him severely. He described to Human Rights Watch being attacked for about 45 minutes by scores of young men who punched him, kicked and scratched him, threw him into the air, and ripped his clothes. They stole his watch, glasses, and shoes. The attack appeared to be designed not only to hurt Ntawangundi, but also to humiliate him. At one point, at least six people held him in the air, with his feet apart, and carried him toward a tree. They insulted him and shouted phrases such as: "We don't want you here! You have no right to an identity card!"
The attack appears to have been well organized. On several occasions, when the beatings became particularly brutal, individuals who appeared to be leading the group ordered the others to stop - for example, when the assailants each picked up a stone from a pile on the ground and prepared to throw them at Ntawangundi. Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that policemen and members of the Local Defense Force were present during the attack, but did not try to stop it - nor did Shema, the executive secretary, seem to make any effort to call for assistance. Eventually, alerted to the attack by other members of the FDU-Inkingi, police from the nearby station intervened. The mob followed Ntawangundi to the police station and stayed there for about 10 minutes. The police claim they have opened an investigation, but have declined to provide any information on whether there has been any progress or any arrests made.
When Human Rights Watch representatives met with Ntawangundi the day after the beating, he was visibly suffering from his injuries and was finding it painful to walk. Although he had been given pain medication when he went to a hospital for treatment, he said pain remained in his kidneys, back, and head.
Rwandan government and police authorities have offered a different version of events, claiming that residents of Kinyinya who had been waiting for their identity documents for a long time became angry and reacted spontaneously against Ingabire and her colleague when they allegedly jumped the line. This version was broadcast widely on Rwandan and international media. In a telephone conversation with Human Rights Watch, police spokesperson Eric Kayiranga minimized the incident, but said that the police were investigating. Human Rights Watch tried to contact Shema several times, but he was unavailable.
Three days later, on February 6, police arrested Ntawangundi on accusations of participation in the genocide. They told him that a gacaca court, a community-based court set up to try crimes committed during the genocide, had convicted him in absentia. He was initially detained at the police station at Remera, in Kigali, but was not told of the specific charges against him. His Rwandan lawyer was not allowed to see him on February 6, though a foreign lawyer was allowed to see him the next day. He was transferred to Kimironko prison on February 8.
The FDU-Inkingi has stated that Ntawangundi was living abroad during the genocide, and that he had never heard about the accusations against him until the day before his arrest when an article containing these allegations was published in the New Times, a Rwandan newspaper that is closely aligned with the government.
In a separate development on February 4, the Green Party president, Frank Habineza, was talking with a party member in a Kigali restaurant when a man Habineza did not know approached and greeted him by name. The man, who would not give his own name, asked Habineza to recruit him to the Green Party.
The man then asked Habineza why he was rejecting those who had helped him (a reference to Habineza's former links with the RPF), and why he had been spending time with Ingabire. He warned Habineza that he was being watched and that "they" knew what he was doing and whom he was seeing. The man gave accurate details of appointments Habineza had attended and was scheduled to attend. He told Habineza: "We're monitoring you very closely. Be careful." The man's identity remains unclear, but his comments indicate that he may have close government connections. "This escalation of attacks against opposition party members does not bode well for the election," Gagnon said. "The Rwandan government should immediately investigate these incidents, bring those responsible to justice, and make sure that the interference with opposition parties stops."
Government opponents and critics have repeatedly faced threats and obstacles to legitimate political activity in Rwanda. In 2009, several meetings of the Green Party and the PS-Imberakuri - another opposition party - were broken up by police, in some cases violently. Both parties have since found it difficult to obtain the official authorization to hold meetings. Political parties need to be officially registered before they can offer candidates in the elections, and some of the intimidation seemed designed to obstruct this process. PS-Imberakuri finally managed to register in November. The Green Party has still not succeeded, despite several attempts. Green Party members have come under pressure to give up their political activities, and some have received anonymous phone calls asking for information about Habineza and his travel plans. In late 2009, Bernard Ntaganda, leader of the PS-Imberakuri, was summoned before the Senate to answer accusations of "genocide ideology" in connection with public statements he had made criticizing the government. Ntaganda's case is still pending before the Senate, which has indicated that the case may be referred for criminal prosecution.
Political opposition activities were also tightly restricted during the September 2008 legislative elections, when RPF candidates won 79 percent of the vote. European Union observers noted procedural irregularities in over half the polling places, RPF domination of the media, and the absence of political plurality, due in part to the fear of "genocide ideology" accusations.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Our house is on fire
Dr Mamphela Ramphele is a former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town and managing director of the World Bank. She is now chairperson of Circle Capital as well as of the government's new Technology and Innovation Agency. This is an edited version of her address on August 31 at the University of the Western Cape, which was the second of the Education Conversations series. This is a comment written by her.
We as South Africans recognise that when our house is on fire, we all have to pull together to put out the flames. No one should imagine we are going to have a comfortable conversation, certainly not with me.
I am going to talk about excellence and equity in education. I had thought I was done with it because when I was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in 1995, I had to bring the message that excellence and equity are interrelated and complementary: you cannot have one without the other.
UCT had a great track record of excellence in many areas, but it had yet to embrace equity -- an essential part of sustaining and enhancing excellence. So I never thought I was going to have to talk about excellence and equity to progressives -- but we've lost it, we've just lost it.
You cannot have excellence and equity in education without a national vision of excellence and equity. Such a vision would very clearly and unambiguously articulate our values, which would then find expression in our practices and our social relationships.
Let me give you an example of a country that you may not think too highly of -- Rwanda. When we were voting and being very smug about our freedom, they were bleeding, literally and figuratively. But Rwanda has pulled itself from that genocide and has a "Vision 2020". It's a tiny little country, landlocked, and called "the land of a 1000 hills". But it's a feisty country.
Its Vision 2020 is not just articulated in a document, it's lived by President Paul Kagame. Its vision is to be a country that wins, because it is a centre of excellence and knowledge. It's saying: we have the people, we have the commitment to become a knowledge-based society.
They have set up a school for girls because one of the horrors of that genocide was rape of women and deliberate spreading of HIV/Aids. You go into any of the classrooms in that school and ask any of those girls where they want to be. They say: I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a civil engineer. Their dreams are not small. How does a small country like Rwanda do it? They've literally made ploughshares out of swords, turning a military base -- which they don't need -- into an educational centre, the Kigali Institute of Technology, where East African countries send their best students.
We don't have a vision as a nation, and a people without a vision perish. We have developed an education roadmap -- a milestone in what should be an education recovery process. But where should that road lead and how do we get there?
We need a vision so we can paint for ourselves what greatness can look like, and to use the gaps between that vision and our present reality to measure the depth of our crisis. Any other country would realise they had a crisis if only 7% of the 20% of students who get university exemptions have proficiency in maths. But not us.
We have failed our children. The cumulative impact of what we have done to our education system post-1994 is just shocking. Since then, on average only 29% of pupils who start school end up with a matric certificate. Think about the 71% who go through school without getting a piece of paper that attests to their achievement.
We have had university exemption numbers hovering around the mid-teens -- until of course we did some miracle and it became 20% in 2008. I don't know of any country in the world spending as much as we are spending that has 50% of its 20- to 24-year-olds -- the crème de la crème of the population -- not in school, not in training, not employed.
I think that what's happened since 1994 is that most of us said: well, now it's me, myself and I. We wouldn't have done the arms deal if it wasn't for me, myself, I. We wouldn't be continuing the legacy of underperformance in the school system: "I don't care what happens here because my children go to private school and they speak English." Me, myself, I. "I can buy private security, I can buy private healthcare." Me, myself, I.
There's failure of leadership at every level. We have all been to a lesser or greater extent in denial about the impact of the legacy of the past on us -- the unresolved issues of superiority complexes in the white community, inferiority complexes in the black community. How do you explain politicians going to Soweto and speaking English -- who are they trying to impress? Unless we want to prove we can quote Shakespeare?
And we are also in denial about the culture of mediocrity we have inherited from the past. Add to that the fact that the struggle for freedom had with it the terrible approach of "freedom now, education tomorrow". We had teachers paid for five years, seven years without doing a stitch of work. And now we expect them to teach? They got away with it for all those years, so why would they teach now?
We don't take that into account when we talk about what is happening in our education system. We also mismanaged the downsizing of our teaching corps. And that was on our very own icon Madiba's watch.
We have the highest level of teacher unionisation in the world -- but their focus is on rights, not responsibilities. It's on employment, not professionalism. And the rights only pertain to the teachers, not the pupils. A member of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), a former teacher, confessed that when her daughter came home and said: "Mom, I'm not going back to that school, the teacher doesn't know the difference between history and geography", she protected the teacher instead of standing up for her daughter's right to be taught properly.
I was in the Eastern Cape last weekend, where I was told about countless principals who have been promoted who are Sadtu members and who are known to have misrepresented their qualifications and their experience. When the inspectors say no, Sadtu simply goes to the education department in the Eastern Cape and says: "We have deployed you to this position, you shall promote this person." That's me, myself, I.
We have the unresolved issue of how do you teach, what medium of instruction do you use in a multilingual society? We even fight with Afrikaners who are trying to hold on to their Afrikaans language. People don't even know there is a language called Sepedi -- that's my mother tongue. If you do not teach children from grade one to at least grade four in their mother tongues, you are separating them from their parents -- there is no storytelling that can happen.
You should not be surprised that parents cannot participate in the school system -- you are alienating them from it. And the teachers who are meant to be teaching these children in English don't read, don't write, don't comprehend the very language. So are you surprised by the scorecards?
Think of the curriculum in two ways -- the hidden curriculum and the articulated curriculum. We have neglected the hidden curriculum in the same way that we messed up the articulated curriculum.
The hidden curriculum is really about the home, the nation, the classroom environment and what lets children come out and ask: "Who am I?" Children who really are proud about who they are -- who are comfortable with their gender, with their relationships -- are such a joy to watch.
But our children are being given signals that everything they value is not valued. That starts with the language, but it's also going everywhere else.
The inferiority complex instilled by living in marginalised communities prompts children to ask: "When am I ever going to get out of this community?"
We are still speaking about "minorities" and "majorities" in 2009! We need a conversation about what it means to be a citizen of a free, democratic, non-racist, non-sexist South Africa. We have written it in the Constitution, but we don't know what it means, we don't know how to live it.
Can we please have that conversation? Because then the classroom conversation will reflect the conversation of citizens.
I really believe that we have an opportunity to go back to basics. We've made a mistake with outcomes-based education (OBE) -- and we're stuck with this OBE like a dog that's become rabid and can't let go of its bone. Tinkering with it and renaming it the National Curriculum Statement does not deal with fundamental gaps between what teachers know and what they are to teach.
We need to let go of OBE and focus on the basics in education. Because I promise you, when Zimbabwe gets its act together, they are going to go back to basics. It doesn't take much to let go of this bone -- it's got an odour around it.
So let's commit to working together and walking together, to make our education excellent. There's no other way: we have to articulate that vision of excellence. We must have leaders who commit to promoting excellence in everything they do. And all of us have to walk together because, as the African saying says: if you want to walk fast, walk alone; but if you want to walk far, walk together.
Source: Mail & Guardian
We as South Africans recognise that when our house is on fire, we all have to pull together to put out the flames. No one should imagine we are going to have a comfortable conversation, certainly not with me.
I am going to talk about excellence and equity in education. I had thought I was done with it because when I was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in 1995, I had to bring the message that excellence and equity are interrelated and complementary: you cannot have one without the other.
UCT had a great track record of excellence in many areas, but it had yet to embrace equity -- an essential part of sustaining and enhancing excellence. So I never thought I was going to have to talk about excellence and equity to progressives -- but we've lost it, we've just lost it.
You cannot have excellence and equity in education without a national vision of excellence and equity. Such a vision would very clearly and unambiguously articulate our values, which would then find expression in our practices and our social relationships.
Let me give you an example of a country that you may not think too highly of -- Rwanda. When we were voting and being very smug about our freedom, they were bleeding, literally and figuratively. But Rwanda has pulled itself from that genocide and has a "Vision 2020". It's a tiny little country, landlocked, and called "the land of a 1000 hills". But it's a feisty country.
Its Vision 2020 is not just articulated in a document, it's lived by President Paul Kagame. Its vision is to be a country that wins, because it is a centre of excellence and knowledge. It's saying: we have the people, we have the commitment to become a knowledge-based society.
They have set up a school for girls because one of the horrors of that genocide was rape of women and deliberate spreading of HIV/Aids. You go into any of the classrooms in that school and ask any of those girls where they want to be. They say: I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a civil engineer. Their dreams are not small. How does a small country like Rwanda do it? They've literally made ploughshares out of swords, turning a military base -- which they don't need -- into an educational centre, the Kigali Institute of Technology, where East African countries send their best students.
We don't have a vision as a nation, and a people without a vision perish. We have developed an education roadmap -- a milestone in what should be an education recovery process. But where should that road lead and how do we get there?
We need a vision so we can paint for ourselves what greatness can look like, and to use the gaps between that vision and our present reality to measure the depth of our crisis. Any other country would realise they had a crisis if only 7% of the 20% of students who get university exemptions have proficiency in maths. But not us.
We have failed our children. The cumulative impact of what we have done to our education system post-1994 is just shocking. Since then, on average only 29% of pupils who start school end up with a matric certificate. Think about the 71% who go through school without getting a piece of paper that attests to their achievement.
We have had university exemption numbers hovering around the mid-teens -- until of course we did some miracle and it became 20% in 2008. I don't know of any country in the world spending as much as we are spending that has 50% of its 20- to 24-year-olds -- the crème de la crème of the population -- not in school, not in training, not employed.
I think that what's happened since 1994 is that most of us said: well, now it's me, myself and I. We wouldn't have done the arms deal if it wasn't for me, myself, I. We wouldn't be continuing the legacy of underperformance in the school system: "I don't care what happens here because my children go to private school and they speak English." Me, myself, I. "I can buy private security, I can buy private healthcare." Me, myself, I.
There's failure of leadership at every level. We have all been to a lesser or greater extent in denial about the impact of the legacy of the past on us -- the unresolved issues of superiority complexes in the white community, inferiority complexes in the black community. How do you explain politicians going to Soweto and speaking English -- who are they trying to impress? Unless we want to prove we can quote Shakespeare?
And we are also in denial about the culture of mediocrity we have inherited from the past. Add to that the fact that the struggle for freedom had with it the terrible approach of "freedom now, education tomorrow". We had teachers paid for five years, seven years without doing a stitch of work. And now we expect them to teach? They got away with it for all those years, so why would they teach now?
We don't take that into account when we talk about what is happening in our education system. We also mismanaged the downsizing of our teaching corps. And that was on our very own icon Madiba's watch.
We have the highest level of teacher unionisation in the world -- but their focus is on rights, not responsibilities. It's on employment, not professionalism. And the rights only pertain to the teachers, not the pupils. A member of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), a former teacher, confessed that when her daughter came home and said: "Mom, I'm not going back to that school, the teacher doesn't know the difference between history and geography", she protected the teacher instead of standing up for her daughter's right to be taught properly.
I was in the Eastern Cape last weekend, where I was told about countless principals who have been promoted who are Sadtu members and who are known to have misrepresented their qualifications and their experience. When the inspectors say no, Sadtu simply goes to the education department in the Eastern Cape and says: "We have deployed you to this position, you shall promote this person." That's me, myself, I.
We have the unresolved issue of how do you teach, what medium of instruction do you use in a multilingual society? We even fight with Afrikaners who are trying to hold on to their Afrikaans language. People don't even know there is a language called Sepedi -- that's my mother tongue. If you do not teach children from grade one to at least grade four in their mother tongues, you are separating them from their parents -- there is no storytelling that can happen.
You should not be surprised that parents cannot participate in the school system -- you are alienating them from it. And the teachers who are meant to be teaching these children in English don't read, don't write, don't comprehend the very language. So are you surprised by the scorecards?
Think of the curriculum in two ways -- the hidden curriculum and the articulated curriculum. We have neglected the hidden curriculum in the same way that we messed up the articulated curriculum.
The hidden curriculum is really about the home, the nation, the classroom environment and what lets children come out and ask: "Who am I?" Children who really are proud about who they are -- who are comfortable with their gender, with their relationships -- are such a joy to watch.
But our children are being given signals that everything they value is not valued. That starts with the language, but it's also going everywhere else.
The inferiority complex instilled by living in marginalised communities prompts children to ask: "When am I ever going to get out of this community?"
We are still speaking about "minorities" and "majorities" in 2009! We need a conversation about what it means to be a citizen of a free, democratic, non-racist, non-sexist South Africa. We have written it in the Constitution, but we don't know what it means, we don't know how to live it.
Can we please have that conversation? Because then the classroom conversation will reflect the conversation of citizens.
I really believe that we have an opportunity to go back to basics. We've made a mistake with outcomes-based education (OBE) -- and we're stuck with this OBE like a dog that's become rabid and can't let go of its bone. Tinkering with it and renaming it the National Curriculum Statement does not deal with fundamental gaps between what teachers know and what they are to teach.
We need to let go of OBE and focus on the basics in education. Because I promise you, when Zimbabwe gets its act together, they are going to go back to basics. It doesn't take much to let go of this bone -- it's got an odour around it.
So let's commit to working together and walking together, to make our education excellent. There's no other way: we have to articulate that vision of excellence. We must have leaders who commit to promoting excellence in everything they do. And all of us have to walk together because, as the African saying says: if you want to walk fast, walk alone; but if you want to walk far, walk together.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
DR Congo: 100,000 Civilians at Risk of Attack
More than 100,000 displaced civilians in Lubero territory in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo desperately need protection from further attacks by Rwandan militias and Congolese forces, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations peacekeeping force and humanitarian agencies to take urgent steps to increase protection and assistance to the civilians at risk.
In mid-January 2009, Congolese government forces - initially supported by Rwandan Defense Forces and later by the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC - carried out military operations against two Rwandan militia groups, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD). According to the UN, recent fighting has forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in Lubero territory, North Kivu province, as they tried to flee rapidly shifting front lines, bringing to 250,000 the number of those who have fled since January.
"Civilians fleeing for their lives are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and are unsure where they can find safety," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "They urgently need protection and humanitarian assistance, but there are too few peacekeepers and UN agencies to help them."
Many have sought shelter in the villages and towns of Luofo, Kayna, Kirumba, Kanyabayonga, and Kasegbe, in Lubero territory, some of which were later attacked by the Rwandan militias. According to information collected by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lubero, at least 35 civilians have been killed, 91 women and girls raped, and hundreds of homes burned to the ground since the operations began. Both Rwandan fighters and Congolese army soldiers are responsible for the abuses, with each accusing civilians of supporting the other side. Promised additional UN peacekeeping forces have not yet arrived.
In an attack on April 17, five children were burned to death when Rwandan militias attacked Luofo village, where more than 12,000 displaced people had sought shelter. The attack appeared to be a reprisal against the population in response to the government's military operations. Local authorities said that two days after the attack they received a letter from one RUD militia commander stating that the people of Luofo would "continue to be burned and buried."
Similar reprisal killings by the other Rwandan militia, the FDLR, have been documented by Human Rights Watch in areas of North and South Kivu. Human Rights Watch repeated its call on the Rwandan militias to stop immediately its deliberate attacks on civilians, which constitute war crimes.
The attack on Luofo came only five days after the UN peacekeeping force withdrew its temporary operating base from the village following the arrival of Congolese army soldiers. With peacekeeping troops stretched sparsely across eastern Congo, UN officials said their presence was more urgently needed in other towns.
The UN has fewer than 400 peacekeepers in Lubero territory, in two bases at Kanyabayonga and Lubero, plus two recently established temporary bases at Luofo and Kirumba. Rwandan militias have threatened to attack next the neighboring towns of Kirumba and Kayna, which harbor over 35,000 displaced people.
The 3,000 additional peacekeepers authorized by the UN Security Council in November 2008 have still not arrived in eastern Congo, despite promises from council members that they would urge a rapid deployment. Helicopters and intelligence support, desperately needed by the mission, have also not materialized. On April 9 in New York, Alan Doss, the head of the UN peacekeeping force, warned the Security Council that, without such assets, MONUC's "capacity to respond quickly to emerging threats and protect civilians would be curtailed."
"UN Security Council members gave MONUC a strong mandate to protect civilians, but not the means to do so," said Van Woudenberg. "They should immediately provide the support they promised."
Congolese government soldiers responsible for protecting their citizens have themselves been involved in many of the abuses. Of the 91 women and girls known to have been victims of sexual violence in recent months, at least 56 reported they were raped by government soldiers, who often accused their victims of being the wives of FDLR combatants. Government troops, ill-disciplined and unpaid, have burned and pillaged hundreds of homes, arbitrarily arrested civilians, stolen their crops, and looted their property.
UN peacekeepers are involved in the joint military operations with Congolese government forces against Rwandan militias in what is known as Operation Kimia II. But peacekeepers have so far been unsuccessful in restraining government soldiers from committing abuses against civilians.
"Congolese authorities need to discipline abusive soldiers to bring the rape and looting to a halt," said Van Woudenberg. "UN officials should be clear that its peacekeepers cannot support military operations where Congolese soldiers are committing abuses against civilians."
Tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes are struggling to survive. Unable to harvest their crops, they are continually hungry and dependent on the limited help provided by already-overburdened host families. Few UN and humanitarian agencies are working in Lubero territory to provide the much-needed assistance, due to limited donor funds and lack of security to give them access to the people in need.
"More UN peacekeepers, improved protection, and increased humanitarian aid are desperately needed to help those at risk of further attacks in Lubero territory," said Van Woudenberg. "The cries of Congolese people in distress should not be ignored."
Source: Human Rights Watch
In mid-January 2009, Congolese government forces - initially supported by Rwandan Defense Forces and later by the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC - carried out military operations against two Rwandan militia groups, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD). According to the UN, recent fighting has forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in Lubero territory, North Kivu province, as they tried to flee rapidly shifting front lines, bringing to 250,000 the number of those who have fled since January.
"Civilians fleeing for their lives are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and are unsure where they can find safety," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "They urgently need protection and humanitarian assistance, but there are too few peacekeepers and UN agencies to help them."
Many have sought shelter in the villages and towns of Luofo, Kayna, Kirumba, Kanyabayonga, and Kasegbe, in Lubero territory, some of which were later attacked by the Rwandan militias. According to information collected by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lubero, at least 35 civilians have been killed, 91 women and girls raped, and hundreds of homes burned to the ground since the operations began. Both Rwandan fighters and Congolese army soldiers are responsible for the abuses, with each accusing civilians of supporting the other side. Promised additional UN peacekeeping forces have not yet arrived.
In an attack on April 17, five children were burned to death when Rwandan militias attacked Luofo village, where more than 12,000 displaced people had sought shelter. The attack appeared to be a reprisal against the population in response to the government's military operations. Local authorities said that two days after the attack they received a letter from one RUD militia commander stating that the people of Luofo would "continue to be burned and buried."
Similar reprisal killings by the other Rwandan militia, the FDLR, have been documented by Human Rights Watch in areas of North and South Kivu. Human Rights Watch repeated its call on the Rwandan militias to stop immediately its deliberate attacks on civilians, which constitute war crimes.
The attack on Luofo came only five days after the UN peacekeeping force withdrew its temporary operating base from the village following the arrival of Congolese army soldiers. With peacekeeping troops stretched sparsely across eastern Congo, UN officials said their presence was more urgently needed in other towns.
The UN has fewer than 400 peacekeepers in Lubero territory, in two bases at Kanyabayonga and Lubero, plus two recently established temporary bases at Luofo and Kirumba. Rwandan militias have threatened to attack next the neighboring towns of Kirumba and Kayna, which harbor over 35,000 displaced people.
The 3,000 additional peacekeepers authorized by the UN Security Council in November 2008 have still not arrived in eastern Congo, despite promises from council members that they would urge a rapid deployment. Helicopters and intelligence support, desperately needed by the mission, have also not materialized. On April 9 in New York, Alan Doss, the head of the UN peacekeeping force, warned the Security Council that, without such assets, MONUC's "capacity to respond quickly to emerging threats and protect civilians would be curtailed."
"UN Security Council members gave MONUC a strong mandate to protect civilians, but not the means to do so," said Van Woudenberg. "They should immediately provide the support they promised."
Congolese government soldiers responsible for protecting their citizens have themselves been involved in many of the abuses. Of the 91 women and girls known to have been victims of sexual violence in recent months, at least 56 reported they were raped by government soldiers, who often accused their victims of being the wives of FDLR combatants. Government troops, ill-disciplined and unpaid, have burned and pillaged hundreds of homes, arbitrarily arrested civilians, stolen their crops, and looted their property.
UN peacekeepers are involved in the joint military operations with Congolese government forces against Rwandan militias in what is known as Operation Kimia II. But peacekeepers have so far been unsuccessful in restraining government soldiers from committing abuses against civilians.
"Congolese authorities need to discipline abusive soldiers to bring the rape and looting to a halt," said Van Woudenberg. "UN officials should be clear that its peacekeepers cannot support military operations where Congolese soldiers are committing abuses against civilians."
Tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes are struggling to survive. Unable to harvest their crops, they are continually hungry and dependent on the limited help provided by already-overburdened host families. Few UN and humanitarian agencies are working in Lubero territory to provide the much-needed assistance, due to limited donor funds and lack of security to give them access to the people in need.
"More UN peacekeepers, improved protection, and increased humanitarian aid are desperately needed to help those at risk of further attacks in Lubero territory," said Van Woudenberg. "The cries of Congolese people in distress should not be ignored."
Source: Human Rights Watch
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
DR Congo: Brutal Rapes by Rebels and Army
Rwandan rebel forces, government army soldiers, and their allies have raped at least 90 women and girls since late January 2009 in the volatile North and South Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. The Rwandan rebel forces have also been implicated in the deaths of most of the 180 civilians killed during this period.
The United Nations Security Council will discuss on April 9 the latest report by the UN secretary-general on the peacekeeping force in Congo. Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to press the Congolese government to remove human rights abusers from its armed forces and end rights violations, including attacks against women and girls.
The Rwandan Hutu militia called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked and burned dozens of villages and towns in Masisi and Lubero territories (North Kivu) as well as in Kalehe territory (South Kivu) in recent weeks, committing numerous deliberate killings, rapes, and acts of looting. Blaming government military operations, the FDLR deliberately targeted civilians, used them as human shields, and accused civilians of having betrayed them. According to witnesses and victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the FDLR have been implicated in the killings of at least 154 civilians since January 23.
"The FDLR are deliberately killing and raping Congolese civilians as apparent punishment for the military operations against them," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Both the fighters who commit such horrific acts and the rebel commanders who permit them are responsible for war crimes."
The FDLR were temporarily pushed out of their military positions in January and February 2009 following the start of a joint military operation against them by Congolese and Rwandan troops on January 20. Following the withdrawal of Rwandan forces on February 24, military action diminished and the FDLR reoccupied many of their previous positions.
Most recently, at least seven civilians were killed and 24 others wounded during FDLR attacks in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch and Walikale in early April. On March 20, 2009, the FDLR attacked Buhuli, North Kivu, and four other nearby villages, killing at least five civilians, including two women, an elderly man, a 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy. On February 13, the FDLR attacked the village of Kipopo, killing at least 13 people, who were burned to death in their homes.
In late February, the FDLR abducted at least a dozen women and girls from Remeka, in Masisi territory, North Kivu. Two women who escaped reported that FDLR combatants brutally killed nine of the women and girls when they resisted attempts to rape them. The fate of the others is unknown.
The Congolese army has also been implicated in numerous rapes. In March, Congolese soldiers raped at least 21 women and girls in southern Masisi and northern Kalehe territories. Many of the victims were violently gang raped while the soldiers were on looting sprees.
On March 24, four women from Ziralo, South Kivu, were returning from the market when they were stopped by a group of army soldiers at a makeshift barricade. The soldiers took the sacks of food the women were carrying and then said they were going to examine the women's vaginas for any hidden money. The soldiers took the women into the nearby forest and gang raped each of them for hours. One woman was six-months pregnant and was raped so brutally that she lost her unborn child.
The recent killings by the rebel group are in addition to those perpetrated by its forces on January 27, when FDLR combatants hacked to death dozens of civilians used as human shields at their military position in Kibua. One witness at Kibua interviewed by Human Rights Watch saw an FDLR combatant batter a 10-year-old girl to death against a brick wall.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 250,000 people have fled their homes since January, adding to hundreds of thousands of others who fled earlier waves of violence.
The Congolese army says it is preparing for the next phase of operations against the FDLR, this time expanding the operations to South Kivu. The army has added over 10,000 additional soldiers from former Congolese rebel groups, including the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), the Coalition of Congolese Patriotic Resistance (PARECO), and other local militia groups. The rapidly mixed brigades of former enemies have been sent to the front lines with no salaries, rations, or any formal training, increasing the likelihood of future human rights violations.
Serious abuses against civilians by government soldiers have already been reported. Army soldiers killed at least five civilians in Lubero territory in March, some while on looting sprees. In Ziralo, an elderly man was killed by soldiers while they raped his wife and looted his home.
The rapid integration process has included no formal vetting mechanism to stop those with serious records of past human rights abuses from being promoted and integrated into the Congolese army.
Bosco Ntaganda, wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers and using them in hostilities, was promoted to the position of general in the Congolese army in January 2009. In addition to the ICC charges, Ntaganda has been accused of commanding troops that massacred 150 civilians at Kiwanja in North Kivu province in November 2008.
Jean-Pierre Biyoyo was recently appointed a colonel in the Congolese army despite being found guilty by a Congolese military court in March 2006 of recruiting child soldiers. He later escaped from prison. Both Ntaganda and Biyoyo play an important role in current military operations.
The Congolese army will be supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, in its military operations against the FDLR. MONUC says that its top priority is to protect civilians, but it is not clear how civilians will be protected against further attacks by either FDLR or Congolese army soldiers.
"Protection of civilians can only be taken seriously if known human rights abusers are removed from the ranks of the Congolese army," said Van Woudenberg. "The Security Council should seek an immediate answer from the Congolese government on when it will carry out such arrests and what it will do to stop further rape and killing by its troops before it gives any support to the military operations."
Source: Human Rights Watch
The United Nations Security Council will discuss on April 9 the latest report by the UN secretary-general on the peacekeeping force in Congo. Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to press the Congolese government to remove human rights abusers from its armed forces and end rights violations, including attacks against women and girls.
The Rwandan Hutu militia called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked and burned dozens of villages and towns in Masisi and Lubero territories (North Kivu) as well as in Kalehe territory (South Kivu) in recent weeks, committing numerous deliberate killings, rapes, and acts of looting. Blaming government military operations, the FDLR deliberately targeted civilians, used them as human shields, and accused civilians of having betrayed them. According to witnesses and victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the FDLR have been implicated in the killings of at least 154 civilians since January 23.
"The FDLR are deliberately killing and raping Congolese civilians as apparent punishment for the military operations against them," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Both the fighters who commit such horrific acts and the rebel commanders who permit them are responsible for war crimes."
The FDLR were temporarily pushed out of their military positions in January and February 2009 following the start of a joint military operation against them by Congolese and Rwandan troops on January 20. Following the withdrawal of Rwandan forces on February 24, military action diminished and the FDLR reoccupied many of their previous positions.
Most recently, at least seven civilians were killed and 24 others wounded during FDLR attacks in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch and Walikale in early April. On March 20, 2009, the FDLR attacked Buhuli, North Kivu, and four other nearby villages, killing at least five civilians, including two women, an elderly man, a 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy. On February 13, the FDLR attacked the village of Kipopo, killing at least 13 people, who were burned to death in their homes.
In late February, the FDLR abducted at least a dozen women and girls from Remeka, in Masisi territory, North Kivu. Two women who escaped reported that FDLR combatants brutally killed nine of the women and girls when they resisted attempts to rape them. The fate of the others is unknown.
The Congolese army has also been implicated in numerous rapes. In March, Congolese soldiers raped at least 21 women and girls in southern Masisi and northern Kalehe territories. Many of the victims were violently gang raped while the soldiers were on looting sprees.
On March 24, four women from Ziralo, South Kivu, were returning from the market when they were stopped by a group of army soldiers at a makeshift barricade. The soldiers took the sacks of food the women were carrying and then said they were going to examine the women's vaginas for any hidden money. The soldiers took the women into the nearby forest and gang raped each of them for hours. One woman was six-months pregnant and was raped so brutally that she lost her unborn child.
The recent killings by the rebel group are in addition to those perpetrated by its forces on January 27, when FDLR combatants hacked to death dozens of civilians used as human shields at their military position in Kibua. One witness at Kibua interviewed by Human Rights Watch saw an FDLR combatant batter a 10-year-old girl to death against a brick wall.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 250,000 people have fled their homes since January, adding to hundreds of thousands of others who fled earlier waves of violence.
The Congolese army says it is preparing for the next phase of operations against the FDLR, this time expanding the operations to South Kivu. The army has added over 10,000 additional soldiers from former Congolese rebel groups, including the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), the Coalition of Congolese Patriotic Resistance (PARECO), and other local militia groups. The rapidly mixed brigades of former enemies have been sent to the front lines with no salaries, rations, or any formal training, increasing the likelihood of future human rights violations.
Serious abuses against civilians by government soldiers have already been reported. Army soldiers killed at least five civilians in Lubero territory in March, some while on looting sprees. In Ziralo, an elderly man was killed by soldiers while they raped his wife and looted his home.
The rapid integration process has included no formal vetting mechanism to stop those with serious records of past human rights abuses from being promoted and integrated into the Congolese army.
Bosco Ntaganda, wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers and using them in hostilities, was promoted to the position of general in the Congolese army in January 2009. In addition to the ICC charges, Ntaganda has been accused of commanding troops that massacred 150 civilians at Kiwanja in North Kivu province in November 2008.
Jean-Pierre Biyoyo was recently appointed a colonel in the Congolese army despite being found guilty by a Congolese military court in March 2006 of recruiting child soldiers. He later escaped from prison. Both Ntaganda and Biyoyo play an important role in current military operations.
The Congolese army will be supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, in its military operations against the FDLR. MONUC says that its top priority is to protect civilians, but it is not clear how civilians will be protected against further attacks by either FDLR or Congolese army soldiers.
"Protection of civilians can only be taken seriously if known human rights abusers are removed from the ranks of the Congolese army," said Van Woudenberg. "The Security Council should seek an immediate answer from the Congolese government on when it will carry out such arrests and what it will do to stop further rape and killing by its troops before it gives any support to the military operations."
Source: Human Rights Watch
Monday, July 7, 2003
Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northern DRC
The war in Congo has been misdescribed as a local ethnic rivalry when in fact it represents an ongoing struggle for power at the national and international levels, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The 57-page report, ‘Covered in Blood’: Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northern DR Congo, provides evidence that combatants in the Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slaughtered some five thousand civilians in the last year because of their ethnic affiliation. But the combatants are armed and often directed by the governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda. A number of treaties and ceasefires, the most recent signed in Burundi on June 19, have supposedly ended the conflict between the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC, as well as Congolese rebel movements set to share power with the Kinshasa government. But the minor players—often the proxies for the principals—continue the war.
Source: Human Rights watch
Source: Human Rights watch
Wednesday, July 31, 2002
Rwanda and Congo Sign Accord to End War
The war for control of Congo appeared to edge a step closer to an end today, with the signing of an accord between two rivals, Presidents Joseph Kabila of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Meeting here in the South African capital, where the pact was drafted last week, the leaders shook hands, exchanged a few words and smiled almost shyly as a standing-room-only audience of diplomats, journalists and cabinet ministers looked on.
The war, which began almost four years ago, has ravaged Congo, killing more than 2.5 million people, many of them combatants but many more civilians who died of starvation or disease, cut off from food and medicine. The conflict has roiled much of Africa, sowing instability in already unstable places like Burundi and Angola. ''Without peace in this region, we couldn't talk about peace on continent generally,'' Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, said at the signing ceremony today. ''This matter is very crucial.''
The agreement signed today calls for Rwanda to withdraw its soldiers, who number in the tens of thousands, from a large part of eastern Congo controlled by Rwanda and its Congolese rebel allies since the war broke out in 1998. The Congolese government, which sits in Kinshasa in the west, agreed to disarm thousands of Hutu militiamen from Rwanda who fled across the border into Congo after perpetrating mass killings in 1994 that killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and moderate Hutu. ''No more blood must run,'' President Kabila said in his remarks before signing the agreement. Keeping that pledge will require swift, decisive steps, said François Grignon, the Central Africa director for the International Crisis Group, a research organization. It will also require trust and candor, Dr. Grignon said in a telephone interview from Nairobi. ''We need to see good will, and we have not seen good will yet.'' Even then, success is uncertain.
Disarming Rwandan militias and repatriating them to a country where they fear reprisals is bound to be difficult. Easing Zimbabwe out of Congo is another challenge. Zimbabwe has thousands of soldiers involved, some of them in lucrative business deals that they may be reluctant to abandon. Asked about the assorted obstacles, a senior South African official at the ceremony said, ''We have to start somewhere.'' South Africa knows that its fellow African nations to the north -- many now pocked by war and famine -- are ground for its economic might and political influence to grow. With the newly established African Union, President Mbeki has taken a leading role in the effort to create political stability, and the last few months have given him a great deal more hope than he might have had even a year ago.
Sudan, locked in civil war for nearly 20 years, is in the early stages of talks, although sporadic fighting persists. Angola, at war for most of the last three decades, is even farther along, after the death of the rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in February left his weary forces little choice but surrender. The war in Congo, the vast country known for decades as Zaire, has its origins in the toppling of the long-ruling dictator Mobuto Sese Seko in 1997. The coup's leader, Laurent Kabila, was initially backed by Rwanda and Uganda, but they soon fell out with him over his harboring of Hutu militiamen complicit in the Rwanda genocide.
In 1998, Rwanda and Uganda invaded eastern Congo and began backing rebels operating in the region, hoping to oust the man they had helped install barely a year before. Congo's army was outmatched by Rwanda's, but Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe came to Mr. Kabila's rescue, deploying thousands of soldiers. A peace agreement made in 1999 never took hold and fighting persisted, killing combatants by the thousands and civilians by the tens of thousands, mostly from disease and starvation. After Laurent Kabila was killed in January 2001, his son Joseph was installed as president. Although early signs were encouraging, the war persisted, defying one peace effort after another.
A turning point came earlier this year in Sun City, South Africa, during weeks of talks among hundreds of Congolese political and civic leaders delegated to lay the groundwork for the country's postwar future. After months of futility, negotiations seemed at the precipice of failure, but a last-minute initiative spearheaded by President Mbeki renewed hope of an agreement. One of the two principal rebel groups, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, backed by Uganda and based in the country's north, ultimately reached a power-sharing agreement with the Kabila government. Not so the other leading rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma, based in the east and backed by Rwanda. It held out, and the talks ended without a comprehensive agreement. Pressure on Rwanda from crucial allies like South Africa and the United States began to build.
Rwanda knew its options were up, and Congo, whose official name is the Democratic Republic of Congo, knew its chance was at hand, Dr. Grignon said. ''I think the pressure on Rwanda and the D.R.C. was so strong that they had to act,'' he said.
Source: New York Times
The war, which began almost four years ago, has ravaged Congo, killing more than 2.5 million people, many of them combatants but many more civilians who died of starvation or disease, cut off from food and medicine. The conflict has roiled much of Africa, sowing instability in already unstable places like Burundi and Angola. ''Without peace in this region, we couldn't talk about peace on continent generally,'' Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, said at the signing ceremony today. ''This matter is very crucial.''
The agreement signed today calls for Rwanda to withdraw its soldiers, who number in the tens of thousands, from a large part of eastern Congo controlled by Rwanda and its Congolese rebel allies since the war broke out in 1998. The Congolese government, which sits in Kinshasa in the west, agreed to disarm thousands of Hutu militiamen from Rwanda who fled across the border into Congo after perpetrating mass killings in 1994 that killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and moderate Hutu. ''No more blood must run,'' President Kabila said in his remarks before signing the agreement. Keeping that pledge will require swift, decisive steps, said François Grignon, the Central Africa director for the International Crisis Group, a research organization. It will also require trust and candor, Dr. Grignon said in a telephone interview from Nairobi. ''We need to see good will, and we have not seen good will yet.'' Even then, success is uncertain.
Disarming Rwandan militias and repatriating them to a country where they fear reprisals is bound to be difficult. Easing Zimbabwe out of Congo is another challenge. Zimbabwe has thousands of soldiers involved, some of them in lucrative business deals that they may be reluctant to abandon. Asked about the assorted obstacles, a senior South African official at the ceremony said, ''We have to start somewhere.'' South Africa knows that its fellow African nations to the north -- many now pocked by war and famine -- are ground for its economic might and political influence to grow. With the newly established African Union, President Mbeki has taken a leading role in the effort to create political stability, and the last few months have given him a great deal more hope than he might have had even a year ago.
Sudan, locked in civil war for nearly 20 years, is in the early stages of talks, although sporadic fighting persists. Angola, at war for most of the last three decades, is even farther along, after the death of the rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in February left his weary forces little choice but surrender. The war in Congo, the vast country known for decades as Zaire, has its origins in the toppling of the long-ruling dictator Mobuto Sese Seko in 1997. The coup's leader, Laurent Kabila, was initially backed by Rwanda and Uganda, but they soon fell out with him over his harboring of Hutu militiamen complicit in the Rwanda genocide.
In 1998, Rwanda and Uganda invaded eastern Congo and began backing rebels operating in the region, hoping to oust the man they had helped install barely a year before. Congo's army was outmatched by Rwanda's, but Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe came to Mr. Kabila's rescue, deploying thousands of soldiers. A peace agreement made in 1999 never took hold and fighting persisted, killing combatants by the thousands and civilians by the tens of thousands, mostly from disease and starvation. After Laurent Kabila was killed in January 2001, his son Joseph was installed as president. Although early signs were encouraging, the war persisted, defying one peace effort after another.
A turning point came earlier this year in Sun City, South Africa, during weeks of talks among hundreds of Congolese political and civic leaders delegated to lay the groundwork for the country's postwar future. After months of futility, negotiations seemed at the precipice of failure, but a last-minute initiative spearheaded by President Mbeki renewed hope of an agreement. One of the two principal rebel groups, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, backed by Uganda and based in the country's north, ultimately reached a power-sharing agreement with the Kabila government. Not so the other leading rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma, based in the east and backed by Rwanda. It held out, and the talks ended without a comprehensive agreement. Pressure on Rwanda from crucial allies like South Africa and the United States began to build.
Rwanda knew its options were up, and Congo, whose official name is the Democratic Republic of Congo, knew its chance was at hand, Dr. Grignon said. ''I think the pressure on Rwanda and the D.R.C. was so strong that they had to act,'' he said.
Source: New York Times
Thursday, June 20, 2002
Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo
Forces on all sides in the Congo conflict have committed war crimes against women and girls, Human Rights Watch said in a new 114-page report. The report documents the frequent and sometimes systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Rwandan-occupied areas of eastern Congo. The report, which is based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, and officials, details crimes of sexual violence committed by soldiers of the Rwandan army and its Congolese ally, the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie (RCD), as well as armed groups opposed to them – Congolese Mai Mai rebels, and Burundian and Rwandan armed groups. These combatants raped women and girls during military operations to punish the local civilian population for allegedly supporting the “enemy.” In other cases, Mai Mai rebels and other armed groups abducted women and girls and forced them to provide sexual services and domestic labor, sometimes for periods of more than a year.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Source: Human Rights Watch
Friday, January 19, 2001
A Nervous Congo Admits That Its President Is Dead
The Congo government finally announced today that President Laurent Kabila had died, two days after it was reported that he had been shot by a bodyguard. But it is not clear that the battle-worn and impoverished Congo is ready to accept his 31-year-old son as his successor. A Belgian businessman who lives in Kinshasa said the decision to name the son, Maj. Gen. Joseph Kabila, to lead the government seemed to increase tension here, a sentiment reflected on the streets. ''This is a government we have -- it's not a monarchy,'' said Moise Muamba, an 18-year-old student. ''They can't do what they did.''
The announcement on national television this evening that the president is dead gave no details of how he died. Most reports have said that he was shot by a bodyguard, apparently during an argument with some of his generals, and that he died while being flown to seek medical aid in Zimbabwe, which stood as his country's main ally, along with Angola. The government announcement said he had died today in a Zimbabwe hospital. In its announcement, the government also signaled its intention to continue the president's hard-line position toward a 29-month war against rebels that has thrown all of Central Africa into disorder.
Using the same language employed during Laurent Kabila's rule, the communications minister, Dominique Sakombi Inongo, said on state television that Mr. Kabila had left a testament to the army to ''flush the aggressors out of the national territory.'' The government has consistently described the war as an invasion from outside Congo and has refused to negotiate with the Congolese rebels, who are backed by Rwanda and Uganda. As the official announcement was being made, Congo rebels said their positions in the north were being bombed by government troops. The head of Congo Liberation Front, Jean-Pierre Bemba, reported the strikes to the news agency Agence France-Presse.
In the capital tonight, the streets were quiet, with a curfew still in place. People milling outside just before the start of the curfew reacted calmly to the death of Mr. Kabila, who marched into Kinshasa four years ago as the heroic victor over one of Africa's great dictators, Mobutu Sese Seko, but whose own dictatorial style had made him increasingly unpopular. ''There haven't been any positive things, so why should he be mourned?'' said Papy Masundi, 22, a trader who was sitting on a sidewalk and sharing a bottle of beer with four friends. One of his friends, Francis Basayi, 27, an apprentice taxi driver, said Mr. Kabila's death might now bring peace in Congo. ''If he wanted peace,'' Mr. Basayi said, ''peace would have come two years ago. He said he'd come to liberate us. But after all this time, we didn't see any change. The price of gasoline keeps climbing, and so does the price of food. Before I was doing a little well, but look at me now.''
Kinshasa was deserted Wednesday, a day after the shooting in the presidential palace, as people stayed home out of fear. But today taxis and buses started running again, and people returned to work all across Kinshasa, a sprawling city of five million that is like a carcass of houses, roads and sewers built by Belgian colonialists and abandoned by Congo's rulers. Ferry service on the great Congo River between here and Brazzaville, in the Congo Republic, remained closed. The government reopened the main airport, but most carriers stayed away because of insecurity. On one of the few planes that flew in and out of Kinshasa, many European and Lebanese women and children could be seen leaving the capital. Lebanese men, who fearlessly sustain businesses in the most unstable of African cities, typically send their wives and children away during crises -- and the men depart only when things fall apart completely.
After announcing the president's death tonight, state television showed images that tried to portray his son as having already taken control. It showed General Kabila receiving the ambassadors from Belgium, France, Britain, China and Russia, and an American Embassy representative, Barry Walkley. General Kabila, who has no political experience but who will be supported by his father's small inner circle, made no announcement of his own today. Little is known of him, other than that he received his military training in China after his father took over in 1997. Called back to this country after the outbreak of the current war in August 1998, Joseph Kabila was quickly given the rank of general. He is said to have been born in eastern Congo, near the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. His father was a small-time guerrilla fighter for three decades, most of them spent in the eastern region, before the Rwandans and Ugandans plucked him out of obscurity in 1997 to head a rebellion against Mr. Mobutu.
In Kinshasa, people were said to be unhappy about the son's ascension, not only because of its monarchical tinge, but for a far darker reason: His mother, people in Kinshasa say, is a Tutsi. The Tutsi ethnic group, which controls the governments in Burundi and Rwanda, are hated in this part of the country. It was Rwandan Tutsi -- the main victims of the 1994 massacre led by Hutu extremists -- who backed Laurent Kabila against Mr. Mobutu. But once Mr. Kabila arrived here in Kinshasa, he quickly turned against his former Tutsi patrons. Though he had helped the Tutsi exact revenge on Hutu extremists, Mr. Kabila did an about-face to side with these same Hutu. Many of the Congolese rebels who are backed by Rwanda are ethnic Tutsi. Called the Banyamulenge, they have lived in Congolese territory for generations but have never been accepted by other Congolese. After the outbreak of war in August 1998, Mr. Kabila often seized on Congolese hatred of Tutsi to rally his forces.
In Kinshasa, Mr. Kabila never brooked much freedom, and that legacy survived his death. Even as his government denied for two days that Mr. Kabila had been killed, the residents of Kinshasa heard the news on shortwave radio from France, Britain and the United States. People interviewed this evening, before the official announcement was made, were wary of speaking of his death. Most seemed afraid even of mentioning his name. ''It's difficult -- no one knows what's happening,'' said Christian Unshemvula, 29, who speaks English with an American accent and said he had studied at San Jose State University. ''I just want things to improve in this country, on the economic and political levels.'' Asked what effects Mr. Kabila's death might have on Congo's future, Mr. Unshemvula said: ''I'm not a politician. I don't know.''
The Kabila regime clamped down severely on its critics, and many of those interviewed today took the government line, which often seemed surreal. ''Since he's come into power, we've had peace,'' Alain Tshimwanga, 26, said of Laurent Kabila. ''Since he's been here, we've had no disruption.''
State television gave no details of Mr. Kabila's funeral. But the government of Belgium, the former colonial ruler, which was the first to announce Mr. Kabila's death on Tuesday night, said his body would be flown first to Lubumbashi, his hometown, and then here to Kinshasa. His funeral is expected to take place on Tuesday.
Source: New York Times
The announcement on national television this evening that the president is dead gave no details of how he died. Most reports have said that he was shot by a bodyguard, apparently during an argument with some of his generals, and that he died while being flown to seek medical aid in Zimbabwe, which stood as his country's main ally, along with Angola. The government announcement said he had died today in a Zimbabwe hospital. In its announcement, the government also signaled its intention to continue the president's hard-line position toward a 29-month war against rebels that has thrown all of Central Africa into disorder.
Using the same language employed during Laurent Kabila's rule, the communications minister, Dominique Sakombi Inongo, said on state television that Mr. Kabila had left a testament to the army to ''flush the aggressors out of the national territory.'' The government has consistently described the war as an invasion from outside Congo and has refused to negotiate with the Congolese rebels, who are backed by Rwanda and Uganda. As the official announcement was being made, Congo rebels said their positions in the north were being bombed by government troops. The head of Congo Liberation Front, Jean-Pierre Bemba, reported the strikes to the news agency Agence France-Presse.
In the capital tonight, the streets were quiet, with a curfew still in place. People milling outside just before the start of the curfew reacted calmly to the death of Mr. Kabila, who marched into Kinshasa four years ago as the heroic victor over one of Africa's great dictators, Mobutu Sese Seko, but whose own dictatorial style had made him increasingly unpopular. ''There haven't been any positive things, so why should he be mourned?'' said Papy Masundi, 22, a trader who was sitting on a sidewalk and sharing a bottle of beer with four friends. One of his friends, Francis Basayi, 27, an apprentice taxi driver, said Mr. Kabila's death might now bring peace in Congo. ''If he wanted peace,'' Mr. Basayi said, ''peace would have come two years ago. He said he'd come to liberate us. But after all this time, we didn't see any change. The price of gasoline keeps climbing, and so does the price of food. Before I was doing a little well, but look at me now.''
Kinshasa was deserted Wednesday, a day after the shooting in the presidential palace, as people stayed home out of fear. But today taxis and buses started running again, and people returned to work all across Kinshasa, a sprawling city of five million that is like a carcass of houses, roads and sewers built by Belgian colonialists and abandoned by Congo's rulers. Ferry service on the great Congo River between here and Brazzaville, in the Congo Republic, remained closed. The government reopened the main airport, but most carriers stayed away because of insecurity. On one of the few planes that flew in and out of Kinshasa, many European and Lebanese women and children could be seen leaving the capital. Lebanese men, who fearlessly sustain businesses in the most unstable of African cities, typically send their wives and children away during crises -- and the men depart only when things fall apart completely.
After announcing the president's death tonight, state television showed images that tried to portray his son as having already taken control. It showed General Kabila receiving the ambassadors from Belgium, France, Britain, China and Russia, and an American Embassy representative, Barry Walkley. General Kabila, who has no political experience but who will be supported by his father's small inner circle, made no announcement of his own today. Little is known of him, other than that he received his military training in China after his father took over in 1997. Called back to this country after the outbreak of the current war in August 1998, Joseph Kabila was quickly given the rank of general. He is said to have been born in eastern Congo, near the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. His father was a small-time guerrilla fighter for three decades, most of them spent in the eastern region, before the Rwandans and Ugandans plucked him out of obscurity in 1997 to head a rebellion against Mr. Mobutu.
In Kinshasa, people were said to be unhappy about the son's ascension, not only because of its monarchical tinge, but for a far darker reason: His mother, people in Kinshasa say, is a Tutsi. The Tutsi ethnic group, which controls the governments in Burundi and Rwanda, are hated in this part of the country. It was Rwandan Tutsi -- the main victims of the 1994 massacre led by Hutu extremists -- who backed Laurent Kabila against Mr. Mobutu. But once Mr. Kabila arrived here in Kinshasa, he quickly turned against his former Tutsi patrons. Though he had helped the Tutsi exact revenge on Hutu extremists, Mr. Kabila did an about-face to side with these same Hutu. Many of the Congolese rebels who are backed by Rwanda are ethnic Tutsi. Called the Banyamulenge, they have lived in Congolese territory for generations but have never been accepted by other Congolese. After the outbreak of war in August 1998, Mr. Kabila often seized on Congolese hatred of Tutsi to rally his forces.
In Kinshasa, Mr. Kabila never brooked much freedom, and that legacy survived his death. Even as his government denied for two days that Mr. Kabila had been killed, the residents of Kinshasa heard the news on shortwave radio from France, Britain and the United States. People interviewed this evening, before the official announcement was made, were wary of speaking of his death. Most seemed afraid even of mentioning his name. ''It's difficult -- no one knows what's happening,'' said Christian Unshemvula, 29, who speaks English with an American accent and said he had studied at San Jose State University. ''I just want things to improve in this country, on the economic and political levels.'' Asked what effects Mr. Kabila's death might have on Congo's future, Mr. Unshemvula said: ''I'm not a politician. I don't know.''
The Kabila regime clamped down severely on its critics, and many of those interviewed today took the government line, which often seemed surreal. ''Since he's come into power, we've had peace,'' Alain Tshimwanga, 26, said of Laurent Kabila. ''Since he's been here, we've had no disruption.''
State television gave no details of Mr. Kabila's funeral. But the government of Belgium, the former colonial ruler, which was the first to announce Mr. Kabila's death on Tuesday night, said his body would be flown first to Lubumbashi, his hometown, and then here to Kinshasa. His funeral is expected to take place on Tuesday.
Source: New York Times
Sunday, October 29, 2000
South Africa's Arms Trade: Further Progress Needed
South Africa is not living up to its own high standards with respect to arms exports, Human Rights Watch charged. In a 45-page report, "A Question of Principle: Arms Trade and Human Rights," Human Rights Watch charged the South African government with selling weapons to countries with serious human rights problems, where an influx of weaponry could significantly worsen ongoing abuses.
In a 45-page report released today, "A Question of Principle: Arms Trade and Human Rights," Human Rights Watch charged the South African government with selling weapons to countries with serious human rights problems, where an influx of weaponry could significantly worsen ongoing abuses.
Human Rights Watch noted that after 1994, South Africa announced more restrictive policies on arms transfers. But the report charges that those policies are not always being followed. In 1994, a scandal erupted involving the sale by Armscor, the apartheid-era governmental arms export agency, of weapons to Yemen for probable on-shipment to the former Yugoslavia, then under U.N. embargo.
"South Africa has come a long way in overturning apartheid's awful legacy," said Joost Hiltermann, Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. "In the arms trade, the country has committed to some very good human rights principles. But these principles are not consistently applied and are now under real threat."
The Human Rights Watch report cited examples of weapons sales since 1994 to governments engaging in repression against their own people or to countries involved in their own or others' civil wars. These sales clearly violated South Africa's own stated policies. Purchasers of South African arms include Algeria, Angola, Colombia, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), India, Namibia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Hiltermann noted that South Africa has a strong record in other areas involving the nexus of military policy and human rights. The South African government has taken firm position on banning antipersonnel landmines, and has been one of the world's leaders in implementing the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. It has taken important steps to curb the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons in southern Africa, and passed a law on mercenaries in 1998, which prohibited South African citizens from participating in either internal or international armed conflicts. But Hiltermann urged that the South African government do more to institutionalize the important policy reforms on arms sales made since the first democratic elections in 1994. "First and foremost, South Africa should formalize in law the arms export policies that the government has declared on paper, which include a code of conduct on arms transfers," said Hiltermann. He also urged a more significant role for parliament and civil society in arms trade decisions.
Human Rights Watch called on South Africa to:
· establish a legal framework for its arms export policy;
· enhance the capacity of government officials to assess the human rights implications of arms transfers;
· increase the participation of parliament and civil society in arms trade decisions;
· make a greater commitment to full transparency in arms exports.
Source: Human Rights Watch
In a 45-page report released today, "A Question of Principle: Arms Trade and Human Rights," Human Rights Watch charged the South African government with selling weapons to countries with serious human rights problems, where an influx of weaponry could significantly worsen ongoing abuses.
Human Rights Watch noted that after 1994, South Africa announced more restrictive policies on arms transfers. But the report charges that those policies are not always being followed. In 1994, a scandal erupted involving the sale by Armscor, the apartheid-era governmental arms export agency, of weapons to Yemen for probable on-shipment to the former Yugoslavia, then under U.N. embargo.
"South Africa has come a long way in overturning apartheid's awful legacy," said Joost Hiltermann, Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. "In the arms trade, the country has committed to some very good human rights principles. But these principles are not consistently applied and are now under real threat."
The Human Rights Watch report cited examples of weapons sales since 1994 to governments engaging in repression against their own people or to countries involved in their own or others' civil wars. These sales clearly violated South Africa's own stated policies. Purchasers of South African arms include Algeria, Angola, Colombia, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), India, Namibia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Hiltermann noted that South Africa has a strong record in other areas involving the nexus of military policy and human rights. The South African government has taken firm position on banning antipersonnel landmines, and has been one of the world's leaders in implementing the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. It has taken important steps to curb the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons in southern Africa, and passed a law on mercenaries in 1998, which prohibited South African citizens from participating in either internal or international armed conflicts. But Hiltermann urged that the South African government do more to institutionalize the important policy reforms on arms sales made since the first democratic elections in 1994. "First and foremost, South Africa should formalize in law the arms export policies that the government has declared on paper, which include a code of conduct on arms transfers," said Hiltermann. He also urged a more significant role for parliament and civil society in arms trade decisions.
Human Rights Watch called on South Africa to:
· establish a legal framework for its arms export policy;
· enhance the capacity of government officials to assess the human rights implications of arms transfers;
· increase the participation of parliament and civil society in arms trade decisions;
· make a greater commitment to full transparency in arms exports.
Source: Human Rights Watch
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