News About Congo

Report on Congo Massacres Draws Anger

Genocide: Did Rwanda migrate from victim to perpetrator?

U.N. Report on Congo Massacres Draws Anger - NYTimes.com.

The United Nations on Friday officially released a much disputed report on massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has drawn the ire of several countries, especially Rwanda, whose forces were accused of possibly committing genocide.

The report paints a harrowing picture of the conflict in Congo from 1993 to 2003, with foreign armies from a half-dozen African countries slaughtering countless civilians across a vast stretch of territory, often in the quest for minerals.

No country is depicted favorably in the Congo report. Ugandan forces are accused of torturing civilians. Rwandan troops are blamed for systematically hunting down refugees. Angolan forces are said to have raped women and looted hospitals. Zimbabwean planes carried out indiscriminate air raids, the report asserts, and Chadian troops burned homes.

The final report is slightly watered down compared with the draft copies, with a few more qualifications in the language.

UN Pass a Resolution Against Four Rwandan Rebel Leaders

The United States, United Nations, France, and other countries froze assets and imposed a travel ban on four rebel leaders from Rwanda.

 

United States and United Nations Sanctions on Top Leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda

 

Today, March 3, the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) designated four leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Those designated by the Committee are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban. The individuals designated include: Callixte Mbarushimana, Stansislas Nzeyimana, Pacifique Ntawunguka, and Leopold Mujyambere.

The United States also domestically designated these individuals pursuant to Executive Order 13413, which targets certain persons contributing to conflict in the DRC. As a result, these men’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.

The FDLR (an armed group of ex-Rwandese Armed Forces, Interahamwe, and other Hutu extremists including those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide) has continued to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in the DRC, significantly contributing to the instability and insecurity of the Great Lakes region. We support the governments of the DRC and Rwanda in their efforts to end the FDLR threat; we urge the FDLR to respect humanitarian law, protect civilians and undergo peaceful disarmament and demobilization; and we encourage rank-and-file FDLR members to voluntarily disarm and repatriate to Rwanda.

We encourage all UN Member States to continue to identify and bring to the attention of the DRC Sanctions Committee individuals and entities who meet the designation criteria in paragraph 4 of UN Security Council resolution 1857 (2008).

 

In Congo, It's the Africans solving African problems with the US' Help

The US pressured the Congolese government into working with its other allies (Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan) in the Great Lakes.  Africans solving African problems with the US' help. 

DR Congo outsources its military

The Democratic Republic of Congo - a country with the trappings of sovereignty but not much modern government or control outside the main cities - is waking up to its limitations.

DR Congo has invited in foreign armies to help deal with its lawless regions. It is a joint military operation that is highly unusual in Africa.

The militaries of three foreign countries - Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - are now operating in or around the edges of DR Congo.

But unlike in previous times, the foreign armies have not invaded against the will of the authorities in the capital Kinshasa.

They were invited in by the Congolese government to deal with rebel movements that Kinshasa admits it - and the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, in DR Congo - cannot handle.

To be accurate, the word "invited" is not quite right.

Kinshasa was persuaded by United States pressure to accept the foreigners.

The US is allied to Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - all of which, in various ways, are opposed to the US bogeyman in the region, the Islamist regime based in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. (South Sudan is de facto quasi-independent from Khartoum after winning control of the south after a long war.)

Rwandan Soldiers leave Congo after Joint Operation

A new era in cooperation just happened between Rwanda and Congo.  The Rwandan Army came and left Congo.  That's unbelievable!

Rwanda begins DR Congo pull-out after joint operation

Rwandan troops began pulling out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday after a controversial joint operation with Congolese troops against Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Rwandan military trucks crossed the border between the two nations just before 1200 GMT, while some 1,500 soldiers followed them on foot.

The retreat came after a ceremony in the eastern Nord-Kivu capital of Goma between Congolese and Rwandan officials who underscored their agreement to work for peace, following years of warfare and tensions.

Rwandan Troops Officially Cross into Congo

Is this a new era in Great Lakes' cooperation?  Rwandan government troops crossed into Congo to hunt Rwandan Hutu rebels.  This event is on the heels of the Tutsi rebels rejecting their leader, Nkunda, and vowing to join the Congolese army.

Nkunda had long said he was operating in Congo to protect his Tutsi people from the Hutus.

Rwandan troops enter Congo to hunt Hutu rebels | Reuters.

KIBATI, Congo, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Up to 2,000 Rwandan troops crossed into eastern Congo on Tuesday under a December agreement between the two countries to hunt down Rwandan Hutu rebels, Congo's government and United Nations peacekeepers said.

After an offensive last year by Congolese Tutsi rebels, who say they need to defend themselves against the Rwandan Hutu fighters, the Rwandan and Congolese governments agreed on Dec. 5 to launch joint operations against the Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels.

"The operations are beginning. We have invited Rwandan officers with their security contingents for their safety. They are observers ... The operations to disarm the FDLR are planned for length of 10 to 15 days," Lambert Mende, Congo's information minister and government spokesman, told Reuters.

A List of 1994 Genocide Suspects

The Rwandan governments provided a list of suspects from the 1994 Genocide to the Congolese government.  That's the slow arm of justice at work.

allAfrica.com: Rwanda: Govt Welcomes DRC Stand On 1994 Genocide Suspects (Page 1 of 1).

The Government has expressed optimism over recent comments by the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, that his country was analysing the list of over 6,900 individuals suspected to have taken part in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis.

Under the Tripartite Plus agreement, Rwanda provided DRC with a list of 6,945 names of people responsible for the 1994 Genocide who are currently in the vast central African country.

The Longtime Cancer of African Civil Wars

Conflicts in and between Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda affect the whole Great Lakes Region.

allAfrica.com: Rwanda: Africans Better Positioned to End Wars (Page 1 of 1).

Africa's Great Lakes region has also in the recent years experienced political strife, armed conflict and population displacements with severe humanitarian consequences. The Great Lakes Region, which comprises of Burundi, Uganda the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Tanzania, have had long time cancer of civil wars.

Of course, the latter country has been a victim due to its proximity to the war ravaged areas. The regional conflict in the Great Lakes continues to affect the lives of millions of people.

The peace process in the DRC is ongoing but has largely stalled without the cooperation from the protagonists and as a result, conflict is not ending. There is however, likelihood that the fresh talks between the DRC and Rwanda may end the long-term conflict. Otherwise, there is little chance that the humanitarian situation in conflict-affected areas will improve.