Gazing in the Congo (DRC): the dark heart of Africa (2006-2017)

[Colin Robinson]

Probably anyone who's interested has already seen that the UN Mapping Report has been leaked on Scribd.com, but just in case:-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38549929/U...ed-Aug-27-2010

Cheers

[M-A Lagrange]

Two Genocide suspects arrested in Belgium
from Brussels indicate that Belgian authorities, Tuesday morning, arrested two Rwandans accused of taking part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Ernest Gakwaya, alias Camarade, and Emmanuel Nkunzuwimye, also known as Bomboko, were picked up from their residences, in the wee hours and taken into custody.

Both were notorious members of the Interahamwe militia,

When contacted, the Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, told The New Times that his office has not been officially informed, but had heard about it.

“We have for years, been jointly working with Belgian investigators on these cases. The arrests do not come as a surprise, it was expected,” Ngoga said.

According to survivors, Ernest Gakwaya, alias Camarade, is a notorious name in Nyamirambo, a popular Kigali suburb. As an ardent member of the Interahamwe 16 years ago, he left an indelible mark in the widespread killings during the Genocide.

Nkunzuwimye, on the other hand, was the side-kick of Jean Marie Vianney Mudahinyuka, alias Zuzu, Who was recently deported from the USA.

He is currently serving a 19-year jail sentence that had been passed down in absentia by a Gacaca court.

Difficult to say it's a bad news. But difficult to say it's a good one. The both of them were invited by Kagame in Rwanda and would have remained un arrested if they decided to stay there.
But still, one by one... The hunt is going on

[davidbfpo]

A US observer directed my attention to this book, the full title is: ''Dancing in the glory of monsters: The collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa' by Jason K. Stearns, which was reviewed in the Washington Post:http://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...BQE_story.html

This thread has a strong Rwandan theme and so I enjoyed this military feat:

Stearns describes the Kitona airlift of 1998, a daring raid that, had it been carried out by Americans, would be the subject of movies. Instead of advancing on foot again, the Rwandans commandeered a Boeing 707 and sent a tiny force leapfrogging across the country, hoping to take the capital, Kinshasa, by surprise. They had a secret deal that the Congolese garrison at a nearby airstrip would switch sides and welcome them, but they were not sure it would be honored. As they approached, the pilot fretted that they would be shot down. The top Rwandan officer on board told him not to worry and radioed to a man he said was the commander on the ground. A surprisingly clear voice reassured the pilot that it was safe to land. He did not realize that he was talking to a Rwandan officer lounging in the back of the plane. The Rwandans captured the airstrip, flew in reinforcements, seized a dam and cut off the power supply to Kinshasa....

Link to Amazon.com for reviews plus:http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Glory-...4940958&sr=1-1

[Stan]

Nice link David.
Speaking however of movie themes, I believe the history of what most call "Africa's World War" has a slightly different twist regarding Kitona and the RPA. While the Zairians viewed the Bas Zaire Province as something of strategic significance (oil, a port and a hydroelectric power dam), little worked even in 1990. There was no oil, the Port of Matadi was a den of thieves, Kitona tower couldn't be raised any day of the week, and the Shaba electric dam routinely shut down for up to 8 hours a day due to lack of skilled maintenance personnel (previously handled under a USG contract) and frequent outages.

The former Zairian soldiers at Kitona were literally exiled there for "retraining" and even on a good day would offer little resistance to anyone offering food and money.

Lastly, there wasn't even a popular uprising in the suburbs other than some ceremoniously burned tires and dead bodies (which Zairians do with elections and paydays).

If it didn't already look bleak for the Rwandans and Ugandans, the sight of Angolan tanks and aircraft must have scared the bejesus out of those still left wondering where to turn

Most of us tend to think it was ironic that the Rwandans would naively place Kabila into power (much like the US did with Uncle Mobutu) and then, when he no longer wanted to play they could just dust him off. Well, at least their plan included killing him instead of beating him with political rhetoric

[davidbfpo]

Another review of ''Dancing in the glory of monsters' by Jason Stearns:http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/691...he-congo.thtml

I noted it referred to Stearns having:

a consistently illuminating blog on DRC...

and identified as:http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/

The Spectator has a column on a visit to:

Kisangani, capital of the province of Orientale, DRC

which I expect sees few non-commercial visitors:http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/al...notebook.thtml

[carl]

I read "Dancing In the Glory of Monsters" and liked it. It is not a detailed historical narrative of the conflict and how it progressed. It is more like a series of stories about individuals and their experiences in different phases of the conflict and in different places. The author ties these together and puts them in context with an overview of what was happening and why, but the book is primarily a vehicle to tell the stories of the individuals. I would guess for somebody like Stan who has seen it and heard all the stories it might not be so high up on the list but for somebody like me who doesn't know much about the origins of the various peoples in the Congo, it was very useful.

I did find it a little disappointing that in cases, the Rwanda vs. Uganda fights in Kisangani for example, the book sets up the conflict, tells story of people caught up in it, but then doesn't say how it ended, except to say that it did.

The book make it clear that the Rwandan Army is a very interesting force that is probably worth a book of its own. There may be one out there but I don't know.

[JMA]

For those who have access to Al Jazeera (and are interested) there is a 1-hr programme- Murder in Kinshasa - scheduled for Tuesday 7 June @ 14h00 South African time. About the death of Laurent Kabila.