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

[Penta]

Despite the magnitude of the AIDS crisis, extended family networks have proven remarkably resilient in providing support for the children of AIDS suffers and victims, and (appropriately, I think) the current thrust is to empower current care givers with individual and community resources--not to rip children away from their village or other support systems.

I take your point. Yes, my previous post was harsh - however, the reality is that while these efforts seem to do well on individual levels, I'm not sure they enact the kind of sweeping, societal-level change that seems necessary for things to go from "crisis to crisis" to where Africa as a continent isn't written off.

I don't think we'll ever see Africa as a rich continent, but I do think most would be happy if it were sort of middling, not constantly at the bottom of the list.

[Norfolk]

I have to admit, that as far as orphans went, Penta's proposal sounded pretty reasonable on the face of things. And that's how I understood it as differing from the residential school system in Canada, where children were taken by the Government from their own families. But as Stan points out, there are still extended family in place to care for orphans, and that indeed starkly underlines Tequila's and Rex's citations of the disastrous consequences of such an approach. That leaves me fresh out of ideas.

[Stan]

Hmmm, we actually got the rebels to attend (I seriously doubted they would), and the president backs out. What signal does that now send ?

A roundtable Conference on Peace, Security and Development in the Kivus opened on Sunday at Université Libre des pays des Grands Lacs in Goma without the presence of DR Congo President Joseph Kabila.

Being the prominent authority that initiated the conference, Kabila had been expected to attend Sunday's opening, at least to highlight the importance he accorded to it, but he surprisingly pulled out at the last minute. President Kabila's failure to attend has been interpreted by analysts as a sign that nothing tangible will come out of the ongoing conference.

More at the link...

[selil]

Aboriginal residential schools in North America, were generally a disaster--having taught on a reserve, I can tell you they were regarded by those who had experienced them with hatred (not too strong a word.. if anything, it understates the legacies of abuse, cultural paternalism, and alienation).

Having been a police officer on an Indian reservation "hatred" is not strong enough to describe the thoughts of those "schools". At to the postulated idea I'm not sure it wouldn't become rife with issues quickly.

[Penta]

Oh, it probably would. There are a number I can pose - not the least of which being that unless you did it for every one of the millions of orphans (logistically impossible), you create kids who weren't socialized in society, and have nothing tying them to anyone. Anomie aplenty.

I never did say it would be a good idea...But that it was an idea.

I'm not sure any good ideas exist - I fully suspect that even having these kids being raised by relatives leaves them battered and broken as a result of that. (For instance, if they aren't fully accepted by their caretakers.)

However, tribalism was noted as an issue for Africa, as were AIDS orphans.

To me, that bad-idea-upon-further-examination...Did provide a potential solution. The problem, of course, is one of scale, and the human capacity to turn even the best-intentioned program to evil ends.

Something that would provide abundant opportunities for.

[ancien]

I Have no experience about the Indian schools, but there was a program in the 50's in the Britisch colonies. At that time it was very revolutionary. The colonies where about landownership, governance, economics and segregationlaws. That program conciderded schooling, governance and multicultural livingconditions between africans, europeans and asians. Because of the sociale revolution true Africa the project stoped and only a schoolingproject for africans in the UK is still active today.
That man whas col. David Stirling.

grtz

[Stan]

This comes a barely a surprise. Why would an otherwise known criminal attend peace talks

...rebels suspended participation in peace talks taking place in the eastern town of Goma after one of their delegates was arrested by security officials.

Reliable sources say Major Seraphin Mirindi, the military spokesman for dissident forces loyal to General Laurent Nkunda, was arrested Wednesday afternoon outside the venue of the peace talks called by the Congolese government.

The arrest angered the CNDP delegates who immediately pulled out of the talks in protest over what they said was deliberate harassment by the Congolese government.

Wrong Man Row Leads to Rebel Talks Boycott

Insurgents have walked out of a conference aimed at restoring peace and stability to the eastern Kivu provinces after one of their number was mistaken for a fugitive assassin of the late president Laurent Kabila and briefly arrested.

The conference only got off the ground on 9 January, after several days' delay caused by logisitical problems and rows over exactly who was entitled to attend.

"We have temporarily suspended our participation in this conference because we want official safety guarantees," head of the rebel delegation Kambasu Ngeve told IRIN.

[Stan]

18 January 2008 – Delegates at the United Nations

...backed conference have discussed the possibility of amnesty for certain belligerents, including dissident General Laurent Nkunda.

Participants also discussed the integration of Nkunda fighters into the brassage process, whereby ex-combatants from armed groups are retrained to form part of the national armed forces of the DRC (FARDC), as well as the need to respond to refugee concerns.

The conference is scheduled to conclude on 21 January.

Meanwhile, the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, reports that two days of violent clashes in Bunia between Government troops and the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front militia has left two soldiers dead and another two wounded, while seven militiamen were captured.

[Stan]

KINSHASA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government and warring rebel and militia factions will sign a deal on Tuesday to end fighting in the country's conflict-torn east...

The agreement, which will include a ceasefire, was announced following more than two weeks of talks in Goma, capital of eastern North Kivu province, that brought together government officials, local leaders and rival armed factions.

"(A ceasefire) will be signed tomorrow at the closing ceremony," Vital Kamerhe, spokesman for the peace conference and head of Congo's lower house of parliament, told Reuters.

Under the deal to be signed, an immediate permanent ceasefire would be established between the government, the Mai Mai and Nkunda, diplomats and observers at the talks said.

Nkunda's fighters would pull back from advanced positions in North Kivu, many of which they have held since the failure of a government offensive in December. This would create space for a buffer zone to be patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers.

A technical commission would then be established to oversee the disarmament of the Nkunda rebels and Mai Mai fighters and their integration into the national army, or demobilisation.

The government would, in turn, promise to create a law granting amnesty to the Mai Mai and Nkunda rebels covering "insurgency and acts of war".

[Stan]

UN News, 23 January 2008 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the agreement reached today between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and armed groups in the country’s war-torn east...

Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson that he “is very encouraged by the commitment of the armed groups of North and South Kivu to end all hostilities” reflected in the ‘Actes d’engagement’ signed by these groups and the Government.

In a related development, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of the DRC will soon sign an agreement worth $390 million for a good governance project.

The initiative, to run from this year until 2012, is a UNDP-led effort to promote stable and legitimate governance, as well as economic, judicial and security sector reform.

[Stan]

KINSHASA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Congo's government has not renewed an arrest warrant for war crimes against rebel General Laurent Nkunda and he can be given amnesty under a peace deal signed with his rebel group this week, officials said on Friday.

Doubts over the amnesty status of the renegade Tutsi general had raised fears of possible obstacles to the ceasefire pact between Democratic Republic of Congo's government and warring eastern rebel and militia factions. It was signed on Wednesday.

The accord, hailed by diplomats and analysts as the best chance in years of achieving peace offers an amnesty covering acts of war and insurgency but it does not cover war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

President Joseph Kabila's government had previously said Nkunda was the subject of an arrest warrant for war crimes allegedly committed when his fighters briefly occupied the eastern city of Bukavu in 2004, when he launched his revolt.

But a member of the government delegation that helped negotiate the peace deal told Reuters this war crimes arrest warrant against Nkunda had not been renewed.

[Stan]

The peace agreement signed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Goma tells it all.

Instead of just signing at the bottom of the agreement, on each and every of its 10 pages are scribbled signatures of the participants: the rebel groups, the government representative, United Nations, US and European Union.

Then there are the religious groups and civil society.

All signed up, but just how committed are they?

And is this really the end of the war in eastern DR Congo?

Rebels 'threaten DR Congo deal'

Rwandan Hutu fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo could jeopardise the new peace pact, DR Congo's UN ambassador Atoki Ileka has admitted.

Renegade rebel Gen Laurent Nkunda, who says he has been fighting to protect DR Congo's Tutsi community, signed the agreement, dependent on them disarming.

But a Hutu rebel representative told the BBC the group would not leave DR Congo until Rwanda agreed to negotiate.

Neither the Rwandan government nor representatives of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - more commonly referred to as the Interahamwe - took part in the talks where the peace deal was negotiated.

[ancien]

If the FDLR whould leave where whould they go to

[Tom Odom]

If the FDLR whould leave where whould they go to

Straight down where it is always hot

And I don't mean China

Tom

[Stan]

Straight down where it is always hot

And I don't mean China

Tom

Not so Blind....As Tom once said

À bon chat, bon rat. I'm thinking they'll melt into the 'bush' and we'll see them again. Well armed and just as feisty as the day they started.

[Stan]

Although I was fairly skeptical about this new peace deal, I would've given it a week or month before things went south

GOMA, DRCongo, Jan 28, 2008 (AFP) - The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Monday it has sent patrols to check on reports that rival armed groups in the eastern Kivu provinces have violated a ceasefire, signed just five days ago.

"We have received information concerning fighting between different factions," including those backing renegade general Laurent Nkunda and the Mai Mai militias, said Sylvie van den Wildenberg, spokeswoman for the UN mission (MONUC) in the Nord Kivu region.

On January 23, Nkunda's group along with warring militias in Nord- and Sud-Kivu provinces and the Kinshasa government signed an "act of engagement" to cease fighting at a regional peace conference in Goma, Nord-Kivu's capital.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese Tutsi rebels and Mai Mai militia clashed on Monday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, breaking a ceasefire signed last week...

Tutsi fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda and Pareco Mai Mai militia, who both signed a peace accord on Wednesday, blamed each other for the fighting around villages 70 km (44 miles) west of the town of Goma.

No details of casualties were immediately available and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said it could not confirm who had attacked first.

The latest fighting broke out near the villages of Lusirandaka and Kasake at dawn on Monday.

"This is a serious violation of the ceasefire that we've just signed," Seraphin Mirindi, a military spokesman for Nkunda, told Reuters.

[Jedburgh]

USIP, 29 Jan 08: Elections in the DRC: The Bemba Surprise

Summary

• The surprising showing of Jean-Pierre Bemba in the 2006 presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has its roots in the histories of both the candidate and his party in the conflict in the DRC.

• However, the space for opposition politics in the DRC is rapidly closing. With weak political institutions in place, the government increasingly relies on strong-handedness at home even as it is looking abroad for financing and infrastructure Development.

• The violence in eastern DRC poses great challenges for the new government but also opportunities for external actors to support peacebuilding efforts by working multilaterally.

• Should President Joseph Kabila’s progressive weakening continue and a leadership vacuum emerge, Bemba would be a strong candidate to fill it.

Complete 16 page report at the link.

[Stan]

Congolese authorities yesterday arrested Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, former chief of staff of the Front for National Integration (FNI), an ethnic Lendu-based militia group that committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ituri district of northeastern Congo.

"Ngudjolo's arrest shows that justice will reach those who seem untouchable because of their official position," said Param-Preet Singh, counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The arrest brings hope to the many victims of war crimes in Ituri that other political and military officials will be held to account."

Unlike the previous two ICC suspects who were already in Congolese detention at the time of arrest, Ngudjolo was not in custody when the ICC served its warrant. Human Rights Watch said that effective cooperation among the Congolese government, the ICC and other partners made Ngudjolo's arrest possible, and expressed hope that such cooperation would be repeated in the future.

A third former rebel commander accused of committing atrocities in the Ituri district of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to be tried on charges of war crimes, including murder, conscription of children and sexual enslavement, a spokesman for the tribunal said.

Col Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, a former commander of the Fronts Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes (FNI) rebel group, whose ex-fighters were recently integrated into the national army, was on 7 February flown from Kinshasa to The Hague for trial, according to Paul Madidi, ICC's spokesman in the DRC capital.

"He is accused, among things, of having played a key role in the planning and implementation of a massacre in the village Bogoro, attacking civilians of the Hema ethnic group and recruiting children under the age of 15," said Madidi. He is also alleged to have murdered about 200 civilians and carried out arbitrary arrests.

"Ngudjolo will also be charged with the sexual enslavement of many women and girls," Madidi added.

[Tom Odom]

The lastest security updates from the DRC. Sometimes an accidental phrase as in the title of this post says more than the entire report.

Subject: Security Sit Rep March 08/10Hi,Security forces launched an assault on the BDK headquarters in the capital of the western Bas-Congo province, Matadi, in the early afternoon on Saturday as sect members regrouped inside. Witnesses and local officials told Reuters that the BDK headquarters had been burned and by late afternoonwas occupied by police. Reports of two causalities and lots of wounded are not confirmed yet.Skirmishes were reported over the weekend in Masisi and Walikale when PARECOmilitia and FDLR rebels exchanged fire in Kashebere for not revealed reasons. Likewise, some PARECO militiamen and CNDP Nkunda forces clashed in Kalonge and denied the facts afterwards.On the northern axis, the CNDP forces are alleged to have looted three trucks heading to a border market in Bunagana this morning. Another vehicle belonging to the catholic church was looted at the same place yesterday and a mission of Care International was plundered early last week. Valuables, mobile telephones and money are always stolen from passengers at the junction to Bunagana.

and

Subject: Security Sit Rep March 08/14

A gang ambushed and killed Mr Albert Prigogine, a businessman in Goma yesterday shortly after 16h00, local time. The crime raises concerns about security of civilians in a town where such murders are often deplored, but only after sunset. To cover themselves, the murderers shot down a pedestrianfor having probably seen and identified them. The victim is the owner of Masques Hotel now turned into a UN Level III clinic.The DRC government agreed to disarm FDLR Hutu fighters from 15 March 08. Regarding the Joint Nairobi Communiqué, Mr. Alan Doss underscored the necessity of reinforcing the efforts of MONUC 'in order to dynamize again the follow-up of what both the DRC and Rwanda committed themselves to.' Voluntary repatriation rate has increased, but still less than satisfactory.MONUC has already taken steps to 'gradually reinforce its military presence'in proximity zones in coordination with the FARDC. 'Operations are already being run that target the Rastas, who operate together with the FDLR. The Security Council intends to take measures against the FDLR leaders who refuse to cooperate in implementing the Nairobi Communique' he informed. Seven villagers were killed and six wounded in a night raid at Kibaki in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Nord-Kivu province, the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC) announced Thursday. MONUC troops based in nearby Rubaya heard shooting during the night and sent a patrol to Kibaki on Wednesday morning, where 'they saw the bodies of the dead and wounded,' Dietrich told a press conference in Kinshasa.

[Stan]

Intriguing this Mr Albert Prigogine.

He's been into so many rental and lease agreements with the UN (ahem) Purchase Order Awards for Field Missions (cough) Real estate services

Tom, I'd agree...this certainly does raise concerns (at the UN). What's this rich fat cat doing roaming the streets of Goma after dark with no security detail and all that cash

2006 Purchase Order Awards
2007 Purchase Order Awards

The lastest security updates from the DRC. Sometimes an accidental phrase as in the title of this post says more than the entire report.

Subject: Security Sit Rep March 08/14

A gang ambushed and killed Mr Albert Prigogine, a businessman in Goma yesterday shortly after 16h00, local time. The crime raises concerns about security of civilians in a town where such murders are often deplored, but only after sunset. To cover themselves, the murderers shot down a pedestrian for having probably seen and identified them. The victim is the owner of Masques Hotel now turned into a UN Level III clinic.