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

[M-A Lagrange]

Hey Marc !

Is this guy really serious

Yes he is,I was told. The offensive is actually going on. But from FDLR they moved to APCLS (financially more profitable). And Uganda already is welcoming 40 refugees a day...

Then of course we do have attack helicopters that will protect the Congolese from their own army

So, out of the 5400 troops to be screened, just how many will still be in the operations once the vetting process is done ?

Actually MONUSCO conducts vetting based on the report they did on War crimes and Crimes against Humanity, they have a huge data base.
Don't forget that support is only food and fuel. So I believe it will just turn into more crimes and a longer data base...

[M-A Lagrange]

The report of OHCHR on human rights abuses in DRC between 26 november and 25 december 2011 has ben released today.

A. Violations of the right to life
13. Between 26 November and 25 December 2011, the team documented 33 cases of civilians killed in Kinshasa by members of the defense and security forces, 22 of them being shot. The number of deaths could be much higher as the team faced many difficulties in documenting the allegations of violations of the right to life that were reported. Thus, the team
was unable to confirm several allegations

B. Violations of the right to physical integrity
23. Between 26 November and 25 December 2011, 83 civilians were wounded, 61 of them were shot, among which one PNC agent. Other people were victims of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments.

The human rights violations listed above have been attributed by victims and witnesses to members of the GR, PNC officers and its specialised units, in particular LENI, GMI and the criminal investigation brigade, as well as to armed men in civilian clothes who fired live ammunition at demonstrators and simple passers-by and repressed demonstrators protesting against the elections using violence and disproportionate use of force. The name Colonel Kanyama, PNC commander in the Lukunga district (Lufungula Camp) in Kinshasa and nicknamed “death spirit” by Kinshasa inhabitants, was in particular cited in testimonies as a key team leader responsible for removing and getting rid of the bodies of the victims killed.
According to concurring testimonies, these groups arrived in “a PNC vehicle from which officers fired tear gas; the vehicle was followed by a dilapidated vehicle from which marksmen in civilian clothes fired at demonstrators, and then a covered lorry with body collectors”.
Moreover, FARDC soldiers circulating throughout the city of Kinshasa on 26 November 2011 and on 9, 10 and 11 December 2011 also committed arbitrary arrests, abductions and violations of the right to life and physical integrity.

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Count...Dec2011_en.pdf

[M-A Lagrange]

US envoy lauds DRC forces after UN report on rampage

The US is “disappointed” by the conduct of that voting, Ambassador Walkley said last week. But “the presidential election is over,” he added. “That’s the reality, and we have to deal with realities.”
“Our focus is on the future,” the special envoy said, explaining that the US seeks assurance that upcoming provincial elections “will not see a repetition of mistakes made in the previous election.”
Ambassador Walkley offered a generally positive assessment of the DRC’s trajectory under Kabila’s rule.
The country has made “tremendous progress on the diplomatic front,” he said, citing “increased economic and security co-operation with its neighbours.”
The US is working to help professionalise Congo’s police, he added. Significant improvement, however, “is not going to be reached overnight,” Ambassador Walkley said.

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news...n/-/index.html

I do not know what tremendous progress on the diplomatic front mean in Washington but on the ground this means:
- 1.7 million Internally Displaced People (IDP) in only 3 provinces; with a special mention for the 2 Kivu where, according to OCHA, you have more than 1 million IDP. Just yesterday, 9 900 people had to flee their homes because of fighting…
- Transparency international: 55% of collected taxes diseape in a country where corruption is done in open sky,
- World Bank Doing business report 2012: DRC ranked 178. In 2011 DRC was ranked 176.
- Global Peace Index: DRC is the third most dangerous country in the world.
And about DRC security forces progress: just see the HCHR report.

Then let’s talk about conflict minerals:
Use of ‘Conflict Minerals’ Gets More Scrutiny From U.S.

The Dodd-Frank law on conflict minerals is already having an effect in Eastern Congo, damping or halting production at many mines even before the disclosure regulations for companies are in place.
“It is causing, I would say, a sort of embargo on traders and diggers in Eastern Congo,” Serge Tshamala, an official at the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The longer it takes the S.E.C. to come up with guidelines, the worse it is for our people.” Mr. Tshamala and other Congo government officials met with the agency’s staff members in June, urging them to speed completion of the regulations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/bu...pagewanted=all

Yeah, I really feel bad for the member of DRC government. They just announced they want to review the mining code and some crazy hippies are trying to make their life hard.
Just for the sake of saying it: last time the mining code was reviewed (10 years ago) it generated 100 millions (at least) of backshich paid directly by mining companies, hand to hand, to some officials…

It is not the longer it takes for the SEC commission to come with a guideline that is affecting the people in DRC. It is the will to not conduct an SSR and discipline FARDC which is affecting the people. It is the incapacity of the DRC government to actually govern the country that is affecting the people…

Sometimes, I feel like hearing America snoring…

[Stan]

Congo's 'Terminator' troops defect

The soldiers are loyal to former rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

The situation in the eastern DR Congo city of Goma, where the troops were based, is said to be tense.

[Marshal Murat]

Sometimes you get more money working for the enemy than for the government, what can you do?

[M-A Lagrange]

Mutinies in the East: beyond the Terminator
http://www.crisisgroupblogs.org/afri...he-terminator/

Let's hope this will go further than a man to be turned into an opportunity.

[M-A Lagrange]

Congo probes alleged Rwandan support for rebelsGOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo are investigating allegations that neighboring Rwanda is recruiting and training fighters in support of a new armed movement in its troubled eastern borderlands, a government spokesman said on Monday.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, citing a confidential United Nations document, reported earlier on Monday that among the defectors from the newly formed militia were at least 11 Rwandan nationals who claimed to have been recruited in Rwanda.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...congo-kinshasa

Well, for those in the field it’s not a big news. Even if it has to be taken with caution, they have been recruited in Rwanda does not mean by Rwanda, this demonstrates the crisis in North Kivu goes further than just a manhunt.