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

[M-A Lagrange]

The english version of ICG report on M23 has been released:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/F...ion-failed.pdf

And the overview:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/region...on-failed.aspx

Comments welcomed

[M-A Lagrange]

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY
WITH RESPECT TO THE SITUATION IN OR IN RELATION
TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
On October 27, 2006, by Executive Order 13413, the President declared a national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), ordered related measures blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in that country. The President took this action to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been marked by widespread violence and atrocities that continue to threaten regional stability.

Because this situation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on October 27, 2006, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond October 27, 2012. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13413.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-...r-relation-dem

With the US elections coming, Uganda and Rwanda are taking advantage of the paralysed US diplomacy to increase their presence in Eastern DRC.
Elections of Rwanda as a non permanent member of the UNSC was already a big camouffle for the United Nations and the possibilities of peace in the sub region.
Bringing peace in Great Lakes region could be easy, as in 2009 merely a phone call away. Next US presedent, who ever he is, should not be stopped by some black mail from Uganda and Rwanda over their participations to Somalia and Darfur peace keeping operations. It has to be clear that the price to enter UNSC and to be a regarded peace keeper is peace in Eastern DRC not a right to loot Eastern DRC.

[davidbfpo]

The military and political tensions in the contested eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo are reinforced by diplomatic failures. A turn towards negotiation and compromise is vital if the area's long-term problems are to be addressed, says Andrew Wallis.

Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/andrew-...hind-headlines

The author ends with:

If there is to be any chance of implementing the vital long term solutions the people of Kivu and the DRC deserve, then at some point the blame-game has to stop and the process of negotiation and mutual accommodation must begin.

Abbreviations aside the best word for the situation is messy. At least the local African nations have sat at a table, although funding a new intervention force seems highly unlikely unless the UN exit.

[AdamG]

KINSHASA, Congo U.N. attack helicopters targeted M23 rebels in eastern Congo on Saturday after fighting resumed following a monthslong lull in violence, a local official said.

Two army officers and 151 rebels were killed in a battle beginning Thursday that the U.N. called the worst clash between the M23 group and the military since July. Attack helicopters for the U.N. mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, had been on standby.

"MONUSCO helicopters this morning bombarded the M23 positions in the city of Kibumba," said North Kivu governor Julien Paluku. He said the Congolese army had earlier retreated from Kibumba, which is 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Goma, after thousands of Rwandans, who he says were backing the rebels, attacked early Saturday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...in-east-congo/

Rebels advancing in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are warning UN peacekeepers that "we will respond" if they fail to stop backing the regular army by strafing rebel positions. UN attack helicopters launched sorties against M23 rebels on Saturday but failed to prevent them from taking another town, as the Security Council demanded an end to foreign support for rebels closing in on the provincial capital of Goma.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/20...tacking-in-drc


Associated Press, Published: November 10

GOMA, Congo — The Congolese army has attacked M23 rebel positions, ending a two-month ceasefire, charged the rebel spokesman. Ten civilians were killed when government forces fired on the rebel base in Kitagoma, in eastern Congo, near the border with Uganda, said M23 political branch spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa Saturday. He said the attack was on Friday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...486_story.html

[M-A Lagrange]

DR Congo’s Goma: Avoiding a New Regional War
Brussels/Nairobi | 20 Nov 2012
The east Congolese city of Goma and its key airport have reportedly fallen after heavy fighting to the M23 rebel group. Regional and international actors must now prevent this turning into a new regional war.

The past week has shown history repeating itself in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the same tragic consequences for civilians in the region (see Crisis Group briefing from 4 October for background).

On 15 November 2012, the M23 rebel movement, with – according to the DRC – the backing of Rwanda’s armed forces, broke the 25 July de facto ceasefire observed with the Congolese army (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo, FARDC) and launched an offensive against Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Unable, despite numerous attempts, to extend its control over the resource-rich Masisi territory, constrained by Uganda’s closure of its Bunangana border with the DRC and frustrated by the decision of the UN Security Council to place its main leader, Sultani Makenga, on the UN sanctions list, the M23 had finally decided to make real its threat to attack the city. On 18 November, following three days of fighting, the movement broke the FARDC’s resistance and tried to force the government of President Joseph Kabila to negotiate.

On 19 November, after several fruitless attempts at talks and an ultimatum from the M23 to the government, fighting broke out inside Goma, a city under the defence of the FARDC and UN peacekeepers (MONUSCO). The M23’s ultimatum had demanded the FARDC’s withdrawal from, and the demilitarisation of, Goma and its airport; the reopening of the Bunangana border post; and an inclusive negotiation process to bring in the unarmed Congolese political opposition, civil society and the diaspora. By making this demand, the M23 aimed to reduce the crisis to a domestic affair, thereby preventing Kinshasa from internationalising it in order to negotiate a solution at the regional level through the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) with those neighbouring countries that allegedly support the M23 rebellion.

While negotiations were on the verge of starting in Goma, President Kabila ultimately refused to recognise the M23 as a legitimate interlocutor, and clashes broke out inside the city. The rebels entered Goma on 20 November, forcing the Congolese army to retreat to Sake.

The new offensive is a tragic repeat of the threat by Laurent Nkunda’s Conseil National de Défense du Peuple (CNDP) to take Goma in 2008. Once again, the civilian population is paying a heavy price. As in 2008, the same causes could produce the same fearful effects:

•the fall of Goma could lead to serious human rights abuses against civilian populations;
•the settling of accounts or even targeted extrajudicial executions against authorities and civil society activists who have taken a stance against the M23 since the beginning of the crisis in March could raise the death toll and fuel more violence;
•Kinshasa’s capitulation to the M23 could send shock waves throughout the Kivus and relaunch open warfare between the DRC and Rwanda; and
•the UN and the ICGLR, both responsible for conflict management in the region, are being discredited.
As immediate steps, regional and international actors must secure:

•an end to fighting inside Goma;
•M23’s commitment to respect MONUSCO’s mandate to fully protect civilians; and
•M23’s concrete assurances, visible on the ground, to respect civilians and property in areas under their control, and prevent further human rights abuses.
To avoid a regional implosion, the following steps are also necessary:

•explicit condemnation by the UN Security Council, African Union (AU) and ICGLR of external involvement in the fighting;
•immediate efforts by MONUSCO’s leadership to seek to negotiate and secure a formal ceasefire, as well as accelerate the deployment of the Joint Verification Mechanism and the Neutral Force agreed by the ICGLR;
•sanctions by the European Union (EU), UN Security Council, and especially France, the UK and the U.S., as well as the AU, not only against the rebellion’s leaders, but also against their external supporters;
•an investigation by the International Criminal Court into the actions of the M23 and new armed groups, and the request by the court that MONUSCO transfer its files concerning M23 leaders; and
•the immediate establishment of a joint fact-finding mission in the region by the AU, EU, Belgian, South African and U.S. special envoys for the Great Lakes to determine the best course for arriving at the long-term resolution of this crisis.
The immediate priority is to stop the current fighting and protect civilians.

Long-term solutions will require that the UN Security Council, AU and ICGLR ensure that peace agreements and that stabilisation plans no longer remain empty promises. To achieve this, coordinated and unequivocal pressure on the Congolese government and the M23 rebel movement, as well as the latter’s external supporters, is required from international donors and regional actors.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/public...ional-war.aspx

[carl]

If M23 holds Goma airport, has the UN moved all their helos to Bukavu?

[AdamG]

NPR picks up the ball
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...-in-four-years

The MONUSCO North Kivu Brigade(?) HQ'd in Goma supposedly musters 4k troops, with the Ukrainian 18th Independent Helicopter unit manning those Hinds. No word on what they did when M23 rolled into town, other than "not resisting" although Goma's airfield got mortared from over in Rwanda yesterday. It would have made sense to displace the three aviation units to Bukavu.

Hmmm... make popcorn, this is gonna get interesting.

[Stan]

If M23 holds Goma airport, has the UN moved all their helos to Bukavu?

Hey Carl,
If I were a betting man and had the fuel to do so, I would beat feet to Entebbe where my UN logistics base resides. Otherwise, I’d fly my butt for 15 minutes to Kigali.

Bukavu seems a crap shoot with a dilapidated airfield and true Congolese hospitality on the tarmac

How goes it ?

Regards, Stan

[AdamG]

Otherwise, I’d fly my butt for 15 minutes to Kigali.

Considering that Rwanda is supporting M23, wouldn't that be sort of... weird?

[AdamG]

From 8 hours ago -

MONUSCO, the U.N. peacekeeping force, is still present in Goma and remains in control of the airport in Goma, said Eduardo del Buey, deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general. The peacekeeping force has largely stayed out of the fighting in recent hours. Del Buey added that "robust patrolling by 17 quick reaction force teams is also ongoing" and MONUSCO troops will continue efforts to protect civilians.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/wo...els/index.html

From a few minutes ago -

Congolese rebels seize Goma, take airport, push toward Bukavu

“Goma is in the process of being occupied by Rwanda,” said Mende, speaking from Congo’s distant capital of Kinshasa. “We have people who saw the Rwandan army traverse our frontier at the Nyamuragira volcano. They have occupied the airport and they are shooting inside the town. Our army is trying to riposte but this poses an enormous problem for them — this is an urban center where hundreds of thousands of people live,” he said.

A Congolese colonel, who was at the frontline in Goma before the city fell, said that the soldiers he saw were Rwandan. Neither his claim nor Mende’s could be independently verified.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...3_story_1.html

[Stan]

Considering that Rwanda is supporting M23, wouldn't that be sort of... weird?

Hi Adam,
Well, based on a phoncon this morning via the BBC, the M23 unequivocally denies receiving anything from Rwanda.

In fact, they responded to the question regarding arms sources by saying they fled with firearms and munitions from the Congolese army.

Here's what some of my recent documentation provides (source intentionally left out for fear of loss of salary, retirement, limbs, etc. )

The Contractor should plan on deploying the capacity from the home country through Kigali, Rwanda or Entebbe

I was only trying to figure out what I would do if I had a helo license and lived in Goma (which I sadly have done without a helicopter).

Regards, Stan

[Stan]

From 8 hours ago -



http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/wo...els/index.html

From a few minutes ago -

Congolese rebels seize Goma, take airport, push toward Bukavu


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...3_story_1.html

I'd worry about anything Mende Omalanga (DRC Minister of Communications) had to say. This is what the rest think!

[AdamG]

Hi Adam,
Well, based on a phoncon this morning via the BBC, the M23 unequivocally denies receiving anything from Rwanda.

Well, that's settles it then.

U.N. officials have also accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the rebels, which Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has denied. A 44-page U.N. report by experts monitoring an arms embargo in Congo found that Rwandan officials have played a leading role in the rebellion, including financing the insurgents and providing them with sophisticated military equipment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...f23_story.html

Also, I'd recommend reading some of the earlier posts in this thread.

No Kingali exodus for you.

[carl]

Stan: I never had any problem in Bukavu. They were sort of neighborly in a Congolese officialdom sort of way. Kindu on the other hand...

AdamG: The whole place is weird, that is what makes it so entertaining for ex-pats who are there and so hellish for the locals. Flying to Kigali, Rwanda to seek refuge from Rwandans in the Congo that you have been shooting at makes perfect sense in context.

[AdamG]

AdamG: The whole place is weird, that is what makes it so entertaining for ex-pats who are there and so hellish for the locals. Flying to Kigali, Rwanda to seek refuge from Rwandans in the Congo that you have been shooting at makes perfect sense in context.

Ok, but that same metric work for MONUSCO? They seem sort of hide-bound and maybe paralyzed. In any event, moot since MONUSCO still holds the airport.

M23 and the Congolese army were engaged in running battles in the centre of Goma from early on Tuesday morning. M23 made significant advances, particularly in the streets around the airport, which remained under the control of the UN peacekeeping mission, Monusco.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...s-congo-rebels

PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday urged a review of the United Nations' peacekeeping mandate in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after rebels widely believed to be backed by Rwanda seized the eastern city of Goma.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...,1286460.story

[M-A Lagrange]

Security Situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC

November 20, 2012

The United States is gravely alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the security situation in eastern DRC. We condemn the renewed military campaign by the M23 rebel group, which is an affront to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC and in violation of international law. We call for a ceasefire, and for the M23 to return Goma to DRC authorities and pull back to their July positions.
We call upon all states to use their influence on the M23 to bring about an immediate end to the hostilities. We urge Presidents Kabila, Kagame, and Museveni to engage in a direct and honest dialogue in pursuit of a political resolution to the immediate hostilities. We believe it is critical that any resolution to the crisis include holding the M23 leadership accountable for their human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.
We underscore our support for the UN Security Council’s November 17 statement. We support the Council’s call for additional sanctions against the M23 leadership and its demand that any and all outside support and supplying of equipment to the M23 cease immediately.
We underscore the importance of a long-term solution to the instability in the eastern DRC. A durable solution will require security sector reform in the DRC and political dialogue with Rwanda and Uganda and the other relevant states in the region to address the root causes of the crisis.

PRN: 2012/1827

[AdamG]

UN evacuating 625 non-essentials from Goma
http://www.mediacongo.net/show.asp?doc=25801

[M-A Lagrange]

Uganda blames leaked U.N. report for escalation in Congo conflict
(Reuters) - Uganda on Tuesday blamed the escalation of fighting in eastern Congo on a leaked U.N. report that accused it and Rwanda of supporting Congolese rebels, a document Kampala said damaged its mediation efforts.

Uganda has vigorously denied the U.N. charges, which emerged in October, and Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Asuman Kiyingi said Kampala had been forced to retreat from its mediating role.

The so-called M23 rebels entered parts of the eastern Congolese city of Goma on Tuesday. On Monday, Rwanda, which also denies the U.N. accusations, accused the government in Kinshasa of shelling its territory, ratcheting up tensions in the Great Lakes region.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/1...8AJ0FW20121120

The UNSC a peace spoiler?
In fact, in that case, some how, may be

[Stan]

Well, that's settles it then.

Adam,
Was kinda hoping you got my strange sense of humor

Also, I'd recommend reading some of the earlier posts in this thread.

Thanks... been reading and also directly witnessing. Carl is right, the DRC is a weird place and most agree that it is also a great place to test failure of policy and goodwill.

Actually our E&E point is Kigali and the same organizations that pin blame on Rwanda are the same that recommend Kigali as a safe destination (security of equipment and personnel is thankfully not politically sensitive). I've driven the estimated 10 hours from Goma to Bukavu and even on semi-hard surface to Uganda. Both options make Russian roulette safer to perform.

[M-A Lagrange]

I don't know if that threat is the best place but may be it is time to initiate a discussion on military coordiation between main western powers and Great Lakes peace spoilers.

There is no way to diminish the atrocities of 1994. But may it is time to reconsider the out comes of AFRICOM programs in Great Lakes region. Uganda already used its involvement in Somalia, South Sudan and on the LRA track as leverage and Rwanda is using its participation in Darfur and seat in UNSC.
May be it's time to look at how such military cooperation programs are being instrumentalised?