Baraza

Category: Emergencies, Gorillas, National Parks and protected areas, WildlifeDirect news, wildlife | Date: Oct 09 2008 | By: baraza

We have been following the alarming developments in Eastern Congo on the Gorilla protection blog and here we bring some of the latest reports on BBC here and from the United Nations official site

There is additional inforamation at the UNITED NATIONS Monuc website here Oct 8, 2008 - The Democratic Republic of Congo’s envoy to the United Nations called Wednesday for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss what he called an “imminent” Rwandan attack on the eastern DRC city of Goma.

Speaking to AFP, Atoki Ileka said DRC authorities had “observed concentrations of Rwandan troops in the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi,” and that this suggested that an attack on Goma, located just across the frontier, was “imminent.”
In an earlier statement, the United States has responded angrily to Nkunda’s recent declarations in this statement from the US Department of State

“The United States condemns and rejects the statements made by General Nkunda, leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), claiming the CNDP intends to overthrow the elected and universally recognized Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (GDRC). The U.S. calls on the international community to support the GDRC as it works to consolidate its democracy and capacity to govern justly its entire territory. The U.S. opposes all those who seek to foment instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Goma Agreement and the Nairobi Communiqué remain the only true viable framework to bring stability to eastern Congo. The signatories should respect their commitments and implement them swiftly. All concerned parties should also respect the current cease fire and move quickly to disengage their forces in accordance with the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (MONUC) Global Disengagement Plan. The U.S. applauds MONUC for its efforts to stabilize eastern Congo and calls on all parties to cooperate with those efforts. Conflict between the CNDP and the DRC Armed Forces only detracts attention from resolving the root problem causing instability in the region posed by the ex-Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR), the Interahamwe, and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The U.S. remains committed to supporting the GDRC and the people of the Congo to ensure a strong, democratic state, free from all illegal armed groups. At the October 3rd UN Security Council meeting on DRC, the U.S. condemned statements made by Nkunda and called for the improvement of MONUC capabilities to better carry out its mandate. The U.S. will continue to work with the DRC and the Great Lakes countries both bilaterally and through the Tripartite Plus process to strengthen regional cooperation and build a stable and prosperous region.
The U.S. will work to bring to justice those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in eastern Congo and elsewhere”.

Tags: CNDP, Gorillas, MONUC, Nkunda, rebels, Rwanda, Virunga National Park

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Category: Gorillas | Date: Sep 12 2008 | By: baraza

Last month, US and European Union diplomats warned that despite a peace deal that was signed in January, the situation in eastern DR Congo was becoming increasingly tense and that all sides were rearming and that fighting would soon beak out. Their prediction came true, heavy fighting broke out on 28 August.  Tens of thousands of people are again fleeing - Pierre posted numerous photos illustrating this in the gorilla blog here.

Clashes have occurred on the main road between Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North and South Kivu, respectively. The UN has 17,000 peacekeepers in DR Congo. The unit called Monuc, is the largest peace keeping force in the world! They are supposed to monitor a 2003 peace deal to end a conflict that drew in at least eight other African countries.

Black lines represent movements of people in the 1990s, red lines are more recent movements in the 2000s. Tents are IDP camps.

Rwindi and Kibirizi are just south of Lake Edward. Fighting is occurring right inside the Virunga National Park.

According to the BBC, “Monuc, have mobilised to block the advance of troops loyal to General Laurent Nkunda. The head of the Monuc in DR Congo, said that his forces had intervened using force to assist the DR Congo Armed Forces re-establish their position.

“We used force to send out a strong signal to say that we shall not allow the CNDP (Gen Nkunda’s forces) to occupy Nyanzale,” he said.

Yesterday diplomats based in the DR Congo made a rare joint appeal for the army and rebels to stop fighting in the east. The statement was signed by representatives of the UN, African Union, EU and the US demanded that all forces return to the positions they held last month.

The diplomats’ want all sides, including the Congolese army to stop all movements . , except for those undertaken alongside Monuc against the FDLR (Army for the liberation of Rwanda which is made up mainly of Interharamwe and armed forces of Rwanda)  - a different rebel group based in the area.”

To me, one of the saddest fall outs of this war is that children make up 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the fighting forces in eastern Congo. Boys are used as soldiers and porters, girls become sex slaves. According to UNICEF, only 4 in 10 children in the region have been enrolled in school

THIS IS MADNESS!!! WHY WHY WHY?

I’ve struggled to find some sense in what is going on in Eastern Congo ever since I joined WildlifeDirect. The best sugestion  I can find, is that the FDLR leaders are accused of fleeing to DR Congo after taking part in the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda more than ten years ago.

Most people agree that their presence in DR Congo lies at the heart of years of recent unrest. Gen Nkunda, believes he is protecting Hutu’s from these killers who are also known as the Interharamwe. He has previously refused to disarm, accusing the army of working with the FDLR against Tutsis who live in the region.

If this is true then the solution is almost impossible to envisage. Nkunda claims to be protecting Congolese Tutsi’s and in doing so is keeping the ruthless killers from returning to Rwanda. But he is also illegally occupying some places in eastern Congo where his militia  and those of the Congolese army keep pushing against each other. Both sides are guilty of atrocities too painful to describe here.

So what can be done? What if we just remove the Interharamwe to a neutral country? Would this unleash a lasting peace? How could it be done? There are nearly 20,000 of these people. Who would have them?

We’d love to read your thoughts. What do you think?How can peace be achieved in eastern Congo?

Here are some related news stories and web sites with additional information

United Nations News Center

Intstitute for Envirinmental Security

BBC News online http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7610913.stm

Global Security: Timeline of violence in Eastern Congo

Tags: eastern DR Congo, gorilla blog, MONUC, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

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