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SouthScan (London)March 8, 2004
Posted to the web March 10, 2004
The cohesion of the DR Congolese transitional government has been shaken over the past few weeks by ongoing violence in east of the country . At the same time the role of the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC) is becoming extremely difficult as it engages in armed clashes with rebels. On March 3 the Hema community in Kinshasa accused Dominique Macadam, the officer in charge of MONUC in Ituri, of responsibility for massacre of civilians on February 29 and March 1 when 10 people died. The Hemas want William Swing, the US representative of the UN Secretary General in the Congo and MONUC's chief, to withdraw all the peacekeeping forces from Ituri and they have threatened to charge the perpetrators in the International Criminal Court. This followed a UN attack under its new 'robust' rules of engagement on a Hema militia camp of the Congolese Patriots Union (CPU) at Niamamba, 62 km to the East of Bunia. The MONUC troops destroyed the camp and a spokesman said this was a reprisal raid for an earlier attack against UN personnel by the CPU rebels. The operation was also part of a UN programme to disarm the militias, but the pacification process is looking more difficult than expected. On February 24 the leader of the Forces Arm�es Populaires du Congo (FAPC) militia, 'Commander' Jerome Kakwaku Bukonde, rejected an agreement two weeks earlier in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, between a number of the militias, to form a joint political platform called the 'Forces pour la Pacification et l'Int�gration au Congo'. At the same time militia leaders are maintaining pressure on MONUC to persuade the Kinshasa government to integrate their troops and the leaders into the new state institutions and in the national army.
MLC boycotts cabinet meetings
MONUC is also having a hard time in the Equator region. In a communiqu� released on February 26, the UN complained about "unacceptable and unjustifiable" obstacles to the movement of its observers in the region of Gbadolite, which hosted the former headquarters of Jean-Pierre Bemba's Movement of Liberation of Congo (MLC). MONUC observers were prevented by a MLC liaison officer from gaining access to two aircraft which landed on February 21 and 23 on the local airstrip. It was an incident that seemed to demonstrate that the process of unification of the armies and of the administrations in the rebel territories is still far from complete. A deep distrust continues between the leaders of the different factions who share power in Kinshasa and the slightest event may threaten the entire transitional process. On February 26 President Joseph Kabila was forced to suspend for one month the minister of transport and communications, Joseph Olenghankoy, who belongs to the political opposition. This followed the MLC's decision to boycott cabinet meetings in a bid to force him to sack Olengankoy because he had allegedly insulted Jean-Pierre Bemba in an interview with the London-based 'Grands Lacs Magazine'.
CRD also threatens boycott
But the most serious crisis has been a consequence of the ongoing troubles in the Kivus. On February 21, following the discovery of an arms caches in Bukavu, belonging to the CRD governor Xavier Ciribanya, CRD Major Joseph Kasongo was arrested and sent to Kinshasa by troops loyal to the military commander of the region, Gen. Prosper Nabyolwa, who belongs to the Kabila side. This was putting Kasongo, the former CRD Intelligence deputy chief in Kisangani at risk of his life, since he had been sentenced to death in absentia by the Court of Military Order for his alleged involvement in the assassination of the late President Laurent Kabila. Since January a half of the 30 persons sentenced to death by the court have been executed, according to the 'Voice of the Voiceless' NGO. In retaliation for the arrest of their chief, CRD soldiers on February 23 attacked the residence of the military commander, Gen. Nyabolwa, killing three members of his escort, looting the house, abducting eight of his supporters and forcing him to flee. The risk of a major confrontation in Bukavu itself emerged when on February 24 the second-in-command, Colonel Jules Mutebusi, who belongs to the CRD, broadcast an order to all soldiers to obey his orders and ignore those of the Kinshasa-appointed general. Movements of Mai-Mai militias ready to fight the CRD troops were observed on the same day around Bukavu. Meanwhile in Kinshasa the CRD leaders threatened to suspend participation to all transitional institutions if their man, Major Kasongo, was not released straight away. Tensions eased when Joseph Kabila the following day ordered his release - but pro-Kabila hardliners protested loudly. The minister of information, Vital Kamerhe, a native of Southern Kivu, offered his resignation in protest. Another group of hardliners led by a former Laurent Kabila minister, Jean-Baptiste Sondji, called for the suspension of the entire transitional process. He blamed the MLC for organising secret arms trafficking between Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and the CRD for importing weapons from Rwanda. Sondji then called on the Congolese people to follow the example of the Haitians in defending their interests since there was little chance that the DRC would benefit from peace and organise the scheduled election. But the Rwandan foreign minister, Charles Murigande, said in an interview with the UN's Radio Okapi that his country was committed to the UN embargo on arms supplies to Congolese militias � though he noted the existence of other networks involved in arms trafficking.
Cannibalism in Southern Kivu and Northern Katanga
In Southern Kivu the situation remains very volatile. The 'Mwami' (king) of the small territory of Ngweshe, Pierre Ntadabaye, who also sits in the Congolese Senate, accused all the groups there of committing atrocities. Since 1998 there had been 2,500 reported attacks against villages and the official return of peace to the country had not produced an end to these attacks, he said. In a letter dated February 21 he said that men in military fatigues had abducted all the girls from the Musengezi Roman Catholic primary school and had taken them to the nearby forest of Nindja. "Several days ago three persons had their throats cut and were eaten after their kidnapping in Izege by armed men wearing military uniforms", he said. They had then entered into the village to exhibit the heads of their victims and left the message, "As long as we keep our weapons we shall not be lacking food". Those blamed for the outrages include the CRD, the Rwandan Hutu Interahamwe militias, the 'Forces d'Autod�fense Populaires Mai-Mais', created by Laurent Kabila, the 'Mudundu 40' Mai-Mai militia, which fights on the side of the CRD, and "other bandits without scruples". The Mwami also attacked MONUC for failing to help the local people. There is no doubt that MONUC's prestige is at this lowest in this region. On March 1, a 'dead city' shutdown was organized by civil society groups to protest against the CRD, which still rules the city, and against MONUC because the UN did not support the pro-Kabila Gen. Nabyolwa in his battle with his deputy, the pro-CRD colonel Jules Mutebusi.
Katanga situation
Despite criticism, MONUC has finally decided to take more seriously the so far neglected situation in Northern Katanga. At the beginning of March Medecins Sans Frontieres reported that 10,000 to 20,000 people fleeing violence by two Mai-Mai groups and Congolese government armed forces in the Kitenge. At least 50 villages were looted, abandoned and in some cases burnt, says MSF. At the end of February MONUC had called on the leader of one of these groups, a General Shinja-Shinja ('throat cutter' in Swahili) who reportedly has become notorious for drinking the blood of his victims, to stop these atrocities. This followed the killing between February 7 and 17 of eight Congolese Armed Forces soldiers and of three civilians, in the Kitenge area. MONUC's spokesman, Hamadoun Tour�, said at least 30 people were killed by the Shinja Shinja group. Last October three Congolese NGOs including the human rights group ASADHO lodged a complaint about atrocities in Northern Katanga at the International Criminal Court. The report mentioned the Shinja-Shinja group and another one led by Bakanda Bakoba ('The Irreducible'). The same organisations had earlier reported the case of a third Mai-Mai leader called Kabale who became notorious for wearing a dead foetus around his neck. He was killed last May by the local population. These events may embarrass the entire transitional government and specially Joseph Kabila, since they began in territory under his control as far back as 2001, after the death of his father. The three NGOs say that there is no reason why some cases of cannibalism, such as those perpetrated by Jean-Pierre Bemba's troops, should be dealt with by the ICC, while those in Northern Katanga should be ignored.
Bishops' criticism
The repercussions of these incidents are being felt in Kinshasa. The minister of information, Vital Kamerhe, reacted angrily at the end of February to an earlier statement by the Roman Catholic bishops conference which blamed the transitional government for its "amateurism" and lack of professional skills, saying this could only spread doubt and despair among the population.
Kamerhe retorted that the government has already done much to set up the institutions, the legal framework of the transition and a new unified army. Obviously, the bishops do not share this view. Their feeling is similar to that of the 'International Committee of Support for the Transition', which time and again has expressed concern at the very slow progress being made. On top of that, there is growing impatience among the population and the transitional government's period of grace seems definitely over. Last month, civil servants went on strike for several weeks in different parts of the country, because their salaries had not been paid. And at the end of last month Kisangani university students went on strike and called for the resignation of the university authorities.Observers say both MONUC and the transitional government need to take control and stop what seems a slide back into confusion.
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
