Tuesday, April 14, 2009
DR Congo: Brutal Rapes by Rebels and Army, by Noémie Cournoyer
(New York) - Rwandan rebel forces, government army soldiers, and their allies have raped at least 90 women and girls since late January 2009 in the volatile North and South Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. The Rwandan rebel forces have also been implicated in the deaths of most of the 180 civilians killed during this period.
The United Nations Security Council will discuss on April 9 the latest report by the UN secretary-general on the peacekeeping force in Congo. Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to press the Congolese government to remove human rights abusers from its armed forces and end rights violations, including attacks against women and girls.
The Rwandan Hutu militia called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked and burned dozens of villages and towns in Masisi and Lubero territories (North Kivu) as well as in Kalehe territory (South Kivu) in recent weeks, committing numerous deliberate killings, rapes, and acts of looting. Blaming government military operations, the FDLR deliberately targeted civilians, used them as human shields, and accused civilians of having betrayed them. According to witnesses and victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the FDLR have been implicated in the killings of at least 154 civilians since January 23.
"The FDLR are deliberately killing and raping Congolese civilians as apparent punishment for the military operations against them," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Both the fighters who commit such horrific acts and the rebel commanders who permit them are responsible for war crimes."
The FDLR were temporarily pushed out of their military positions in January and February 2009 following the start of a joint military operation against them by Congolese and Rwandan troops on January 20. Following the withdrawal of Rwandan forces on February 24, military action diminished and the FDLR reoccupied many of their previous positions.
Most recently, at least seven civilians were killed and 24 others wounded during FDLR attacks in Lubero and Walikale in early April. On March 20, 2009, the FDLR attacked Buhuli, North Kivu, and four other nearby villages, killing at least five civilians, including two women, an elderly man, a 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy. On February 13, the FDLR attacked the village of Kipopo, killing at least 13 people, who were burned to death in their homes.
In late February, the FDLR abducted at least a dozen women and girls from Remeka, in Masisi territory, North Kivu. Two women who escaped reported that FDLR combatants brutally killed nine of the women and girls when they resisted attempts to rape them. The fate of the others is unknown.
The Congolese army has also been implicated in numerous rapes. In March, Congolese soldiers raped at least 21 women and girls in southern Masisi and northern Kalehe territories. Many of the victims were violently gang raped while the soldiers were on looting sprees.
On March 24, four women from Ziralo, South Kivu, were returning from the market when they were stopped by a group of army soldiers at a makeshift barricade. The soldiers took the sacks of food the women were carrying and then said they were going to examine the women's vaginas for any hidden money. The soldiers took the women into the nearby forest and gang raped each of them for hours. One woman was six-months pregnant and was raped so brutally that she lost her unborn child.
The recent killings by the rebel group are in addition to those perpetrated by its forces on January 27, when FDLR combatants hacked to death dozens of civilians used as human shields at their military position in Kibua. One witness at Kibua interviewed by Human Rights Watch saw an FDLR combatant batter a 10-year-old girl to death against a brick wall.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 250,000 people have fled their homes since January, adding to hundreds of thousands of others who fled earlier waves of violence.
The Congolese army says it is preparing for the next phase of operations against the FDLR, this time expanding the operations to South Kivu. The army has added over 10,000 additional soldiers from former Congolese rebel groups, including the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), the Coalition of Congolese Patriotic Resistance (PARECO), and other local militia groups. The rapidly mixed brigades of former enemies have been sent to the front lines with no salaries, rations, or any formal training, increasing the likelihood of future human rights violations.
Serious abuses against civilians by government soldiers have already been reported. Army soldiers killed at least five civilians in Lubero territory in March, some while on looting sprees. In Ziralo, an elderly man was killed by soldiers while they raped his wife and looted his home.
The rapid integration process has included no formal vetting mechanism to stop those with serious records of past human rights abuses from being promoted and integrated into the Congolese army.
Bosco Ntaganda, wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers and using them in hostilities, was promoted to the position of general in the Congolese army in January 2009. In addition to the ICC charges, Ntaganda has been accused of commanding troops that massacred 150 civilians at Kiwanja in North Kivu province in November 2008.
Jean-Pierre Biyoyo was recently appointed a colonel in the Congolese army despite being found guilty by a Congolese military court in March 2006 of recruiting child soldiers. He later escaped from prison. Both Ntaganda and Biyoyo play an important role in current military operations.
The Congolese army will be supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, in its military operations against the FDLR. MONUC says that its top priority is to protect civilians, but it is not clear how civilians will be protected against further attacks by either FDLR or Congolese army soldiers.
"Protection of civilians can only be taken seriously if known human rights abusers are removed from the ranks of the Congolese army," said Van Woudenberg. "The Security Council should seek an immediate answer from the Congolese government on when it will carry out such arrests and what it will do to stop further rape and killing by its troops before it gives any support to the military operations."
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Labels: Congo, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, ICC, Noémie Cournoyer
Thursday, February 12, 2009
DR Congo: Groups Fear for Civilian Safety, by Marie-Êve Marineau
(Goma) - A coalition of 100 humanitarian and human rights organizations today called on John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, to insist that protecting civilians be a top priority of the joint Congolese and Rwandan military operation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Holmes is due to arrive in Goma, the North Kivu capital, on February 7, 2009.
In a public letter to Holmes, the Congo Advocacy Coalition expressed alarm that the joint military operation has to date contributed to the flight of thousands of people from their homes in anticipation of violence, adding to the 1.2 million already displaced in earlier waves of fighting. The coalition further raised concerns about reprisal killings and the use of civilians as human shields by the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), as well as reports of rape and looting by all sides.
"Congolese civilians are always targeted when there are military operations and their fears of being killed, raped, or looted are very real," said Juliette Prodhan of Oxfam. "The Congolese and Rwandan forces and UN peacekeepers should do all that they can to ensure that civilians are protected during the joint operations and are not once again the targets."
On January 20, 2009, the Congolese and Rwandan governments began a joint military operation against the FDLR, an armed group based in eastern Congo, some of whose leaders are wanted on charges of genocide. While there have only been a few skirmishes so far, there is widespread anticipation that the fighting could intensify and spread in the coming days and weeks.
The coalition warned against a repeat of the unimaginable brutality suffered by Congolese civilians in Haut-Uele territory in northeastern Congo following the launch of a joint Ugandan and Congolese military operation to disarm the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group based in Congo. More than 700 people were massacred by the rebels in less than one month. Minimal protection measures had been put in place to protect those at risk and to halt the killings.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, has a strong mandate to protect civilians but has been left out of military planning in both joint operations, in the Kivus and Haut-Uele. It is also still awaiting 3,000 reinforcements authorized almost three months ago. In its letter, the Congo Advocacy Coalition urged Holmes to insist that the peacekeeping mission be given a central role in civilian protection and relief in planning all military operations and that the mission has the resources it needs, as mandated by the UN Security Council, in order to effectively protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access.
The coalition also called on Holmes to urge parties to resume the political process needed to address the underlying issues driving the Congo conflict, such as exploitation of mineral wealth, lack of justice, and representation of minorities.
"All of the armed groups need to disarm," said Kubuya Muhangi, the president of CRONGD-North Kivu. "People in eastern Congo desperately want to go back to their homes and to be able to stay there without fear of having to run again."
The Congo Advocacy Coalition, made up of local and international nongovernmental organizations, was established in July 2008 to advocate for greater protection of civilians and respect for human rights in eastern Congo. Members of the coalition's steering committee include: ActionAid, ENOUGH Project, Human Rights Watch, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Conseil Régional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement (CRONGD) - North Kivu, Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines (PAIF) - North Kivu, Institut Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP) - South Kivu, and Association des Femmes Juristes du Congo (AFEJUCO) - South Kivu.
Other Signatories:
International NGOs:
Action Against Hunger/ Action Contre la Faim (ACF) - USA, American Bar Association (ABA) Rule of Law Initiative in DRC, Beati i costruttori di pace/ Blessed are the Peacemakers , CAFOD, CARE International, Centre Lokole/ Search for Common Ground, Global Witness, International Emergency and Development Aid (IEDA) Relief, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Great Lakes, Refugees International, Tearfund, Trocaire, War Child Holland
Congolese NGOs:
ACAEFAD, Action by Christians Against Torture (ACAT)/Sud Kivu, ACPS, Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l'Homme a Shabunda (ACADHOSHA), ADECOF/Sud Kivu, AFCD, AFCDI, AFECEF, AJERF, Africa Justice Peace and Development (AJPD), ALCM, AMALDEFEA, AMI-KIVU, ANAMEDAPED, APIBA, APRODEPED, ASADHO (Association africaine de défense des droits de l'homme) - Sud Kivu, ASALAK, Action Sociale pour la Paix et le Développement (ASPD), Association pour le Développement des Initiatives Paysannes (ASSODIP), AYINET/DRC, BDENA, Blessed Aid, CADRE, Collectif des Associations des Femmes Pour le Développement (CAFED), Campagne Pour la Paix (CPP), CCJT, CEDAC, CELPA/SK, Centre d'Appui pour le Développement Rural Communautaire (CADERCO), Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CREDDHO), Centre de promotion socio-sanitaire (CEPROSSAN), Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Education de Base pour le Développement Integré (CEREBA), Coalition RDC pour la Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI), Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI)/Sud Kivu, Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI)/ Nord Kivu, COPARE, CUBAKA, DYJESKI, EFD, Encadrement des femmes indigènes et des ménages vulnérables (EFIM), Entraide des Femmes pour les Déshérités (EFD) - Uvira Sud -Kivu, Foyer Social de Mogo (FSM/Kabare), GAIDER, GAMAC, GRAM-Kivu, Group d'Etudes et d'Actions Pour un Développement Bien Défini (GEAD) /Nord-Kivu, Groupe de Voix de Sans Voix (GVSV), Groupe Féminine, HEAL Africa, Héritiers de la Justice, Humanitas, IGE/CCD, La Synergie des femmes pour les victimes des violences sexuelles (SFVS), Mamans Umoja, Martin Luther King Non-Violence Group, OCET, PAL, PAMI, Perspectives "Monde Juste", PIDP-Kivu, PRENAO, PRODES, Promotion de la Démocratie et Protection des Droits Humains (PDH), RADHOSKI-Sud Kivu, Réseau Provincial des ONG de Droits de l'Homme (REPRODHOC)/Nord-Kivu, RFDP, SAMS, SARCAF, SILDE, SJPR/EST, Solidarité pour la Promotion Sociale et la Paix (SOPROP), SYNECAT, UCODE, UPADERI, VOVOLIB (Voix de Sans Voix ni Libertés)
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Labels: Congo, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
DRC: ICC’s First Trial Focuses on Child Soldiers, by Renata Daninsky
(Brussels) - The International Criminal Court's (ICC) trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, scheduled to begin on January 26, 2009 in The Hague, marks an important stage in efforts to establish responsibility for the use of children in military operations, Human Rights Watch said today. Another Congolese warlord sought by the ICC, Bosco Ntaganda, remains at large.
Lubanga, the former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia who operated in the district of Ituri in northeastern Congo, is charged with enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 as soldiers and using them to participate actively in combat between September 2002 and August 2003. Lubanga's UPC forces also carried out widespread killing, rape, and torture of thousands of civilians throughout Ituri, though to date the ICC has not charged him or any other member of the UPC with such crimes.
"This first ICC trial makes it clear that the use of children in armed combat is a war crime that can and will be prosecuted at the international level," said Param-Preet Singh, counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "Lubanga's UPC also slaughtered thousands, and those responsible should be held accountable for these crimes as well."
Lubanga's trial was originally scheduled to begin in June 2008. However, the judges of the trial chamber unanimously decided to stay the proceedings - suspending the trial - because the prosecution could not disclose a number of documents collected confidentially from information providers as permitted under the Rome Statute, causing concerns that Lubanga would not receive a fair trial. The prosecution worked with these information providers to address the judges' concerns, and in November 2008 the trial chamber allowed proceedings to resume.
The Ituri conflict and other conflicts in eastern Congo highlight the participation of non-Congolese forces. Ituri in particular became a battleground involving the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. These governments provided political and military support to Congolese armed groups despite abundant evidence of their widespread violations of international humanitarian law. The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has repeatedly stated that he will bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious crimes.
"Getting to the root of the conflict in Ituri means that the ICC must go beyond local war lords like Lubanga," said Singh. "We look to the prosecutor to investigate those who supported Lubanga and other militias operating in Ituri, including senior officials in Kinshasa, Kigali, and Kampala."
The ICC is faced with the challenge of making sure that the proceedings are meaningful for the communities most affected by the crimes in Congo. Human Rights Watch said that the Lubanga trial is a unique opportunity that the ICC cannot afford to miss and should make every possible effort to communicate with people in Congo about important legal proceedings in The Hague. To be effective, justice must not only be done but also must be seen to be done. Human Rights Watch will be looking very closely at the court's performance to this end.
Bosco Ntaganda Still Sought by the ICC
Bosco Ntaganda, who collaborated with Lubanga as chief of military operations for the UPC, has also been charged with war crimes by the ICC but remains at large. He currently serves as the military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a rebel group that is now collaborating with the Congolese and Rwandan national armies in military operations against a Rwandan armed group in eastern Congo.
On November 4 and 5, 2008, CNDP troops under Ntaganda's command killed an estimated 150 people in the town of Kiwanja, one of the worst massacres in North Kivu in the past two years.
In early January, Ntaganda claimed he was taking over leadership of the CNDP from its former head Laurent Nkunda, and on January 16 he declared that instead of making war on the Congolese national army, he would join its troops in fighting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan armed group some of whose leaders participated in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
"Bosco Ntaganda is not a viable partner for the Congolese or any other government," said Singh. "He is a war crimes suspect sought by the ICC, and he should be immediately arrested, not celebrated as a partner for peace."
The Congolese government, a state party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, is obligated to arrest Ntaganda. Yet no such attempt was made last week when Ntaganda was in Goma alongside the Congolese minister of the interior and other senior Congolese military officers.
Background
In addition to crimes related to child soldiers, Thomas Lubanga's UPC, which purported to further the interests of the Hema ethnic group in the Ituri region of northeastern Congo, has also been involved in ethnic massacres, torture, and rape during the Ituri conflict.
In March 2006, Lubanga was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges involving child soldiers. In January 2007, the judges of the ICC determined that there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a trial.
This trial is the first in which victims will be allowed to participate in international criminal proceedings. More than 90 victims who have been found eligible will participate through their legal representatives. While not parties, victims have certain rights in proceedings, provided their exercise is consistent with the rights of the accused and a fair trial. This may include the right to submit evidence pertaining to Lubanga's guilt or innocence and thus contribute to the search for truth.
The ICC has charged three other Congolese warlords with crimes related to child soldiers, including Bosco Ntaganda, mentioned above. Two others, leaders of militias of ethnic groups allied with each other but rivals of Lubanga's, are in custody. They are Germain Katanga of the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Forces (FRPI), a Ngiti-based group, and Mathieu Ngudjolo, of the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI), a Lendu-based militia. Both are accused of using child soldiers in attacking civilians in Bogoro village in early 2003, among other war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual slavery, and rape.
Children are currently recruited and used in armed conflict in at least 15 countries and territories: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, Iraq, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. In the DRC, at least five parties to the armed conflict are known to use child soldiers. These include the Congolese army (FARDC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the National Congress for the Defense of the People, pro-government Mai Mai groups, and the Lord's Resistance Army.
In addition to the ICC's cases, the Special Court for Sierra Leone has charged all nine of its original defendants, including former Liberian president Charles Taylor, with the crime of recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers. To date, the Special Court has convicted four defendants of this crime; those convicted are serving prison terms ranging from seven to 50 years. The Special Court's trial of Taylor is ongoing.
Ituri is one of the areas worst-affected by Congo's devastating wars. A local armed conflict between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups that began in 1999 was exacerbated by Ugandan military forces and through linkages to the broader conflict in the Great Lakes region. As the conflict spiraled and armed groups multiplied, more than 60,000 civilians were slaughtered in Ituri, according to the United Nations. Competition for the region's lucrative gold mines and trading routes was a major contributing factor to the fighting. Foreign armies and local militia groups - seeing control of the gold mines as a way to money, guns, and power - fought each other ruthlessly, often targeting civilians in the process. In their battles for gold, armed groups such as Lubanga's UPC were implicated in widespread ethnic slaughter, torture, and rape.
Human Rights Watch has been documenting human rights abuses committed in Ituri since 1999. Human Rights Watch published detailed reports in 2001, 2003, and 2005, as well as dozens of news releases and briefing papers detailing the widespread atrocities by all armed groups.
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Labels: Children, Congo, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Renata Daninsky
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
DR Congo: Protect Children From Rape and Recruitment, by Renata Daninsky
(New York, December 16, 2008) - The UN Security Council should respond to escalating violations against children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including the recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence, said Human Rights Watch in a letter sent on December 10, 2008, to Security Council members. The Security Council's working group on children and armed conflict is expected to meet this week to consider action on this issue.
At least 175 children have been forcibly recruited into armed service since heavy fighting resumed in August between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the rebel group led by Laurent Nkunda, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). There are reports that the number may be much higher. Scores of girls have been raped by parties to the conflict. Human Rights Watch observed some of these abuses in a visit last week.
"We wish Security Council members could have been with our researchers," said Jo Becker, children's rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. "The sight of drugged children carrying AK-47s might convince them that they should take stronger action to end the recruitment and rape of children and hold the guilty parties accountable."
Human Rights Watch researchers visited Nyamilima and Ishasha in North Kivu province, where they saw at least 30 children guarding barricades and patrolling the streets with weapons they could barely carry. Some were as young as 12, and four were girls. They were operating in areas now controlled by Mai Mai militias and the Rwandan armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
In some areas of Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu, Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups have gone door-to-door to force young boys and adults, some as young as 14, into their service. In other areas the group has recruited boys as young as 12 near displaced persons' camps. Some have been sent into combat without military training.
Pro-government Mai Mai groups recruited dozens of children for military service in late October, and the Congolese army has also recruited children to transport and distribute weapons.
Worldwide, 14 parties to armed conflict have been identified since 2002 by the UN secretary-general for consistent and repeated violations of international laws that prohibit the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Four of these "persistent violators" are currently recruiting children in the DRC - the Congolese army (FARDC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), pro-government Mai Mai groups, and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
"Tragically, many of the children recently taken are ‘re-recruits,' who have already gone through demobilization programs," said Becker. "These programs are too brief, and the children urgently need more support and protection from being recruited again once they return to their families."
Human Rights Watch has also documented rapes of girls and women by Congolese army soldiers and by combatants of the CNDP, FDLR and Mai Mai militias. Dozens of women and girls from Nyamilima and Ishasha have been raped in recent weeks by Mai Mai combatants, including girls as young as 9 years old, attacked while working in the fields or sleeping in their houses at night. Some witnesses credit FDLR combatants with trying to restrain Mai Mai abuses, but in many areas both groups have collaborated in attacks.
Nkunda's soldiers raped at least 16 women and girls in late October and November following their takeover of Rutshuru and Kiwanja. Congolese army soldiers fleeing an advance by the group raped more than a dozen women and girls as they fled Goma on October 29.
Tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped since the war began in 1998, and a recent report from the secretary-general found that between June 2007 and June 2008, the UN recorded 5,517 cases of sexual violence against children in Ituri and North and South Kivu - 31 percent of all sexual violence victims.
Human Rights Watch called on the European Union to urgently send a "bridging" force to eastern Congo to help UN peacekeepers stop further attacks on civilians, including children. Human Rights Watch wrote (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/09/european-union-deploy-bringing-force-north-kivu-eastern-drc ) to EU heads of state on December 9, asking them to deploy such a force quickly in eastern Congo following an earlier request from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the EU.
Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to:
- Take measures, including additional sanctions, against parties responsible for the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and rape and sexual violence;
- Urge members of the Security Council and governments in the region to apprehend individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), including the CNDP chief of staff, Bosco Ntaganda, who is accused by the ICC of crimes relating to child soldiers in Ituri in 2002 and 2003; and
- Ensure that UNICEF, the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC, and other relevant UN agencies receive adequate resources and personnel to promote the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers, including girls associated with armed groups.
Statements by children
(All names below have been changed to protect the children's privacy.)
Anthony
Anthony was one of an estimated 50 children and dozens of adults forcibly recruited in mid-September by rival forces, CNDP and PARECO, just outside the displaced persons' camp in Ngungu (Masisi territory). His family had fled to Ngungu days earlier, after the two groups fought in their home village, Numbi:
"Five CNDP soldiers stopped me on the road in the middle of the day. They sent me with a large group of other men and boys - some as young as 12, others as old as 40 - to Murambi, where they said we would transport boxes of ammunition for the rebel soldiers. They beat us badly so we couldn't resist. When we got to Murambi, they didn't order us to transport boxes, but instead gave us military uniforms and taught us how to use weapons. Then, after three days, they put us all in an underground prison. We stayed there for four days, and new recruits joined us every day. On the fourth day, they called us out of the prison and took us to Karuba. That night, I managed to escape with two other recruits, and we ran all the way back to Ngungu. The others who remained behind were sent to Kitchanga for military training."
When Anthony and the others arrived in Ngungu, they sought refuge at the MONUC base. Like many fighters who choose to disarm or who escape forced recruitment, they were handed over to Congolese authorities, who sent them to the military intelligence prison in Goma (known as the T2) as a transit point on their way to demobilization camps. Detainees are often held at T2 for weeks or months without charge and are subjected to cruel and degrading treatment; some are tortured. After five days without eating, Anthony managed to escape and sought refuge at a MONUC base in Goma.
"I want to go back to our home in Numbi," Anthony said. "But I'm scared. If the CNDP soldiers find me there, they will kill me."
Marie
Marie is a 16-year-old girl who was raped by a CNDP soldier in a farm outside Rutshuru on October 29, just after the group took control of the town:
"The day the CNDP arrived in Rutshuru, they pillaged my neighborhood and shot and killed two boys, so I decided to flee to Goma. I ran through the farms on the edge of Rutshuru and met two Tutsi soldiers with guns and spears. They stopped me in the farm. I was alone. One of the soldiers spoke Kinyarwanda, and the other spoke Swahili. They said, ‘We're going to kill you.' Then they put a knife on my arm. I said, ‘No, please pardon me.' Then they said, ‘The only way we can pardon you is if we rape you.' They cut my clothes off with the knife. One of the soldiers raped me from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. There was blood everywhere. Then when the second soldier wanted to start, there were lots of gunshots nearby and they left, saying that if I fled they would kill me. After that, I managed to escape and made it to Kibati [a large displacement camp outside Goma]. I'm still in a lot of pain, but I don't have any medicine and there's no one here to treat me."
Liliane
Liliane lives in a displaced persons camp in Rutshuru. She was raped when she went back to her village to look for something to eat:
"One time, when I tried to go back to my village, the FDLR stopped me and raped me. They took me on the side of the road, near the village Buhuga. There were eight FDLR combatants. I was with seven other girls. All of us were raped. The other girls were from my village, but they don't live in this camp. They took us at 2 p.m. and let us go the next day at 4 p.m. We spent the night with them and then they let us go. One soldier raped me; there was one soldier for each girl. They abused us badly. They used their weapons to threaten us, but they didn't use them against us. I was 17 years old when this happened. The other girls were 16, 17, and 18 years old. I studied until the sixth primary level, but I can't study now that I'm displaced. I just want the FDLR and the CNDP to leave so I can return home and continue my life."
Labels: Children, Congo, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Renata Daninsky
Thursday, December 11, 2008
DR Congo: EU ‘Bridging’ Force Needed to Protect Civilians, by Francis Chartrand
The European Union should urgently send a "bridging" force to eastern Congo to help UN peacekeepers stop further attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 30-page report, "Killings in Kiwanja: The UN's Inability to Protect Civilians," details the killing of an estimated 150 people in the town of Kiwanja on November 4 and 5, 2008 - the worst killing spree in North Kivu province in two years. Although UN peacekeepers considered Kiwanja a priority protection zone, they did not have enough peacekeepers or the capacity to stop the killings. Survivors could only run to the UN base half a mile away and cluster outside the fence for protection.
"The European Union should not wait for further killings to act," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The current UN forces simply do not have the capacity or numbers to protect those Congolese at dire risk of further attacks."
The UN Security Council authorized more peacekeeping troops in November but estimates that it could take up to four months before reinforcements arrive. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has asked the European Union to provide a short-term force to protect civilians until more UN troops are in place.
Human Rights Watch wrote to EU heads of state on December 9, asking them to deploy such a force quickly in eastern Congo.
Most of those killed in Kiwanja were summarily executed by the forces of the rebel commander Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) on November 5 after the rebel group, which had controlled the town since October 29, repulsed an attack by pro-government Mai Mai militia. The Mai Mai also deliberately killed several civilians.
The Human Rights Watch report is based on more than 130 interviews in Kiwanja and Goma, with victims, witnesses, humanitarian workers, UN peacekeepers, and officials of Nkunda's rebel group.
After re-establishing control of Kiwanja on November 5, the rebels carried out a brutal operation against any remaining Mai Mai combatants or suspected sympathizers. According to witnesses, the combatants broke into homes, demanded money and cell phones and then killed the men and teenage boys they found - slaughtering them in front of their families or on nearby streets. Most were shot, but others were hacked to death with machetes or speared. Some women and children were killed, including those who tried to protect family members.
Since the killing spree, both forces have continued to target civilians. Human Rights Watch investigations found that Nkunda's rebels and Mai Mai combatants killed at least another 18 civilians in late November and early December. The warring parties have also raped more than 16 women and girls and forcibly recruited dozens of children into armed service since late October.
Human Rights Watch researchers also documented the systematic destruction of six camps for displaced people in and around Kiwanja and neighboring Rutshuru. The displaced people fled to various locations and most still had not been located five weeks after the attack.
The rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire on October 29, but this has meant little in rural areas, where the fighting continues and much of the population remains at great risk.
"Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups must immediately cease all the attacks on civilians, the rape of women and girls, and the destruction of camps for displaced people," said Van Woudenberg. "Those responsible for these brutal atrocities must be arrested and held to account."
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, had 120 peacekeepers in Kiwanja, one of its largest field bases in North Kivu. Because of the importance of Kiwanja and Rutshuru as centers for humanitarian assistance, UN peacekeepers considered them a priority protection zone. However, the peacekeepers were not able to prevent Nkunda's rebels from taking the towns or destroying the camps for displaced people, nor were they able to stop the killing and rape of civilians.
The UN peacekeepers relied on cooperation from Congolese army forces to provide security for the towns, but received little. Whatever possibility the peacekeepers might have had to protect civilians on their own was thwarted by logistical deficiencies and competing priorities faced by the peacekeeping force. "EU troops would free up UN peacekeepers to strengthen bases in more remote areas, such as Kiwanja, and help prevent further atrocities," said Van Woudenberg. "The people of eastern Congo have suffered for far too long. The EU should give the UN the help it needs to protect civilians."
Link
Labels: Congo, Francis Chartrand, Human Rights Watch
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
DR Congo: President Brutally Represses Opposition, by Marie-Êve Marineau
(Kinshasa, November 25, 2008) - Congolese state security forces have killed an estimated 500 people and detained about 1,000 more, many of whom have been tortured, in the two years since elections that were meant to bring democracy, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The brutal repression against perceived opponents began during the 2006 elections that carried President Joseph Kabila to power, and has continued to the present.
The 96-page report, "‘We Will Crush You': The Restriction of Political Space in the Democratic Republic of Congo," documents the Kabila government's use of violence and intimidation to eliminate political opponents. Human Rights Watch found that Kabila himself set the tone and direction by giving orders to "crush" or "neutralize" the "enemies of democracy," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them.
"While everyone focuses on the violence in eastern Congo, government abuses against political opponents attract little attention," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "Efforts to build a democratic Congo are being stifled not just by rebellion but also by the Kabila government's repression."
On the second anniversary of Kabila's November 28, 2006 election victory, the Congo remains impoverished and in conflict. Those in western Congo who might challenge government policies face brutal repression, while in the east the armed conflict with renegade general Laurent Nkunda's forces has resulted in horrific atrocities by all sides.
The report is based on months of extensive field research including interviews with more than 250 victims, witnesses, and officials. Human Rights Watch documented how Kabila's subordinates worked through several state security forces - including the paramilitary Republican Guards, a "secret commission," the special Simba battalion of the police, and the intelligence services - to crack down on perceived opponents in the capital Kinshasa and in Bas Congo province.
Following the 2006 elections, which were largely financed by international donors, foreign governments focused on winning favor with Kabila's new government and kept silent about human rights abuses and the government's increasingly repressive rule. United Nations reports documenting government involvement in politically motivated crimes were deliberately buried or published too late to have any significant impact on events, Human Rights Watch found.
The report says that state agents particularly targeted persons from Equateur province and others thought to support the defeated presidential candidate, Jean-Pierre Bemba, as well as adherents of Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK), a political-religious group based in Bas Congo that promotes greater provincial autonomy and had considerable support in legislative elections.
At least 500 perceived opponents of the government were deliberately killed or summarily executed. In some of the most violent episodes, state agents tried to cover up the crimes by dumping bodies in the Congo River or by secretly burying them in mass graves. Government officials blocked efforts to investigate by UN human rights staff, Congolese and international human rights monitors, and family members of victims.
The detentions came in waves of arrests during the past two years. Detainees and former detainees described torture, including beatings, whippings, mock executions, and the use of electric batons on their genitals and other parts of their bodies. Some were kept chained for days or weeks and many were forced to sign confessions saying they had been involved in coup plots against Kabila.
In mid-October 2008, state agents arbitrarily arrested at least 20 people in Kinshasa, the majority from Equateur province, including a woman and her 3-month-old baby. Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 200 people detained in politically related cases continue to be held without trial in prisons in Bas Congo and Kinshasa.
Armed groups associated with Bemba and BDK adherents also were responsible for killing state agents and ordinary people, including in incidents in Bas Congo in February 2007 and in Kinshasa in March 2007. In these cases, the police and army had a duty to restore order, but often did so with excessive force.
Congolese officials have refused to acknowledge abuses committed by state agents despite inquiries by the National Assembly, the media, and other citizens or groups. The officials claimed that the victims were plotting coup attempts or otherwise threatening state authority, but they provided no convincing evidence of such charges and brought only a handful of cases to court.
Journalists who were linked to the political opposition or who protested abuses were threatened, arbitrarily arrested, and in some cases tortured by government agents. The government closed down radio stations and television networks that were linked to the opposition or broadcast their views. Several of these stations were later permitted to operate again.
The National Assembly has tried to scrutinize the conduct of the government. Opposition members sometimes boycotted sessions in protest of the abuses, with some limited impact. However, these efforts have not been enough to stop the killings or the wide-scale arbitrary arrests.
Human Rights Watch called on the government to establish a high-level task force under the authority of the Ministry of Justice with input from human rights experts to document the abuses by state agents and release those held illegally. It also called on Congo's National Assembly to conduct a public inquiry into the abuses by state security agents and to prosecute those responsible.
"The Congolese people deserve a government which will uphold their democratic rights, not one that represses opponents," said Van Woudenberg. "An important first step would be to bring to justice those officials responsible for killings and torture."
Selected accounts from the report:
"As they beat me with sticks and whips, the soldiers repeatedly shouted, ‘We will crush you! We will crush you!' Then they threatened to kill me and others who opposed Kabila."
- A political party activist detained and tortured in Kinshasa in March 2007 by President Kabila's Republican Guards.
"At 3 in the morning seven Republican Guards came into the prison. They took 10 of the prisoners, tied their hands, blindfolded them, and taped pieces of cardboard over their mouths so they couldn't scream. The captain who did this said he had received orders. He said he would drink the blood of Equateurians that night. They took them away.... I knew one of the guards and asked what had happened. He said the others had been taken to the [Congo] river near Kinsuka and killed."
- A Congolese army officer from the Ngwaka ethnic group, arrested by the Republican Guard on March 23, 2007 and detained at Camp Tshatshi.
"They started to hit me. They stripped off my clothes. They took four sets of handcuffs and tied my hands behind me and then to my feet. I was thrown on the ground in this position... They gave me electric shocks all over my body. They put the electric baton in my anus and on my genitals.... I cried so much that I could hardly see any more. I shouted I would sign whatever they wanted me to."
- A former detainee held at Kin-Mazière prison on the orders of the "secret commission."
"Kabila took a decision to beat-up on Bemba and to teach him a lesson."
- A member of Kabila's inner circle just before violence in Kinshasa in August 2006 following the inconclusive first election round.
"We all saw this coming, but again we did not do enough to avert the crisis."
- A European military advisor with close links to the Congolese army about the March 2007 violence in Kinshasa that left hundreds dead.
"You JED who do you think you are? If you don't agree with the regime, go into exile and wait until your champion takes power. If you don't leave we'll help to shut you up for good. We won't miss. Too much is too much. You have been warned."
- A threat received by the local organization Journalists in Danger (JED) in June 2007 after they raised concerns about repression against members of the media.
Link
Labels: Congo, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau
Monday, December 01, 2008
Afraid to work in their fields, afraid of dying, by Noémie Cournoyer
In the region of Kirotshe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the west of Goma, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is working on both sides of the front, supporting a referral hospital and conducting mobile clinics. In the Shasha camp for displaced people, MSF provides psychosocial assistance. Carmen Martinez, a psychologist working for MSF in the area, explains .
Carmen, can you describe the psychosocial activities in the Shasha camp?
We started a psychosocial program to help displaced people, as well as certain members of the resident population, to overcome the trauma they have suffered as a result of the war. This is a community program, namely a program using the community base, without “technicians.” I am the only psychologist. Last week, I trained 22 outreach workers. They are organized in six groups, which correspond to different sections of the camp. In addition to these group or community activities, there is a one-on-one component to the program, with individual consultations for those who have been most deeply affected.
In concrete terms, what do the outreach workers do?
They organize discussion groups, with a discussion theme. There are 60 to 80 people in each discussion group. During a session last week, the theme was health. Health in a global sense: physical, social and mental. Some people spoke about headaches, stomach aches, sleeping difficulties. Others experience a sense of isolation. Today, we talked about the population’s concerns. We tried to identify the events that marked them. They spoke to us about their fear of going into the fields to grow crops, their fear of dying. They recalled their flight as something very sudden. We tried to find some tools that would help them overcome this situation. For example, having spokespeople to gather information about community needs. Or using traditional practices such as rituals.
What do the individual interviews involve?
In addition to social motivation, there is also individual counselling. Two people have been
trained to work with me as psychosocial counsellors. A counselling session takes place much like a medical consultation, where we try to identify the most important problems, recent events they have experienced, or very intense life experiences. First we deal with the physical and mental reactions, by allowing the person to express what they’ve gone through. One session was with a demobilized soldier. In other words, he had left the armed group to return to civil life. He spoke about flash-backs, night terrors, nightmares, intense emotions at night when he hears the slightest sound. He said he was afraid to leave his home. In fact, through this behaviour, he was avoiding a situation that could remind him about something he had lived through. There are many similar examples among the displaced people.
What are living conditions like in the camp?
Here, in the Shasha camp, there are approximately 4,300 displaced people. Some of these people are also in foster families. They left everything behind them, families were separated. At Shasha, about 20 children are unaccompanied, most because we don’t know where their parents are. People have also told me that armed men have stolen their belongings. On Oct. 27, everyone quickly evacuated the Shasha camp to go to Minova, farther south. Once the area was secure enough for them to return, everything had been pillaged. They have almost nothing; they received a few blankets, plastic sheets, buckets. Their huts are very small. The hygiene conditions in the camp are abominable. It’s important for us to insist on basic hygiene and health promotion measures. Some of the discussion groups, for example, focus on hygiene.
How can people get over such traumatizing experiences?
Together with the patient, we have to find mechanisms that still work well. For example, the ability to confide in someone or, for some people, to be with their whole family, etc. The demobilized soldier I spoke about told me he was still able to work at least, that he could go into the field occasionally. During individual counselling we identify these positive points and we come to an agreement about what we can do together. We have to make them understand their reactions are normal and that they are a response to events that are not normal.
Link
Labels: Congo, Doctors Without Borders, Noémie Cournoyer
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
ICC: Congo Ruling Victory for Justice, by Marie-Êve Marineau
(The Hague, November 18, 2008) - The International Criminal Court's decision today to proceed with the trial of a Congolese rebel leader accused of using child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a victory for victims and fair trials, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch urged the court to explain its decision on the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to the communities most affected by the alleged crimes.
Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) lifted a stay on Lubanga's trial, ruling that the reasons for the stay "have fallen away," and scheduled the trial to start on January 26, 2009. The proceedings had been suspended because the prosecution had failed to disclose potentially exculpatory material - information that shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused - collected confidentially prior to the original trial date in June 2008.
"Today's decision assures that victims will have the chance to see Lubanga face justice," said Param-Preet Singh, counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The judge's insistence on protecting the rights of the defendant also shows the ICC's commitment to fair trials."
Because of concerns that a fair trial could not be assured without access by the defense to certain potentially exculpatory information, Trial Chamber I suspended the trial on June 13 and on July 2 ruled that Lubanga should be released. But he remained in custody because the prosecution appealed the decision to suspend the trial - the basis for ordering his release. On October 21, the Appeals Chamber affirmed the decision to suspend the proceedings, but it reversed the decision to release Lubanga.
Meanwhile, the prosecution took steps, together with the confidential information providers, to remedy the lack of disclosure. Today's decision reflects the success of these efforts.
The suspension of the trial caused significant confusion and disappointment among affected communities in the Ituri district of northeastern Congo, where people were awaiting the start of the trial. Lubanga's supporters in Ituri have also sought to use the suspension as proof of Lubanga's innocence. It is vital for affected communities to have accurate information on developments in the case, Human Rights Watch said.
"Recent developments in the Lubanga case are both anxiously anticipated in Ituri and very complex," said Singh. "If the court is serious about making justice meaningful to those most affected, it needs to find effective ways of reaching them and explaining what happened and why."
Lubanga's trial will be the first trial at the ICC. It is now up to the prosecution to present an effective case and for the trial chamber to continue to guard defense rights scrupulously, Human Rights Watch said. The court will also need to provide ongoing information on the trial's progress to affected communities through targeted outreach campaigns.
Link
Labels: Congo, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Congo: Falling prey to brutality, by Marie-Êve Marineau
As fighting in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo is making the headlines, the neighbouring district of Haut-Uele is also affected by violence. Rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are terrorizing people, looting, burning villages, abducting children and killing adults. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) went to the town of Dungu, which was attacked by the rebels on Nov. 1, to assess the needs of the population. An MSF medical team has now been active in Dungu since Nov. 10.
J. (name withheld) is a carpenter working in the convent in Duru, a village many hours walking distance from Dungu. J. has a wife and five children and also cares for a young niece. He told a member of the MSF team what happened to his family. His story illustrates the distress suffered by civilians who fall prey to the rebels’ brutality and have to flee their villages.
It all started around 1 p.m. I had just finished cutting a cluster of palm nuts some 250 metres away from the market and the convent and was just about to get back when a child from the village gestured in my direction warning me not to get closer. According to him, the LRA had surrounded the mission and had even abducted children from the secondary classes.
I immediately went home and got the six children and my wife together, as our neighbour was away I took his four children too and we fled to the bush, two kilometres away from the village. There we stayed two days, next to our plot. We could feed on beans and aubergines that I got from our field and that my wife cooked in empty cans as we didn’t have any saucepan.
A boy who had been captured by the LRA but had managed to escape after three days joined us. He said that the LRA had left the village at around 3 a.m. and had crossed the river. Together with our neighbour who had joined us in the bush, we decided to return to the village to see what had happened and also to get some essential utensils. It was quite distressful to see that my entire compound had been burned down: the three small huts, the straw hut, the kitchen and the goats’ shed. Everything had been burned down. My six goats were lying on the ground, shot dead.
“My neighbour decided to cross the forest into Sudan with his family”
Overcoming our pain we rapidly cut up a goat and shared it between us. I added the rest of two burnt chickens and carried the lot on my back, returning to our hiding place.
My neighbour decided to cross the forest into Sudan with his family. As for us, as my wife didn’t want to go to this country which she doesn’t know, we decided to go the next day to Dungu where we have relatives.
The next day, a Sunday, we set out for Dungu at around 4 p.m. to get to Kpaika, a village, the same day. When we got to Kpaika my eight-year old son had swollen legs after this long walk, so we decided to rest for the night in the chapel and to leave early the next morning. Around 4 a.m. we were woken up by gunshots and people screaming. We fled – my wife put our youngest daughter on her back and carried our eight-year old son, I grabbed our three-year old son. My wife fell into a hole, so I put the toddler down on the ground to help her get out. That’s when an LRA soldier spotted us and gave chase. I barely managed to get my wife out of the hole and to flee with her. I then realized, too late, that I had left the toddler behind and I could hear him scream, but it was too late, impossible to turn back without risking to get caught, all of us.
A miracle
From the forest, where we hid, we tried to get some news. People said that many had been killed in Kpaika. Around 11 a.m. it was completely silent. We then heard the faint noise of leaves being trampled by many people. We approached carefully and saw that the noise was coming from the road, where many people were fleeing. We asked everyone if they had seen a little boy, alone on the road. Eventually, someone told us that he had seen an LRA soldier carrying our son on his back. This news drove us to despair.
My wife and I decided to save the remaining five children by taking them away as quickly as possible, knowing that by doing so we were getting ever further away from the little one. So we joined the flow of fleeing people and arrived in Kiliwa on Tuesday. Then, through some miracle we learned in Kiliwa that our little boy had been freed, that a well-meaning person had taken care of him and was taking him to Dungu.
We spent the night outside under a mango tree on the road side, dehydrated and exhausted, but with a lighter heart when thinking of our son, hoping he might already be on his way. We left Kiliwa at around 4 a.m. and walked all day. We reached Dungu after 6 p.m. We were given refuge by the priests and we have been with them for four days now. We’re waiting for our little one.
Link
Labels: Congo, Doctors Without Borders, Marie-Êve Marineau
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Congo: FAZ correspondent released
The kidnapped FAZ correspondent Thomas Scheen is free again. That was report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) on Friday with. Since Friday is early diesel Scheen and his two Congolese staff in the care of the international Task Force of the United Nations MONUC. The three men would be good considering the circumstances, said the editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Berthold Kohler.
Scheen, a Belgian citizen, and his two Congolese staff were on November 4 in the crisis area in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from May to May militia has been abducted. Scheen was during the reporting from the war zone between the fronts advised and been captured, the FAZ reported.
Link (in german)
Labels: Congo, Germany, Reporters without borders
Friday, November 14, 2008
DR Congo: Protect Civilians From Brutal Rebel Attacks, by Marie-Êve Marineau
(New York, November 13, 2008) – The UN Security Council should urgently increase the number of peacekeepers to help protect civilians in northern Democratic Republic of Congo following renewed attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), four international and national human rights organizations said today.
Human Rights Watch, Enough, Resolve Uganda, and the Justice and Peace Commission of Dungu/Doruma also called on the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and governments in the region to develop and carry out an arrest strategy for LRA leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to reports, LRA combatants have killed at least 10 civilians, abducted scores of children, and pillaged and burned untold numbers of homes and schools in northeastern Congo in the last two months alone. On November 1, 2008, LRA forces attacked Dungu, the capital of Haut-Uélé district, in Orientale province. According to local sources, after fighting in which three government soldiers were killed, LRA fighters abducted at least 36 boys and 21 girls.
“The LRA leader, Joseph Kony, is continuing his brutal and abusive tactics,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The US and UK, along with the UN and governments in the region, should actively work together to apprehend LRA leaders wanted by the ICC.”
UN peacekeepers are currently struggling to protect civilians in North Kivu province, in eastern Congo, where combat between the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and government soldiers and their allied militias has led to the displacement of a quarter of a million people and the deaths of hundreds of civilians since late August.
The United Nations says it has too few peacekeepers and logistical resources to protect civilians. On October 3, Alan Doss, the special representative of the UN secretary-general in Congo, asked the Security Council for reinforcements, but it has not yet taken any action and no countries have offered reinforcements. Some governments argue that the UN already has enough troops in the DRC that could simply be deployed differently. The continuing abduction of children by the LRA in northeastern Congo over recent months demonstrates those peacekeepers are overextended and struggling to fulfill their mandate to protect civilians. Troops are desperately needed in both the Kivus and Orientale.
On October 19-20, LRA rebels killed at least six people and abducted 17 others to transport their looted goods. Local youths then formed a self-defense unit to try to fend off the LRA. On September 17-18, the LRA attacked several villages simultaneously, abducting at least 45 children from Kiliwa and Duru. The LRA forces killed local leaders, pillaged, and burned as they swept through the villages. Precise information of these attacks has been difficult because of problems of access and security.
The ICC has issued warrants for the arrest of Joseph Kony and other Lord’s Resistance Army leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Our people live in fear,” said Abbé Benoît Kinalegu of the Dungu/Doruma Justice and Peace Commission. “Our children are preyed on by the LRA rebels.”
Abducted children are forced to become combatants and girls are forced to provide sexual services for more senior combatants.
“The LRA is committing new abductions of children with the clear purpose of restocking its ranks,” said Michael Poffenberger of Resolve Uganda. “This was the strategy in Uganda for two decades.”
In August, 150 peacekeepers of the UN force in Congo, MONUC, and Congolese army soldiers were sent to Orientale province to contain the LRA and help provide protection for civilians. On October 25 and 29, armed clashes between the Congolese army and the LRA resulted in the death of six Congolese army soldiers and three LRA combatants, according to local reports.
Some 25,000 persons fled their homes after attacks in September and October, and another 50,000 have been displaced by the attack in Dungu. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, virtually all of the people living in an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers of northeastern Congo fled because they feared future LRA attacks. Displaced people urgently require basic humanitarian support.
The government of Uganda and the LRA negotiated a peace deal in early 2008, but Kony failed to appear at a ceremony scheduled for signing the agreement on April 10. Since then he has occasionally promised to sign, but continues his attacks on civilians.
“For 20 years the international community has not had a comprehensive strategy to end the LRA insurgency,” said John Norris, executive director of the Enough Project. “Unless the world acts now to execute the ICC warrants, Joseph Kony’s war on civilians will continue and an already fragile region will be further destabilized.”
Background
During the conflict in northern Uganda, which began in 1986, the LRA and, to a lesser extent, forces of the Ugandan government have committed serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. LRA combatants have committed killings, abductions, rapes and other injuries, forced recruitment into military service, and widespread looting, and destruction of civilian property. Soldiers of the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) have carried out extrajudicial executions, rape, torture, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, and forced displacement.
In December 2003, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda asked the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes committed by the LRA. Once the ICC exercises jurisdiction over crimes, as it has done in northern Uganda, the court has the authority to prosecute crimes by any individual, regardless of affiliation. Under its statute, the ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute only crimes committed after 2002. In July 2005, the court issued warrants for the arrest of the top five LRA leaders: Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya, and Dominic Ongwen. Lukwiya was killed in 2006, and Otti was reportedly killed in 2007. The ICC has not issued warrants for any UPDF commanders or Ugandan government officials.
Link
Labels: Congo, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau
Monday, November 10, 2008
DR Congo: Civilians Under Attack Need Urgent Protection, by Marie-Êve Marineau
(Goma, November 7, 2008) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other African and international leaders meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, this weekend should take immediate action to protect civilians who are at severe risk in eastern Congo, 10 human rights and humanitarian agencies, including Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, ENOUGH and the Norwegian Refugee Council, amongst others, said today. The agencies also called on the European Union (EU), whose foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on November 10, to send immediate reinforcements to the beleaguered UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, whose forces have been unable to halt abuses against civilians.
A quarter of a million people have been forced to flee their homes since late August 2008 as a result of intense fighting between the forces of rebel general Laurent Nkunda and Congolese army soldiers and their allied militia. People have dispersed over a vast, inhospitable area without access to shelter, water, food, and medicines. The fighting has severely hampered the ability of aid agencies to reach those in need. With renewed fighting in the last two days, many more have been forced to run again in search of safety.
“The world cannot look away again as thousands suffer in eastern Congo. The people of Congo deserve more,” said Juliette Prodhan, head of Oxfam in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We have had fine words and important meetings but these must now be put into action by providing additional troops to safeguard the people. We need more urgency, more action and more commitment.”
At least 100 civilians have been killed and more than 200 wounded since combat resumed in late August 2008 between the forces of the rebel commander Laurent Nkunda and Congolese army soldiers. Many of those killed were trapped in combat zones, unable to flee, while others were deliberately killed by combatants. Child protection agencies report that 37 children were recruited into military service last week by Mai Mai militia in the town of Rutshuru. An estimated 150 children have been forcibly recruited since heavy fighting resumed in August.
With UN troops stretched thin and occupied on multiple fronts, increased military capacity is urgently required to keep the people of eastern Congo safe. In addition to the latest fighting in North Kivu, MONUC’s capacity is further stretched by the need to respond to armed groups attacking civilians in Ituri and in the Dungu area of Province Orientale, where the Lord’s Resistance Army last month attacked and kidnapped civilians, forcing tens of thousands to flee.
EU ambassadors met on October 31 in Brussels to consider the United Nations’ request for an EU force, but made no commitment to help. Diplomats said they preferred to see MONUC use its existing troops more efficiently before deciding whether an EU force was needed.
“UN peacekeepers need to do more to protect civilians, who desperately need their help,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “More troops and resources are urgently needed to shore up the blue helmets, and the EU is well placed to move quickly.”
Deployment of additional troops should be combined with sustained diplomatic pressure to help end the political and humanitarian crisis, ensure security for the local population, and hold to account those responsible for abusing civilians.
A fragile ceasefire between Nkunda’s forces and the Congolese army, signed in January, collapsed in late August. Nkunda’s rebel troops moved toward Goma on October 29, but stopped short of entering the town before declaring a unilateral ceasefire. The ceasefire was broken on November 4 when fighting resumed in Kiwanja, a neighboring town to Rutshuru, resulting in the deaths of more than 20 civilians. MONUC troops were again unable to protect the population of Kiwanja.
Thousands of civilians trying to flee fighting have been unsure where to turn for safety. After taking control of Rutshuru on October 28, Nkunda’s forces encouraged the town’s inhabitants to dismantle displacement camps where more than 26,000 people had sought refuge with assistance from humanitarian agencies.
Some civilians fled to Goma, North Kivu’s capital, swelling the population to over 700,000 people, but there too civilians were attacked. On the night of October 29, at least 20 civilians were killed, including 5 children, and more than 13 people were wounded when soldiers looted shops, attacked civilian homes, raped women and girls, and stole vehicles before fleeing from advancing rebels. Focused on defending Goma’s perimeter from the rebel advance, MONUC troops were unable to protect Goma’s civilian population.
During the past eight weeks, an estimated 250,000 civilians have been forced from their homes. The total number of people displaced in North and South Kivu is now over 1.2 million, many without access to critical humanitarian aid.
Ongoing combat and targeted attacks against humanitarian workers have made it especially difficult for aid agencies to reach those in need. Humanitarian workers in North Kivu have suffered 35 attacks since the end of August, including car-jackings, armed robberies, and physical assaults. A large number of these attacks were carried out by Congolese army soldiers.
“Action to protect civilians must be the top priority for international and regional leaders in Nairobi this weekend and for EU foreign ministers due to meet in Brussels on Monday,” said Kubuya Muhangi of CRONGD North Kivu. “Not responding to the demands of the UN secretary-general, who has requested reinforcements for MONUC, is not an option.”
Signatories to this statement include: ActionAid, ENOUGH, Human Rights Watch, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Conseil Régional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement (CRONGD) - North Kivu, Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines (PAIF) – North Kivu, Institut Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP) – South Kivu, and Association des Femmes Juristes du Congo (AFEJUCO) – South Kivu.
Link
Signatories to this statement include: ActionAid, ENOUGH, Human Rights Watch, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Conseil Régional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement (CRONGD) - North Kivu, Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines (PAIF) – North Kivu, Institut Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP) – South Kivu, and Association des Femmes Juristes du Congo (AFEJUCO) – South Kivu.
Link
Labels: Congo, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau
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