8 Septembre 2007
(Agence Misna http://www.mafroma.org/misna131.htm)
Motivation et requêtes
La Société Civile rwandaise a peu de possibilités d’exprimer sa voix. Nous avons interpellé des personnes qui à plusieurs titres sont renseignées sur l’actualité de la vie dans ce pays. Il est pour nous un devoir moral, par solidarité à ce peuple, mais aussi parce que conscients que le régime en place dans ce pays n’a pas causé qu’à la population de la RDCongo d’énormes souffrances , le peuple rwandais lui-même vit une situation d’oppression dans laquelle peu nombreux sont les privilégiés et très nombreux les écartés.
Le terrible génocide d’avril à juillet 1994 a été utilisé ces dernières années comme un instrument de pouvoir, d’acquisition des ressources et de couverture d’autres atrocités commises au pays et en RDCongo par le groupe qui ne cesse de se déclarer victime. Le problème du Rwanda n’est pas tout d’abord ethnique, dans le sens que le groupe qui a conduit l’avancée de ses troupes de l’Uganda depuis 1990 et qui a pris le pouvoir n’est composé que d’environ 14 familles, il y a aussi des Tutsis marginalisés. L’ethnie, comme ailleurs dans la Sous-région des Grands Lacs, a servi et sert d’instrument de conquête et de conservation du pouvoir.
Nous ne nions pas que quelques progrès techniques n’aient été réalisés. Nous ne nions pas non plus la capacité d’organisation et de discipline du groupe au pouvoir, mais, de toute évidence, le prix de tout ceci, en ces années, a été trop élevé. Tout ce qui s’est passé en ces années de guerres en RDCongo avec la forte implication rwandaise reste actuel et loin de sombrer dans les oubliettes, les noms des morts restent dans nos cœurs. Mais ce n’est que pour que justice soit faite pour la RDCongo que nous parlons, mais aussi pour soutenir les droits de la majorité de la population rwandaise non encore sortie du gouffre de l’angoisse. C’est aussi parce que il n’y aura pas de véritable paix dans la Sous- Région si le Rwanda ne s’ouvre pas à un véritable dialogue inter-rwandais. Par ailleurs, il n’y aura pas de retour pacifique des Hutus rwandais dans leur pays si les perspectives qui leur sont ouvertes ne sont que la prison, la misère et, dans le pire des cas, la mort.
Nous savons que derrière la force agressive du pouvoir rwandais se cache une grande peur. Celle-ci ne sera jamais guérie, mais restera encouragée et motivée par la répression. Le temps est venu, comme nous disait une maman, de se reconnaître tous perdants et de cheminer ensemble sur un chemin partagé.
Ce rapport, qui n’a pas la prétention d’une enquête sur large échelle, a simplement voulu donner la voix à ceux qui au Rwanda, maintenant, sont opprimés, et les témoignages recueillis concordent. Il n’est pas question de salir la renommée d’un pays, d’un groupe ou d’une personne, seul le souci de justice et de paix, au Rwanda et dans toute la Sous-Région nous motive.
Nous l’avons composé car nous savons que la Communauté internationale et particulièrement certains Etats du Nord ont une grande part dans la situation qui prévaut au Rwanda : ils l’ont encouragée, ils l’ont couverte, ils ne cessent de l’appuyer. Des intérêts économiques et géopolitiques y sont pour beaucoup. Nous les mettons en garde car le jour viendra où, comme ailleurs, on criera : "Au loup, au loup !", et il faudra alors reconnaître qu’une fois de plus, ce "loup" aura été entretenu par ceux-là mêmes qui seront en train de crier.
Nous demandons avec urgence au Président Paul Kagame :
- d’écouter le cri de tout son peuple et d’ouvrir un véritable espace de dialogue comme seul sentier de vie et d’avenir pour son peuple.
Nous demandons avec urgence à la Communauté internationale : aux Etats-Unis, à l’Union Européenne et à ses Etats membres, aux Institutions internationales, aux puissances économiques, aux "Bailleurs des fonds" :
- de renoncer à tout échange entre leurs intérêts et les exigences de la justice, des droits de l’homme et des groupes humains ;
- d’utiliser tous les moyens financiers, économiques et diplomatiques pour faire pression sur le gouvernement rwandais pour qu’il parcoure le chemin d’un véritable dialogue et cesse effectivement toute ingérence en RDCongo ;
- d’instituer instamment le Comité International de suivi pour la mise en pratique de l’Accord de Rome, devant offrir aux Hutus rwandais qui rentrent dans leur pays la garantie de la protection internationale.
LES RAISONS DE L’ALERTE…"GACACA" ET PRISONS / 2
Des raisons pour alerter
Le Rwanda vit une situation de forte oppression. Si elle était consultée par le Gouvernement sur le retour des Hutus dans leur pays, la population de l’est de la RDCongo ne pourrait que souhaiter la chose vivement et sans délai. Néanmoins, la Communauté internationale doit être consciente que si de fortes pressions ne sont pas exercées sur le Gouvernement rwandais, encourager la rentrée des Hutus signifiera les envoyer au danger et à l’injustice,et dans ce cas,les risques d’embrasement de ce pays et des pays voisins demeurent.
1. La fuite des Hutus rwandais
Ces derniers mois, depuis le fonctionnement des juridictions Gacaca, on assiste à une fuite des Hutus du Rwanda vers les pays voisins à savoir, l’Uganda, la Tanzanie, et surtout le Burundi. Dans ce dernier pays, leur sort a changé tout au long de ces semaines car après les avoir d’abord accueillis et avoir envisagé de les transférer à l’intérieur du pays, les autorités burundaises cédant aux pressions rwandaises, les ont gardés près de la frontière en leur niant le statut de réfugiés. Vers la mi-mai 2005, un grand nombre d’eux a été contraint, contre les principes du droit international, à rentrer au Rwanda, mais ils se sont à nouveau enfui en retournant au Burundi. Les autorités burundaises ont mis en garde la Croix Rouge et le Haut Commissariat pour les Réfugiés (HCR), qui avaient dénoncé les intimidations dont ces réfugiés étaient l’objet en les contraignant au retour forcé vers le Rwanda. A présent, au Burundi, les réfugiés Hutus seraient entre 7.00 et 10.000.
Les autorités rwandaises déclarent qu’il s’agit des personnes voulant échapper au juste jugement des tribunaux Gacaca. La télévision burundaise a montré des images de pauvres gens : essentiellement des mamans et des enfants dont il est bien difficile de penser qu’ils soient des "génocidaires". Même ceux auxquels la conscience ne reproche rien ont peur , certains se cachent ou cherchent à quitter le pays. Le Gacaca est une rude épreuve, mieux, un cauchemar aussi pour ceux qui doivent y assister. Même de nombreux Tutsis s’enfuient d’un pays où le climat social est de plus en plus insupportable sur fond d’intoxication. Les fuyards ne sont pas que des personnes passibles du Gacaca, un fugitif interviewé en Uganda a déclaré fuir les arrestations arbitraires.
2. Les Gacacas
Par le passé, les mécanismes des Gacaca concernaient la propriété des terres et les conflits fonciers , les vieux témoignaient à qui elles appartenaient. Aujourd’hui, avec l’appui financier et moral de la Communauté internationale, le pouvoir rwandais a déclaré vouloir en faire un instrument de réconciliation après le génocide de 1994, à l’exemple de l’Afrique du Sud, et le meilleur moyen pour désengorger les prisons, mais toute autre est la réalité.
Le Gacaca actuel consiste en un meeting qui se tient normalement un jour par semaine, et des jours divers selon les Communes, en présence des autorités. Tous les habitants du lieu sont contraints à y assister sous peine d’être considérés comme des complices des « génocidaires ». Ces Gacaca externes (car il y en a aussi dans les prisons) jugent d’abord les personnes qui sont "encore" en liberté.
Lors du Gacaca, on donne la parole aux rescapés, c’est-à-dire aux Tutsi ayant survécu au génocide. L’un d’eux peut dire : "Moi, j’ai vu un tel tuer telle ou telle personne". Même des jeunes qui à l’époque avaient entre 5 et 8 ans peuvent déclarer : "Moi je t’ai vu, tel jour, à telle heure, tu portais tels habits, tu as tué mon père". Parfois, c’est la jalousie envers quelqu’un qui a réussi à se construire une maison ou à monter un commerce qui pousse à le salir par ces fausses accusations.
L’accusé peut alors se défendre ou être soutenu par quelqu’un. On lui demande s’il a des témoins à décharge, mais comment en trouver dans ce climat de peur ? Si au terme du débat il n’y a pas de témoignages contre l’accusé, celui-ci est acquitté. S’il était déjà prisonnier, il retourne toutefois en prison tant il y a encore de longues procédures à suivre avant qu’il ne soit libéré. S’il est déclaré coupable, l’accusé est conduit en prison et le procès ordinaire se poursuit.
Les Gacaca sont une institution à sens unique : ils ne jugent que les Hutus, le plaignant s’y retrouve juge et partie ; loyauté et la sincérité en sont absentes, car, au lieu de servir à la réconciliation dans la vérité, ils sont des lieux d’intimidation, de terreur et d’injustice.
3. Les prisonniers
Un problème crucial que la Communauté Internationale a cru que les Gacaca auraient résolu est celui du grand nombre de prisonniers entassés dans les prisons rwandaises depuis le génocide de 1994. Au contraire, au lieu de se vider progressivement, les prisons enregistrent sans discontinuer de nouveaux arrivants. Au nom de l’ "idéologie génocidaire", on ramasse des gens qui n’ont même pas vu ou qui étaient à l’étranger. Beaucoup de Hutus encore en vie et en prison, ayant même appuyé en 1994 la victoire du FPR, ou ayant exercé tranquillement en ces dix dernières années leurs activités au Rwanda ou à l’extérieur. Les autorités estiment que 10% de la population méritent de passer par les Gacaca et affirment par ailleurs qu’il faudrait mettre en prison entre 500.000 et 700.000 autres personnes.
La prison centrale de Butare, pour ne citer que celle-ci, renferme 13.000 prisonniers dont 1500 non génocidaires. Ils sont en majorité des Hutus ramassés parmi ceux qui n’avaient pas fui le pays au moment de la prise du pouvoir par le FPR après le génocide de 1994. D’autres ont été tout simplement emprisonnés en 1996 après le rapatriement des Hutus par le HCR. Tous ces Hutus, vrais ou faux génocidaires, sont accusés de génocide et viennent donc de passer plus de huit ou dix ans en prison sans être jugés. Parmi eux, il y a des intellectuels et des analphabètes, des hommes et des femmes dont la plupart sans dossier judiciaire, n’ont aucun espoir de comparaître devant le juge.
4. Les Gacaca en prison
L’utilisation du système Gacaca pour les inculpés de génocide a commencé à l’intérieur des prisons. On avait promis aux prisonniers que ceux qui s’accuseraient personnellement de génocide et demanderaient pardon seraient libérés. Déjà un grand nombre de prisonniers a fait cet aveu ; ils n’ont pas été libérés, loin s’en faut, ils ont plutôt été enfermés dans un secteur de la prison appelé "Arusha" où ils jouissent des conditions meilleures à celles des autres prisonniers. Là, ils sont encore interrogés pour qu’ils donnent tous les détails des meurtres qu’ils ont avoués.
On a aussi poussé les prisonniers à dénoncer des personnes en liberté. Il s’agit parfois de quelqu’un qu’on visait. Dans ce cas, on promet aux dénonciateurs une réduction de peine ; il n’est pas aussi rare qu’ils dénoncent parce que y contraints par la torture. Des prisonniers ont alors fait des accusations, aidés en cela par de faux témoins. Le fait que des Hutus accusent d’autres Hutus donne du poids aux raisons du Pouvoir : "Voyez comme ce sont eux-mêmes qui s’accusent, donc c’est vrai".
Au Rwanda, les prisons doivent non seulement s’autofinancer, mais deviennent aussi une affaire pour l’Etat rwandais. Les Directeurs des prisons négocient des contrats avec des employeurs et envoient les prisonniers travailler dans les constructions, dans des ateliers se trouvant près des prisons, ou dans des champs dont la récolte sera vendue. A la fin de l’année, le Directeur de la prison remet 80% des recettes à l’Etat et 10% à l’ensemble des prisonniers. S’il est vrai que ces sorties des prisons permettent aux prisonniers de humer le doux air de l’extérieur, il ne reste pas moins vrai que les travaux auxquels ils sont soumis sont des travaux forcés.
En janvier 2003, avant les élections, le Président Kagame décréta la libération de certains prisonniers. Malgré que sa famille politique eût négligé ce décret, 20.000 détenus avaient été libérés provisoirement sous réserve de passer préalablement deux mois dans un camp de formation appelé "ngando". Cependant, la plupart d’entre eux se retrouvent à nouveau en prison pour les mêmes accusations après que les "rescapés" du génocide aient manifesté contre leur libération, mais aussi à la suite de l’activation des Gacaca.
5. La vie en prison
La prison est organisée avec soin et la surveillance est stricte. L’équipe de direction (bunyobozi) a sous son contrôle une équipe de surveillants armés qui veillent à ce que les prisonniers ne s’évadent pas, sinon ils tirent sur eux et c’est là un ordre avec lequel il est prudent de ne pas plaisanter. Dans la prison, il y a aussi un service de renseignement dirigé par un homme du FPR. Parmi les services assurés par le personnel de l’Etat se trouvent les services sociaux externes qui peuvent par exemple accorder une visite extraordinaire. Parallèlement à l’équipe externe, une direction interne des prisonniers (nyobozi) collabore étroitement avec le bunyobozi.
Les prisonniers sont logés dans des compartiments de type pigeonnier, superposés et juxtaposés, pour un espace de 200cmx40cmx50cm chacun et par individu. Les toilettes ne sont pas couvertes, elles n’ont pas de portes et les prisonniers font la file pour y avoir accès. La nourriture est fournie surtout par le Comité International de la Croix Rouge (CICR) à raison d’un gobelet de 300 g par jour et par prisonnier : mélange de graines de mais et de petits pois secs assaisonnés d’un peu d’huile et de sel. Quelques fois, on ajoute à la ration un gobelet de bouillie de sorgho sans sucre.
Les services religieux de toutes les confessions sont assurés. Pour les Catholiques, il y a même la préparation aux sacrements. Depuis que le CICR fait le recensement des prisonniers, il n’y a plus eu de disparus alors qu’avant, on en conduisait des dizaines à la mort en cachette.
L’état d’esprit des prisonniers est partagé : parfois les plus instruits et d’autres prisonniers honnêtes reconnaissent leurs fautes personnelles ou de groupe et affirment : "Ce que nous avons fait n’est pas bon, mais notre emprisonnement vient de durer longtemps ; nous voudrions sortir et pouvoir participer à la reconstruction du pays". D’autres cultivent par contre le désir de vengeance.
D’autres, plus pessimistes ou défaitistes n’attendent que la mort. D’autres enfin, pour survivre, se consolent en affirmant avoir oublié la vie de l’extérieur : "Nous considérons la prison comme l’unique chez nous".
Dans la ville de Butare, apparemment tout va bien, mais en regardant de plus près, on s’aperçoit qu’il y a surtout des femmes et des enfants, les maris sont en prison. Beaucoup d’enfants naissent alors hors du mariage pendant que les prisonniers souffrent doublement de l’abandon et de l’absence de leurs épouses.
ALERTE RWANDA: AUCUNE ETHNIE…/ 3
6. Pas d’ethnies au Rwanda
On déclare officiellement qu’il n’y a pas d’ethnies au Rwanda, mais les témoignages rapportent plutôt le contraire. Sous l’actuel régime, la question ethnique est machiavéliquement renforcée en faveur de la minorité tutsi au détriment de la majorité hutu et les signes pour le démontrer sont multiples : les actes infractionnels ou supposés tels commis par des Hutus sont punissables alors qu’à quelques exceptions près, tel n’est pas le cas si commis par des Tutsis. Immédiatement après le génocide de 1994, on pleurait le massacre des "Hutus modérés et des Tutsis". Aujourd’hui, on fait valoir en toutes circonstances de lieu et de temps le seul génocide des Tutsis. C’est ce qui fait dire à ce représentant de la Société civile rwandaise : "La réconciliation n’est qu’un discours pour l’étranger".
L’opinion dominante est que tout Hutu est Interahamwe, ou pire, un "Igiterahamwe", c’est-à-dire, de la saleté. Le schéma "Tutsis victimes, Hutus génocidaires" dirige la vie publique : l’on commémore les victimes tutsis, les monuments ne rappelant que leur massacre. Le "dédommagement des victimes du génocide" ne prévoit qu’une liste de Tutsis. Personne ne peut contester ce dogme sans être accusé de complicité avec les génocidaires. Le droit à la mémoire n’est pas reconnu aux Hutus quand bien même dans les familles hutu, il y a eu de très nombreux tués. Si on le déclare, on devient "négationniste".
Le manque de deuil public pour les Hutus massacrés au Rwanda avant, pendant le génocide et après la prise du pouvoir par le FPR a causé d’énormes souffrances à ce groupe. Par ailleurs, les meurtres, massacres et diverses violations commis par les Tutsis au Rwanda et en RDCongo sont considérés par eux comme de la "légitime défense".
En juin et en octobre 2004, l’association des Batwa, nommée Carwa (Communauté des Autochtones Rwandais), ayant son siège dans un quartier pauvre de Kigali, a été sommée par le Ministère de la justice et par l’Administration locale à suspendre sans autre forme de procès et délai ses activités. Selon les autorités, sa dénomination et son statut contiendraient des mots à connotation divisionniste et seraient en cela contraires aux principes de la Constitution rwandaise !
7. Elections et partis politiques
Le 25 août 2003, après environ dix ans de "Transition", ont eu lieu les élections présidentielles. Paul Kagame, qui depuis 1990, à la tête de l’Armée Patriotique Rwandaise avait guidé, après le meurtre de Fred Rwigema, l’avancée des réfugiés tutsis de l’Ouganda vers la prise de pouvoir à Kigali, et qui l’avait effectivement pris à la fin du génocide de 1994, a été confirmé Président de la République avec un score trop flatteur de 95,05% des suffrages volontairement et de cœur joie exprimés contre un total de 4,95% des voix pour ses deux adversaires réunis. Malgré les multiples témoignages au sujet des contraintes subies par les électeurs ou dénonçant d’autres irrégularités, la Communauté internationale jugea acceptable l’élection et félicita Paul Kagame.
De même, à la fin de septembre 2003, les Rwandais ont voté pour les Législatives en "élisant" leurs députés au suffrage universel. Le Front Patriotique Rwandais, le parti-armée du Président a gagné avec 73% de voix. Le Parlement issu desdites élections fut salué comme un modèle très avancé de démocratie et d’intégration des femmes dans la gestion de la chose publique: 24 députés sont femmes… Le Président Kagame a entre autres raisons, reçu pour cela le prix de la bonne gouvernance offert aux Présidents de moins de cinquante ans. Cette reconnaissance n’aurait pas été possible sans le soutien diplomatique offert au Président des USA au moment où il en avait besoin autant pour sa gestion du "dossier congolais" que pour aider à l’évolution de la réconciliation au Rwanda…
Des témoignages affirment qu’aucun parti politique ne peut s’installer en dehors de Kigali (sauf le FPR) et qu’à Kigali, les partis doivent impérativement faire partie d’un forum des partis politiques présidé par le FPR. Les responsables des sept partis politiques autres que le FPR dûment autorisés par la loi sur les partis, se sont alignés derrière Paul Kagame et le FPR. Enfin, l’armée rwandaise actuelle comprend 75% de Hutus et 25 % de Tutsis mais le commandement est à ces derniers.
ALERTE RWANDA: UN PAYS LANCÉ…/ 4
8. Un pays lancé…
Au Rwanda, certaines choses marchent. A titre d’illustration, les salaires sont payés et ne sont pas anormalement misérables comme dans certains Etats voisins. La sécurité des biens et des personnes est formellement garantie à chacun tant qu’on n’est pas encore arrêté. Les militaires et la police sont disciplinés, soumis aux chefs, et ils ne tracassent pas la population. Un certain droit et une bonne organisation existent tout de même.
Un projet appelé "Vision du Rwanda 2020" prévoit de grands projets pour donner plus de place à la technologie et réduire la pauvreté dans le pays. Depuis que le FPR a pris le pouvoir, un grand engouement à embellir la capitale est plus que manifeste : un peu partout, on construit de belles maisons, des bâtiments en étages, des hôtels de luxe. On a diminué le nombre des fonctionnaires en faisant la chasse aux effectifs fictifs mais aussi en débarrassant la fonction publique d’éléments indésirables. La privatisation concerne tous les secteurs : des investissements remarquables sont réalisés dans le domaine de la communication auquel l’on consacre des dons importants venant de l’extérieur. Le plus important point négatif de la vie au Rwanda concerne l’injustice envers les Hutus et les Batwa, ce qui va normalement de pair avec la logique universelle de la marginalisation des pauvres.
Plus ou moins 900.000 personnes habitant Kigali sont en train d’être chassés d’une manière ou d’une autre de la Ville ; ce sont les pauvres, les petits. Les tentacules du grand marché de la Ville ont été supprimées et les vendeurs sont renvoyés dans les marchés de périphérie. Personne ne peut vendre sur la rue son panier de haricots, de patates ou de riz, tout commerce doit être enregistré et payer des taxes élevées au Ministère du commerce.
Kigali et les autres villes attirent beaucoup de jeunes à la recherche d’un peu d’argent, aussi le nombre de chômeurs grandit-il fiévreusement. Le Gouvernement essaie de freiner ce phénomène en renvoyant les personnes sans des papiers en règle sur les collines et en raflant les enfants de la rue.
D’autres citoyens sont priés de quitter leurs lieux d’habitation en recevant en échange une petite somme par laquelle ils pourraient à peine acheter un terrain pour bâtir leur logis. Le fossé entre les riches et les pauvres s’agrandit de plus en plus, et dangereusement !
Lorsqu’on passe sur les grandes routes du pays ou dans la capitale, on voit que les gens sont en train de construire et cela donne l’impression d’un niveau de vie croissant alors que la réalité est bien différente pour la majorité de la population. Le Rwanda a une population essentiellement agricole.
Dans le temps, les gens cultivaient des marais organisés en coopératives. A présent, ces espaces ont été concédés à de riches propriétaires qui les exploitent d’une manière moderne. Les salaires qu’ils paient aux ouvriers ne sont pas suffisants. "Le sol appartient à l’Etat", déclare-t-on, ainsi, on a construit des villages pour les rescapés tutsis sur des terrains appartenant à des particuliers.
La loi foncière rwandaise a obligé tout paysan possesseur d’un lopin de terre à le donner au Gouvernement. Les politiciens en profitent. On construit des fermes modèles où les vaches produisent jusqu’à 40 litres de lait par jour. Face à la qualité et au prix du lait des fermes, les pauvres, en particulier des Hutus réunis dans leurs villages, dépossédés, ne peuvent faire face à la concurrence ni vendre le peu de lait de leurs pauvres vaches. Pourtant, les Tutsis n’avaient jamais eu de terres. La Communauté internationale s’est félicitée de l’existence de ces fermes appréciées comme des signes de développement.
9. La liberté d’expression
Dans une lettre du 31 mars 2005, venant de l’intérieur du pays, on pouvait lire : " … Priez beaucoup pour les Rwandais, surtout pour les simples gens qui ont tellement peur à cause de ce qui se passe maintenant dans le pays". Le climat qui règne est celui de la crainte, de la méfiance mutuelle, même entre des personnes de la même ethnie. Lorsque les gens se rassemblent pour un deuil ou pour une fête, ils ne sont pas à l’aise pour parler. Il suffit de peu pour être accusé de "divisionnisme", d’ "idéologie génocidaire". Dans ce cas, tout moyen de défense devient impossible car l’accusation est abstraite et on ne saurait sur quoi asseoir sa défense. Le résultat est facilement la prison".
Cette méfiance se vit aussi au niveau des écoles. Parfois on juge un élève hutu parce qu’on l’a découvert avec une lame de rasoir ou un couteau de table, quoi de plus normal dans un internat. Très souvent, l’élève est chassé de l’école. Paradoxalement, une pareille accusation ne peut être portée contre un enfant tutsi. Ceci ne peut étonner quiconque se souvient de cette déclaration du Président rwandais voici deux mois, répercutée par les grandes chaînes de radio "comme leurs géniteurs, les enfants des génocidaires sont potentiellement dangereux pour l’avenir de la nation rwandaise". Les enfants des autres !
La presse est entièrement sous contrôle gouvernemental. En mai 2005 a eu lieu à Nairobi, un important congrès international de la presse. Le fait que le Président Kagame ait été invité à adresser la parole aux journalistes présents avait suscité une vive réaction dans les milieux de la presse. Les journalistes qui ont osé décrier ses pratiques inacceptables avaient été menacés ou emprisonnés. Il suffit de presque rien pour être accusé de diffamation et de divisionnisme. Certains journalistes ont été tués comme Apollos Hakizimana, qui avait osé dénoncer les exactions de l’armée.
10. Sur la scène internationale
En août 2003, le Rwanda a été élu à la vice-présidence de la Conférence des chefs d’Etats et ensuite à celle de la Commission permanente de l’Union Africaine. Depuis le début de 2004, le Rwanda fait pleinement partie de la COMESA, le Marché Commun des Etats d’Afrique Orientale et Australe. Toutes les taxes à l’entrée sur les marchandises produites dans les pays membres ont été supprimées. Aujourd’hui, un Rwandais est en course pour la présidence de la Banque Africaine de Développement. Le Club de Paris vient de décréter en faveur du Rwanda l’effacement total de sa dette étant entendu que bon élève volant de performances en performances, le pays a rempli les conditions prévues. Une décision analogue avait été prise auparavant par le FMI et la Banque Mondiale.
11. Les Pays du Nord
Les Etats Unis ont livré récemment au Gouvernement rwandais un présumé responsable de génocide tout en sachant qu’il y a un Tribunal Pénal pour le Rwanda qui juge ce crime, et qu’au Rwanda, cet homme risque la peine de mort. Pour sa part, le Gouvernement rwandais a récemment donné un espace dans le territoire de Bugesera au Gouvernement des Etats-Unis pour la construction d’un aéroport international. Les travaux auraient dû commencer en février. Le but est de permettre aux USA d’avoir une base pour la surveillance militaire de l’Afrique centrale. Cet aéroport sera destiné aux passagers alors que l’actuel de Kanombe servira de base pour les militaires. Concernant le retour des Hutus rwandais, il semble que les USA soient cette fois-ci décidés de demander à Kagame de l’accepter. Des responsables belges venus en avril au Rwanda chercher des témoins pour un procès de génocide en cours ainsi que sur le massacre des Belges ont trouvé 80 à 100 rescapés qui pourront témoigner en vidéo-conférence. Mr. Louis Michel, Responsable UE de la coopération, avait reçu à Kigali du Président Kagame, l’assurance que les Hutus innocents pouvaient rentrer au pays et seraient bien accueillis alors que les génocidaires seraient soumis à procès. Il était rentré en Belgique tout content se disant qu’un partage du pouvoir n’était plus impossible tant les FDLR (Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda), signataires de l’Accord de Rome, lui avaient fait savoir leur détermination à participer à l’espace politique de leur mère patrie. Leurre ou réalité, l’avenir nous le dira !
ALERTE RWANDA: LE RETOUR DES RWANDAIS DU CONGO… ET LE JUGEMENT DE L’HISTOIRE/ 5
12. La rentrée des Hutus au Rwanda
Depuis 1994, des centaines de milliers de Hutus rwandais se sont réfugiés et installés en RDCongo. Beaucoup ont été tués dans les camps ( Kashusha, Kibumba, Mugunga….) et sur la route (Tingitingi…) dans leur fuite par l’armée rwandaise qui avançait avec l’AFDL de Laurent Désiré Kabila. Certains survivants s’étaient bien installés au milieu de la population congolaise. En 1998, lorsque l’APR commença la deuxième guerre en RDCongo aux côtés des troupes du Rcd, les Hutus ont encore beaucoup souffert. On demandait à des citoyens congolais de dénoncer la présence des Hutus et on les récompensait avec de l’argent. C’est ainsi que des garçons et des hommes Hutus ont été tués. La Communauté internationale est restée indifférente au sort des Hutus. Certains ont rejoint d’autres pays, d’autres se sont réfugiés dans les forêts de l’est de la RDCongo.
Selon la Monuc, les Hutus Rwandais en cette région seraient environ 45.000 dont 30.000 au Nord-Kivu et 15.000 au Sud-Kivu. Selon RFI captée le 30.04.05, depuis le mois de novembre 2004, environ 900 Hutus sont rentrés de la RDCongo vers le Rwanda, dont 149 ces jours-là ; d’autres viendraient du Burundi. Le HCR serait en train de préparer des camps pour accueillir ceux qui arriveront au Rwanda.. Il existe aussi la difficulté des Hutus mariés à des femmes congolaises.
Ceux qui sèment la terreur dans le Sud-Kivu, sont des hommes de Paul Kagame, envoyés en RDCongo et aidés par des bandits congolais pour servir de prétexte à l’insécurité du Rwanda et pour diaboliser les FDLR.
Par les Accords de Rome du 31 mars 2004, signés avec le Gouvernement congolais, les Hutus du FDLR ont décidé d’abandonner la lutte armée, de rentrer au Rwanda et de devenir un parti politique. Mais beaucoup d’eux ont peur de rentrer. D’ailleurs, dans les conditions actuelles des partis politiques, quel espace pourraient trouver les FDLR ? Ce qui attend ces Hutus, qu’ils soient coupables ou non, ce sont probablement les Gacaca et certainement pour la plupart, la misère. L’Institut de recherche International Crisis Group a appelé le Rwanda à négocier avec les FDLR, mais le Gouvernement rwandais a déclaré qu’il ne négociera jamais avec eux, qu’au contraire, à leur retour, ils devront répondre de leurs actes.
13. La clé du changement
Le jour n’est pas lointain où on le reconnaîtra : le régime de Paul Kagame a fait tant de mal à son pays, à ses concitoyens et à la population congolaise, mais ce régime n’en portera pas seul la responsabilité. Un jour, on reconnaîtra aussi avec du retard que la Communauté internationale a commis un grand tort en fermant les yeux sur les méfaits de ce régime, mais plus encore, en fabriquant et en encourageant cet "homme fort". On l’a considéré comme stabilisateur en fermant les yeux sur une réalité tout à fait contraire et, en tout cas, sur le prix de cette prétendue "stabilité".
"En ces années de tueries mutuelles, on a été tous perdants et ce n’est qu’en le reconnaissant que nous pourrons rebâtir notre pays", a dit une maman rwandaise. Pour la paix en RDCongo, pour que la rentrée au Rwanda des Hutus rwandais ne devienne pas une nouvelle tragédie pour la population congolaise et pour eux-mêmes, il est nécessaire qu’un espace de liberté et de véritable dialogue soit ouvert au Rwanda.
Pour l’obtenir, il n’est pas nécessaire que la Communauté internationale envoie des armées. Il suffirait qu’elle renonce une bonne fois à ses propres intérêts et qu’elle exerce sur ce régime la pression par la suspension de l’aide budgétaire ainsi que la vraie pression diplomatique. Mais les satellites, les diplomates, les voyages des ministres, les rapports de l’ONU, les documents de la Société civile congolaise pas plus que ceux de la rwandaise ne semblent jusqu’ici beaucoup servir : on vient en effet de féliciter la performance du Rwanda en effaçant totalement sa dette extérieure.
Et pendant ce temps, dans l’indifférence totale, des Rwandais massacrent sauvagement des populations congolaises à Walungu, à Nindja et d’autres Congolais meurent à ne pas compter en Ituri et ailleurs en RDC.
Et pendant ce temps, près de 4.000.000 de morts en RDC par la faute d’un homme et d’un pouvoir assassin sont ignorés.
Pendant ce temps, aucune compassion pour le pauvre peuple congolais dont la dette extérieure ne cesse de s’alourdir…
Que dans sa miséricorde infinie, Dieu daigne sauver le Rwanda, le Burundi, l’Uganda et la RDCongo pour un avenir radieux entre nos peuples.
Idesbald BYABUZE Katabaruka, Vicky CIHARHULA, Teresina CAFFI
08 September, 2007
Alleged UIC Accountant Refuses Return to Mogadishu
MISNA
7 September 2007
Abukar Omar Aden, alleged financier of the Islamic Courts (UIC), is said to have refused an invitation to return to Mogadishu which was extended to him by the interim prime minister Ali Mohammed Gedi. The Somali press said the prime minister – who flew to Djibouti to meet the alleged financier of the UIC – suggested that he return to participate in the second round of conferences for national reconciliation. The rich businessman suggested, however, that he would not return to Somalia so long as Ethiopian troops remain in the country. Omar Aden and his son were arrested last December 26 at the Liboi border – one of the main areas along the border separating Kenya from Somalia. They were released after the Kenyan state prosecutor decided not to proceed with the case. Omar Aden managed the El Man port as well as a series of profitable businesses before and after the UIC government
7 September 2007
Abukar Omar Aden, alleged financier of the Islamic Courts (UIC), is said to have refused an invitation to return to Mogadishu which was extended to him by the interim prime minister Ali Mohammed Gedi. The Somali press said the prime minister – who flew to Djibouti to meet the alleged financier of the UIC – suggested that he return to participate in the second round of conferences for national reconciliation. The rich businessman suggested, however, that he would not return to Somalia so long as Ethiopian troops remain in the country. Omar Aden and his son were arrested last December 26 at the Liboi border – one of the main areas along the border separating Kenya from Somalia. They were released after the Kenyan state prosecutor decided not to proceed with the case. Omar Aden managed the El Man port as well as a series of profitable businesses before and after the UIC government
Thousands Fleeing From Violence
MISNA
7 September 2007
Some 25,000 to 35,000 citizens from the province of North Kivu are fleeing the recent wave of clashes between the rebels, who have refused integration in the regular army, and the government forces. According to UNHCR, the Congolese refugees have spent last Tuesday and Wednesday night in the city of Bunagana in the Ugandan province of Kisoro at the border with Congo. During the day, most of the men crossed the border, returning home to check on their properties, leaving about 15,000 people (children and wives) in Uganda. Moreover, on Thursday night, about 200 people registered at the shelter in Nyakabanda, about 20km. from the border in Uganda. Humanitarian workers in North Kivu also said that thousands of Congolese have fled the city of Sake because of the fighting. Large numbers of refugees are also heading toward the internal refugee camp in Muganga, about 15 km. from Goma. In the area of Mugunga, there are several camps and improvised gathering centers hosting some 35,000 refugees. Since December 2006, some 180,000 additional refugees have emerged from North Kivu and the number is increasing constantly. Overall, there are more than 640,000 internal refugees in the province where the recent fighting have concentrated along the main communication lines, preventing the flight of civilians and the entry of humanitarian operators.
7 September 2007
Some 25,000 to 35,000 citizens from the province of North Kivu are fleeing the recent wave of clashes between the rebels, who have refused integration in the regular army, and the government forces. According to UNHCR, the Congolese refugees have spent last Tuesday and Wednesday night in the city of Bunagana in the Ugandan province of Kisoro at the border with Congo. During the day, most of the men crossed the border, returning home to check on their properties, leaving about 15,000 people (children and wives) in Uganda. Moreover, on Thursday night, about 200 people registered at the shelter in Nyakabanda, about 20km. from the border in Uganda. Humanitarian workers in North Kivu also said that thousands of Congolese have fled the city of Sake because of the fighting. Large numbers of refugees are also heading toward the internal refugee camp in Muganga, about 15 km. from Goma. In the area of Mugunga, there are several camps and improvised gathering centers hosting some 35,000 refugees. Since December 2006, some 180,000 additional refugees have emerged from North Kivu and the number is increasing constantly. Overall, there are more than 640,000 internal refugees in the province where the recent fighting have concentrated along the main communication lines, preventing the flight of civilians and the entry of humanitarian operators.
07 September, 2007
Batna: Suicide Attack Total Rises
MISNA
9 September 2007
The toll has risen to at least 15 dead and 70 wounded in yesterday’s attack in Batna, around 500km south-east of the capital Algiers, where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was expected on a visit. The attacked was discovered in a crowd of people and blew himself up. It is unknown for the moment who was behind the suicide attack, a new phenomenon in the nation, marred by Islamic terrorism in the 90’s. Another two deadly suicide attacks claimed by the Al-Qaeda Movement in the Maghreb (former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) were carried out last April 11 and July 11 in Algiers and Lakhdaria, in Cabila.
9 September 2007
The toll has risen to at least 15 dead and 70 wounded in yesterday’s attack in Batna, around 500km south-east of the capital Algiers, where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was expected on a visit. The attacked was discovered in a crowd of people and blew himself up. It is unknown for the moment who was behind the suicide attack, a new phenomenon in the nation, marred by Islamic terrorism in the 90’s. Another two deadly suicide attacks claimed by the Al-Qaeda Movement in the Maghreb (former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) were carried out last April 11 and July 11 in Algiers and Lakhdaria, in Cabila.
Rebel Attack on Barracks, Six Rebels Captured
MISNA
7 September 2007
The rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) carried out an attack last night against a military base in Agharous, in northern Niger. The news was referred by the rebels, claiming to have captured “six soldiers, some ammunition and a vehicle”. “As usual, the MNJ wants to reassure the families that the soldiers will be treated in conformity with international law relative to prisoners of war”, concludes the statement released by the anti-government movement formed last February and protagonist of a series of attacks in northern Niger. Niamey government officials have not yet confirmed the clashes. In one of the largest attacks by the MNJ against a military barracks on June 22, the MNJ abducted over 70 soldiers, later releasing around forty. Meanwhile, in a televised address last night the President of Burkina Faso and acting chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Blaise Compaoré, stressed that the crisis in northern Niger can easily be resolved through dialogue. In the past months Burkina Faso offered to mediate in the Niger crisis. First appearing on the scene last February with an attack on an army barracks in the north, the MNJ demand a more equitable repartition of profits from the extraction of uranium in the northern territories, in addition to a better application of the peace accords of 1995, which ended a Touareg revolt that started in 1990.
7 September 2007
The rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) carried out an attack last night against a military base in Agharous, in northern Niger. The news was referred by the rebels, claiming to have captured “six soldiers, some ammunition and a vehicle”. “As usual, the MNJ wants to reassure the families that the soldiers will be treated in conformity with international law relative to prisoners of war”, concludes the statement released by the anti-government movement formed last February and protagonist of a series of attacks in northern Niger. Niamey government officials have not yet confirmed the clashes. In one of the largest attacks by the MNJ against a military barracks on June 22, the MNJ abducted over 70 soldiers, later releasing around forty. Meanwhile, in a televised address last night the President of Burkina Faso and acting chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Blaise Compaoré, stressed that the crisis in northern Niger can easily be resolved through dialogue. In the past months Burkina Faso offered to mediate in the Niger crisis. First appearing on the scene last February with an attack on an army barracks in the north, the MNJ demand a more equitable repartition of profits from the extraction of uranium in the northern territories, in addition to a better application of the peace accords of 1995, which ended a Touareg revolt that started in 1990.
New Gunfire on Rutshuru Junctions, Calm in Sake
MISNA
7 September 2007
Shots were heard this morning between 5:00 and 7:00a.m in Rumangabo, on the Goma-Rutshuru junction in North Kivu (north-east Democratic Republic of Congo), theatre since the end of August to fighting between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and insurgents loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda. MISNA sources in the region also refer that the situation is calm in Saké, around 40km north-west of North Kivu’s provincial capital Goma, presided by regular soldiers backed by the UN mission in DR-Congo (MONUC). A cease-fire was reached with the mediation of the MONUC yesterday afternoon in Saké, deserted by the population. On the humanitarian front, a census is underway in the region and in particular Mugunga, near Goma, where civilians fleeing from the fighting are gathering. Based on preliminary estimates, there are at least 30,000 new displaced, after the tens of thousands that fled their villages amid growing insecurity in the past months.
7 September 2007
Shots were heard this morning between 5:00 and 7:00a.m in Rumangabo, on the Goma-Rutshuru junction in North Kivu (north-east Democratic Republic of Congo), theatre since the end of August to fighting between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and insurgents loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda. MISNA sources in the region also refer that the situation is calm in Saké, around 40km north-west of North Kivu’s provincial capital Goma, presided by regular soldiers backed by the UN mission in DR-Congo (MONUC). A cease-fire was reached with the mediation of the MONUC yesterday afternoon in Saké, deserted by the population. On the humanitarian front, a census is underway in the region and in particular Mugunga, near Goma, where civilians fleeing from the fighting are gathering. Based on preliminary estimates, there are at least 30,000 new displaced, after the tens of thousands that fled their villages amid growing insecurity in the past months.
Goma, Antonov Crashes on Airport Runway
MISNA
7 September 2006
An Antonov plane crashed a few minutes ago on landing at the airport of Goma, capital of the North Kivu province, in east Democratic Republic of Congo. MISNA sources in the city referred that the aircraft set fire straight after crashing and is still burning. It is unknown how many people were onboard, but first reports of the local press indicate that there were probably no survivors. The presence of Antonov planes in Goma is frequent, given that they are used to transport minerals extracted from the numerous mines of the area. The news is causing tension in the city, given that reports circulated this morning on the arrival at the Goma airport of a military plane from Kisangani transporting arms and government troops. The report refers to reinforcements for the Congolese troops engaged in fighting with militants loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda, underway for a week around Goma.
7 September 2006
An Antonov plane crashed a few minutes ago on landing at the airport of Goma, capital of the North Kivu province, in east Democratic Republic of Congo. MISNA sources in the city referred that the aircraft set fire straight after crashing and is still burning. It is unknown how many people were onboard, but first reports of the local press indicate that there were probably no survivors. The presence of Antonov planes in Goma is frequent, given that they are used to transport minerals extracted from the numerous mines of the area. The news is causing tension in the city, given that reports circulated this morning on the arrival at the Goma airport of a military plane from Kisangani transporting arms and government troops. The report refers to reinforcements for the Congolese troops engaged in fighting with militants loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda, underway for a week around Goma.
06 September, 2007
Army Raid Near Sake
MISNA
6 September 2007
Fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and militias loyal to the dissident general Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu continued yesterday afternoon. MISNA’s sources on the ground said that the FARDC launched three helicopter raids against the rebels about 7 km. northwest of Saké (about 40 km. from the city of Goma). A UN military spokesman (MONUC), who spoke to MISNA, has confirmed the clashes, noting that they took place in Kimoka. The fighting was also noted in Djomba, Karambi and Runyoni. Meanwhile, civilians continue to flee – 10,000 more refugees are said to be heading to Goma – Nkunda is said, according to AFP, to be willing to “release about 20 FARDC soldiers captured near Ngungu” and to release “about 100 soldiers from the mixed Delta brigade who are no longer willing to fight”.
In the context of the reintegration of the militiamen in the regular army, five mixed brigades, made up by regular soldiers and some of Nkunda’s soldiers, were deployed in North Kivu last January; since then, civil society had denounced a continuous degradation of security. He was a pro-Rwandan officer in the 1998-2003 war; after the peace accords, he was promoted to Brigadier General but rebelled with a group of dissident fighters, took the city of Bukavu (South-Kivu) by arms in June 2004; for two years he has been wanted on charges of war crimes, facing an international arrest warrant.
Editor's Note: Here's the key point to this article. It states General Nkundabatware is ready to release 20 FARDC soldiers. Yet all day yesterday and again today in the State-owned New Times of Rwanda, General Nkundabatware's spokesman Rene Munyarugerero Abandi and Foreign Minister Murigande said they were 20 FDLR soldiers, but one article named one of the captured FDLR soldiers as Col. Smith Gihanga. Gihanga was actually a commander of the 9th FARDC Mixed Brigade in North Kivu at the end of last year. However, there have long been unsubstanciated rumors Col. Gihanga was born in Rwanda. At one time, as a member of the 81st unmixed brigade he was allied with General Nkundabatware, including in the Bukavu Crisis of 2004. Was the switch a deliberate propaganda ploy to demonize the FARDC in the press? Remember, not all Hutu fighters in North Kivu are FOCA. Many of them are from former Governor Serufuli's LDF. General Nkundabatware's men have been assassinating RCD-G politicans aligned with Gov. Serufuli since the CNDP's creation as a way to consolidate political power over the Rwandaphone population and demoralize and delegitimize the majority Hutu population in Rutshuru Territory, which borders Rwanda and holds the Lueshe Mine.
6 September 2007
Fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and militias loyal to the dissident general Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu continued yesterday afternoon. MISNA’s sources on the ground said that the FARDC launched three helicopter raids against the rebels about 7 km. northwest of Saké (about 40 km. from the city of Goma). A UN military spokesman (MONUC), who spoke to MISNA, has confirmed the clashes, noting that they took place in Kimoka. The fighting was also noted in Djomba, Karambi and Runyoni. Meanwhile, civilians continue to flee – 10,000 more refugees are said to be heading to Goma – Nkunda is said, according to AFP, to be willing to “release about 20 FARDC soldiers captured near Ngungu” and to release “about 100 soldiers from the mixed Delta brigade who are no longer willing to fight”.
In the context of the reintegration of the militiamen in the regular army, five mixed brigades, made up by regular soldiers and some of Nkunda’s soldiers, were deployed in North Kivu last January; since then, civil society had denounced a continuous degradation of security. He was a pro-Rwandan officer in the 1998-2003 war; after the peace accords, he was promoted to Brigadier General but rebelled with a group of dissident fighters, took the city of Bukavu (South-Kivu) by arms in June 2004; for two years he has been wanted on charges of war crimes, facing an international arrest warrant.
Editor's Note: Here's the key point to this article. It states General Nkundabatware is ready to release 20 FARDC soldiers. Yet all day yesterday and again today in the State-owned New Times of Rwanda, General Nkundabatware's spokesman Rene Munyarugerero Abandi and Foreign Minister Murigande said they were 20 FDLR soldiers, but one article named one of the captured FDLR soldiers as Col. Smith Gihanga. Gihanga was actually a commander of the 9th FARDC Mixed Brigade in North Kivu at the end of last year. However, there have long been unsubstanciated rumors Col. Gihanga was born in Rwanda. At one time, as a member of the 81st unmixed brigade he was allied with General Nkundabatware, including in the Bukavu Crisis of 2004. Was the switch a deliberate propaganda ploy to demonize the FARDC in the press? Remember, not all Hutu fighters in North Kivu are FOCA. Many of them are from former Governor Serufuli's LDF. General Nkundabatware's men have been assassinating RCD-G politicans aligned with Gov. Serufuli since the CNDP's creation as a way to consolidate political power over the Rwandaphone population and demoralize and delegitimize the majority Hutu population in Rutshuru Territory, which borders Rwanda and holds the Lueshe Mine.
Fighting Also A Threat to Virunga Park.
MISNA
6 September 2007
“Our attention is focused daily on the presence of militants of the dissident general Laurent Nkunda in Mikeno, in the southern sector of the Virunga Park, and the fighting underway for days”, said to MISNA Benoit Kisuki of the Congo Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), in referring the devastating consequences of the escalation of clashes underway in the national reserve, classified by the UNESCO as a world heritage site ‘in danger’.
“On September 3, at 3:00 in the morning in Bikengue (south) some thirty park guards where surprised in their sleep by militants loyal to Nkunda that took 30 Ak-47 rifles, 530 ammunitions, 15 communication radios and personal belongings”, added Kisuki, contacted by MISNA in the capital of DR-Congo, Kinshasa. “Aside from the repercussions on the local population, the fighting is having extremely negative effects on the wildlife; it is known that since the start of the year five mountain gorillas were killed and two are missing, among the 82 considered ‘accustomed’ to contact with man”, explained Kisuki.
The ICCN representative estimated that 400-500 mountain gorillas, a species in extinction exclusively found in this region, live in the Congolese part of the Virunga Park.
“The fighting also threatens the buffalo, elephants and antelope; as well as putting the forest at risk of what we call ‘carbonisation’ i.e. the cutting of trees to produce charcoal”. The ICCN has called on the government of Kinshasa to ensure the safety of the park employees (around 430) and their families, also calling for an intervention of the international community and the United Nations Mission in DR-Congo (MONUC).
“This reserve is an exceptional heritage that must be protected. It is a world ecological resource and a resource of our economy and of neighbouring nations. We must act together to protect it and impede that armed groups spread seeds of desolation”, warned Kisuki.
The ICCN is a government institution that works for the protection of natural resources and biodiversity; its activities also include studies on the gorillas, scientific research and monitoring of epidemics. “We would also like to relaunch tourism, but all such activities are blocked due to the insecurity”, concluded the technical director of ICCN. Virunga National Park, covering an area of 790,000 hectares, comprises an outstanding diversity of habitats, ranging from swamps and steppes to the snowfields of Rwenzori at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, and from lava plains to the savannahs on the slopes of volcanoes.
6 September 2007
“Our attention is focused daily on the presence of militants of the dissident general Laurent Nkunda in Mikeno, in the southern sector of the Virunga Park, and the fighting underway for days”, said to MISNA Benoit Kisuki of the Congo Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), in referring the devastating consequences of the escalation of clashes underway in the national reserve, classified by the UNESCO as a world heritage site ‘in danger’.
“On September 3, at 3:00 in the morning in Bikengue (south) some thirty park guards where surprised in their sleep by militants loyal to Nkunda that took 30 Ak-47 rifles, 530 ammunitions, 15 communication radios and personal belongings”, added Kisuki, contacted by MISNA in the capital of DR-Congo, Kinshasa. “Aside from the repercussions on the local population, the fighting is having extremely negative effects on the wildlife; it is known that since the start of the year five mountain gorillas were killed and two are missing, among the 82 considered ‘accustomed’ to contact with man”, explained Kisuki.
The ICCN representative estimated that 400-500 mountain gorillas, a species in extinction exclusively found in this region, live in the Congolese part of the Virunga Park.
“The fighting also threatens the buffalo, elephants and antelope; as well as putting the forest at risk of what we call ‘carbonisation’ i.e. the cutting of trees to produce charcoal”. The ICCN has called on the government of Kinshasa to ensure the safety of the park employees (around 430) and their families, also calling for an intervention of the international community and the United Nations Mission in DR-Congo (MONUC).
“This reserve is an exceptional heritage that must be protected. It is a world ecological resource and a resource of our economy and of neighbouring nations. We must act together to protect it and impede that armed groups spread seeds of desolation”, warned Kisuki.
The ICCN is a government institution that works for the protection of natural resources and biodiversity; its activities also include studies on the gorillas, scientific research and monitoring of epidemics. “We would also like to relaunch tourism, but all such activities are blocked due to the insecurity”, concluded the technical director of ICCN. Virunga National Park, covering an area of 790,000 hectares, comprises an outstanding diversity of habitats, ranging from swamps and steppes to the snowfields of Rwenzori at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, and from lava plains to the savannahs on the slopes of volcanoes.
Somali Opposition Convenes in Asmara
MISNA
6 September 2007
The Conference of members of the Somali opposition, including leaders of the Islamic Courts, politicians that left the transitional government, civil society representatives and numerous figures of the Somali Diaspora from around the world, opens today in Asmara, Eritrea. Originally set for last weekend, the conference was postponed for logistic problems. The organisers referred that the meeting, named the Somali Congress for Liberation and Reconstitution, will focus on “how to create national unity and reconciliation among the Somali people, in order to stop the violence caused by the foreign occupation”.
The organising committee anticipated that at the end of the Congress the participants will present “a new political platform to serve the national interests of Somalia”. Today’s meeting in Asmara was planned as a sort of counter-assembly organised by all parts excluded from the Somali peace and reconciliation conference wanted by the transitional government and international community, which concluded last week in Mogadishu. Marred by the absence of nearly all protagonists of the anti-government front, the Mogadishu conference, with six weeks of debates, did not in fact produce the desired results. The Asmara conference, on the other hand, aims to create an opposition coalition of the vast front contrary to the administration of the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) in power since December 2006, when backed by Ethiopian troops it ousted the Islamic Courts and seized control of the country.
6 September 2007
The Conference of members of the Somali opposition, including leaders of the Islamic Courts, politicians that left the transitional government, civil society representatives and numerous figures of the Somali Diaspora from around the world, opens today in Asmara, Eritrea. Originally set for last weekend, the conference was postponed for logistic problems. The organisers referred that the meeting, named the Somali Congress for Liberation and Reconstitution, will focus on “how to create national unity and reconciliation among the Somali people, in order to stop the violence caused by the foreign occupation”.
The organising committee anticipated that at the end of the Congress the participants will present “a new political platform to serve the national interests of Somalia”. Today’s meeting in Asmara was planned as a sort of counter-assembly organised by all parts excluded from the Somali peace and reconciliation conference wanted by the transitional government and international community, which concluded last week in Mogadishu. Marred by the absence of nearly all protagonists of the anti-government front, the Mogadishu conference, with six weeks of debates, did not in fact produce the desired results. The Asmara conference, on the other hand, aims to create an opposition coalition of the vast front contrary to the administration of the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) in power since December 2006, when backed by Ethiopian troops it ousted the Islamic Courts and seized control of the country.
A Hundred 'Missing' In National Prisons
MISNA
6 September 2007
Over a hundred people suspected by Ethiopian authorities of ties to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) separatist group of southern Ethiopia have been illegally detained in national prisons for around two months. The report was made yesterday by the opposition legislator Bulcha Demeska, member of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, a small party of the minority, specifying that based on indications of the families since July some 107 people were arrested and illegally detained without any charges. Bulcha, who reminded that under Ethiopian law charges have to be filed within 48 hours of arrest, added that among the Ethiopian ‘missing’ there are also some human rights activists and many elderly people. The legislator also referred that he made a formal request to the government on the whereabouts of the 107 arrested, but had received no response.
6 September 2007
Over a hundred people suspected by Ethiopian authorities of ties to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) separatist group of southern Ethiopia have been illegally detained in national prisons for around two months. The report was made yesterday by the opposition legislator Bulcha Demeska, member of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, a small party of the minority, specifying that based on indications of the families since July some 107 people were arrested and illegally detained without any charges. Bulcha, who reminded that under Ethiopian law charges have to be filed within 48 hours of arrest, added that among the Ethiopian ‘missing’ there are also some human rights activists and many elderly people. The legislator also referred that he made a formal request to the government on the whereabouts of the 107 arrested, but had received no response.
05 September, 2007
Bujumbura: Tensions Remain in Buterere, Civilians Stay Away.
MISNA
5 September 2007
The two neighbourhoods of Buterere, in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, have practically remained deserted after the heavy fighting yesterday morning between two armed groups that left around twenty dead, including some civilians. MISNA sources on the scene refer that tension remains high, despite there has been no new fighting and calm has returned in the area.
“One of the two armed groups involved in yesterday’s fighting is still present in Buterere 2. The army yesterday tried to convince them to go to a camp outside the city, but they refused. The strong presence of armed men discouraged the return of the civilians”, said a MISNA source contacted in the area.
Based on the official version, the fighting in northern Bujumbura was between two rival factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), last active rebel group, which however already denied any internal divisions. While according to local sources, the fighting was between elements of the FNL and armed men linked to the government CNDD-FDD party – that before peace in 2005 was the main rebel group of Burundi – that came appositely from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
5 September 2007
The two neighbourhoods of Buterere, in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, have practically remained deserted after the heavy fighting yesterday morning between two armed groups that left around twenty dead, including some civilians. MISNA sources on the scene refer that tension remains high, despite there has been no new fighting and calm has returned in the area.
“One of the two armed groups involved in yesterday’s fighting is still present in Buterere 2. The army yesterday tried to convince them to go to a camp outside the city, but they refused. The strong presence of armed men discouraged the return of the civilians”, said a MISNA source contacted in the area.
Based on the official version, the fighting in northern Bujumbura was between two rival factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), last active rebel group, which however already denied any internal divisions. While according to local sources, the fighting was between elements of the FNL and armed men linked to the government CNDD-FDD party – that before peace in 2005 was the main rebel group of Burundi – that came appositely from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Villages Deserted, Burned in Ethiopia's Ogaden-MSF
Reuters
4 September 2007
Villages are burned and deserted, locals are fleeing to the bush, and basic health needs are going unmet during conflict in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, an international aid agency said on Tuesday.
"We found a very precarious situation in a very harsh environment," Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) Ethiopia coordinator Loris De Filippi said of the group's recent assessment missions to the remote region of east Ethiopia.
He was speaking at a news conference called by MSF to protest against what it said was Ethiopia's blocking of further access for MSF to provide humanitarian aid to an estimated 400,000 people in three of the worst-affected areas.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has denied blocking MSF, saying it does not maintain any no-go zones in Ethiopia.
It has been waging a campaign against Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels in the zone for several months.
De Filippi said three attempts by MSF staff to enter Ogaden's critical zones in recent days failed, while repeated appeals to Ethiopian authorities had fallen on deaf ears.
Two prior assessment missions to the region at the end of June and start of July had been deeply worrying, MSF staff said.
"I saw burned out villages. I remember passing a number of villages that were empty other than the elderly and sick," Eileen Skinnider, assistant coordinator for Ethiopia, told the news conference via an Internet link from Canada.
"We didn't pass one commercial vehicle ... I saw women and children chased away (by soldiers) trying to collect water from wells ... I saw small groups of men living in the bush."
MSF's departure from Ogaden came after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last month it had pulled out of the region following a government order.
With journalists effectively blocked from the region, it is hard to verify the humanitarian situation, or the frequent claims and counter-claims of mass casualties and human rights abuses between the government and ONLF.
A U.N. fact-finding mission is currently there.
De Filippi said: "I think we are missing a big thing that is happening under our eyes."
"We asked, as a desperation measure, for a humanitarian corridor for 24 hours. They (Ethiopian authorities) said they needed to finish operations first. But we said humanitarian aid is not bringing flowers to graves."
In the three worst-affected areas now off-limits to MSF, he added, there was one doctor for 400,000 people. Drugs were scant, natal care was minimal, and there were problems of respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malnutrition and tuberculosis in an area already prone to famine, De Filippi said.
Ethiopia calls the ONLF -- whose numbers are estimated at several thousand -- a terrorist group backed by foe Eritrea.
ONLF rebels say they are fighting for greater autonomy for their homeland, an arid region on the Somalia border which is mainly populated by nomadic herdsmen.
4 September 2007
Villages are burned and deserted, locals are fleeing to the bush, and basic health needs are going unmet during conflict in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, an international aid agency said on Tuesday.
"We found a very precarious situation in a very harsh environment," Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) Ethiopia coordinator Loris De Filippi said of the group's recent assessment missions to the remote region of east Ethiopia.
He was speaking at a news conference called by MSF to protest against what it said was Ethiopia's blocking of further access for MSF to provide humanitarian aid to an estimated 400,000 people in three of the worst-affected areas.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has denied blocking MSF, saying it does not maintain any no-go zones in Ethiopia.
It has been waging a campaign against Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels in the zone for several months.
De Filippi said three attempts by MSF staff to enter Ogaden's critical zones in recent days failed, while repeated appeals to Ethiopian authorities had fallen on deaf ears.
Two prior assessment missions to the region at the end of June and start of July had been deeply worrying, MSF staff said.
"I saw burned out villages. I remember passing a number of villages that were empty other than the elderly and sick," Eileen Skinnider, assistant coordinator for Ethiopia, told the news conference via an Internet link from Canada.
"We didn't pass one commercial vehicle ... I saw women and children chased away (by soldiers) trying to collect water from wells ... I saw small groups of men living in the bush."
MSF's departure from Ogaden came after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last month it had pulled out of the region following a government order.
With journalists effectively blocked from the region, it is hard to verify the humanitarian situation, or the frequent claims and counter-claims of mass casualties and human rights abuses between the government and ONLF.
A U.N. fact-finding mission is currently there.
De Filippi said: "I think we are missing a big thing that is happening under our eyes."
"We asked, as a desperation measure, for a humanitarian corridor for 24 hours. They (Ethiopian authorities) said they needed to finish operations first. But we said humanitarian aid is not bringing flowers to graves."
In the three worst-affected areas now off-limits to MSF, he added, there was one doctor for 400,000 people. Drugs were scant, natal care was minimal, and there were problems of respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malnutrition and tuberculosis in an area already prone to famine, De Filippi said.
Ethiopia calls the ONLF -- whose numbers are estimated at several thousand -- a terrorist group backed by foe Eritrea.
ONLF rebels say they are fighting for greater autonomy for their homeland, an arid region on the Somalia border which is mainly populated by nomadic herdsmen.
JED Shocked At 'Absurd' Verdict in UN Journalist Murder Trial.
International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto)
4 September 2007
Journalist in Danger (Journaliste en danger, JED) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) accused Congolese authorities of conducting a farcical investigation and trial that led to four people being hastily sentenced to death for killing a UN journalist.
A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo convicted two demobilised soldiers on 28 August after they confessed to gunning down UN radio reporter Serge Maheshe on 13 June in the eastern city of Bukavu.
Serge Muhima and Alain Mulimbi, two of Maheshe's close friends who were with him at the time of his murder, were found guilty of organising the contract killing. Six others were acquitted.
The trial was "riddled with absurdities," says RSF. "We never imagined that the Bukavu military tribunal would take its incoherence and denial of justice this far."
The trial opened a day after Maheshe's killing, sparking criticism from human rights campaigners that it was being rushed through.
According to JED and RSF, the verdicts against Muhima and Mulimbi were largely based on the testimony of the two former soldiers, who said they acted at the request of Maheshe's two friends in exchange for a promise of US$15,000 each and a ticket to South Africa. But the soldiers' statements were inconsistent, and no motive was ever established for those who ordered the murder, nor was any material evidence produced at the trial, say JED, RSF and the UN mission in the Congo. The court itself even underlined that doubts remained.
Maheshe was news editor for Bukavu's Radio Okapi, a UN-backed station set up to support the peace process following Congo's 1998-2003 war. Shortly before his murder, he alerted UN officials that members of the Republican Guard (the former Presidential Guard) had threatened to kill him. RSF says the authorities have produced no evidence that these two soldiers have been questioned.
When Maheshe, Muhima and Mulimbi were leaving a friend's home in Bukavu on 13 June in Maheshe's car that bore the UN logo, two men in uniform asked Maheshe his name and shot him in the legs and chest.
Lawyers for Muhima and Mulimbi say they are planning to appeal the decision. JED and RSF are calling for the Maheshe case to be reopened and heard before an independent tribunal.
Threats and intimidation against journalists are common in DRC, which last year held its first free elections in more than four decades. At least four journalists have been killed since 2005 in the country.
Patrick Kikuku, a freelance photojournalist and reporter, was slain this month in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, also by armed men in uniform.
In a separate development, three suspects in the murder of journalist Louis Bapuwa Mwamba were sentenced to death on 24 August. Bapuwa Mwamba was a correspondent for several Kinshasa newspapers. He was killed during a botched robbery attempt in July 2006 by three armed men who broke into his home.
4 September 2007
Journalist in Danger (Journaliste en danger, JED) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) accused Congolese authorities of conducting a farcical investigation and trial that led to four people being hastily sentenced to death for killing a UN journalist.
A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo convicted two demobilised soldiers on 28 August after they confessed to gunning down UN radio reporter Serge Maheshe on 13 June in the eastern city of Bukavu.
Serge Muhima and Alain Mulimbi, two of Maheshe's close friends who were with him at the time of his murder, were found guilty of organising the contract killing. Six others were acquitted.
The trial was "riddled with absurdities," says RSF. "We never imagined that the Bukavu military tribunal would take its incoherence and denial of justice this far."
The trial opened a day after Maheshe's killing, sparking criticism from human rights campaigners that it was being rushed through.
According to JED and RSF, the verdicts against Muhima and Mulimbi were largely based on the testimony of the two former soldiers, who said they acted at the request of Maheshe's two friends in exchange for a promise of US$15,000 each and a ticket to South Africa. But the soldiers' statements were inconsistent, and no motive was ever established for those who ordered the murder, nor was any material evidence produced at the trial, say JED, RSF and the UN mission in the Congo. The court itself even underlined that doubts remained.
Maheshe was news editor for Bukavu's Radio Okapi, a UN-backed station set up to support the peace process following Congo's 1998-2003 war. Shortly before his murder, he alerted UN officials that members of the Republican Guard (the former Presidential Guard) had threatened to kill him. RSF says the authorities have produced no evidence that these two soldiers have been questioned.
When Maheshe, Muhima and Mulimbi were leaving a friend's home in Bukavu on 13 June in Maheshe's car that bore the UN logo, two men in uniform asked Maheshe his name and shot him in the legs and chest.
Lawyers for Muhima and Mulimbi say they are planning to appeal the decision. JED and RSF are calling for the Maheshe case to be reopened and heard before an independent tribunal.
Threats and intimidation against journalists are common in DRC, which last year held its first free elections in more than four decades. At least four journalists have been killed since 2005 in the country.
Patrick Kikuku, a freelance photojournalist and reporter, was slain this month in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, also by armed men in uniform.
In a separate development, three suspects in the murder of journalist Louis Bapuwa Mwamba were sentenced to death on 24 August. Bapuwa Mwamba was a correspondent for several Kinshasa newspapers. He was killed during a botched robbery attempt in July 2006 by three armed men who broke into his home.
Hundreds Still Missing in Country - ICRC
Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
3 September 2007
Following the civil war and genocide, hundreds of people in Rwanda remain unaccounted for 13 years after the bloody horror, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent reports.
The humanitarian agency says Rwanda like other countries has had several of its children, women and men missing either through extrajudicial killings buried in massive (mass) graves or are still roaming as refugees.
"Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and past and current conflicts in the region of Great Lakes, a large number of families were separated", Georgia Trismpioti ICRC-Kigali Communication coordinator told RNA. "Still in Rwanda there are families that ignore the fate of their missing loved ones."
On August 30, the Agency released a report 'Missing Persons- A Hidden Tragedy' to coincide with the International Day of the Disappeared.
The 16-pages report calls attention to the tragic predicament - all too often ignored - of people unaccounted for in connection with armed conflict and other situations of violence, and of their families.
The report calls on the international community to renew its commitment to address the plight of missing persons and their families.
Last December, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted as a legally binding document that prohibits enforced disappearance.
Thousand of people are estimated to be missing around the world as a result of armed conflict or internal violence, Trismpioti said, adding that the issue of the Missing persons is a global one and often highly political and complex.
The ICRC supports national authorities to help them establish the necessary mechanisms to clarify the fate of missing persons.
Last year the agency reported that up to 1000 Rwandan children were still searching for their loved ones. Since 1994, it has run radio campaigns reading up particulars of children on the Voice of America and has recently started the program on local radios.
"Currently there are about 600 active cases of UACs (unaccompanied children) being assisted by the delegation in restoring family links program", said Trismpioti.
She said among them includes 543 Rwandan children located inside Rwanda and more than 70 abroad, and some foreign children located in Rwanda, whose families are being traced in neighbouring countries.
Available statistics from the agency indicate that since 1994, more than 20000 children have been reunited with their families. Last year 114 children were reunified whereas 52 are reunified during this year.
3 September 2007
Following the civil war and genocide, hundreds of people in Rwanda remain unaccounted for 13 years after the bloody horror, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent reports.
The humanitarian agency says Rwanda like other countries has had several of its children, women and men missing either through extrajudicial killings buried in massive (mass) graves or are still roaming as refugees.
"Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and past and current conflicts in the region of Great Lakes, a large number of families were separated", Georgia Trismpioti ICRC-Kigali Communication coordinator told RNA. "Still in Rwanda there are families that ignore the fate of their missing loved ones."
On August 30, the Agency released a report 'Missing Persons- A Hidden Tragedy' to coincide with the International Day of the Disappeared.
The 16-pages report calls attention to the tragic predicament - all too often ignored - of people unaccounted for in connection with armed conflict and other situations of violence, and of their families.
The report calls on the international community to renew its commitment to address the plight of missing persons and their families.
Last December, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted as a legally binding document that prohibits enforced disappearance.
Thousand of people are estimated to be missing around the world as a result of armed conflict or internal violence, Trismpioti said, adding that the issue of the Missing persons is a global one and often highly political and complex.
The ICRC supports national authorities to help them establish the necessary mechanisms to clarify the fate of missing persons.
Last year the agency reported that up to 1000 Rwandan children were still searching for their loved ones. Since 1994, it has run radio campaigns reading up particulars of children on the Voice of America and has recently started the program on local radios.
"Currently there are about 600 active cases of UACs (unaccompanied children) being assisted by the delegation in restoring family links program", said Trismpioti.
She said among them includes 543 Rwandan children located inside Rwanda and more than 70 abroad, and some foreign children located in Rwanda, whose families are being traced in neighbouring countries.
Available statistics from the agency indicate that since 1994, more than 20000 children have been reunited with their families. Last year 114 children were reunified whereas 52 are reunified during this year.
Clashes in Northern Bujumbura...A Testimony 2
MISNA
4 September 2007
“It was very intensive fighting, with the use of rockets, grenades and heavy artillery. We were woken up by the noise of powerful explosions. It had been a long time since there was such heavy fighting in Bujumbura”, said a missionary source contacted by MISNA in the Buterere neighbourhood, in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, describing this morning’s fighting between two factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), the last active rebel group.
“The clashes began at around 5:30a.m in the area of Buterere 2, near Mutakura, and lasted for around half an hour. Now calm appears to have returned, thanks also to the intervention of soldiers that isolated the entire area, shutting the main road that takes to Buterere”, added the MISNA source.
No estimates are in circulation yet on the number of victims of the clashes, though some sources speak of at least six dead. Many civilians immediately fled the area for nearby Buyenzi, where they found refuge and assistance from friends and family. The FNL factions that clashed are divided by support for Agathon Rwasa, chairman of the movement, and mainly on his stand in regard to signing a definitive peace accord with the government.
4 September 2007
“It was very intensive fighting, with the use of rockets, grenades and heavy artillery. We were woken up by the noise of powerful explosions. It had been a long time since there was such heavy fighting in Bujumbura”, said a missionary source contacted by MISNA in the Buterere neighbourhood, in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, describing this morning’s fighting between two factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), the last active rebel group.
“The clashes began at around 5:30a.m in the area of Buterere 2, near Mutakura, and lasted for around half an hour. Now calm appears to have returned, thanks also to the intervention of soldiers that isolated the entire area, shutting the main road that takes to Buterere”, added the MISNA source.
No estimates are in circulation yet on the number of victims of the clashes, though some sources speak of at least six dead. Many civilians immediately fled the area for nearby Buyenzi, where they found refuge and assistance from friends and family. The FNL factions that clashed are divided by support for Agathon Rwasa, chairman of the movement, and mainly on his stand in regard to signing a definitive peace accord with the government.
Clashes in Northern Bujumbura
MISNA
4 September 2007
Gunfire could be heard this morning in the northern zone of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, where based on first reports, clashes broke out between two rival factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), last active rebel group. As reported by the Reuters news agency, the fighting is taking place in the neighbourhood of Buterere, in the northern suburbs of Bujumbura, an FNL stronghold. Many residents of the area were awoken this morning by heavy gunfire and explosions and are fleeing to surrounding areas. The clashes are between dissidents opposed to Agathon Rwasa as chairman of the FNL and combatants loyal to him. It has not been possible yet to obtain independent information on the situation in Bujumbura.
4 September 2007
Gunfire could be heard this morning in the northern zone of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, where based on first reports, clashes broke out between two rival factions of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), last active rebel group. As reported by the Reuters news agency, the fighting is taking place in the neighbourhood of Buterere, in the northern suburbs of Bujumbura, an FNL stronghold. Many residents of the area were awoken this morning by heavy gunfire and explosions and are fleeing to surrounding areas. The clashes are between dissidents opposed to Agathon Rwasa as chairman of the FNL and combatants loyal to him. It has not been possible yet to obtain independent information on the situation in Bujumbura.
Kinshasa and Kigali Discuss Disarmament as Fighting Continues in North Kivu
MISNA
4 September 2007
The governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda yesterday renewed their commitment to disarm and repatriate Rwandan rebel groups present in east DR-Congo and “abstain” from supporting armed oppositions or rebel formations active in territory of another State. This is a synthesis of the joint statement issued yesterday by the Foreign ministers of Kinshasa and Kigali who met in the Congolese capital, in the presence of a large delegation of international diplomats, in an aim to dissipate new tensions underway in North Kivu, east DR-Congo along the border with Rwanda, where forces loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda since last week resumed hostilities.
According to MISNA sources contacted in North Kivu, a gunbattle erupted this morning near Jomba, in the Rutshuru territory (north of the provincial capital Goma) along the border with Burundi, while there were intense troop movements overnight in the Kitchanga area. With an interruption in communication lines in the entire area north of Goma, it is unclear if the fighting begun yesterday in the Sake area is still underway. Despite joint statements and accords, relations between Kinshasa and Kigali remain extremely tense due to the presence of anti-Rwandan armed groups in east DR-Congo. A presence that according to some Rwandan officials justifies the support, direct or indirect, to armed formations such as that led by Nkunda.
Editor's Note: Rwandan reinforcements crossed into North Kivu via Jomba, Bikenge, Rumangabo, and Bukima. They were met by the Bravo Brigade (commanded by Colonel Makenga, a relative of General Nkundabatware's) and part of the Charlie Brigade. The Bravo Brigade left their posts in Rutshuru town and Tonga in the middle of the night of September 3-4 to secure Virunga for the passage of RDF reinforcements. Wildlife Direct and the Congo Rangers, who encountered the soldiers while on patrol for Mountain Gorillas in the park, have only said "Nkunda's men" occupied the frontier posts for a short time. After they left, MONUC soldiers took the posts the soldiers abandoned, but did nothing to impede the dissidents. General Nkundabatware's men control a very large area of Virunga National Park as I write this update. Radio La Columbe has also been destroyed.
Additionally, General Nkundabatware's men were the aggressors and attacked first in Ngungu. It also looks like President Kabila and his Defense Minister are taking no chances this time. Since the FARDC was so unreliable in Nov-Dec 2006, some of the reinforcements sent to North Kivu from Kisangani were Republican Guard, and the Air Force is also present. The Air Force used one of their gunships against General Nkundabatware's men in the area south of Goma. It also appears some of Colonel Mutebusi's men are infiltrating North Kivu from the south. In Kinshasa, FM Dr. Charles Murigande will settle for nothing less then the extermination of FOCA and the continuation of Rwanda's depopulation policy in Masisi, Rutshuru, and Beni territories.
4 September 2007
The governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda yesterday renewed their commitment to disarm and repatriate Rwandan rebel groups present in east DR-Congo and “abstain” from supporting armed oppositions or rebel formations active in territory of another State. This is a synthesis of the joint statement issued yesterday by the Foreign ministers of Kinshasa and Kigali who met in the Congolese capital, in the presence of a large delegation of international diplomats, in an aim to dissipate new tensions underway in North Kivu, east DR-Congo along the border with Rwanda, where forces loyal to the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda since last week resumed hostilities.
According to MISNA sources contacted in North Kivu, a gunbattle erupted this morning near Jomba, in the Rutshuru territory (north of the provincial capital Goma) along the border with Burundi, while there were intense troop movements overnight in the Kitchanga area. With an interruption in communication lines in the entire area north of Goma, it is unclear if the fighting begun yesterday in the Sake area is still underway. Despite joint statements and accords, relations between Kinshasa and Kigali remain extremely tense due to the presence of anti-Rwandan armed groups in east DR-Congo. A presence that according to some Rwandan officials justifies the support, direct or indirect, to armed formations such as that led by Nkunda.
Editor's Note: Rwandan reinforcements crossed into North Kivu via Jomba, Bikenge, Rumangabo, and Bukima. They were met by the Bravo Brigade (commanded by Colonel Makenga, a relative of General Nkundabatware's) and part of the Charlie Brigade. The Bravo Brigade left their posts in Rutshuru town and Tonga in the middle of the night of September 3-4 to secure Virunga for the passage of RDF reinforcements. Wildlife Direct and the Congo Rangers, who encountered the soldiers while on patrol for Mountain Gorillas in the park, have only said "Nkunda's men" occupied the frontier posts for a short time. After they left, MONUC soldiers took the posts the soldiers abandoned, but did nothing to impede the dissidents. General Nkundabatware's men control a very large area of Virunga National Park as I write this update. Radio La Columbe has also been destroyed.
Additionally, General Nkundabatware's men were the aggressors and attacked first in Ngungu. It also looks like President Kabila and his Defense Minister are taking no chances this time. Since the FARDC was so unreliable in Nov-Dec 2006, some of the reinforcements sent to North Kivu from Kisangani were Republican Guard, and the Air Force is also present. The Air Force used one of their gunships against General Nkundabatware's men in the area south of Goma. It also appears some of Colonel Mutebusi's men are infiltrating North Kivu from the south. In Kinshasa, FM Dr. Charles Murigande will settle for nothing less then the extermination of FOCA and the continuation of Rwanda's depopulation policy in Masisi, Rutshuru, and Beni territories.
03 September, 2007
North-Kivu: Rwandan Foreign Minister In Kinshasa.
MISNA
3 September 2007
Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande is on a visit in the Congolese capital Kinshasa in a bid to avoid an escalation of the military crisis underway for days in North Kivu, eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Speaking to reporters yesterday at the airport, Murigande said he would address strategies to improve security with the Congolese government, though the discussions would be focused on the actions of the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda. The militia chief, who in an interview with BBC on Saturday, Nkunda said there is a “state of war” in North Kivu, in the past months recruited numerous soldiers and mercenaries in neighbouring Rwanda, as denounced by the United Nations, and it is renowned that he has close ties with Kigali. According to analysts, the visit of the Rwandan official and resumption of talks on the delicate issue of anti-Rwandan groups present in east DR-Congo, may at least temporarily suspend the military campaign led by Nkunda, who faces an international arrest warrant for violence committed in Kivu over the past years.
3 September 2007
Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande is on a visit in the Congolese capital Kinshasa in a bid to avoid an escalation of the military crisis underway for days in North Kivu, eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Speaking to reporters yesterday at the airport, Murigande said he would address strategies to improve security with the Congolese government, though the discussions would be focused on the actions of the pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda. The militia chief, who in an interview with BBC on Saturday, Nkunda said there is a “state of war” in North Kivu, in the past months recruited numerous soldiers and mercenaries in neighbouring Rwanda, as denounced by the United Nations, and it is renowned that he has close ties with Kigali. According to analysts, the visit of the Rwandan official and resumption of talks on the delicate issue of anti-Rwandan groups present in east DR-Congo, may at least temporarily suspend the military campaign led by Nkunda, who faces an international arrest warrant for violence committed in Kivu over the past years.
Fighting Continues West of Goma.
MISNA
3 September 2007
Heavy fighting continues between Congolese regular forces and militants under the orders of the pro-Rwandan dissident General Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on a toll issued yesterday by the Kinshasa military, over a hundred people were killed in the ongoing fighting over the past days. MISNA sources on the scene refer that the most intense fighting is in the key area of Sake, around 40km west of Goma, capital of the North Kivu region.
“This morning at 4:00a.m the Congolese army attacked the posts of Nkunda’s men in Sake”, said a MISNA source, who requested anonymity, specifying that the government forces appear to be gaining grounds on the insurgents.
Fighting, also with the use of heavy artillery, is underway since yesterday also in the area of Gungu, south of Sake. No reports of fighting have arrived for the moment from the area of Masisi, in the past days theatre to the start of the hostilities between the sides. According to Congolese military sources, the fighting of the past days in the Masis area, more precisely in Katale, left 97 militants and three soldiers dead. A partial toll given to the absence of independent confirmation. The number of civilian casualties is unknown. Humanitarian sources contacted by MISNA indicate that between 15,000 and 20,000 people have fled the area of the fighting in the past hours, while reports arrive from the Rutshuru area of wide looting by Nkunda’s men that left the area headed south to join their companions in Sake.
3 September 2007
Heavy fighting continues between Congolese regular forces and militants under the orders of the pro-Rwandan dissident General Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on a toll issued yesterday by the Kinshasa military, over a hundred people were killed in the ongoing fighting over the past days. MISNA sources on the scene refer that the most intense fighting is in the key area of Sake, around 40km west of Goma, capital of the North Kivu region.
“This morning at 4:00a.m the Congolese army attacked the posts of Nkunda’s men in Sake”, said a MISNA source, who requested anonymity, specifying that the government forces appear to be gaining grounds on the insurgents.
Fighting, also with the use of heavy artillery, is underway since yesterday also in the area of Gungu, south of Sake. No reports of fighting have arrived for the moment from the area of Masisi, in the past days theatre to the start of the hostilities between the sides. According to Congolese military sources, the fighting of the past days in the Masis area, more precisely in Katale, left 97 militants and three soldiers dead. A partial toll given to the absence of independent confirmation. The number of civilian casualties is unknown. Humanitarian sources contacted by MISNA indicate that between 15,000 and 20,000 people have fled the area of the fighting in the past hours, while reports arrive from the Rutshuru area of wide looting by Nkunda’s men that left the area headed south to join their companions in Sake.
02 September, 2007
Ethiopia 'Blocking MSF in Ogaden.'
BBC News
Martin Pleut
2 September 2007
International aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers has accused Ethiopia of denying it access to the country's eastern Ogaden region.
The barren region has recently been the scene of a fierce conflict between government troops and rebel forces.
The exclusion follows an order to the Red Cross to stop operations in Ogaden.
The rebels accuse the government of imposing a blockade and creating what they described as a man-made famine. Ethiopia denies imposing no-go zones.
Ogaden, stretching eastwards from the Ethiopian highlands deep into Somalia, is known as Region Five by the Ethiopian government.
A conflict has been raging in the area since April, when fighters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked a Chinese-run exploration team, killing 74 people.
The ONLF, which draws its support from Somali clans, accuses the authorities of imposing a blockade on five districts, choking off commercial trade.
Aid agencies say roads have been closed. Prices are reported to have risen sharply.
An unpublished report by one aid organisation shows that local people produce only a quarter of the food they need, trading their livestock to pay for the rest.
Locals say that the Ethiopians are now escorting some government authorised traders into the area, but there are fears that villagers accused of supporting the rebels may not get access to the food.
Some contraband trade is getting through, on the backs of donkeys, but not in very large quantities.
The UN is now deeply concerned, and has published a map showing the areas of fighting.
It includes areas described as being under a commercial food embargo and one area in which villagers are being forcibly relocated, though the government denies imposing any no-go zones.
A UN team - which is now in the region - should throw more light on what is taking place, if they can have unrestricted access to areas of conflict.
Martin Pleut
2 September 2007
International aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers has accused Ethiopia of denying it access to the country's eastern Ogaden region.
The barren region has recently been the scene of a fierce conflict between government troops and rebel forces.
The exclusion follows an order to the Red Cross to stop operations in Ogaden.
The rebels accuse the government of imposing a blockade and creating what they described as a man-made famine. Ethiopia denies imposing no-go zones.
Ogaden, stretching eastwards from the Ethiopian highlands deep into Somalia, is known as Region Five by the Ethiopian government.
A conflict has been raging in the area since April, when fighters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked a Chinese-run exploration team, killing 74 people.
The ONLF, which draws its support from Somali clans, accuses the authorities of imposing a blockade on five districts, choking off commercial trade.
Aid agencies say roads have been closed. Prices are reported to have risen sharply.
An unpublished report by one aid organisation shows that local people produce only a quarter of the food they need, trading their livestock to pay for the rest.
Locals say that the Ethiopians are now escorting some government authorised traders into the area, but there are fears that villagers accused of supporting the rebels may not get access to the food.
Some contraband trade is getting through, on the backs of donkeys, but not in very large quantities.
The UN is now deeply concerned, and has published a map showing the areas of fighting.
It includes areas described as being under a commercial food embargo and one area in which villagers are being forcibly relocated, though the government denies imposing any no-go zones.
A UN team - which is now in the region - should throw more light on what is taking place, if they can have unrestricted access to areas of conflict.
Zambia Rejects Plan for US Military Bases.
Xinhua News Agency
1 September 2007
The Zambian government has rebuffed the attempts by the US to establish a military base in the southern African country.
According to a report published by Daily Mail Saturday, Zambian President Mwanawasa said each country had its own sovereignty to decide on any matter and Zambia would not allow the establishment of a military base in the country.
Mwanawasa, who is also chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), also said none of the SADC countries were interested in the matter.
'As Zambia, we will not be giving sanctuary and I think I can speak on behalf of the SADC region that none of us is interested,' he said.
The US has been approaching African countries on the possibility of establishing its military base on the continent, in order to secure a presence for its newly set up Africa Command (AFRICOM), now temporarily housed in Germany.
1 September 2007
The Zambian government has rebuffed the attempts by the US to establish a military base in the southern African country.
According to a report published by Daily Mail Saturday, Zambian President Mwanawasa said each country had its own sovereignty to decide on any matter and Zambia would not allow the establishment of a military base in the country.
Mwanawasa, who is also chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), also said none of the SADC countries were interested in the matter.
'As Zambia, we will not be giving sanctuary and I think I can speak on behalf of the SADC region that none of us is interested,' he said.
The US has been approaching African countries on the possibility of establishing its military base on the continent, in order to secure a presence for its newly set up Africa Command (AFRICOM), now temporarily housed in Germany.
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