13 December 2007
analysis
Washington, DC — As fighting escalates between Congolese government troops and the dissident forces of General Laurent Nkunda, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon has called attention to the "massive displacement of mistreatment of the population" in North Kivu. But UN forces have a complex mandate of both protecting civilians and aiding the Congolese army in reestablishing control.
The latest military effort by government forces, after Nkunda repudiated an agreement to merge his troops into the national army, seems to have backfired, as Nkunda's forces have retaken territory, provoking new civilian flight. All forces involved, including the "unified" national army, have been guilty of systematic violation of human rights, including rape and other abuses of civlians.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains several reports on recent developments, from United Nations sources and from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Another AfricaFocus Bulletin sent out today contains excerpts from several background analyses, from the International Crisis Group, African Rights, and Refugees International, as well as links to additional sources.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and related links, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/country/congokin.php
Upsurge in Violent Clashes in Eastern DR Congo Alarms Secretary-General
UN News Service (New York)
12 December 2007
New York
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he was deeply concerned by the intense fighting engulfing North Kivu province in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially its impact on local civilians, many of whom have been forced to flee to escape the renewed violence.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said he was "particularly troubled by reports of massive displacement and mistreatment of the population" in North Kivu, where Government forces (FARDC) are clashing with troops loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.
"The United Nations is working closely with the Government of the DRC and with others to help bring peace and security to this troubled region," the statement noted. "The Secretary-General calls on the forces of Laurent Nkunda to lay down their arms."
More than 4,500 blue helmets with the UN peacekeeping mission to the DRC (known by its French acronym MONUC) have been deployed to North Kivu to help ensure the defence of Goma, the provincial capital, and the key town of Sak‚.
William Lacy Swing, the head of MONUC and the Secretary-General's Special Representative to the DRC, has confirmed that Sak‚ remains under the control of UN peacekeepers and that the blue helmets will do everything under their mandated powers to protect Goma and Sak‚ from falling to the Nkunda forces. Yesterday dissident troops recaptured Mushake, a hillside town about 40 kilometres northwest of Goma.
Since the clashes began in North Kivu earlier this year, MONUC has transported more than 25 tons of provisions for the Congolese armed forces, conducted 33 air reconnaissance missions and evacuated 151 wounded FARDC soldiers.
North Kivu has also been plagued by increased sexual violence against both women and young girls, with some 2,700 cases of rape reported between January and October this year in the province.
The statement from Mr. Ban's spokesperson emphasized that the mission backs the Government's efforts to establish legitimate State authority in the far east of the troubled country and to meet its commitment under the Nairobi communiqu‚, which the DRC and Rwanda signed last month to try to work together against illegal armed groups operating around the border between the two countries.
"The Secretary-General calls on the Government of the DRC to take all measures necessary to protect civilians."
An inter-agency UN mission headed to the area this week to assess the situation and devise recommendations on how to protect internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the local civilian population.
Yet this week alone, another 60,000 to 70,000 IDPs are reported to be on the move again, this time from camps near Goma. More than 400,000 people have been displaced in North Kivu in the past 12 months.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that currently all humanitarian movements outside Goma are proceeding only under the escort of MONUC blue helmets. Several relief agencies have temporarily withdrawn their staff from areas close to clashes and most aid convoys have been postponed.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has deposited several thousand basic supply kits to zones that might soon become inaccessible because of the fighting, while the World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food to thousands of families living at the IDP camp at Kibumba.
The UN's humanitarian action plan for the DRC next year, launched yesterday, calls for $575 million, with almost 30 per cent of the total dedicated just to North Kivu.
The eastern DRC remains the most violent region in the vast country, where MONUC has otherwise overseen the transition from a six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives in fighting and attendant hunger and disease - widely considered the most lethal conflict in the world since World War II - to gradual stabilization, culminating in the first democratic elections in over four decades last year.
Concern Over Conscription of Children, Human Rights Abuses in North Kivu
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
13 December 2007
Kinshasa
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Insurgents loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda, fighting government troops in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are still recruiting children into their ranks, even as serious human rights violations, including some committed by agents of the state, are rife in the region, according to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC).
"Forced recruitment [of children] took place outside schools, especially in the village of Burungu, when students returned to their homes, causing many to flee into the bush," Kemal Saiki, MONUC's spokesman, told reporters on 12 December.
In some cases, demobilised, underage former fighters are being re-recruited, according to the spokesman, who cited the case of 20 children who had rejoined Nkunda's ranks in the North Kivu village of Kirambu.
He expressed concern over cases of serious abuses, including rape, summary executions, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and arbitrary arrests that continue to be reported every day throughout the country, despite an improvement in the overall human rights record since the signing in 2003 of a peace agreement designed to end civil war in DRC.
"Every month, hundreds of women and girls continue to be victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence in all provinces of the DRC," said Saiki.
"The main perpetrators of human rights abuses are no longer armed groups [ie. non-government forces], but mainly agents of the state, whose mandate is to ensure the protection of the Congolese population," he added.
He noted that those serving in the police and the army worked and lived under difficult conditions but stressed this was no excuse for such acts and the culture of impunity that accompanied them.
Reiterating the seriousness of sexual violence, Saiki said that 2,656 cases were recorded in North Kivu between January and October 2007, while 4,500 cases were reported in South Kivu during the first half of 2007.
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