This article was updated to reflect MONUSCO's official stance regarding Rwandan involvement and additional quotes from the Rwandan government.
After the BBC, now Human Rights Watch. The human rights group yesterday slammed the Rwandan government for providing support to the M23 mutiny. The group conducted research in the field, interviewing local villagers and several dozen M23 deserters. They concluded that, since Gen. Bosco Ntaganda gave orders for his followers to defect from the Congolese army in late March, Rwanda has been complicit in the recruitment of between 200 and 300 fighters, with Rwandan officials present at recruitment meetings and escorting recruits to the border.
According to these interviews, Rwandan officials also provided weapons, ammunition and free passage through their territory. The path allegedly taken by the new recruits has almost always been through a Rwandan military outpost close to Kinigi, then into the Congolese Virunga national park.
The report fleshes out accusations provided in an internal report by the UN peacekeeping mission that was leaked to the BBC last week. It also places Bosco at the center of the M23 rebellion, contrary to claims by the rebels. Defectors that I have spoken to separately suggest that Bosco is playing a key role in commanding M23 operations, although there are also clear tensions within the group, in particular between Col. Sultani Makenga and Bosco.
The Rwandan government has fiercely denied these claims, calling them "categorically false and dangerous." They are particularly furious that an eyewitness report of seeing Bosco Ntaganda in a bar in Rwanda with an army officer would be seen as evidence of support. A Rwandan security official, who did not want to be named as he was not authorized to speak with the media, told me: "The Rwanda Defence Force is accused of running a massive recruitment and training mission, and yet HRW could not come up with a single piece of material evidence, just self-serving hearsay accounts from an unspecified number of anonymous witnesses. [...] Despite this complete lack of factual evidence, that HRW expect people to believe the RDF was actively recruiting former FDLR militia - Rwanda's sworn enemy - [...] is beyond far-fetched."
The UN peacekeeping mission has also since stated that, despite their internal report, they do not have proof that Rwanda is playing a direct role in the conflict.
Nonetheless, foreign donors are uneasy about the mounting evidence of Rwandan involvement. A senior American diplomat told me that his government was taking these reports very seriously and that they would be discussing these developments with their Rwandan counterparts. Foreign aid has contributed to between forty and fifty-five percent of Rwanda's budget in recent years.
These accusations, however, have not taken the wind out of the sails of the mutiny. Over the weekend, members of the CNDP political party ended their alliance with President Kabila due to the rebellion, claiming that the government had not implemented the March 23, 2009 peace deal. The CNDP provincial minister of justice, Francois Rucogoza, resigned, and there have been reports of a small defection from the Congolese army to the mutiny over the weekend.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
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29 comments:
Koffi Olomide’s quote by Jason at the top of this blog can’t be more true: “Lokuta eyaka na ascenseur, kasi vérité eyei na escalier mpe ekomi” . For the last 15 years, Kagame’s lies took the lift and arrived, but the blood of 6 000000 Congolese souls followed him painfully trough the stairs, and is just about to arrive.
Now, all people of gud will, like HRW, need to realize that Kagame’s regime is based on lies, denials and the exploitation of the world’s pity. Real reconciliation between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, and peace in the African Great Lakes means the end of Kagame and his diabolical schemes. So the person who can help end all the senseless Rwandan violence in the Kivus and the unspeakable human tragedy is not Kagame, but Madam Hillary Clinton. So all peace loving and human rights advocates should rather engage Madam Clinton, all this tragedy will stop.
muanacongo
To be fair, HRW's report of the meeting in a bar was followed by the comment that no attempt was made to arrest Ntaganda.
Rwanda caught red handed -
We've said it all along, the problem in eastern DRC is rwanda. We are waiting to see if rwandan backers will have the honesty to call it as it is... I have my doubts but the clock is ticking and those who never stopped telling the world that they LOVE the DRC, this is the right time to back the DRC.
RFI has got interesting direct quotes of answers given by the captured rwandan used by the m23.
These interviews were conducted by DRC and rwandan officials and witnessed by MONUC at MONUC's HQ in Goma.
Some of them are saying things like, "At first they used us to fetch for water and firewood, carry ammunition cases, and install tarps bivouacs, but when the bombing started, it was necessary that we go under fire to recover the injured in trenches ... "
The full report by Bruno Minas the RFI reporter in DRC can be found here.
http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20120604-rdc-mutinerie-est-congo-monusco-bosco-ntaganda-onu-goma-fardc-m23-runyioni
I'm not even surprised that kagame is not applying the zero tolerance (as he did with the generals alleged to be involved in the smugling of minerals from DRC) against those involved in this shameful collusion.
Rich
It will every interesting to see how Rwanda responds to the inevidible international pressure that will come, particularly over Bosco and his future and any M23 activity that occurs from here on out.
Those testimonies are an interesting sneak peak on how the M23 is not as mighty as they make people to believe. They lasted so long because the back door was left open. As long as they are not cut off their safe haven and the international community is not pushing harder, this conflict will take weeks or months to end.
I wish that the local civil society will do more to be an active agent of peace and change( since the government it's a lost cause for now). I'm thinking about small actions to support this effort. Idk, I feel like we can do more than just writing on the net.
I think the international communities are trying to provoke Rwanda so that Kagame arrests Bosco.
No one need eastern part of Congo remain in peace except those like us in the Furnace.
We need Rwanda and Congo to be in peace and look for solution together.
The problem in this part of Congo can not be solved by neither Monusco nor HRW press release or Rwanda nor DRC alone.
What if Rwanda suspect FRDC assisting FDRL???!!
Back to the point:
UN said no evidence Rwanda supported M23 rebels in Congo;
http://www.opednews.com/articles/UN-No-Evidence-Rwanda-Sup-by-Georgianne-Nienabe-120603-185.html
But HRW insists they have evidence.
In 2009 HRW's report mentioned that HRW have evidence Sylvestre Mudacumura to have committed genocide and some other crimes in Eastern Congo;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/26850732/You-Will-Be-Punished-Attacks-on-Civilians-in-Eastern-Congo
However HRW could not deliver convincing evidence to ICC (other than reports);
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/631611-hague-court-rejects-arrest-warrant-for-mudacumura.html
HRW always like to release reports in order to show that they still exist.
If the M23 take over a single town, that is when i believe that Rwanda is supporting the rebels.
It will continue...
Churuchuru
As mentioned yesterday, FARDC all over m23 positions since early this morning.
I really hope today's push will allow FARDC to send them (m23 et al.) peacefully in their beloved rwanda and safely shut that door they have been using through the virunga park for the last few months.
http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2012/06/04/nord-kivu-les-militaires-lancent-une-offensive-pour-reprendre-les-collines-de-runyoni/
Rich
@ Churuchuru
It is beyond bizarre that religious Kagame supporters think that the whole world is wrong and their idol is right even when he is wrong. What about all these Rwandan recruits that are in the custody of MONUSCO and FARDC? What other evidence will convince u of Kagame’s perfidy?
Even the Congolese government, who initially gave Rwanda a tactical benefit of the doubt, has retracted and has just dispatched an envoy to Kigali to discuss Rwandan diabolical duplicity.
Achieving lasting peace in the Kivus (furnace) is very simple. My Tutsi brothers living in the Congo should stop believing in the kagamist-extremist ideology of destroying Congo and killing Congolese. Rather pay allegiance to Congo like all of us, or else cross to the Rwanda paradise. All reports tell us that Rwanda is an economic paradise, but why are people dying to stay in Congo hell?
muanacongo
The prob with the author of this article as well as all of you commenting is that you dont know the difference between Rwandans and Banyamurenge of Congo.You have failed to draw a distiction between Bosco a congolese born munyamulenge and other Rwandans across the border.You think tht bse he speaks kinyarwanda therefore he is Rwandan.You are wrong.
@ Rich. Unfortunallty your wishes and hopes will never happen... even IF 1000 reports are released
from different so called Congo's expertS.We are waiting impatiently Jason' and fellows reports (UN group of Expert)
about Rwanda support to M23.In fact they want to apply the strategies used in 2009 before Bosco's betrayal and Nkunda arrest. But time
,circunstances and interests have changed...Please Jason can you give us the correct figures (number tukuwe precis ) of
the "small" group of FARDC defectors who joined the M23.
All the attention is directed to M23 for one reason the hatred ,malicious reasons you have for Rwanda and your perceptions or deliberate refusal to recognise Bosco and his fellow Banyamulenge as Congolese.There are many Kinyarwanda speakers on all borders of Rwanda,it doesnt mean that they are Rwandans .For exple there are Bafumbira of Uganda who speak kinyarwanda but it doesnt mean that they are Rwandans,there are people from Kirundo in Burundi who speak pure Kinyarwand and everythinh else is similar to Rwanda,both the Uganda and Burundi constitution recognise this people ,I dont know why it has been a problem for Congolese Banyamulenge to be recognised as congolese.Why are they often pushed to Rwanda and thus the rattle rumours-recruited in rwanda,supported by Rwanda etc.Rwanda a country which is aiming at attracting international investment in the region,how then can it jeorpadise its security which is the crucial part of doing business and their vision.Its all lies by HRW,MONUSCO,JOURNALISTS who are likely to be out of jobs if there is peace in that part of the region.We know it now the economy has hit hard in the west and everyone will do anything to keep in the job and that includes inventing gossip.
How do you even know that the people you are interviewing are not looking for survival,to be pitied,its funny how much a human being will say/do just to get something to eat.
Kagame has sent his operatives for damage control and remind the world of the "tutsi genocide". The article was neither partial nor biased but factual. Facts that's known by the international community, even though they look the other way. This rwandais, boscoe ntaganda, is just that, rwandais by birth. Munyamulenge is not congolais because mobutu invited them in during the 70s. When the belges came to colonize congo they never found such people. Another point is that all of the congo tribes are named after the language they speak, not the area they live( mubembe speak kibembe, mutetela, kitetela,...) These banyamulenge are tutsi who came later and lived in the mountains so the local population dubbed them after the area they settled. They lived peacefully with congolais until kagame came to power and started killing and exploiting the kivus. THE CONGO WILL SOON WAKE UP. June Sina, kagame's brother, stop spreading lies. You and your daddy kagame enjoy while it last because congo will not take it anymore.
O well said.Congo needs to wake up and sort its mess insetad of sitting on thier backside and blaming it on other people.Until they Congolese learn how to work instead of talking,then i doubt whether we shall see any changes soon.Coming back to the Banyamulenge issue,I think you need to go back and research your history about the great lakes region.When the Belgians were demarcating the borders,they were not listening to accents/languages neither were they interested in cultures,they were driven by economic,political interestes.If you read far in history ,you will find that they actually counted homes and drew a line as a border.This can be found everywhere in Africa not only in Greatlakes region.Its not the fault of the Banyamulenges that they found at the other side of the line.Mobutu did northing as than recognise them otherwise they were there since time in history.
Kagame is the most evil bitch I have seen in my life. This is so sad that many Rwandese are poor and they are being manulupated by PILTAO. Pilato started the misery of Rwanda during the genocide and it continues with tribalism at a big high with Kagame killing primarily Hutus and killing anyone who speaks against this satanist.
Belgium is a sham. It is a sham that has done everything to ruin Congo as we know it. Congo is the heart of Africa not RWANDA. Rwanda is just another polluted country which has just tribalists killing and killing. Many Rwandese crooks want to spread their violence into East Congo and no doubt that Kagame is happy. Belgium is the main reason why Congo is where it is. They putted an moron in Mobutu but Laurent Kabila tries to do something but the Belgians call for the assassination and put his adopted son name ADRIEN HYPOLITE KANAMBE now known as Joseph Kabila.
I am sick of people giving excuses for what Belgium has done. They are poison to Congo and Rwanda alike. Belgium needs to die because this coutnry favors Tutsi whores who want money. Simple as that. Belgium is the reason why KABILA and KAGAME are killing our people. My heart goes to the Rwandese and Congolese being abused by the KAGAMIST and KANAMBISTS.
Why so much hate, my dear african brothers, rwandan or congolese alike, these are matters of power & politics. Just because we are ruled by cynics like the 2 Ks doesn't mean we have to fall into their dreadful games. Cool your heads & think hard for the solutions out of this mess
Mean so much hatred
Well,Kagame or Kabila will die someday just like you and me.However,they are not to blame for whatever happens to their countries entirely.They work with people and its up to the people to decide whether they are leading them in the right direction.In this case their citizens have decided that they be their leaders therefore,scalling obscene words against them is not the solution,Dont think that whatever happens in Rwanda or Congo will stop with kagame or kabila as a matter of fact.Its up to the citizens to strengthen the institutions in place.Its useless to concentrate your anger on an individual my dear
@ June Sina,
I think when a movement is created for the sole purpose of defending a small group that qualify it as a racist movement like the Nazis in Germany.
I strongly believe that most Congolese don't hate Tutsis because they are Tutsis, they hate what groups like Cndp, M23 stands for. I don't think we have sympathy for the Fdlr either.
I personally don't see what is particular about this group of people since their pleas is share by the majority of congolese. By the way, who bullied the population to vote for Jk?
I would have trust these movements if the local population was behind them and not the ruthless Fardc. You will have to convince me that 40.0000 people running from them and going to the Fardc protection are really naive.
Bosco was registered as Rwandese, that make him Rwandese, regardless what Jk said.
I believe that the Banyamulenge will better serve their cause by having a positive input in the situation of the East. I believe Congoleses can transcend the tribal divides when they are convinced that they are working to build a better system together not when a group want it all.
@Blaise,
From what I hear there has been other rebel groups that have regrouped and they are targetting Banyamulenge because they associate them with Ntaganda.How then do you say that Bosco is a registered Rwandan yet he is his family of Banyamulenge has been targeted.The bottom line is Ntaganda is a congolese Munyamulenge and therefore answerable to Congolese affairs.The confusion comes when the world refuses to acknowledge the presence of Banyamulenge is eastern congo as citizens of Congo.They Intentionally push them onto Rwanda and thereby creating friction between the 2 countries.And by the way,I agree that Congolese will solve their problems if they transcend tribal/entnic divisions and that includes acknowledging and accepting the Banyamulenge as citizens
All they
June Sina -
I have refrained from answering to your messages because there is far too many to be said about them.
However, here is what I think about your last comment.
Ref # "...They Intentionally push them onto Rwanda and thereby creating friction between the 2 countries..."
What do you mean by "They"?
Perhaps if kagame did not provide a safe haven to mutebusi and his more than 300 armed men in 2004, nkunda and his men in 2009 and today allowing negative forces to the DRC to recrute, train and arm from its territory, you wouldn't be talking about, intentionally pushing someone to rwanda so in order to create friction... would you?
Look, you will struggle to convince any one about the non-significance of the correlation between the troubles in eastern DRC and kagame's ambition to control that part of a country that is not his and will never ever be.
It is up to him to continue in that path or seek true peace because he needs to know Congolese resolve to have a peaceful Kivu where all communities live in harmony with one another ans seek to settle their arguments through peaceful means, will outlast any ambition to either dominate or impose his world views on Congolese.
Watch this space and one day we shall reassess the situation.
Rich
DRC -
Sometimes, the way you present a country can make a difference.
I like this clip made in Katanga DRC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtO7JG-Ec3E&feature=youtu.be
Rich
June,
We don't know for sure if Ntaganda is Congolese. The indictment from the ICC says he was born in Rwanda and HRW investigations reveal he has relatives in Kinigi/Rwanda. We hear this same story about Nkunda, Ntaganda, Mutebusi and others."They are Congolese and must answer to Congolese affairs". Why would Rwanda shield Nkunda and the others against Congolese justice if these were Congolese affairs?
On the Kinyarwanda issue, please note that DRC has nine neighboring countries with ethnic tribes spanning accross all those boundaries. We only have major problems with one country, Rwanda.
The clock is ticking for this KAGAMES reing of terror ,do you really believe that with all It's wealth the DRC can continue to be terrorized by this small impoverished country(Rwanda)? why are all Kagame supporters so blind to see the reality .the geant Congo is awakening ,like it or not the super power in the region will never be Rwanda.sooner or later KAGAME and his Criminals will have to pay for their Crimes.
@ Rich
Thanks for the link to the Somika video. The business community and government authorities could do much more to promote this alternative narrative of the DRC.
Images alter perceptions; the negative perceptions people have regarding the DRC are in large part shaped by a constant stream of negative images portrayed by media organizations. Obviously, conflicts are real and those stories need to be told - but there is another narrative that deserves equal coverage.
Bruce
There is no Hutu or Tutsi Congoles ,there are many Rwandes HUTUS and TUTSI refugees who have been living inside the DRC for decades now ,but the Tutis refugees have been living in Congo longer than their Hutus counterparts .they have all showed little loyalty to the DRC and despite having living in the Congo for almost half a centery ,they continue to practice their Rwandes traditions and they are all loyal to their mother land (Rwanda). Most of the troubles ,war ,and insecurities that have been going on in Eastern Congo ,have been caused by those refugees and ether Criminals and Rwandan army's officers like RAURENT NKUNDA,BOSCO Ntaganda, JULES MUTEBUSI,...who are sent by Rwandan president PAUL KAGAME across the boader to the DRC , to train numerous Rebel groups ,that the Rwandan Gouverment use in order to control some mining fields inside the DRC. This is the same tactic that former Liberian president CHARLES TAYLOR used in Neighboring SIERRA LEONE in order to plunder that Country's diamond and ether mineral resources. Those Rwandes refugees have been infiltrated by many Criminals from Rwanda who are now calling themselves Congoles Tutsis or Hutus and It's now almost impossible to distinguish which group is from Rwanda and witch groups is from the former refugee camps of RUCHURU,MASISI ,MULENGE....their for in order to solve this problem the international Community shall put pressure on Rwandan president PAUL KAGAME to stop his Criminal activities inside the DRC, to free opposition leader VICTOIRE INGABIRE, allow free and fair democratic elections and to deliver BOSCO NTAGANDA,LAUREN NKUNDABATWARE and all ether wanted war Criminals that he is harboring inside RWANDA. also the international Community shall help settle all those Rwandes refugees who are fleeing the war in Congo and are returning back to Rwanda .we also ask the international Community to pressure the Current Rwandan Government to start serious talks with the opposition in order to bring lasting peace to Rwanda and to the entire great lacs region.
@June Sina alias LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO
for the last 2decades you and your Boss PAUL KAGAME have been misleading the world in order to continue your bloody reing of terror. Since you and your bloody government came to power ,all we have witnessed is death and destruction,you have turned the once peaceful and one of the most beautiful region in the African continent into a blood bath,your bloody government as now caused the death of millions of innocent people and displaced millions more,you have turned the most fertile and mineral rich land that was supposed to be a bread basket of not only the African Continent but the entire world into a region of hunger and starvation ,instead of providing good education and health care to our Children you are now forcing and turning them into little killing monsters.after committing and getting away with the most barbaric crimes that humanity has ever witnessed you are now thinking that you are above all international norms and no international institution has the right to investigate ,report anything regarding your bloody government and It's Criminal agents inside the DRC.let me tell you madame ,you have been fooling this word for a very long time but sooner or later you are going to pay for all the Crimes that you and your bloody government have perpetrated to the people of the great lakes.
@ June Sina,
What you've been writing all along shows clearly that you have no clue about congo's history and Geography, Ntaganda identified himself as being from Ituri(North-east)when he joined Thomas Lubanga's APC rebellion. Banyamulenge community is located around Uvira Central plateau and Fizi district, this is on the South Kivu province.This community was brought in Congo by belgium colonialists after the Berlin conference of 1885.
So please stop confusing readers by stating things that you don't know.
To date, I have never heard of any report mentioning that the congolese Tutsi community has suffered any discrimination or have targeted by other community, actually this community is the only one among over 450 communities in Congo which causes wars and instability in the Congo.
Take a look at this post http://tmblr.co/ZMILYvMyq6Yy by an "advocacy" group based in Los Angeles. Exaggerated, inflammatory remarks from organizations like this that clearly have no knowledge or respect for the political situation in this region contribute to the tensions between these countries. The west is essentially pitting Rwanda and the DRC against each other, which will simply further aggravate relations and continue the conflict. The focus here should be on reconciliation not pointing fingers.
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