In this article, human rights activist Golden Misabiko writes about the congo’s situation.
CONGO’S SITUATION,
Some Background Unrests and Massive Human Rights Violation in Congo DRC and in the Region
A. INTRODUCTION
Thanks to the international campaign to stop the wars and atrocities in Congo DRC, the international community came up with such most appreciable initiatives as Framework accord of Adis Abeba in which all the countries of Great-Lakes Region and other involved countries signed the recommendations for sustainable Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the region.
The UN resolution 2098 creating the Intervention Brigade to fight the negative forces, including M23, was an ultimate decision in the efforts to end the war that devastated people in that country. South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania offered to form this force.
The pains and atrocities of the Congolese Women, man and children were finally heard by the powerful leading nations in the world. When Mr. Barack Obama visited Africa last June and July, he said openly that the people of Congo DRC had suffered too much. And memoranda were given him to request him to order to stop the atrocities in that country.
According to reliable sources, John Kerry of Obama Administration and William Hague on UK called Paul Kagame of Rwanda to order him to stop supporting the M23 rebels; and to stop any aggression in Congo. The order was also given to the Congolese government to allow the Congolese army to fight the M23 with assistance of the UN Intervention Brigade.
B. Some Background Unrests and Massive Human Rights Violation in Congo DRC and in the Region
Colonial and autocratic rule background
*We are not going far back into the colonial history. But let it be reminded that the colonial regime in Congo Kinshasa was very oppressive and aggressive when it came to mention and to demand independence. Many people were arrested and disappeared for this reason.
When Lumumba returned from Ghana to meet Kwame Nkrumah, a rally was organized in Kinshasa ( Leopoldville ) to claim independence. Many people were killed and arrested and others disappeared. It was in 1959.
1*In 1960: The country, Belgian Congo ( with Capital Leopoldville ) became independent and was called the Democratic Republic of Congo ( Kinshasa ). Very soon, those Belgians and some Congolese (Katangese ) who did not want the country to be free at that time, decided to secede from Congo. They were helped and backed by Rhodesia’s and South Africa’s apartheid regimes. This was done either officially or by mercenaries from these countries. Human rights atrocities against men, women and children were extreme is this war environment.
2*In 1961: When Patrice Lumumba was arrested and killed in the Katanga province, his supporters rose up, marched and conquered about ¾ of the territory in their determination to revenge their leader and to chase from power those they thought were the killers of him[Lumumba]. Here, many, many people were killed either by the central government forces or by the rebels themselves. The former apartheid South African mercenaries were hired by Tshombe Moses to fight the rebels. These forces committed terrible atrocities with extreme brutality in the Congo. Anybody who was accused of being ‘’Simba – Mulele’’ (Lumumba’s militia/supporters) was shot. About a million people were massacred.
C. Wars in neighboring Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda
Rwanda
3* After Rwanda had achieved independence in 1962, the then first president Gregoire Kayibanda (hutu), ordered to chase the Tutsis he accused to be arrogant and of hegemony belief. Many massacres are reported to have been committed against Tutsis. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis fled to Congo for their safety. No justice action was ever undertaken by the international community initiative to hold the perpetrators accountable.
4* Burundi
In 1972, the prince Charles (tutsi), the son of the then King Mwambutsa of Burundi had decided to return to his country after exile following his father’s being overthrown by Michel Micombero (tutsi). As the new president was afraid that prince Charles was coming back to restore the kingdom with the help and the support of the majority population (Hutu ), he [ Micombero ] ordered to killed prince Charles and the Hutus who supported him[Charles ]. So, over 450.000 Hutus were massacred because they were Hutus. Tractors were used, for many months, to bury the bodies in the common graves near the international airport of Kakumbu, Bujumbura. And many Congolese who were in Burundi were killed because they looked like Hutus. Hundreds of thousands of Hutus had to cross the border to look for refuge in Congo DRC.
The perpetrators of these atrocities have never been brought to justice.
5* Rwanda
In 1994, a rebel group ( mainly Tutsis ) led by Paul Kagame (Tutsi ) and backed by Yoweri Museveni (Tutsi), president of Uganda marched to conquer Kigali ( Rwanda) and overthrow president Juvenal Habyarimana (Hutu). On April 06, 1994, a missile launched/shot by Kagame’s group hit the plane in which the president, Habyarimana (Hutu) of Rwanda, Ntaryamira, (Hutu), of Burundi, were killed. To gain the international sympathy in his plan to conquer power, he ordered to massacre both Hutus and Tutsis; emphasizing that the Tutsis were the most massacred. The whole world fell into his trap and lie. The “Genocide Weapon”. Over 4 millions of Hutus, survivors ( including the Interahamwe militia) fled to Congo, DRC and were kept in the refugee camps ( Sake, Mugunga…) by UNHCR for protection.
In his plan to expand his power, beyond his territory, the refugees in the camps were a justification and pretext for him to invade Congo DRC to chase Mobutu who was no longer loved even by the Congolese themselves. In this war of invasion, many countries ( Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania ) were actively involved. With the only mission in mind: to conquer power in Kinshasa; to keep their people in power (in Congo) as long as possible; to control natural resources; to destroy Congo’s capacity of controlling its wealth…
Indeed, Paul Kagame ordered to conquer Congo in 1996, pretending that he was pursuing the Hutus who had committed genocide.
AFDL rebels, which is the pure creation of Paul Kagame in his plan to conquer Congo DRC and to plunder its natural resources ( timber and minerals, ) perpetrated unimaginable atrocities in places like Mugunga, Sake, Tingi-Tingi, Kisangana, and in the province of Equator where millions of women, men and children ( Rwandese or Congolese) who looked like Hutus were massacred. In many reports, especially, by the former UN Special Rapporteur on Congo DRC, it was a Commander named Commander Hypo ( Hyppolite Kanambe of APR, RDF and AFDL ), now “Joseph Kabila’’ who was in charge of cleansing the Hutus ( including the Congolese who looked like Hutus ). The unimaginable atrocities were reported by Roberto Garenton. And see also the UN Mapping Report Project on the most grave Human and humanitarian Rights violations perpetrated between March 1993 and June 2003 on the territory on the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are, indeed, the unimaginable atrocities the perpetrators, well documented, of which are enjoying total impunity in Congo and outside Congo.
RCD, another Rwanda’s rebel group that derived from AFDL, perpetrated most extreme atrocities in the areas it had conquered. The most shocking ones are the horrible practice of burying women and children, alive, in common graves in Kasika, Walikale, Mwenga … The massacre of Makobola where over 850 people were killed in December 1998 by the RCD armed group backed by the Rwandese regular troops ( ask Azarias Ruberwa, he knows ).
6* Uganda
In 1980s, Yoweri Museveni (Tutsi), backed by Tanzania marched with his rebel group till Kampala to chase Idi Amin Dada from power. As he [ Idi Amin ] was Mobutu’s friend, he fled to Congo for his security. As some of his ( Idi Amin’s ) military officers ran away into Congo along with Amin Dada, this was a precious occasion for Museveni to initiate and organize rebel groups ( ADF-NALU etc) within Congo and pretend that they are threatening his power; so, he has the right to pursue them even on the Congolese territory. But in reality, these rebels are working for Museveni to get him timber and minerals from the rich eastern part of Congo.
Indeed, such groups as AFDL, RCD, MLC, CNDP, FDLR, FPR, FDR, RDF, ADF, M23, … have perpetrated the unimaginable human rights atrocities against the Congolese. We won’t know peace in the region unless those responsible of the crimes are brought to justice.
D. Natural resources, Cause of Extreme Human Rights Atrocities in Congo DRC
Congo DRC is a very rich country potentially; as far as natural resources ( water, soil , oil, air, forests …) are concerned ; and with such huge deposits of various minerals as copper, cobalt, zinc, tin, germanium, manganese, uranium, gold, diamonds, Colombo-tantalite or coltan … These can be found on most of the territory .
Because of lack of good management, good governance and transparency in ‘’managing’’ these natural resources, and because of poor/vacuum leadership in this country, the incomes from these minerals are not benefiting people in these country at all.
In spite of all these enormous natural resources (including minerals ) that Congo DRC has, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi have made it impossible for the Congolese people to benefit from them. These countries, with their international partners/ allies are looting, plundering stealing of the people’s wealth and in their criminal operations, they rape and kill women, children and men. The survivors of these atrocities will still die of hunger, misery and terror.
Illegal groups, armed by nationals or multinationals, are sent to control areas where rich minerals are found. Indeed, several armed groups will be fighting one another over the mines areas killing innocent people and causing massive displacements of populations. In Congo Kinshasa, in general and in the Eastern part, in particular, these armed groups have been so active that they make it impossible to control this part of the country. Consequently, this makes it not possible to implement any program that can help alleviate peoples’ misery and poverty; and to respect human dignity. It is in this environment that rape practice and massive and systematic sexual violence and atrocities against women are utilized as war weapon. And most of these armed groups, which are perpetrating unacceptable atrocities in Congo, are working for Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to supply rich minerals of Congo DRC to international corporate in need of them.
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E. War situation with M23
It is believed that M23 gets its origin from the militias that were created in 1994 by Tutsis populations in the Kivu to defend themselves against genocide perpetrators. These militias participated in the wars that have disturbed Congo and its people till 2009. As these ethnic groups grew, they became simple predators terrorizing all the populations of all origins. These ethnic arms groups were integrated in the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo following the agreement of March 23; and in April 2012 they rebelled against the government; and created M23. As in most of the wars, the two sides ( rebels and government ) were reported to have been committing crimes such as rape, plundering and terrorizing the populations.
Thanks to the international campaign to stop the wars and atrocities in Congo DRC, the international community came up with such most appreciable initiatives as Framework accord of Adis Abeba in which all the countries of Great-Lakes Region and other involved countries signed the recommendations for sustainable Peace in the region.
The UN resolution 2098 creating the Intervention Brigade to fight the negative forces, including M23, was an ultimate decision in the efforts to end the war that devastated people in that country. South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania offered to form this force.
The pains and atrocities of the Congolese Women, man and children were finally heard by the powerful leading nations in the world. When Mr. Barack Obama visited Africa last June and July, he said openly that the people of Congo DRC had suffered too much. And memoranda were given him to request him to order to stop the atrocities in that country.
According to reliable sources, John Kerry of Obama Administration and William Hague on UK called Paul Kagame of Rwanda to order him to stop supporting the M23 rebels; and to stop any aggression in Congo. The order was also given to the Congolese government to allow the Congolese army to fight the M23 with assistance of the UN Intervention Brigade. Things went fast. Bunagana, Kiwandja, Rutchuru, Rumangabo, Chanjo, Runyoni… were conquered by the FARDC.
From what has been observed on ground, several questions are to be asked:
-Where is the war from?
-Is this a true victory or just an order to withdraw?
-Is this a beginning of the sustainable peace or just another kind of cease-fire ?
-In case this is a true victory, what actions need to be taken/undertaken to clean the unclean political, economic, social and security picture of Congo DRC?
Golden Misabiko Nov 18, 2013
Civil Society Leader/Congo
International Human Rights Defender
E-mail: gomisabiko@hotmail.com
Tel: 071 068 3298