Violence rising in Congo, Rwanda threatens to invade again

[Zhukov]

Violence rising in Congo, Rwanda threatens to invade again
Posted: 11/26
From: Guardian

by Rory Carroll

It was the message they hoped never to hear again, but when they did, the villagers of Kalambairo did not hesitate: they fled.

Warned that soldiers were on the way, the 1,900 inhabitants hid in wooded hills overlooking the village and endured the familiar spectacle of livestock being stolen, the water supply being cut and homes being burned.

They returned to sift through the rubble last week, after the soldiers had gone.

"All we have is what we are standing in," said Muchinga Ndeene, 35, surrounded by his five children. "Everything is gone. This happened to us in 1996 and 1998, but I thought we were supposed to be at peace now."

Officially, the Democratic Republic of Congo's war, a brutal conflict which convulsed central Africa and cost more than 3 million lives, ended last year when foreign armies withdrew and rival Congolese groups formed a power-sharing government.

But, as Kalambairo has discovered, sporadic fighting continues and there was the prospect of another full-scale war yesterday when Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, threatened to invade his giant neighbour.

http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=85297

Rwanda denies army in Congo
Thu 2 December, 2004 15:01

By Mary Kimani

KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda has denied it has pushed troops into Democratic Republic of Congo hours after U.N. peacekeepers said they had compelling evidence that some had entered the vast country.

"All reported sightings of Rwandan troops in the DRC are false. Rwanda does not have any troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Richard Sezibera, President Paul Kagame's adviser on Congo, told a news conference on Thursday.

Rwanda has threatened to attack Hutu fighters based in Congo if the government in Kinshasa and U.N. forces failed to disarm the rebels, some of whom took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

But the U.N. mission in Congo said it had compelling evidence Rwandan soldiers carrying new military hardware had crossed into the east of the vast Central African country.

"Our helicopter reconnaissance patrols have been able to take photos of abandoned bivouacs and well-equipped soldiers who are moving with new uniforms and materials," said Mamadou Bah, a spokesman in Kinshasa for the U.N. mission (MONUC).

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=631824&section=news

 

[waltky]

Rape rampage in the Congo...

Soldiers Raped Me, My Four Children and My Husband'
8 February 2011 - A prosecution witness today recounted how she, her four children, and her husband were subjected to multiple rapes by soldiers belonging to the group founded by war crimes accused Jean-Pierre Bemba.

The witness also told the trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague that some of her neighbours were raped too. Talking about how soldiers of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) committed mass rapes in her neighborhood, the witness said, "They were not hiding, they were doing it quite openly." 'Witness 80,' who was described by Presiding Judge Sylvia Steiner as "very vulnerable," testified with protective measures, including the use of a pseudonym, as well as face and voice distortion to keep her identity secret.

"How many Banyamulenge [Congolese soldiers] raped you?" prosecuting lawyer Thomas Bifwoli asked the witness. "Three of them raped me," replied 'Witness 80.' The witness did not give the full circumstances of her rape in open court. However, she stated that when she tried to resist her attackers, who spoke the Congolese language Lingala, they threatened to rape her "50 times without stopping."

Regarding her family members, the witness said,"They made my children also suffer. The Banyamulenge raped me. They raped my husband and my children." She recalled that her children, who at the time of the attack were in other houses within the same compound as she, saw her being raped and attempted to flee. It was then that the soldiers grabbed them and raped them too. "I wanted to speak about my first daughter; she was raped and now she has problems to conceive," said the witness. "Another as well was 11 [years old] at the time, she was deflowered. Another was 14 [years old] at the time. Another was pregnant when she was raped."

More allAfrica.com: Central African Republic: 'Bemba Soldiers Raped Me, My Four Children and My Husband'

 

[Mr. H.]

Relax. I'm sure the U.N. is on it.

 

[Tank]

It's my fault

 

[Ropey]

If they are denying, then pressure on them will be increased. More peacekeepers could be used to buffer.

Of course this is happening. No one, the UN included is denying this happens. How do you stop it is the question.

 

[waltky]

U.S.-trained Congo troops raped children as they retreated from M23 rebels...

UN: Girls as young as 6 raped by Congo forces
May 9, 2013 - One of the Congolese units implicated had been trained by US troops

Congolese troops fleeing the M23 rebels last November raped at least 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6, a U.N. report released Wednesday said. The U.S. Africa Command trained one of the units involved, Commando Battalion 391, in 2010 to be "a model for future reforms within the Congolese armed forces," according to the AFRICOM web site. The U.N. report covered "mass rape, killings, and arbitrary executions and violations resulting from widespread looting," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. It should be noted that the U.S. trainers were aware of the Congolese army’s systemic use of rape, and have instituted training to both counsel soldiers who themselves were rape victims, and to show the soldiers that the practice is ultimately self-defeating.

Emmanuel Muhozi, a U.S. trainer of Congolese descent, told Stars and Stripes in 2012 of an awareness program aimed at re-educating soldiers who have committed rape in the past and exploring some of the root causes of rape as a weapon of war. The program also provides a forum for soldiers who were themselves victims. By confronting painful memories, the soldiers have a better chance of moving forward and not committing acts of revenge in the future, according to Muhozi. A report by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office says most of the rapes took place over Nov. 22-23 in the eastern Congo town of Minova.

Company C of the 391st Commando Battalion parade before Congolese and U.S. dignitaries on September 15, 2010, in a ceremony marking the end of their training by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa.

The report says that "One or two of the soldiers would leave with the looted goods and at least one would stand guard as the remaining (Congolese) soldiers raped women and girls in the house. Victims were threatened with death if they shouted; some were raped at gunpoint. Most victims were raped by more than one soldier." "The victims included 33 girls aged between 6 and 17," Nesirky said. During their occupation of Goma and Sake, "M23 combatants perpetrated serious violations of human law and gross human rights violations," Nesirky said, including at least 59 cases of sexual violence. The mass rapes occurred in November, 2012, after the Congolese army was defeated by the M23 rebels who seized the provincial capital of Goma, in eastern Congo. The national army retreated in disorder.

Commanders lost control of their troops, or were unwilling to impose discipline over their men who regrouped some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Goma, in Minova. A small, dusty town on the shore of lake Kivu, Minova is home to several thousand people. For days, the Congolese army raped, killed and looted in anger and disarray after their defeat, before discipline could be re-established by army commanders. The report says 11 Congolese soldiers have been arrested by the Congolese military prosecutor's office, "including two for murder, but only two for related cases of rape." The other charges were not specified. The commanding officers and deputy commanding officers of the two main battalions suspected of committing these acts, as well as officers of eight other units, have been suspended, the U.N. said.

MORE

 

[S.J.]

Help Rwanda, help help Rwanda.

 

[waltky]

Bemba found guilty in rape and murder campaign...

Congo ex-vice president guilty in landmark ICC war rape ruling
Mon Mar 21, 2016 - Democratic Republic of Congo's Jean-Pierre Bemba became the highest-ranking politician convicted by the international war crimes court on Monday, when it judged him responsible for a campaign of rape and murder in Central African Republic.

Bemba, who served as vice president from 2003 to 2006, failed to discipline or restrain his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) soldiers as they rampaged through the neighbouring country in 2002 and 2003, the International Criminal Court's presiding judge, Sylvia Steiner, said. The case is the first in which the ICC has found a high official directly responsible for the crimes of his subordinates, as well as the first to focus primarily on crimes of sexual violence committed in war. "MLC soldiers by force knowingly and intentionally invaded the bodies of the victims by penetrating the victims' anuses, vaginas or other bodily openings with their penises," said Steiner, reading from an unusually graphic judgement.

United Nations human rights commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein welcomed the verdict as a step towards eradicating "the horrendous sexual crimes which have blighted the lives of so many women." Steiner ordered that Bemba be held in custody pending sentencing at a later date. Dressed in a suit and a maroon tie, he at times shook his head vigorously as Steiner read through the litany of charges, and he is expected to appeal his conviction. That process could take several years.

HALF-HEARTED ATTEMPTS

Originally a rebel force in Congo's north-west, the MLC is now the country's second-largest opposition party and Bemba retains a significant following in the west. His supporters had hoped he would return home to help unblock a political stalemate. ICC judges said Bemba had punished some low-ranking soldiers for crimes and ordered inquiries into allegations of misconduct, which included raping girls aged as young as 10. But those attempts were half-hearted at best. MLC soldiers had pillaged to supplement their meagre wages during the intervention in support of Central African Republic's then-president Ange-Felix Patasse, who was eventually deposed by rebels led by his successor, Francois Bozize.

Bemba's supporters reacted indignantly to the verdict. "He did something about this, but they said it wasn't enough," said Eve Bazaiba, secretary-general of the MLC outside the courtroom. "How could he do enough? He was just one person!" In Congo's capital of Kinshasa, hundreds were packed into the party's provincial headquarters. "We are very disappointed (at the news). We don't even have the strength to return home," said one supporter, 23-year-old Tresor Tshinyama. The son of a businessman who became rich during years of close association with former Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Bemba founded and helped finance the MLC. He entered government under current president Joseph Kabila in 2003 as part of a power-sharing deal that ended years of civil war. A November election to replace Kabila, who defeated Bemba in a 2006 run-off but is barred by the constitution from standing again, looks likely to be postponed amid accusations that the president is trying to cling to power.

UPDATE 3-Congo ex-vice president guilty in landmark ICC war rape ruling