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Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
Date distributed (ymd): 020801
Document reposted by Africa Action
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Central Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+ +US policy focus+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This posting contains an update from the UN's Integrated
Regional Information Networks summarizing the latest agreement
aimed at ending the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
as well as a press release and letter from U.S. NGOs calling on the
U.S. to take more active steps to support peace and human rights in
that country.
Another related posting today contains new material released on the
responsibility of the U.S. for the death more than 40 years ago of
Congo's first elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba.
For additional commentary on the peace agreement, see
http://allafrica.com/congo_kinshasa, and particularly the
allafrica.com interviews with Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and
Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pretoria Pact "A Positive Step", Says Rwandan President
July 31, 2002
http://allafrica.com/stories/200207310226.html
Kabila Says He Wants Peace and Will Get It
July 31, 2002
http://allafrica.com/stories/200207310002.html
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kabila, Kagame Sign Peace Pact
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
http://www.irinnews.org
July 30, 2002
Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Joseph Kabila of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed an agreement on
Tuesday to end to the conflict between their two countries.
A memorandum of understanding and a timescale for the
implementation of the accord were signed in Pretoria, South Africa,
in the presence of South African President Thabo Mbeki, chairman of
the African Union (AU); Malawi President Bakili Muluzi; South
African Deputy President Jacob Zuma; South African Foreign Minister
Nkosazana Dlamini; Deputy Special Representative of the U
Secretary-General to the DRC Lena Sundh; and members of the
diplomatic corps accredited to South Africa.
Speaking on the South African Broadcasting Corporation from the
ceremony at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria, Kabila said,
"Today must be considered as a great day for the whole of Africa,
one step more towards the sustainable development of the
continent.
"The Congolese people, their government, and I are determined to
live in harmony with the nine countries with which we share
borders."
Kabila gave assurances that his government would apply "in all good
faith" today's commitments, adding, "If there is any failure of
this agreement, it won't be because of a failure on the part of the
DRC government."
He called on the "entire international community", including the U
and its Security Council in particular, to support peace in the
region, and thanked "all those who never ceased giving their energy
so that this day would arrive".
For his part, Kagame called the accord "a big step in the direction
of resolving the conflict in the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, among other
countries".
He said: "This agreement is important in many aspects, as it
addresses two of the core issues that underlie conflict in the
region - one, how to deal with the ex-FAR [former Rwandan armed
forces] and Interahamwe [Hutu extremist militia] and two, it
paves the way for the withdrawal of forces who are involved in this
conflict from the DRC."
However, he warned that the agreement would not succeed without the
support of the entire continent of Africa and the entire
international community.
"As the international community has historically been part of the
problem, they must be part of the solution," he said. He accused
the international community of having provided "more lip service
than application of its capacities" to bring peace to the region.
Kagame closed his speech saying, "On behalf of my country, I wish
to express that Rwanda is ready to fulfil its part of the
obligation as agreed in this Memorandum of Understanding."
Following the signing of the documents, Mbeki promised that the AU,
the UN and South Africa would all help to implement the accord.
The peace agreement commits the DRC to locating and disarming
Rwandan Interahamwe Hutu militias and ex-FAR - the forces
responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda who remain active in
the DRC; collaborating with the UN Mission in the DRC (known by its
French acronym, MONUC) to dismantle the Interahamwe and ex-FAR;
and repatriating all Rwandan ex-combatants to Rwanda, including
some 2,000 presently at a UN base in Kamina, Katanga Province,
southeastern DRC.
As for Rwanda, its government agreed to withdraw its troops from
the DRC "as soon as effective measures have been taken to address
security concerns in the DRC, in particular the dismantling of the
Interahamwe and ex-FAR", an official statement from the Rwandan
capital, Kigali, said.
A 90-day programme for the implementation of the agreement has been
outlined and agreed upon by both countries.
Meanwhile, the Ugandan government-owned daily newspaper, The New
Vision, reported on Monday that a new peace plan for the DRC
involving the Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la
democratie (RCD-Goma) was being developed.
"The new arrangement, which is geared towards the formation of an
acceptable interim administration, is in advanced stages," James
Wapakhabulo, the Ugandan third deputy prime minister, was quoted by
the paper as saying. He said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni
was in touch with his counterparts in Kigali and the DRC capital,
Kinshasa, on the new arrangement.
Under the arrangement, Kabila would remain the interim president
and have two vice-presidents - one from RCD-Goma and the other from
the Mouvement de liberation du Congo of Jean-Pierre Bemba. The new
plan would supersede the 19 April accord reached at the
conclusion of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South
Africa, by which Kabila would serve as president and Bemba as his
prime minister.
Last week, Museveni briefed Bemba on the new initiative; however,
sources told The New Vision that Bemba had not yet accepted it.
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Carole Collins, Senior Policy Analyst, Africa Faith &
Justice Network [for the Advocacy Network on Africa Congo Working
Group]: 202-328-0761
Suleiman Baldo, Senior Researcher/Africa Div, Human Rights Watch:
212-216-1297
Tuesday, 30 July 2002
CONGO-RWANDA PEACE ACCORD WELCOME BUT NOT ENOUGH; NGOS URGE GREATER
U.S. DIPLOMATIC ACTION ON CONGO HUMAN RIGHTS, GOVERNANCE ISSUES
(Washington, DC)- On the day that the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) and Rwanda signed a UN/South African-brokered peace
pact intended to resolve their hostilities, U.S. NGOs called on the
Bush Administration to direct greater and more forceful "diplomatic
attention to the Congo's human rights and governance as well as
security issues."
The NGOs, in a 30 July 2002 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell, welcomed the two governments' specific undertakings to
resolve their conflict and their inviting the U.N. and South Africa
to monitor implementation of the peace agreement. But without
rapid progress towards achieving a comprehensive power-sharing
agreement that includes Congolese civil society, the NGOs warn, the
climate of mistrust and uncertainty prevailing in the DRC may
undercut the political momentum generated by today's peace
agreement.
Signers of the letter assert that the U.S. "government's public
silence on human rights issues has fed the perception among many
Congolese that the U.S. de facto supports the belligerents." While
welcoming extension of the U.S. Rewards for Justice initiative - to
arrest the organizers of the 1994 Rwandan genocide - to the DRC,
the NGOs maintain that "our government's public silence on bringing
to justice perpetrators of violence against civilians in the Kivus,
especially those killed by Rwandan-backed forces in Kisangani this
past May, has outraged many Congolese."
The letter highlights two areas where more active U.S. diplomacy
could be effectively focused:
- seeking to end conflicts and extensive human rights abuses in the
eastern Congo, a region largely controlled by rebel forces assisted
by Rwandan and Ugandan military forces; andN
- pressing the DRC government to end all support for groups and
individuals clearly implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and
ensuring the Rwandan government does not exploit loopholes in the
peace accord to undermine its implementation. Signers of the
letter have requested to meet with Secretary Powell to discuss
these concerns and other issues related to the war in the DRC,
including the need for greater US political and financial support
for the U.N. presence and human rights monitoring in the eastern
Congo.
Among signers of the letter to Powell [see attached] are
Protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups, human rights and advocacy
organizations and community-based groups. Several support civil
society programs in the DRC.
Text of NGO letter to Colin Powell
30 July 2002
The Honorable Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. State Department
2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary of State Powell:
Today the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Rwanda signed a U.N./South African-brokered memorandum of
understanding which seeks to address several core security issues.
We welcome the undertakings by both parties to resolve their
conflict and their asking the U.N. and South Africa to monitor
implementation.
We hope the agreement will encourage those Congolese parties
heretofore dependent on outside military support to move rapidly
towards an inclusive power-sharing agreement that will facilitate
a genuinely democratic transition. We are concerned, however, that
without more forceful and sustained international - and
particularly U.S. - diplomatic attention to the Congo's human
rights and governance as well as security issues, the
Congolese-Rwandan peace accord may increase internal tensions and
conflict.
In particular we urge the U.S. government to speak out more
forcefully on the deteriorating respect for human rights,
continuing conflict and rising political tensions that continue to
afflict millions of Congolese citizens, especially in the eastern
Kivus. Without rapid progress towards an inclusive agreement on
power-sharing among all Congolese, including civil society, the
climate of mistrust and uncertainty that now prevails in the DRC
risks provoking deeper spirals of violence that may engulf the
entire country.
This climate of mistrust and uncertainty has grown since the Sun
City talks, adjourned in April, failed to reach a comprehensive and
inclusive agreement on security or power-sharing issues. As a
result, millions of Congolese civilians have been subjected to
involuntary displacements, rape, forced recruitment and summary
executions.
Despite extensive documentation - by international as well as local
human rights groups - of increasingly brutal violence directed
against Congolese civilians and their growing vulnerability to
disease and famine, the public response of the United States
government has been woefully inadequate, especially given the
gravity and magnitude of the suffering in the DRC. Our
government's public silence on human rights issues has fed the
perception among many Congolese that the U.S. de facto supports the
belligerents.
We feel it is imperative that the U.S. government publicly speak
out now in support of respect of human rights in general, and that
it strongly condemn flagrant human rights violations whenever and
wherever they occur in the DRC. Speaking out publicly on the DRC's
human rights crisis at this particular moment will strengthen its
credibility with Congolese citizens, many of whom believe the
international community has largely ignored the deteriorating
situation and erosion of their human rights. The U.S. government's
public silence risks encouraging continued violations of these
rights and undermining incentives for reaching an inclusive
agreement on power-sharing among all Congolese.
Although the human rights situation across all of the Congo is
deplorable, we want to highlight two areas of particular concern
where we feel U.S. diplomatic pressure could be effectively
focused:
- the continuing conflict and human rights abuses in the areas of
the country under control of rebel forces assisted by Rwandan and
Ugandan troops. Violence has become endemic in the wide swath of
territory under control of the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for
Democracy (RCD) and factions of the Uganda-backed Movement for the
Liberation of the Congo (MLC). Recent events clearly indicate that
they enjoy little popular support. To cite a few examples:
- In South Kivu, fighting on the high plateau continues with
Congolese Banyamulenge soldiers who formerly served under the RCD
now being pursued by RCD troops and their Rwandan allies. Because
of the isolated nature of the area, detailed information on the
conflict and its impact on civilians has been limited.
- In Kisangani an attempted mutiny within RCD rebel ranks
reportedly led to the deaths of an estimated 200 people, including
many innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. There are credible
reports of summary executions of soldiers and civilians whose
mutilated corpses surfaced in the rapids on the Tshopo River.
Catholic priests as well as civil society leaders and activists
became explicit targets of RCD violence.
- In Goma human rights activists have been harassed, detained and
arrested for their human rights activities. Among those harassed
was Immaculee Birhaheka, Secretary General of PAIF (Promotion and
Support of Women's Initiatives, a key human rights group in the
region), who is playing a vital role in the peace movement there.
She was harassed after meeting with a representative of the U.S.
Embassy and a member of a U.S. House Africa subcommittee Staff
delegation; two other local activists who met with the delegation
were detained and threatened before being released.
- In Uturi province conflict between between Hema and Lendu
ethnic groups continues to cause immense suffering for innocent
civilians. Thousands of people have been displaced and recent
reports allege that within the last few months as many as 500
people may have been killed.
- A recent Human Right Watch report (The War Within the War: Sexual
Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo) documents
horrific abuses directed against women, particularly the frequent
and systematic use of rape as a tool of war by combatants in
Eastern Congo.
- The continuing failure of the DRC government to stop all forms of
support for those individuals and armed groups in this region
clearly implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The DRC
government has clearly failed to act to bring these genocidaires to
justice. Indeed some are even currently serving as officers in the
DRC army. While the Congo-Rwanda "understanding" on security
issues promises to begin to address this issue, U.S. diplomatic
pressure is needed to ensure that the DRC government acts
effectively to bring these groups and their leaders to justice, and
that the Rwandan government does not exploit loopholes in the peace
accord to undermine its implementation and justify maintaining
Rwanda's military presence in the Congo.
We welcome the U.S. government's decision to extend to the DRC its
Rewards for Justice initiative to arrest the organisers of the 1994
Rwandan genocide. But our government's public silence on bringing
to justice perpetrators of violence against civilians in the Kivus,
especially those killed by Rwandan-backed forces in Kisangani this
May, has outraged many Congolese.
To our knowledge the U.S. government has yet to make a public
statement on the deteriorating human rights situation in the DRC,
including the bloody events in Kisangani and recent events in the
high plateau of South Kivu. On July 6 the Congo's National Catholic
Bishops Conference, in a statement on the current political impasse
in the Congo, urged the international community to promote peace in
the DRC. Respect for human rights is vital to nurturing and
sustaining any effective peace process in the Congo, and for
reaching a comprehensive global agreement that satisfactorily
addresses the critical issues for all parties.
Many of the human rights abuses have taken place in isolated
portions of the Congo where independent verification of local
reports is difficult, and where rebel forces have sought to expel
outside observers. For this reason we urge the U.S. government to
use its influence as a member of the United Nations Security
Council and a member of the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights
to back a significant increase in the number of the human rights
monitors assigned to the Congo, including those serving with the
MONUC contingent of peacekeepers. Committing more U.S. resources
to strengthen the U.N. role in the eastern Congo will be vital to
the success of the peace accord signed today.
We would like an opportunity to discuss with you further our
concerns about the human rights situation and related issues in the
DRC. A representative of the groups signing this letter, Carole
Collins of the Africa Faith and Justice Network (202-832-3412 ext
2 or 202-328-0761), will contact your office in the next two weeks
in the hopes of setting up a meeting where we can exchange views
and perspectives on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Africa Faith and Justice Network, Washington, DC [representing 50+
Catholic religious orders with on the ground presence in Africa];
African Immigrants & Refugees Foundation, Silver Spring, MD;
American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA and
Washington, DC; Amnesty International USA, Washington, DC; Church
of the Brethren Washington Office Conference of Major Superiors of
Men, Washington, DC [representing 250 US-based Catholic religious
orders and 23,000 vowed brothers and priests, ten percent of whom
are serving outside the U.S., many in Africa]; International
Development Exchange, San Francisco, CA; International Human Rights
Law Group, Washington, DC; Kenya AIDS Intervention/Prevention
Project Group/Int'l, Rhode Island, USA; Kwanzaa Arts Cooperative,
Santa Cruz CA; NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby,
Washington, DC; TransAfrica Forum, Washington, DC; Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee, Cambridge, MA and Washington, DC;
Union of American Hebrew Congregations; United Methodist Church,
General Board of Church and Society; Washington Office on Africa
[sponsored by 12 national Protestant and Catholic religious
groups]; Washington State Africa Network Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom/United States Section Washington, DC;
Wo'se Community Church of The Sacred African Way, Oakland, CA
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by
Africa Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information
Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa).
Africa Action's information services provide accessible
information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
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