DRC

DRC's Opposition Boycotts Senate, Dismisses Kabila's Ploy to Stay in Power

NEWS STORY

Source: RFI

10 August 2015 - The Senate in the Democratic Republic of Congo is set to hold an extraordinary session Tuesday to debate how to organise the country’s first-ever local elections. But a united opposition is boycotting the session, arguing that the draft legislation is part of President Joseph Kabila’s strategy to hang on to power when his second term expires next year.

“This law must be promulgated for the elections to be effectively coupled,” PPRD spokesperson Ramazani Shadari told RFI in an interview. “That is why we want the law to be adopted.”

Concretely, the ruling PPRD wants voters to designate local officials before any other polls are held – a deeply divisive issue because the opposition believes voters should first choose a new president when Kabila’s second five-year term expires in 2016.

From the government’s perspective, a bill on seat allocation in local, communal and municipal constituencies must be enacted before local polls, scheduled for October, are held.

There are fears that local polls, a time-consuming and costly process in a country where none have never been held, will delay the presidential polls, allowing Kabila to stay in office.

The contentious bill has already been the subject of legislative jostling. Last month the National Assembly voted it down before giving it the green light. Earlier this month the Senate rejected it in an extraordinary session and Tuesday’s second extraordinary session -- whose legitimacy is challenged by the opposition -- is a sign of the government’s determination to hold local elections first.

There are fears that the parliamentary debate could have an impact on all polls.

“If this keeps going on all the elections are going to have to be postponed,” explained Michael Tshibangu, president of the London-based Alliance for Development and Democracy in Congo.

The legislation, already months behind schedule, should have been voted into law by April under an Independent National Electoral Commission calendar.

Delays and foot-dragging could lead to a constitutional crisis, according to lawmaker Aimé Boji, a member of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), a leading opposition party.

“Our constitution is very clear on the presidential term,” he said in a phone interview from Kinshasa. “It is the only election for which an actual date is set by the constitution.”

The opposition is convinced that this focus on local politics is a ploy by Kabila, in power since 2001, to extend his rule.

Kabila who rarely speaks in public has so far rejected opposition demands to state that he will step down when his term ends next year.

His alleged playing-for-time strategy, called glissement (sliding or slipping), also rests on the tying up of the electoral process in bureaucratic delays.

“Glissement is simply what many Congolese politicians do best, which is: delay decisions,” remarked Jason Stearns, director of New York University’s Congo Research Group.

The ruling party’s bid – unpopular in many circles -- had led the parliamentary opposition to unite under an umbrella group known as Dynamique pour l’unité d’actions de l’opposition, or dynamic for unified action by the opposition.

“The opposition has come together against the machinations of the current regime,” noted Kambale Musavuli, spokesperson for Friends of the Congo, a Chicago-based advocacy group. “Having them take a bold stand gives more hope to the people on the ground.

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mendé has rejected charges that the government is promoting glissement, which he has dismissed as an “unfair accusation” (procès d’intention).

“We believe that the [electoral] commission has drawn up a calendar that will be respected,” he told the press last week.

There had earlier been speculation that Kabila – like other sitting presidents in Africa -- would change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term.

But the idea generated strong opposition at home and abroad.

“Those test balloons were met with so much resistance from local civil society, the Catholic Church and the international community that he retreated,” analyst Stearns said in an interview from New York. “Now other options are being put on the table.”

A more significant, behind-the-scene succession battle may be taking place within the ruling coalition.

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RWANDA

UK court frees Rwandan spy chief wanted in Spain

NEWS STORY

Source: Reuters

By Estelle Shirbon

10 August 2015 - A British court on Monday freed Rwanda's intelligence chief Karenzi Karake, who is wanted in Spain over alleged war crimes in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, after being advised that an extradition offence could not be established in British law.

British police arrested General Karake, 54, at London's Heathrow Airport on June 22, acting on a European Arrest Warrant issued by Spain.

Karake was a commander in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel force that swept through Rwanda in 1994 to halt the slaughter of 800,000 minority Tutsis orchestrated by the Hutu government. The RPF now runs the country.

The Spanish arrest warrant is in connection with allegations of reprisal killings in Rwanda and neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo in the years following the genocide. The RPF denies that Karake or others committed war crimes.

Karake's arrest angered authorities in Kigali, who described it as an "outrage", and prompted protests outside the British embassy in the Rwandan capital as well as outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London, where Karake appeared on June 25.

Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said in a tweet she was delighted Karake would be coming home.

"This was an unnecessary and abusive process," she said.

The court had granted Karake bail on June 25 pending full extradition proceedings. Among the lawyers who appeared in court to defend him was Cherie Blair, wife of Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which under extradition procedures was acting on behalf of the Spanish judicial authority, said Senior District Judge Howard Riddle had discharged the arrest warrant after hearing CPS legal advice.

"After careful consideration we do not believe that an extradition offence can be established under UK law. The main reason is that the relevant laws on the conduct alleged in this case do not cover the acts of non UK nationals or residents abroad," a CPS spokesman said.

The Spanish warrant stemmed from a lengthy indictment issued by a judge in 2008 against 40 senior Rwandans including Karake, who was also accused of ordering the killing of three Spanish volunteers from a medical charity in 1997.

Conflicting accounts have emerged over the years of exactly what happened in parts of Rwanda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where many suspected Hutu "genocidaires" fled the RPF advance in 1994 and which Rwandan forces later invaded.

Injured Rwandan UN Peacekeepers Flown To Kampala

NEWS STORY

Source: News of Rwanda

10 August 2015 - Five Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) peacekeepers who sustained injuries in Bangui on Saturday have been evacuated to Uganda for further treatment.

“Five out of the eight injured peacekeepers were evacuated to Nakasero Hospital, in Kampala, Uganda, a UN Level three Hospital for further treatment.

Three other soldiers who did not incur serious injuries continue to receive medical treatment at the MINUSCA Level two Hospital in Bangui”, said Brigadier General Joseph Nzabamwita, Defence and Military Spokesperson.

Nzabamwita said the incident occurred on 08 August 2015 at around 05:45 hours at Rwanda Battalion Headquarters (RWABATT 2) located at 5th Arrondissement SOCATEL M’POKO.

The peacekeepers were injured during the unfortunate incident yesterday in Bangui where one of the RDF soldiers serving‎ in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) shot dead four RDF soldiers and injured eight others.

The RDF engaged the assailant soldier, killing him and saving the lives of other RDF peacekeepers.

Investigations so far point toward terrorism to be the motive behind the deplorable act.

The tragic incident is the first of its kind since the mission was established in April 2014, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) noted in a news release.

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BURUNDI

UN Security Council pushes talks to defuse Burundi crisis

NEWS STORY

Source: AFP

10 August 2015 - The UN Security Council on Monday demanded that Burundi's government immediately reopen talks with the opposition to put a halt to a spiral of violence that is pushing the country to the brink.

The 15-member council backed plans by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send a high-level UN official on an urgent mission to ease the Burundi crisis.

The council issued an appeal for dialogue after senior UN officials warned during a closed-door emergency meeting called by France that the violence was worsening in the central African country.

"Council members expressed deep concern on the political and security situation in Burundi and called for the immediate resumption of inclusive dialogue in order to achieve a lasting peace," Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu told reporters following the meeting.

The ambassador, whose country holds the council presidency, said Ban would be sending an envoy soon.

The recent killing of a top general and the attempted murder of a leading human rights activist are seen as a dangerous escalation in the conflict sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to win a third term in office.

Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, was declared the outright winner of elections last month that were boycotted by the opposition and condemned internationally as deeply flawed.

UN rights official Ivan Simonovic told the council that at least 94 people have been killed since the crisis began in April with Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term, according to diplomats at the meeting.

About 600 people have been arrested or detained and some 40 cases of torture during police custody have been reported, he said.

Simonovic said there was a "new worrying trend of killing of ruling party members" targeted for reprisals and score-settling following the election, a diplomat said.

The United States last week threatened to impose sanctions such as travel bans on those deemed responsible for the violence in Burundi.

Talks between the government and the opposition broke down on July 19.

UN: Burundi Violence Spiraling Toward Point of No Return

NEWS STORY

Source: Associated Press

10 August 2015 - A top United Nations human rights official says the situation in Burundi has not yet reached the point of no return but is spiraling in that direction.

Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told The Associated Press after briefing the Security Council that the five assassinations of members of the ruling party in the past two weeks are a "disturbing" new development. Violence usually targets opposition supporters.

President Pierre Nkurunziza was re-elected last month in elections widely condemned as unfair.

Simonovic says 94 people have been killed in election-related violence, at least 40 torture cases have been documented and there's "not a single case" of accountability for rights violations.

He says "the trends are very negative."

The council on Monday called for an immediate return to political dialogue.

Burundi arrests over Adolphe Nshimiriman's killing

NEWS STORY

Source: BBC

10 August 2015 - Several people have been arrested in Burundi over the assassination of a powerful general, the prosecutor's office has said.

However, it said the "masterminds" behind the murder of Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana were still being sought.

Prominent human rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was shot and wounded in an apparent reprisal attack following Gen Nshimirimana's killing last week.

Mr Mbonimpa has been allowed to fly to Belgium for treatment.

Heavy shooting was heard in the capital, Bujumbura, on Sunday night, but it was unclear who was behind it, the AFP news agency reports.

Burundi has suffered serious unrest since President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision in April to seek a third term in office.

Opponents argued this violated the constitution, and protests broke out in parts of the country.

There was also failed coup attempt in May, as renegade generals demanded that Mr Nkurunziza s