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DRC

Success of UN DR Congo mission hinges on ‘constructive partnership’ with Government, Security Council told

ARTICLE

Source: UN News Centre

14 July 2015 - The capacity of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to fulfil its mandate rests on “persistent engagement” with the authorities, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the Mission, Martin Kobler, told the Security Council today.

“The success of our mandate rests on a continued, constructive, partnership with the Government,” in particular regarding the security situation in the East and the electoral process.

On the security situation, there is “a ray of hope on one of the front lines”, he said, describing ongoing military cordon and search operations conducted by the national Congolese army (FARDC) supported by MONUSCO forces against the Force de résistance patriotique en Ituri (FPRI).

“While the priority is to ensure that the group disarmed voluntarily, the use of force proved inevitable after the lapse of three consecutive deadlines,” he explained.

However, Mr. Kobler said, joint operations against the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in North Kivu, South Kivu and Katanga had been at a standstill for five months. While the Congolese Government had made great strides in the past decade in restoring security, the population in East lived at the mercy of a number of armed groups, he explained.

Despite the progress in dislodging the FDLR from some of its strongholds, the FARDC was finding it difficult to consolidate its hold in liberated areas, he said, adding that paralysis had cascaded into other fields of operation. “Waiting is not an option,” he said.

DRC will hold presidential and legislative elections in November 2016, which under the imperatives of a Security Council resolution must be transparent, credible and respectful of the Constitution and the electoral calendar. The responsibility for such elections, however, ultimately rested with the Government and a number of actions were required, Mr. Kobler noted.

“Urgent needs include a budget and a realistic electoral calendar. The voters’ registry need to be updated and political space must be given to the opposition and civil society,” the Special Representative noted. Welcoming President Joseph Kabila’s initiative to reach out to a wide range of stakeholders to ensure consensus, he underlined that such consultations should not delay the elections.

While there had been progress in the fight against sexual violence in the country, violence against women and girls remained endemic, deplored Mr. Kobler. “We must ensure that the women’s bodies are not used as battlegrounds in never-ending wars,” he said, stressing the need to ensure victims had access to justice.

UN drops demand for Congo to replace generals accused of abuses

NEWS STORY

Source: Reuters World Service

By: Michelle Nichols

14 July 2015 - The United Nations has dropped a demand for two Democratic Republic of Congo generals accused of human rights abuses to be replaced before U.N. peacekeepers can resume cooperation with the Congolese army on operations against a Rwandan rebel group.

Martin Kobler, head of the U.N. mission in Congo, said talks continued with the government on working jointly to tackle the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels in the country's east, but that the two generals still remain in place.

"We do not request the replacement of the generals ... anymore," Kobler said on Tuesday, speaking after he briefed the U.N. Security Council, adding: "There are certain conditions which have to be fulfilled."

"I'm very confident we will have a solution soon," he said, without elaborating on what conditions needed to be met.

U.N. peacekeepers and the Congolese army (FARDC) had jointly planned a campaign to take on Rwanda's FDLR, which includes former soldiers and Hutu militiamen responsible for the Central African country's 1994 genocide, after it failed to meet a January deadline to disarm.

But the U.N. mission (MONUSCO) withdrew its planned support for the anti-FDLR operations in February, which would have ranged from food and transport to surveillance drones and attack helicopters, after Congo appointed two generals to head the offensive who are accused of rights abuses.

Under the United Nations human rights due diligence policy, the world body has to ensure its support to non-U.N. security forces does not contribute to grave human rights violations.

Kobler said the Congolese government had complained that it had been unaware which of its army officers were blacklisted under the policy, so the U.N. mission was now notifying them.

Western diplomats say a months-long FARDC campaign against the FDLR has achieved little and revived doubts about the will and capacity of Congo to defeat a group at the heart of decades of conflict in Africa's Great Lakes region.

DR Congo has a different view and has said it has been making progress in an offensive against Rwandan rebels in the country's conflict-torn east.

In March, the Security Council refused to cut the number of peacekeepers in Congo until progress is made in the offensive against the FDLR, snubbing government calls for a decrease.

Progress in UN-Congo military action against rebel group

NEWS STORY

Source: Associated Press

14 July 2015 - A U.N. envoy says Congolese troops supported by U.N. peacekeepers have neutralized about 25 percent of a rebel group in northeast Congo -- but joint operations against the larger FDLR military group remain at a standstill.

Martin Kobler told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that the success of the joint operation against the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force, also known as FRPI, has shown what can be achieved when the Congolese army and the U.N. force work together.

He said the ongoing operations against FRPI are the most effective since the M23 rebel group was toppled in 2013.

The U.N. had hoped to be part of a joint operation against the FDLR but ended its support after two Congolese generals linked to human rights violations were picked to lead the government operation.

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RWANDA

Rwanda’s Main Opposition Disappointed by Term Limit Vote

NEWS STORY

Source: VOA

15 July 2015 - The president of Rwanda’s small but main opposition Democratic Green Party said he’s disappointed by parliament’s vote Tuesday for a constitutional amendment to allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term.

The parliament said it was acting on the wishes of 3.7 million Rwandans who signed a petition to amend Article 101 of the constitution, which limits the president to just two terms.

The Green Party had challenged the move to amend the constitution in the Rwandan Supreme Court, and the hearing is set for July 29.

A week ago, the party said it was having trouble finding a lawyer to take up its case after most of the lawyers said they had either been threatened or did not want to go against the wishes of 3.7 million Rwandans.

Green Party President Frank Habineza said the parliament could have waited for the Supreme Court to first render its decision.

“We are very disappointed today because we don’t see any reason why the parliament rush[ed] into such a discussion because they know very well that the Supreme Court is set to hear our case on the 29th of July which is just two weeks away,” he said.

Habineza said his party hopes to use the parliament's vote as evidence before the Supreme Court that the constitution can only be revised to reduce the duration of the president’s mandate because all along people had said his case had no merit.

“We had gone to the Supreme Court first of all to ask the court to stop parliament from changing the constitution, and two, to ask the court to give a deeper understanding of Article 101 and 193. But we believe that these articles are intangible and cannot be changed, and we want the court to confirm that,” Habineza said.

Supporters of Kagame have said the president deserves another term because he has restored order and rebuilt Rwanda’s economy.

Habineza said 3.7 million petitioners, if that figure is true, are not a true representation of the Rwandan people’s wishes because the country has a population of about 11 million, and added he had gone to Nairobi, Kenya to find a lawyer to represent his party at the Supreme Court.

“We have got another lawyer right now, and we are trying to get another from Uganda. So this time around we believe that whatever happens, we shall have a lawyer, whether from Kenya, Uganda, or Rwanda,” Habineza said.

Rwanda parliament votes in support of Kagame third term

NEWS STORY

Source: AFP

14 July 2015 - Rwandan lawmakers voted Tuesday in support of a constitutional change to allow strongman Paul Kagame a third term in power as president, backing a petition signed by millions of citizens.

The crowded parliament, packed with members of the public who had come to watch, cheered and chanted Kagame's name after all lawmakers present in both the lower and upper houses voted in the first step of the process for constitutional change.

"I want to thank all members of parliament for showing support to the people's wishes," parliament speaker Donatilla Mukabalisa said.

Any change must be also passed by a national referendum.

Over 3.7 million people -- well over half of the voters -- signed a petition calling for a change to Article 101 of the constitution, which limits the president to two terms, according to Rwandan media.

"There was a request that we engage the people and consult them about the amendment of 101, and other articles," Mukabalisa added. "I promise you we are going to fast track the process as requested."

Parliament was crammed to capacity Tuesday with both lawmakers and the public, with the two chambers holding separate, parallel debates.

Nkusi Juvenal, a member of parliament from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), said that "3.7 million Rwandans from different constituencies and walks of life have spoken, we are their representatives here, we have no option but to... listen to their pleas."

At one point, lawmakers and the public chanted slogans of support for Kagame.

"Paul Kagame, oyee! (oh yes)," they shouted.

The public were invited to watch the debate.

"I wanted to participate, so that is why I am here -- I am very proud," Alpha Mundendke said, a 23-year old student in parliament for the first time.

Elections in 2017

But Jean-Claude Ntezimana, from Rwanda's tiny but main opposition group, the Green Party, had complained that parliament should not vote on a decision to press ahead with any constitutional changes until their challenge opposing it had been heard in court.

Kagame, 57, has been at the top of Rwandan politics since 1994, when an offensive by his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels put an end to a genocide by Hutu extremists that left an estimated 800,000 people dead, most of whom were Tutsis.

As minister of defence and then vice president, Kagame was widely seen as the power behind the throne even before he took the presidency in 2003, winning 95 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2010 with a similarly resounding mandate. The next elections are due in 2017.

From the trauma of genocide, he has been painted as a guarantor of stability and economic development, earning praise from donors -- and his supporters say many in Rwanda view the prospect of his departure as a step into the unknown. Critics say he has silenced opposition and the media.

Kagame says the decision is for the "Rwandan people".

"I have not asked anyone to change the constitution and I have not told anybody how or what to think about 2017," Kagame said in April.

Any change to the constitution would require a vote in support by at least three-quarters of both parliamentary houses, followed by a national referendum.

The move comes amid a wider controversy in Africa over efforts by leaders to change constitutions in order to stay in office.

Neighbouring Burundi has been in turmoil since April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his bid to stand for a third term in polls, a move branded by opponents as unconstitutional and a violation of a peace deal that paved the way to end civil war in 2006.

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BURUNDI

Burundi crisis gets serious for regional leaders

NEWS STORY

Source: IRIN News

14 July 2015 - Burundi’s political crisis is centred on a leader who is refusing to leave office after almost 10 years. The man sent in to mediate has been in power for almost 30. Apart from that irony, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s arrival in Bujumbura underlines just how high the stakes are for regional leaders.

As the increasingly violent events in Burundi continue to unfold, its neighbours are watching ever more closely. Since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term in April, protests have killed dozens and displaced more than 145,000.

In addition to confrontations between security forces and demonstrators, clashes between the military and armed groups have reached a new peak with a report from the army spokesperson on Monday claiming that 31 rebels had been killed in northern Kayanza province, close to the Rwandan border.

Concern goes further than refugees spilling across borders. Several heads of state in the Great Lakes region are seeking third terms or have been in power for more than 10 years. What happens in Burundi, a member of the East African Community (EAC) since 2007, could have serious ripple effects.

The presidential election has been postponed until 21 July, after African leaders called for a two-week delay to the original 15 July poll date.