DRC

DR Congo army clashes with Ugandan rebel in Garamba Park, 5 killed

NEWS STORY

Source: Xinhua

Kinshasa, 23 June 2015 - Five people were killed and several others injured last weekend during clashes where troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Ugandan rebel were involved in Garamba National Park, north of the country, local civil society groups and an army official told Xinhua on Monday.

The clashes were between the DR Congo army and Garamba park rangers on one side, and a gang of poachers led by Ugandan rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army, on the other.

The sources said the army and park rangers fell into an ambush laid by about 100 armed poachers on Saturday.

The five victims included two soldiers, a park ranger and two assailants, according to the sources.

The army's operational commander within Dungu area where the clashes took place, confirmed that to Xinhua.

Les professionnels des médias de l’Afrique centrale en atelier sur les élections

ARTICLE

Source: ACP / MCN, via mediacongo.net

Kinshasa, 23 juin 2015 - Un atelier sous-régional de deux jours regroupant les professionnels des médias de l’Afrique centrale s’est ouvert lundi 22 juin à Kinshasa sur le thème: « Médias, élection et développement d’Afrique Centrale ».

Organisé par l’Union des syndicalistes des professionnels de la presse de l’Afrique Centrale (USYPAC), avec l’appui de la Fondation Friedrich Ebert (FES), cet atelier vise à renforcer les capacités des professionnels des médias de la sous-région pour affronter et reporter avec professionnalisme les élections dans leurs pays respectifs.

Le président du Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel et de la communication (CSAC), Tito Ndombi, a indiqué, dans son discours d’ouverture, que les médias jouent un rôle indispensable dans le bon fonctionnement d’une démocratie, pour autant qu’ils peuvent informer le public sur l’efficacité de ses représentants et l’aider à exiger des comptes.

Il a également fait savoir que les médias peuvent jouer un rôle plus spécifique en facilitant la pleine participation de tous aux élections, en éduquant les électeurs sur la manière d’exercer leurs droits démocratiques et en couvrant la campagne électorale.

Il s’agit aussi de fournir aux partis politiques un moyen de communiquer leur message à l’électorat, de leur permettre de débattre entre eux, de surveiller le dépouillement et de publier les résultats, de suivre de près le processus électoral lui-même dans le but d’évaluer son équité, son efficacité et soin intégrité.

Le président de l’USYPAC, Stanis Nkundiye, a relevé le rôle essentiel des médias avant, pendant et après les élections, soulignant qu’ils sont considérés comme le gardien du temple. Comment les médias de l’Afrique centrale, connus pour leur pauvreté, auront-ils joué leur rôle de gardien de temple? S’est-il interrogé.

La représentante résidente de la FES, Susanne Stollreiter, a indiqué que les médias sont très importants pour la démocratie, particulièrement en période électorale, avant d’ajouter qu’ils ont une fonction de contrôle en leur qualité de 4ème pouvoir.

Le président de l’Union nationale de la presse au Congo (UNPC), Kasonga Tshilunde, a aussi fait remarquer que le journaliste doit faire correctement son travail en tenant compte des règles d’éthique et de déontologie.

Les participants aux assises de Kinshasa vont réfléchir sur différents thèmes, notamment « Etat des lieux sur le processus électoral dans les pays d’Afrique centrale», « les élections en Afrique centrale : Etat des lieux, défis et perspectives », « les élections, vecteur de développement des communautés en Afrique centrale » et « élections libres et transparentes : quel rôle pour les médias indépendants ? Comment les médias surveillent-ils les élections? » .

Cet atelier concerne une vingtaine des professionnels des médias provenant de huit pays d’Afrique centrale, notamment le Cameroun, la République du Congo, la République Centrafricaine, le Tchad, le Gabon, le Sao Tome et Principe, la Guinée Equatoriale et la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), signale-t-on.

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RWANDA

Karake arrest strains fragile UK-Rwanda relations

OPINION

Source: BBC

By Karen Allen

23 June 2015 - The arrest of General Karenzi Karake in London is bound to strain what is increasingly becoming a fragile relationship between Britain and Rwanda.

Like two best friends, harsh words are exchanged from time to time, but on this occasion it feels like a smart slap whose sting may last for some time.

It is perhaps not surprising that the detention of Rwanda's head of intelligence is being flagged up by London as a European "obligation" rather than a British decision.

There is a strong ambition in Whitehall that the matter simply goes away. After all it was a Spanish high court judge that made the accusation of war crimes, not a British one.

Rwanda has long been considered by Britain as one of its closest allies in the region and "an African success story".

Following the genocide in 1994 in which 800,000 mainly Tutsis perished in unspeakable violence, Britain has pumped millions into development aid and Rwanda has responded with impressive rates of economic growth.

The Rwandan government is said to be "furious" with Britain, as much for the style in which the arrest was made as the substance of the indictment itself.

Broadly speaking, Rwanda's view is that the Europeans, by issuing an arrest warrant, have been hoodwinked by pro-Hutu sympathisers.

It feels energies should be better channelled into chasing the Hutu militia - known as the FDLR - still wreaking murderous havoc in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, rather than pursuing alleged war criminals from Rwanda's troubled past.

It is a well rehearsed argument.

When Britain temporarily suspended direct budget support to Rwanda in 2012, following allegations by a UN group of experts that Rwanda was funding the Tutsi-dominated M23 militia waging war in eastern DRC, it also suggested its long-term friend had been influenced by genocide deniers.

Rwanda is still deeply haunted by its past and European leaders, who acknowledge they didn't do enough to intervene in one of the worst atrocities of a generation, are silenced.

Britain is Rwanda's biggest bi-lateral donor contributing £66m a year in aid to Rwanda.

That figure swells to nearly double when European contributions are added.

British businesses are increasingly looking for new investment opportunities in Rwanda from real estate to mining to financial services and the conservative "wealth agenda" in Africa has put Rwanda centre stage.

But Britain is often criticised by some activists for pursuing a policy of wealth creation at any price - not doing enough to challenge President Paul Kagame's human rights record in his dealings with his opponents and the media.

'Extremely embarrassing'

Andrew Mitchell - Britain's former international development secretary - for whom Rwanda has become something of a poster boy for development - has been the most outspoken on the British side so far, since Gen Karake's arrest.

He told me it was "extremely embarrassing" that the intelligence chief was arrested during "official diplomatic business" and said that he and others were still trying to figure out "why now?”

General Karake is a frequent visitor to the UK and has been for many years.

Twitter users have suggested that the arrest of such a prominent figure is "revenge" for a recent dispute with the BBC, following a controversial Panorama programme questioning the historic record of the genocide.

This is patently not true as the BBC has no influence over European arrest warrants or the police. But it does beg an important question.

How does Britain navigate a relationship based on trust and mutual respect, when the execution of a European Arrest Warrant is seen by some in the Rwandan leadership, not as a legal practicality but the ultimate act of betrayal?

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BURUNDI

Burundi's ruling party boycotts UN-mediated crisis talks

NEWS STORY

Source: AFP

Bujumbura, 23 June 2015 - Burundi's ruling party said on Tuesday it had boycotted the restart of UN-led talks hoped to broker peace between rival parties following weeks of violence and ahead of elections on Monday.

The troubled central African nation has been in crisis since late April over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term.

This move is branded by opponents as unconstitutional and a violation of a 2006 peace deal that ended 13 years of civil war.

Opposition politicians as well as civil society and religious leaders attended the talks, but neither Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD party or the presidency sent representatives.

"The CNDD-FDD party informs the national and international community that its priority is the continuation of its election campaign," party president Pascal Nyabenda said.

"The CNDD party therefore wishes to communicate that it will not participate in dialogue during this period," he added, calling it a diversion "aimed to disrupt the elections."

Parliamentary elections are planned for June 29, ahead of the presidential vote on July 15.

Interior Minister Edouard Ndiwumana, the government representative to the talks, also did not appear.

A new UN mediator, Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily, arrived in Burundi on Sunday after his predecessor Said Djinnit quit when civil society leaders accused him of bias.

Burundi's opposition, which has said that fair polls are not possible because independent media have been shut down and many opponents have fled the country, accuses the president of trying to force a vote regardless of the crisis.

Last week, the Burundian human rights group Aprodeh said that at least 70 people have been killed, 500 wounded and more than 1 000 jailed since late April, when the opposition took to the streets to protest Nkurunziza's bid to remain in power.

More than 100 000 people have fled the violence to neighbouring countries.

Nkurunziza survived a coup attempt last month and has since faced down international pressure, including aid cuts, aimed at forcing him to reconsider his attempt to stay in power, which diplomats fear could plunge the country back into war.

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UGANDA

Uganda: LRA weapons found buried in CAR

NEWS STORY

Source: APA

23 June 2015 - Ugandan peacekeepers deployed in the Central African Republic have commandeered 30 pieces of Sub Machine guns and twenty seven AK47 empty magazines suspected to have been buried by fleing rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)."Considering the fact that the rebels are already experiencing scarcity of arms, this is a big achievement and, no doubt, their combat capacity will never be the same. The LRA demise is in sight," the commander of the Ugandan Contingent in Central Africa, Col Michael Kabango said in a statement sent to Kampala Tuesday.

Ugandan soldiers are in the Central African Republic as part of the African Union Regional Task Force that is fighting insurgents in the war-torn country.

The LRA has over the decades buried weapons when under pursuit for easier escape, with a hope to return, at a later date, to recover them.

However, UPDF spokesman Lt. Col Paddy Ankunda said the UPDF has often discovered the arms caches, while sometimes, the LRA rebels have been chased away too far to return for the arms.

The African Union Regional Task Force was formed in 2012 after the African Union declared the LRA insurgency a regional challenge.

The forces have since made some progress against the LRA whose leader Joseph Kony has been in hiding for years despite an indictment for his arrest and prosecution.

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Centrafrique: nouvelles accusations d’abus sexuels sur enfants par des Casques bleus

ARTICLE

Source: Jeune Afrique avec l'AFP &lt