DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Ugandan ADF Rebel Commander Killed in Congo

Source: VOA

Beni (DRC), 29 April 2015 - The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army says it has captured a key base of the Ugandan Islamist ADF rebels in the eastern DRC, and killed an ADF chief of staff.

The attack on thе base was a continuation of Operation Sokola, an offensive against the ADF launched by the Congolese army in Beni territory in January 2014. Sokola means "clean-up" in the Congolese language, Lingala.

Most of the ADF’s main camps were overrun in the first few months of the operation and about 60 prisoners were taken; but United Nations experts concluded at the end of last year that the ADF had been weakened, not wiped out, and had lost few of its commanders.

Since October, more than 300 civilians have been murdered in Beni territory in a series of massacres that have been widely blamed on the ADF and its allies.

The DRC army, however, has now struck at the ADF’s inner core, according to army spokesman Major Victor Masandi.

He told VOA that on the night of April 24 and 25, the Congolese army killed Kasadha Kalume, a Ugandan national who was the number three person in the ranks of the jihadi Islamist ADF.

DRC Special Forces reached the ADF camp at Baruku between the Bango and Semliki rivers on April 22 and captured it after heavy fighting, according to the army.

Masandi said Kasadha’s body was identified by a captured bodyguard to Seku Baluku, the number two person in the ADF. He adds that Baluku and some of his lieutenants and dependents managed to escape from the camp during the fighting.

The army found four common graves near the camp containing bodies of hostages, ADF casualties and dependents who were unable to flee, said Masadi.

Local civil society officials say the ADF had kidnapped nearly a thousand people in Beni territory since 2010.

Common graves were found at several other ADF positions captured in the earlier phases of Operation Sokola.

Various experts agree that by the middle of last year, the ADF had split into a number of small groups and had only a few hundred combatants.

Masandi said the movement had reorganized into an inner core, led by the ADF’s founder, Jamil Mukulu, and seconded by Seku Baluku, with a coordinating headquarters headed by Kasadha. He said there were eight satellite groups.

Masandi said the camp at Baruku consisted of 104 houses, including the headquarters, and was located inside the Virunga National Park in the foothills of the Ruwenzori mountains.

He added that the Congolese army is more determined than ever to finish off the ADF.

The U.N. mission in Congo, MONUSCO, has been supporting Operation Sokola, with logistics, intelligence and the intervention brigade comprised of Malawian, Tanzanian and South African troops.

There have been rumors and press reports in recent days that ADF founder Jamil Mukulu has been arrested in Tanzania, but official sources in Uganda and the Congo have not confirmed these reports.

Julien Paluku : « Il y avait des réunions secrètes en Ouganda pour la reconstitution de l’ex-M23 mué en MCRC »

Source: Le Potentiel, via mediacongo.net (http://www.mediacongo.net/show.asp?doc=82458)

Kinshasa, 29 avril 2015 - Le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu (Est de RD Congo) affirme avoir appris la tenue de « réunions en Ouganda pour la reconstitution de l’ex-M23 mué en MCRC ».

« Depuis bientôt une semaine, nous avions appris qu’il y avait des réunions secrètes en Ouganda pour la reconstitution de l’ex-M23 [qui] se serait mué en Mouvement chrétien pour la reconstruction du Congo (MCRC). C’est le nouveau nom qu’on veut donner à ce mouvement rebelle », a-t-il déclaré à Radio Okapi.

« Et nous nous interrogeons si la présence de l’armée rwandaise sur le sol congolais ne constitue pas une diversion pour permettre à ce mouvement de nous infiltrer lorsque nous aurons tous l’attention focalisée sur cette incursion », a-t-il ajouté.

Les FARDC déployées à la frontière avec le Rwanda et l’Ouganda S’agissant de l’incursion d’une centaine de militaires rwandais dans le parc des Virunga, Julien Paluku a annoncé le déploiement des Forces armées de la RDC pour sécuriser les frontières avec le Rwanda et l’Ouganda.

« Parmi les mesures prises il y a notamment la sécurisation de nos frontières, parce que depuis bientôt une semaine, nous avions appris qu’il y avait des réunions secrètes en Ouganda pour la reconstitution de l’ex-M23 », a affirmé le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu.

Par ailleurs, a-t-il entrevu, « il peut y avoir des forces négatives qui pourraient éventuellement profiter de ces genres de climat de tension pour entrer au Rwanda et amener ce pays à dire qu’il a reçu des FDLR qui sont entrés chez nous et usons du droit de poursuites ».

Toutefois, a rassuré le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu, « cette situation ne va pas perturber les élections et le processus de développement de la province ».

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BURUNDI

Burundi sends college students home amid unrest

Source: Associated Press

Bujumbura, 30 April 2015 - Burundi's national university has been unexpectedly closed amid protests in the capital.

Bujumbura has been hit by street protests since Sunday as the security forces confront demonstrators who say a third term for President Pierre Nkurunziza would violate the country's constitution. The university's dorms have been closed and students are returning home.

Nkurunziza was nominated by his party on Saturday and presidential elections are scheduled for June 26.

The government is accused of clamping down on communications, with platforms such as Twitter and Facebook having been blocked by authorities, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

On Thursday, protesters were still on the streets, some erecting barricades and burning tires.

Burundi Elections 2015: President Blocks Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Tango Mobile Access in Protest Crackdown

Source: International Business Times

29 April 2015 - The government of Burundi has blocked mobile access to social media networks -- including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Tango -- in an effort to crack down on growing protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's re-election efforts. Protesters in the southeast African country have used the various messaging services on the social media sites to coordinate demonstrations in the capital city Bujumbura this week, after Nkurunziza announced his decision to seek a third term in June.

“Government restrictions on communications not only violate basic media freedom but deprive many Burundians of the right to information about events that affect them directly,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Nkurunziza and his ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) have also cut Burundian phone lines and nonstate media, including African Public Radio, a leading independent radio station, the rights group said. Nkurunziza has banned protests and deployed government forces to stop people from demonstrating.

“These radio stations in Burundi are doing their job by covering the news,” Bekele said in a statement this week. “The Burundian authorities should respect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully.”

At least three people were killed and others injured Sunday as police fired rounds of ammunition on crowds, BBC News said. More than 24,000 people have fled the African country this month as tensions escalate and the date for the presidential polls approaches, the United Nations refugee agency said.

The president’s decision to seek re-election triggered widespread protests in Bujumbura since Sunday. Both the Burundian constitution and a peace agreement that ended 12 years of civil war state that no president may be elected for more than two terms in office. But CNDD-FDD supporters have said Nkurunziza's first term does not count because he was appointed by Parliament rather than elected. Nkurunziza, an ex-rebel leader, took office in 2005 following the peace deal.

Britain issues Burundi travel warning after protests in capital

Source: Reuters

29 April 2015 - Britain warned its citizens on Wednesday to avoid "all but essential travel" to Burundi, where protesters have taken to the streets of the capital for four straight days to protest at President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term.

Since Sunday, police have clashed with protesters who say Nkurunziza's plan to run again in the June 26 election threatens a peace deal that ended an ethnically fuelled civil war in 2005.

U.S. diplomat in Burundi amid anti-president protests

Source: Reuters World Service

By: Edmund Blair and Patrick Nduwimana; Additional reporting by George Obulutsa in Nairobi and Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Edmund Blair and Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Tom Heneghan

Bujumbura, 29 April 2015 - A U.S. diplomat arrived in Burundi on Wednesday to try to help halt escalating unrest and defuse the country's biggest crisis in years set off by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term.

Police in the east African nation have clashed for four days with protesters who say Nkurunziza's plan to run again in the June 26 election violates the constitution and threatens a peace deal that ended the ethnically fueled civil conflict.

Before arriving, Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed President Nkurunziza violating Arusha Accord." He added it was not too late for a "peaceful democratic path."

In response, presidential media adviser Willy Nyamitwe told Reuters: "This is not neutral but we are in a democratic process and anyone is free to have his own point of view."

The U.N. Security Council expressed concern on Wednesday about the escalation of hostilities and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. It urged all parties to refrain from violence and intimidation.

Bujumbura's streets were calmer on Wednesday. Police fired teargas when protesters approached them but both sides mostly kept behind makeshift barricades of stones, smoldering tires and sticks.

"I want to fight for the right of people, and I reject the third term that the president is taking by force," said Innocent Miturizo, 27, a student in a suburb that has seen regular protests.

Said Djinnit, the U.N. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, met Nkurunziza on Monday. Djinnit was in Burundi to ensure there was space for dialog, the United Nations said.

Police say two people have been killed in this week's violence. Civil society groups say the death toll is five. Scores more have been injured and more than 250 arrested.

About 25,000 people have fled across the border fearing a resurgence of ethnic killings.

The 12-year civil war pitted the army, then led by the ethnic Tutsi minority, against rebel groups of majority Hutus. The army is now fully mixed, while the opposition includes coalitions of Hutus and Tutsis.

Diplomats say escalating violence could reopen old wounds and trigger ethnic bloodletting.

The constitution and Arusha peace accords set a two-term limit, but Nkurunziza's supporters say he can run again because his first term, when he was picked by lawmakers and not elected, does not count.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council on Wednesday said both sides should await Burundi Constitutional Court's decision his eligibility.

Protests in Burundi as court examines President's third term bid

Source: AFP

29 April 2015 - Protest-hit Burundi on Wednesday took the controversial question of President Pierre Nkurunziza's third term bid to the constitutional court but opposition supporters dismissed the move and said demonstrations would go on.

At least five people have died since unrest broke out at the weekend, when the ruling CNDD-FDD party designated Nkurunziza its candidate for the presidential election to be held in the central African nation on June 26.

Demonstrators and police faced off in the capital Bujumbura Wednesday, but the city was far quieter than in previous days, with some shops reopening and a heavy police deployment on the streets.

The authorities cut mobile access to several social networks and messaging applications including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, which have been used to coordinate protests.

"All the roads are blocked by police... but the protests will not stop until he gives up the third term," said Thierry, a demonstrator.

Opposition figures and rights groups say Nkurunziza's attempt to stand for a third consecutive term goes against the constitution as well as the peace deal that ended a civil war in 2006.

The Senate has submitted a motion has to the constitutional court seeking interpretation of the issue.

But opposition leaders such as lawmaker Jean Minani were dismissive of what they said was a court loyal to the president.

"It is as if the Senate had asked Nkurunziza himself to interpret the constitution," Minani told AFP. "The opposition... will continue to say no to the third term."

But Nkurunziza has remained defiant: his communication chief has insisted it was "out of the question" that he would back down on his bid for a third term.

- Roads blocked by police -

Amid international concern, UN chief Ban Ki-moon dispatched his envoy Said Djinnit to Burundi, urging "all sides to reject violence" and hate speech.

US Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Human Rights Tom Malinowski was also due in Bujumbura.