DRC

Rebels Abduct Six Muslim Clerics in DRC

NEWS STORY

Source: News24wire

5 August 2015 - Unidentified rebels abducted six Tanzanian Muslim clerics and their driver in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, religious authorities said on Wednesday.

The imams and their Congolese driver were kidnapped on Sunday between the villages of Rutshuru and Katwiguru in North Kivu region, Imam Musa al-Hajji Hashim, executive secretary of the region's Islamic community, told dpa.

The rebels, who are assumed to belong to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group, meanwhile demanded a ransom payment of $40 000 from the Islamic community, according to Hashim.

The FDLR, a Hutu rebel group from neighbouring Rwanda, has opposed Tutsi influence in eastern Congo since its formation in 2000 and regularly launches attacks against civilians in the region.

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BURUNDI

Gunshots heard near Burundi's national broadcaster

NEWS STORY

Source: Xinhua

Bujumbura, 5 August 2015 - Several gunshot sounds were heard on Tuesday at around 10:30 a.m. local time near Burundi's national broadcaster, RTNB.

Sources told Xinhua the gunshots from the kalashnikov gun lasted for about three minutes, not far from the RTNB offices, before calm was later restored.

The incident created panic among the workers of RTNB and those of other offices situated within the same zone such as the ministry of geology and mines, sourses said.

On Monday night, a vehicle was burnt down by unknown people in the urban commune of Musaga and another in Cibitoke, both respectively situated in southern and northern Bujumbura, the capital.

This comes at a time when Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, the president of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Incarcerated Persons (APRODH), had survived an assassination attempt in Burundian capital.

The APRODH boss was attacked after the former director general of the National Intelligence Service and former head of Burundi army, Gen. Adolphe Ndayishimiye, had been killed on Sunday.

Burundi's current political crisis dates back to April 25, 2015, when the ruling party endorsed incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza to contest for another term, a move the opposition termed unconstitutional.

Since then, the country has witnessed a wave of street protests, a failed coup and fleeing into exile of several opposition leaders as well as continued threats by senior army officers to depose the current regime.

Why the crisis in Burundi is tying the African Union in knots

OPINION

Source: The Guardian

By Simon Allison

Country is reeling after two high-profile shootings but efforts to end the standoff are troubled by the president’s trump card – Somalia, says Simon Allison

5 August 2015 - Two nights in Bujumbura, two assassination attempts on high-profile figures from opposite ends of the political spectrum. One succeeded, the other failed. Together these add up to bad news for a country reeling from weeks of street violence, as hopes for a peaceful resolution dim and the international community runs out of ideas.

Over the past few months President Pierre Nkurunziza has tightened his grip on power, culminating in his disputed re-election on 21 July. As his opponents seek to resist him, residents of the Burundian capital have become increasingly used to the sound of gunfire at night – and the reports of deaths in the morning. But even by Burundi’s increasingly low standards, the attacks on two high-profile figures from opposite sides of the divide came as a shock.

The first attack was on Sunday evening. General Adolphe Nshimirimana, a colleague and confidante of the president, was attacked in his car by men in military uniforms. The general was killed, as were his bodyguards.

Nshimirimana wasn’t just any old general. He was the president’s right-hand man, his war buddy, perceived by many to be the power behind the throne. Whoever killed him – and speculation ranges from armed opposition to plots from within the government’s inner circle itself – struck a devastating blow against the heart of the regime.

The second attack was on Monday evening. Human rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was also in his car, near his home, when he was surrounded by motorcyclists who fired into the vehicle. Mbonimpa didn’t die, but he was seriously injured and rushed to hospital. It’s believed his injuries are not life-threatening.

Mbonimpa wasn’t just any old human rights activist (although there are precious few of them left in Burundi). “I would say he is Burundi’s leading human rights activist. [He] has been threatened by all sides, but he’s carried out his work regardless, and I think the authorities just can’t handle that,” says Human Rights Watch’s Carina Tertsakian. Mbonimpa was also a leading critic of Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in office.

Whether by coincidence or design, there’s something ominous about the symmetry of these assassination attempts. It’s hard to escape the feeling that they presage a new and disturbing chapter. “Up until now I’ve been resisting the more alarmist interpretations of what’s been going on, but in the last few days the situation is really spinning out of control. These two dramatic and quite shocking incidents are a sign that the violence is likely to escalate,” says Tertsakian.

Her fears are echoed by the International Crisis Group’s Thierry Vircoulon. “The re-election of Nkurunziza has put Burundi on the path of war,” he says. “It sent the signal to the opposition that there is nothing left to negotiate and all they can do is to accept his ‘victory’. As a result, the opposition is trying to unite on the political front (with the creation of an opposition coalition in Addis Ababa) and some parts of the opposition have opted for the armed struggle and decided to strike at the top of the Burundian regime’s power system. The change of the pattern of violence, from street demonstrations to targeted assassinations is a clear sign of things to come.”

Intervention

While the signs aren’t good, it’s important to note that the violence is still relatively small-scale and targeted. Burundi has yet to become the bloodbath some have been predicting. Comparisons with Rwanda in 1994 remain off the mark – for now.

“What you see now is really very similar to what you saw following [the] 2010 elections. But concern is that you have high-level targets, compared to mid to low-level targets previously,” says Yolande Bouka, senior researcher with the Institute for Security Studies. “Until you see an escalation of violence in the street or in up-country violence, then we’re not at the worst-case scenario.”

Naturally, attention turns to what comes next, and specifically what can be done to prevent that worst-case scenario. Options are dangerously limited for the international community, which remains reluctant to be drawn into a costly, open-ended military intervention.

Moreover, it is hamstrung by its reliance on Burundian soldiers to keep the peace in Somalia. Amisom, the African Union Mission in Somalia, has sent 22,000 peacekeepers from around the continent to fight against al-Shabaab – and more than 5,000 of these are from Burundi.

If Nkurunziza withdrew these troops or Burundi’s membership of the African Union was suspended, it would be a major blow for Amisom, the continent’s flagship peacekeeping operation. The chances of finding any country willing and able to replace this commitment at short notice is slim. As the AU and the international community considers how to deal with Burundi, they must also consider how any action taken against Nkurunziza will negatively affect Somalia.

To complicate matters, the measures that are being taken are failing: neither the regional East African Community nor the chief mediator, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, have been able to make any headway in negotiations. And while the African Union has been vocal in its condemnation of the assassination attempts, its military observers – deployed only late last month – have been powerless to prevent the violence.

The last word goes to Burundian journalist Domitille Kiramvu, who reported for Deutsche Welle until she was forced out by the violence. In a moving op-ed for the German news organisation, she describes just how chaotic the situation remains – and, in these circumstances, how easily power comes and goes: “In such choppy waters, more or less everybody believes they can lay their hand on the tiller. Former henchmen who helped create the repugnant apparatus of repression now cloak themselves in innocence. Former politicians choose to remember their past deeds in a positive light, forgetting that the people rejected them for their authoritarian and tyrannical excesses. New arrivals to Burundian politics promise everybody everything... One can only hope that with the passage of time, political realism will triumph over the villainy, egotism and thoughtless speculation.”

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UGANDA

South Sudanese withdraw from Uganda territory after skirmish

NEWS STORY

Source: New Vision (Uganda)

By Hudson Apunyo

5 August 2015 - The situation has normalized at the Uganda - South Sudan border following intervention by the UPDF who marched to the border forcing the invaders to withdraw back to their territory without a serious fight.

The army said they attacked the invaders who had camped 11km inside Ugandan territory at Ngomoromo and forced them to flee without a serious fight. The army said there was minimal fire exchange with the invaders.

The UPDF 5th Division PRO, Lt. George Musinguzi, Tuesday evening said on phone that they attacked the invaders and they fled without any resistance.

Musinguzi said there was no casualty during the skirmish. He said the UPDF recovered four motorcycles, two flags – one of Magwi County and another of South Sudan.

The army also recovered 120 rounds of ammunition, one bicycle, two empty drums,

A group of South Sudanese including armed men on Friday infiltrated Ugandan territory claiming the area is South Sudan territory.

Attempts by local leaders to convince them to withdraw fell on deaf ears as they were reported to be arrogant,

Ochen Mathew Akiya, Lamwo LCV Chairperson said on phone that the situation is now normal and there is free movement between the border.

“As we talk now there is free movement of vehicles along the road and people are relaxed in their villages.”

There was no exchange of fire, no destruction of property, and the army just marched to the border and the invaders withdrew to their country.

Ochen said the information they got is that the South Sudanese in retaliation, are torturing Ugandans who are in Pajok and Magwi.

He said this is very unfortunate because South Sudanese are freely coexisting with Ugandans inside Uganda territory.

Ochen said since Friday when they infiltrated into Uganda, they have been holding dialogue with them telling them to address their concerns to the Central Government in Juba just as they (Lamwo leaders) have addressed theirs to Kampala but they are not listening, instead they were very violent and rude.

“People have really been suffering especially those cultivating simsim in the field. They were being harassed and forced to leave their homes.” Ochen said. He said the invaders looted food stuff from the area they had occupied.

The district chairperson said people do not accept the GPS system saying it has been corrupted by Uganda to read wrong border points.

Lamwo Woman MP Lanyero Sarah Ochieng said she was in Lamwo and witnessed lorries ferrying South Sudanese into Ugandan territory.

“They came in lorries, started slashing the place and put up makeshift huts.”

This is not the first time they are claiming part of Uganda. Last year a similar incident happened and a meeting was arranged by Okello Oryem with the South Sudan ambassador. It was discovered that South Sudanese had entered 16km inside Uganda.

Lanyero said the problem is that Uganda has not put immigration check point at the border but inside Uganda.

“As long as this is not done, the conflict will continue because the South Sudanese will continue to claim our land because they don’t think like us; they are not educated, they don’t know law and order, they don’t know how to settle disputes."

Lanyero appealed to the government to put the check point at the border like with Kenya.

Uganda: South S