DRC

At least three killed in eastern Congo quake

NEWS STORY

Source: Reuters

Goma, 7 August 2015 - A 5.6 magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Democratic Republic of Congo early on Friday killed at least three people, the government spokesman said.

The quake hit 24 miles (40 km) north of Bukavu, not far from the border with Rwanda, at 3:25 a.m. on Friday, said the U.S. Geological Survey, which initially reported the quake at magnitude 5.8.

"There were three deaths - two children in a house in Bukavu. There was also a police officer near the airport," government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters.

Sources in Bukavu said the toll could rise slightly but there was no evidence of widespread destruction in the town.

The quake raised concerns about Mount Nyiragongo, which is north of Goma and is Africa's most active volcano. It erupted in 2002 sending a river of lava through the city.

The government sent a team of vulcanologists to the mountain to check for possible new fissures, Julien Paluku, the governor of North Kivu province, told Reuters.

North and South Kivu lie on Congo's eastern border with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, a region at the center of a long conflict. The provinces are part of the Great Lakes region and North Kivu contains the Virunga forest as well as volcanoes.

US Pushes Congo to Allow Adoptions despite Trafficking Fears

NEWS STORY

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/international/us-pushes-congo-allo...

6 August 2015 - Legislators in the United States are lobbying the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to give 400 adopted children exit visas, after it suspended international adoptions because of fears children were being trafficked.

Several African countries have stopped their children from being adopted by foreigners because of evidence that some of those involved in the business have been acting unethically.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation in May found that child traffickers bribed, tricked and coerced Ugandan families into giving up their children for adoption.

At least 136 members of the US Congress sent a letter to the DRC’s senate and parliament on Tuesday asking them to speed up 400 pending adoption cases.

“Due to the delay in processing the outstanding adoption cases, we understand that at least one child has unnecessarily died despite already possessing a valid visa with which to immediately enter the United States,” the letter said.

“We encourage you to act without delay to facilitate the union of these loving families as soon as possible.”

The Congolese government suspended exit permits for adopted children in September 2013, pending the introduction of a new adoption law.

Congolese parliamentarians have raised doubts over international adoptions because “they consider many Congolese judges to be corrupt,” the US State Department said on its website.

The suspension left 400 children who had already been legally adopted by foreigners in limbo.

At least 11 of these children have since died, according to the pro-adoption US advocacy group Both Ends Burning.

More than 40 other “medically fragile” children’s “lives are in jeopardy,” it said on its website.

Some desperate US citizens have smuggled their adopted children out of the DRC illegally since 2013, according to the US State Department.

There has been a surge in overseas adoptions by Americans, particularly evangelical Christians who see it as a religious and moral duty.

They often fall prey to swindlers who trick poor Congolese parents into believing that their children are only going abroad for education; bribe officials; and falsify documents to make out that children are orphans.

Americans adopted 6,441 children from around the world in 2013/2014, according to the State Department, the DRC being the second most popular African source nation, after Ethiopia.

Ghana, Benin, Kenya and Ethiopia have suspended intercountry adoptions as they strengthen their policies to combat trafficking.

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RWANDA

Strong earthquake hits Rwanda

NEWS STORY

Source: Xinhua

7 August 2015 - A strong earthquake struck Rwanda and shook most of the capital Kigali Friday morning.

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Rwanda at 3:25 am local time (0125 GMT), the United States Geological Survey reported.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located 35 km north of Cyangugu city in western Rwanda, occurring at a shallow depth of 10 km.

This is the second strong earthquake ever felt in Rwanda within a period of seven years.

An earthquake damaged up to 45 schools and health centers in western Rwanda's districts of Nyamasheke and Rusizi in February 2008. 27,000 children were evacuated from schools, while 37 people died and 646 others were injured.

According to experts, earthquakes are common in the western Great Rift Valley due to the presence of a seismically active fault line which straddles western Uganda, eastern the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania.

UN envoy meets Rwandan president over security situation in Burundi

NEWS STORY

Source: Xinhua

Kigali, 6 August 2015 - A UN envoy on Thursday met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame over the current security situation in Burundi.

Abdoulaye Bathily, the Special Representative and Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, has been recently appointed to help mediate peace talks in Burundi.

After the meeting held in Rwandan capital, Kigali Bathily reiterated the UN Secretary-General's condemnation of the current violence in Burundi

Mr. Bathily continues to hold consultations with political parties, civil society and religious organizations, government officials and the diplomatic community, with the view to reconvene the political dialogue as soon as possible.

After meeting with the Rwandan leader, Bathily also expressed his concern that the situation in Burundi was accumulating "the well-known and visible marks of a society which previously suffered divisions leading to grave violence."

"Currently the humanitarian crisis caused by the escalating political tensions in Burundi has worsened, and uptick in the number of refugees seeking asylum and a deterioration in health conditions at refugee camps receiving them," he told reporters in Kigali.

In the meanwhile, the UN special envoy also told the Rwandan that he remained concerned about the peace and security situation in Burundi.

He pledged to continue working with leaders from the region and the international community to find a solution to the long-drawn crisis in Burundi.

The African Union has also called for the deployment of an international force to avert a humanitarian tragedy in Burundi.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza won the third term in an election that was condemned by the opposition and the international community, which triggered violence in the tiny Central African nation.

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BURUNDI

US Envoy Expresses Concern over Burundi Crisis

NEWS STORY

Source: VOA

6 August 2015 - The US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa Thomas Perriello has expressed grave concern about the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Burundi.

Perriello, who just returned from a trip to the region including a visit to Burundi, says there is a need for both the government and its opponents to be committed to negotiations in a bid to resolve the crisis. He says Burundians feel a high level of tension and anxiety due to the ongoing violence.

“We are deeply concerned about the political crisis and the humanitarian crisis," Perriello said. "We still believe there is a path forward, but it has to be one in which all Burundian leaders agree to a political dialogue, and the important leadership that the region has shown, through the East African Community, resumes with some urgency to address a situation where you’ve seen approximately over 200,000 [refugees] already and ongoing sporadic violence."

Civil society groups in Burundi say the apparent escalation of violence could slowly plunge the country into chaos and possibly a return to civil war. Their comments came after Come Harerimana, president of the CNDD FDD chapter in Kanyosha district, was killed Wednesday.

His murder is the third high profile attack in four days as the crisis in Burundi deepens. The African Union, East African Community (EAC) and the Burundian government have all called for calm following the recent killings.

Special envoy Perriello says it would be unfortunate for Burundi to lose the significant progress the country has made over the years since the end of the civil war in 2005.

“Burundians need to continue to hear those calls for calm and the path forward," said Perriello.

Ongoing Peace Talks

Opponents of President Pierre Nkurunziza say peace talks with the government have yet to get to the fundamental problems that are the reasons behind the tension and violence. They contend that Mr. Nkurunziza is to blame following his decision to seek and win re-election, despite protests that he violated both the constitution and the Arusha peace accord that effectively help ended the civil war.

Perriello says it is unlikely that the issues can be resolved until they come up in the talks.

“The United States and the international community are ready to support the regional leadership to force this political dialogue forward that is so important,” said Perriello.

“The point of the dialogue is to address these extremely difficult questions that continue to remain under the surface of the political crisis. But, people need to come to the table. We’ve seen very constructive steps forward when the East African Community and South Africa and others have been a constructive part of this. So, we are eager to resume that and stand ready to support it.”

Mediation

Former Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye was quoted in a local newspaper as saying that the country needs a mediator with more global appeal to help end the crisis. His supporters say Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, chosen by regional leaders to help negotiate a settlement, has not been overly effective.

Perriello says Museveni has played a constructive role so far.

“The United States and the international community are less dedicated to a specific individual or process than the overall momentum to resume this political dialogue with regional leadership from the EAC from the AU [African Union]. And that has to resume with a sense of urgency and importance because we do see things escalating. We have not passed the point of no return, we can see that kind of solution going forward,” said Perriello.

Rumours and violence are fuelling the uncertainty in Burundi

OPINION

Source: The Guardian

By Carina Tertsakian (Human Rights Watch)

5 August 2015 - On Monday morning, panic spread after rumours began circulating on social media that Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, Burundi’s leading human rights activist, had been killed. In reality he was alive and well, working away as usual, documenting human rights abuses and trying to alert the world to the crisis engulfing his country.

Rumours are common in Burundi and, thankfully, many of them turn out to be false. So I breathed a sigh of relief for Mbonimpa – for a few hours. At around 6pm, I started getting calls informing me that Mbonimpa had been shot. I immediately phoned his family and colleagues in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, hoping it would prove to be just another false rumour. But this time, it was true. Soon after Mbonimpa left his office, at around 5pm, a man on a motorbike fired shots into his car, injuring him in the face and neck. He was rushed to hospital and taken into intensive care. He is slowly recovering but still very weak.

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