[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update

[Alfred Kagan]

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>Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 22:23:24 -0500
>Subject: Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
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>Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
>Date distributed (ymd): 020801
>Document reposted by Africa Action
>
>Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
>service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
>Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
>Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
>Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Region: Central Africa
>Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+ +US policy focus+
>
>SUMMARY CONTENTS:
>
>This posting contains an update from the UN's Integrated
>Regional Information Networks summarizing the latest agreement
>aimed at ending the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
>as well as a press release and letter from U.S. NGOs calling on the
>U.S. to take more active steps to support peace and human rights in
>that country.
>
>Another related posting today contains new material released on the
>responsibility of the U.S. for the death more than 40 years ago of
>Congo's first elected  prime minister, Patrice Lumumba.
>
>For additional commentary on the peace agreement, see
>http://allafrica.com/congo_kinshasa, and particularly the
>allafrica.com interviews with Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and
>Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
>
>Pretoria Pact "A Positive Step", Says Rwandan President
>July 31, 2002
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200207310226.html
>
>Kabila Says He Wants Peace and Will Get It
>July 31, 2002
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200207310002.html
>
>+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Kabila, Kagame Sign Peace Pact
>
>UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
>http://www.irinnews.org
>
>July 30, 2002 
>
>Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Joseph Kabila of the
>Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed an agreement on
>Tuesday to end to the conflict between their two countries.
>
>A memorandum of understanding and a timescale for the
>implementation of the accord were signed in Pretoria, South Africa,
>in the presence of South African President Thabo Mbeki, chairman of
>the African Union (AU); Malawi President Bakili Muluzi; South 
>African Deputy President Jacob Zuma; South African Foreign Minister
>Nkosazana Dlamini; Deputy Special Representative of the UN
>Secretary-General to the DRC Lena Sundh; and members of the
>diplomatic corps accredited to South Africa.
>
>Speaking on the South African Broadcasting Corporation from the
>ceremony at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria, Kabila said,
>"Today must be considered as a great day for the whole of Africa,
>one step more towards the sustainable development of the 
>continent.
>
>"The Congolese people, their government, and I are determined to
>live in harmony with the nine countries with which we share
>borders."
>
>Kabila gave assurances that his government would apply "in all good
>faith" today's commitments, adding, "If there is any failure of
>this agreement, it won't be because of a failure on the part of the
>DRC government."
>
>He called on the "entire international community", including the UN
>and its Security Council in particular, to support peace in the
>region, and thanked "all those who never ceased giving their energy
>so that this day would arrive".
>
>For his part, Kagame called the accord "a big step in the direction
>of resolving the conflict in the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, among other
>countries".
>
>He said: "This agreement is important in many aspects, as it
>addresses two of the core issues that underlie conflict in the
>region - one, how to deal with the ex-FAR [former Rwandan armed
>forces] and Interahamwe [Hutu extremist militia] and two, it 
>paves the way for the withdrawal of forces who are involved in this
>conflict from the DRC."
>
>However, he warned that the agreement would not succeed without the
>support of the entire continent of Africa and the entire
>international community.
>
>"As the international community has historically been part of the
>problem, they must be part of the solution," he said. He accused
>the international community of having provided "more lip service
>than application of its capacities" to bring peace to the region.
>
>Kagame closed his speech saying, "On behalf of my country, I wish
>to express that Rwanda is ready to fulfil its part of the
>obligation as agreed in this Memorandum of Understanding."
>
>Following the signing of the documents, Mbeki promised that the AU,
>the UN and South Africa would all help to implement the accord.
>
>The peace agreement commits the DRC to locating and disarming
>Rwandan Interahamwe Hutu militias and ex-FAR - the forces
>responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda who remain active in
>the DRC; collaborating with the UN Mission in the DRC (known by its
>  French acronym, MONUC) to dismantle the Interahamwe and ex-FAR;
>and repatriating all Rwandan ex-combatants to Rwanda, including
>some 2,000 presently at a UN base in Kamina, Katanga Province,
>southeastern DRC.
>
>As for Rwanda, its government agreed to withdraw its troops from
>the DRC "as soon as effective measures have been taken to address
>security concerns in the DRC, in particular the dismantling of the
>Interahamwe and ex-FAR", an official statement from   the Rwandan
>capital, Kigali, said.
>
>A 90-day programme for the implementation of the agreement has been
>outlined and agreed upon by both countries.
>
>Meanwhile, the Ugandan government-owned daily newspaper, The New
>Vision, reported on Monday that a new peace plan for the DRC
>involving the Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la
>democratie (RCD-Goma) was being developed.
>
>"The new arrangement, which is geared towards the formation of an
>acceptable interim administration, is in advanced stages," James
>Wapakhabulo, the Ugandan third deputy prime minister, was quoted by
>the paper as saying. He said Ugandan President Yoweri   Museveni
>was in touch with his counterparts in Kigali and the DRC capital,
>Kinshasa, on the new arrangement.
>
>Under the arrangement, Kabila would remain the interim president
>and have two vice-presidents - one from RCD-Goma and the other from
>the Mouvement de liberation du Congo of Jean-Pierre Bemba. The new
>plan would supersede the 19 April accord reached at   the
>conclusion of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South
>Africa, by which Kabila would serve as president and Bemba as his
>prime minister.
>
>Last week, Museveni briefed Bemba on the new initiative; however,
>sources told The New Vision that Bemba had not yet accepted it.
>
>**********************************************************
>
>PRESS RELEASE
>
>Contact: Carole Collins, Senior Policy Analyst, Africa Faith &
>Justice Network [for the Advocacy Network on Africa Congo Working
>Group]: 202-328-0761     
>
>Suleiman Baldo, Senior Researcher/Africa Div, Human Rights Watch:
>212-216-1297
>
>Tuesday, 30 July 2002
>
>CONGO-RWANDA PEACE ACCORD WELCOME BUT NOT ENOUGH; NGOS URGE GREATER
>U.S. DIPLOMATIC ACTION ON CONGO HUMAN RIGHTS, GOVERNANCE ISSUES
>
>(Washington, DC)- On the day that the Democratic Republic of the
>Congo (DRC) and Rwanda signed a UN/South African-brokered peace
>pact intended to resolve their hostilities, U.S. NGOs called on the
>Bush Administration to direct greater and more forceful "diplomatic
>attention to the Congo's human rights and governance as well as
>security issues."
>
>The NGOs, in a 30 July 2002 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin
>Powell, welcomed the two governments' specific undertakings to
>resolve their conflict and their inviting the U.N. and South Africa
>to monitor implementation of the peace agreement.  But without
>rapid progress towards achieving a comprehensive power-sharing
>agreement that includes Congolese civil society, the NGOs warn, the
>climate of mistrust and uncertainty prevailing in the DRC may
>undercut the political momentum generated by today's peace
>agreement. 
>
>Signers of the letter assert that the U.S. "government's public
>silence on human rights issues has fed the perception among many
>Congolese that the U.S. de facto supports the belligerents."  While
>welcoming extension of the U.S. Rewards for Justice initiative - to
>arrest the organizers of the 1994 Rwandan genocide - to the DRC,
>the NGOs maintain that "our government's public silence on bringing
>to justice perpetrators of violence against civilians in the Kivus,
>especially those killed by Rwandan-backed forces in Kisangani this
>past May, has outraged many Congolese."
>
>The letter highlights two areas where more active U.S. diplomacy
>could be effectively focused:
>
>- seeking to end conflicts and extensive human rights abuses in the
>eastern Congo, a region largely controlled by rebel forces assisted
>by Rwandan and Ugandan military forces; and
>
>- pressing the DRC government to end all support for groups and
>individuals clearly implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and
>ensuring the Rwandan government does not exploit loopholes in the
>peace accord to undermine its implementation.  Signers of the
>letter have requested to meet with Secretary Powell to discuss
>these concerns and other issues related to the war in the DRC,
>including the need for greater US political and financial support
>for the U.N. presence and human rights monitoring in the eastern
>Congo.
>
>Among signers of the letter to Powell [see attached] are
>Protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups, human rights and advocacy
>organizations and community-based groups. Several support civil
>society programs in the DRC.
>
>Text of NGO letter to Colin Powell
>
>30 July 2002
>
>The Honorable Colin L. Powell
>Secretary of State
>U.S. State Department
>2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520
>
>Dear Secretary of State Powell:
>
>Today the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
>Rwanda signed a U.N./South African-brokered memorandum of
>understanding which seeks to address several core security issues.
>We welcome the undertakings by both parties to resolve their
>conflict and their asking the U.N. and South Africa to monitor
>implementation.
>
>We hope the agreement will encourage those Congolese parties
>heretofore dependent on outside military support to move rapidly
>towards an inclusive power-sharing agreement that will facilitate
>a genuinely democratic transition.  We are concerned, however, that
>without more forceful and sustained international - and
>particularly U.S. - diplomatic attention to the Congo's human
>rights and governance as well as security issues, the
>Congolese-Rwandan peace accord may increase internal tensions and
>conflict.
>
>In particular we urge the U.S. government to speak out more
>forcefully on the deteriorating respect for human rights,
>continuing conflict and rising political tensions that continue to
>afflict millions of Congolese citizens, especially in the eastern
>Kivus.  Without rapid progress towards an inclusive agreement on
>power-sharing among all Congolese, including civil society, the
>climate of mistrust and uncertainty that now prevails in the DRC
>risks provoking deeper spirals of violence that may engulf the
>entire country.
>
>This climate of mistrust and uncertainty has grown since the Sun
>City talks, adjourned in April, failed to reach a comprehensive and
>inclusive agreement on security or power-sharing issues.  As a
>result, millions of Congolese civilians have been subjected to
>involuntary displacements, rape, forced recruitment and summary
>executions.
>
>Despite extensive documentation - by international as well as local
>human rights groups - of increasingly brutal violence directed
>against Congolese civilians and their growing vulnerability to
>disease and famine, the public response of the United States
>government has been woefully inadequate, especially given the
>gravity and magnitude of the suffering in the DRC.  Our
>government's public silence on human rights issues has fed the
>perception among many Congolese that the U.S. de facto supports the
>belligerents.
>
>We feel it is imperative that the U.S. government publicly speak
>out now in support of respect of human rights in general, and that
>it strongly condemn flagrant human rights violations whenever and
>wherever they occur in the DRC.  Speaking out publicly on the DRC's
>human rights crisis at this particular moment will strengthen its
>credibility with Congolese citizens, many of whom believe the
>international community has largely ignored the deteriorating
>situation and erosion of their human rights.  The U.S. government's
>public silence risks encouraging continued violations of these
>rights and undermining incentives for reaching an inclusive
>agreement on power-sharing among all Congolese.
>
>Although the human rights situation across all of the Congo is
>deplorable, we want to highlight two areas of particular concern
>where we feel U.S. diplomatic pressure could be effectively
>focused:
>
>- the continuing conflict and human rights abuses in the areas of
>the country under control of rebel forces assisted by Rwandan and
>Ugandan troops.  Violence has become endemic in the wide swath of
>territory under control of the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for
>Democracy (RCD) and factions of the Uganda-backed Movement for the
>Liberation of the Congo (MLC).  Recent events clearly indicate that
>they enjoy little popular support.  To cite a few examples:
>
>*  In South Kivu, fighting on the high plateau continues with
>Congolese Banyamulenge soldiers who formerly served under the RCD
>now  being pursued by RCD troops and their Rwandan allies. Because
>of the isolated nature of the area, detailed information on the
>conflict and its impact on civilians has been limited.
>
>*  In Kisangani an attempted mutiny within RCD rebel ranks
>reportedly led to the deaths of an estimated 200 people, including
>many innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. There are credible
>reports of summary executions of soldiers and civilians whose
>mutilated corpses surfaced in the rapids on the Tshopo River.
>Catholic priests as well as civil society leaders and activists
>became explicit targets of RCD violence.
>
>*  In Goma human rights activists have been harassed, detained and
>arrested for their human rights activities. Among those harassed
>was Immaculee Birhaheka, Secretary General of PAIF (Promotion and
>Support of Women's Initiatives, a key human rights group in the
>region), who is playing a vital role in the peace movement there.
>She was harassed after meeting with a representative of the U.S.
>Embassy and a member of a U.S. House Africa subcommittee Staff
>delegation; two other local activists who met with the delegation
>were detained and threatened before being released.
>
>*  In Uturi province conflict between between  Hema and Lendu
>ethnic groups continues to cause immense suffering for innocent
>civilians. Thousands of people have been displaced and recent
>reports allege that within the last few months as many as 500
>people may have been killed.
>
>* A recent Human Right Watch report (The War Within the War: Sexual
>Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo) documents
>horrific abuses directed against women, particularly the frequent
>and systematic use of rape as a tool of war by combatants in
>Eastern Congo.
>
>- The continuing failure of the DRC government to stop all forms of
>support for those individuals and armed groups in this region
>clearly implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.  The DRC
>government has clearly failed to act to bring these genocidaires to
>justice.  Indeed some are even currently serving as officers in the
>DRC army.  While the Congo-Rwanda "understanding" on security
>issues promises to begin to address this issue, U.S. diplomatic
>pressure is needed to ensure that the DRC government acts
>effectively to bring these groups and their leaders to justice, and
>that the Rwandan government does not exploit loopholes in the peace
>accord to undermine its implementation and justify maintaining
>Rwanda's military presence in the Congo.
>
>We welcome the U.S. government's decision to extend to the DRC its
>Rewards for Justice initiative to arrest the organisers of the 1994
>Rwandan genocide.  But our government's public silence on bringing
>to justice perpetrators of violence against civilians in the Kivus,
>especially those killed by Rwandan-backed forces in Kisangani this
>May, has outraged many Congolese.
>
>To our knowledge the U.S. government has yet to make a public
>statement on the deteriorating human rights situation in the DRC,
>including the bloody events in Kisangani and recent events in the
>high plateau of South Kivu. On July 6 the Congo's National Catholic
>Bishops Conference, in a statement on the current political impasse
>in the Congo, urged the international community to promote peace in
>the DRC.  Respect for human rights is vital to nurturing and
>sustaining any effective peace process in the Congo, and for
>reaching a comprehensive global agreement that satisfactorily
>addresses the critical issues for all parties.
>
>Many of the human rights abuses have taken place in isolated
>portions of the Congo where independent verification of local
>reports is difficult, and where rebel forces have sought to expel
>outside observers.  For this reason we urge the U.S. government to
>use its influence as a member of the United Nations Security
>Council and a member of the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights
>to back a significant increase in the number of the human rights
>monitors assigned to the Congo, including those serving with the
>MONUC contingent of peacekeepers.  Committing more U.S. resources
>to strengthen the U.N. role in the eastern Congo will be vital to
>the success of the peace accord signed today.
>
>We would like an opportunity to discuss with you further our
>concerns about the human rights situation and related issues in the
>DRC.  A representative of the groups signing this letter, Carole
>Collins of the Africa  Faith and Justice Network (202-832-3412 ext
>2 or 202-328-0761), will contact your office in the next two weeks
>in the hopes of setting up a meeting where we can exchange views
>and perspectives on this important issue.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Africa Faith and Justice Network, Washington, DC [representing 50+
>Catholic religious orders with on the ground presence in Africa];
>African Immigrants & Refugees Foundation, Silver Spring, MD;
>American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA and
>Washington, DC; Amnesty International USA, Washington, DC; Church
>of the Brethren Washington Office Conference of Major Superiors of
>Men, Washington, DC [representing 250 US-based Catholic religious
>orders and 23,000 vowed brothers and priests, ten percent of whom
>are serving outside the U.S., many in Africa]; International
>Development Exchange, San Francisco, CA; International Human Rights
>Law Group, Washington, DC; Kenya AIDS Intervention/Prevention
>Project Group/Int'l, Rhode Island, USA; Kwanzaa Arts Cooperative,
>Santa Cruz CA; NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby,
>Washington, DC; TransAfrica Forum, Washington, DC; Unitarian
>Universalist Service Committee, Cambridge, MA and Washington, DC;
>Union of American Hebrew Congregations; United Methodist Church,
>General Board of Church and Society; Washington Office on Africa
>[sponsored by 12 national Protestant and Catholic religious
>groups]; Washington State Africa Network Women's International
>League for Peace and Freedom/United States Section Washington, DC;
>Wo'se Community Church of The Sacred African Way, Oakland, CA
>
>************************************************************
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>************************************************************


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu