Congo rebels seize gorillas habitat

NF Reporter · 10-07-2007, 03:25 PM

AP - Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said Sunday.

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waltky · 12-24-2007, 06:30 AM

UN tryin' to stop the war in Congo...

UN demands rebels in Congo lay down arms
Sunday 23rd December, 2007 - The UN Security Council has issued a demand to all rebel groups in eastern Congo to lay down their arms and immediately stop recruiting children.

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The council is concerned at the worsening situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting has escalated between Government and renegade forces. Tens of thousands of people are on the move again in the province of North Kivu, where Government forces are clashing with troops loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda, resulting in some of the worst fighting since the civil war formally ended in 2003.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that since August, some 170,000 people have been forced out of their homes in North Kivu by the fighting. Over the last year, a mix of conflict, military build-up and spiralling lawlessness, has displaced 400,000 people in the province. In addition, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo (known by its French acronym MONUC) reported last week that many of the estimated 8,500 former child soldiers who have been rescued by the UN and other humanitarian organizations since 2004 have been re-recruited in the last few months or used as sex slaves.

The Council urged the Government to address the crisis “in a comprehensive way,” in a resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-member body that also extended the mandate of MONUC until 31 December 2008 with troop strength of up to 17,030 military personnel 760 military observers, 391 police personnel and 6 formed police units. More than 4,500 blue helmets serving with MONUC have been deployed to North Kivu in recent weeks to help ensure the defence of Goma, the provincial capital, and the key town of Sake.

The Council requested MONUC “to attach the highest priority to addressing the crisis in the Kivus in all its dimensions, in particular through the protection of civilians.” In addition, it asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report by next March on how MONUC could further support FARDC or take other measures in dealing with illegal foreign and Congolese armed forces.

UN demands rebels in Congo lay down arms

waltky · 01-29-2008, 01:49 AM

Truce breaks down...

Congo ceasefire broken, rebels and militia clash
Mon Jan 28, 2008 - Congolese Tutsi rebels and Mai Mai militia clashed on Monday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, breaking a ceasefire signed last week aimed at ending a long-running conflict, the two factions said.

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Tutsi fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda and Pareco Mai Mai militia, who both signed a peace accord on Wednesday, blamed each other for the fighting around villages 70 km (44 miles) west of the town of Goma. No details of casualties were immediately available and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said it could not confirm who had attacked first.

Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and the Pareco Mai Mai faction were among 25 armed groups that agreed to an immediate ceasefire in Wednesday's accord, which was also signed by the Congolese government. The United Nations and Western governments were hoping the pact, which followed more the two weeks of talks, would end conflict in eastern North and South Kivu provinces which has persisted despite the formal end of Congo's 1998-2003 war.

The latest fighting broke out near the villages of Lusirandaka and Kasake at dawn on Monday. "This is a serious violation of the ceasefire that we've just signed," Seraphin Mirindi, a military spokesman for Nkunda, told Reuters. "Pareco and FDLR (Rwandan Hutu rebels) tried to attack our soldiers. They even took some positions before we pushed them back."

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waltky · 03-06-2008, 02:44 AM

UN peacekeepers caught off guard...

West Congo violence catches out U.N. peacekeepers
Wed Mar 5, 2008 - Violence between a shadowy ethnic group and police in western Congo has wrong-footed the world's biggest U.N. peacekeeping force, leaving it scrambling to try to end the latest violence in the vast country.

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At least 22 people have been killed since police tried to assert state control in restless Bas-Congo province last Friday, prompting five days of clashes with members of Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) -- a group seeking to revive a pre-colonial kingdom. The U.N. force, MONUC, which operates mainly in the eastern part of Congo, sent around 140 extra peacekeepers to Bas-Congo in January to ensure calm around the anniversary of a military crackdown on the BDK last year in which more than 100 people were killed, but they withdrew in mid-February.

The 17,000-strong U.N. force began dispatching military and police reinforcements to Bas-Congo again on Monday to quell fresh violence, but by Wednesday afternoon they had still to reach the conflict areas. "More than 90 percent of our force is in the east," MONUC spokesman Kemal Saiki said on Wednesday, adding the world body was doing all it could to bolster its presence in the province.

"We try to be present where the situation is tense, where there are conflicts, where the population feels they are in danger, but we don't have the possibility to deploy rapidly everywhere," he said. BDK followers are campaigning for the re-establishment of the pre-colonial Kongo kingdom, which encompassed parts of present-day Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic and Gabon. They reject central authority over their province.

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waltky · 07-04-2008, 12:24 AM

The long arm of the law...

Ex-Congo warlord faces war crimes charges
July 3, 2008 -- Bemba faces charges from his militia's 2002 intervention in Central African Republic; Prosecutors say Bemba's militia used rape as a weapon of war; Rights Group: Bemba's transfer represented "a terrific moment" for the victims; Will stand trial before an international war crimes tribunal

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Former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba was extradited from Belgium on Thursday to stand trial before an international war crimes tribunal charging him with responsibility for rape and murder, the court said. Bemba was transferred to a jail near The Hague, seat of the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges stemming from his militia's intervention in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003. Prosecutors say Bemba's militia used rape as a weapon of war to terrorize entire communities after the president, Ange-Felix Patasse, asked for his help to fend off a coup attempt.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said although Bemba later served as senator and vice president, he "has no immunity. ... He will face justice." Bemba had full authority for all political and military decisions by his militia, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, the court said. Others shared responsibility, it said, indicating that more indictments are possible. Richard Dicker, head of international justice for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Bemba's transfer represented "a terrific moment" for the victims in the Central African Republic.

Bemba, who is about 45, was arrested at his home in a Brussels suburb on May 24, the day after the court issued a warrant. A second arrest warrant was issued June 10 when the judges asked Belgium to hand him over. Bemba ruled a large part of northeastern Congo as a warlord and rebel leader during that country's 1998-2002 war. He was made one of four vice presidents in a transitional government before elections in 2006. He was then elected to the Senate, but a clash between his men and government forces led to his being accused of treason -- and he fled Portugal last year.

Moreno-Ocampo announced Bemba's transfer to The Hague during a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court as the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. The court became operational in 2002. On Wednesday, prosecutors suffered a setback when judges ordered the release of the court's first suspect for fear he would not receive a fair trial. Prosecutors have five days to appeal the release of Thomas Lubanga, another Congolese militia leader. The judges said the prosecution was withholding evidence it obtained on a confidential basis from the United Nations and other sources, including material that could help exonerate Lubanga or mitigate his guilt.

Ex-Congo vice president faces war crimes charges - CNN.com

waltky · 10-26-2008, 09:42 PM

Rebels encroach on gorilla sanctuary again...

Thousands flee fighting as Congo rebels seize gorilla park
Sun October 26, 2008 - Congolese rebels seize military camp and Virunga Park's gorilla sanctuary; Fighting breaks week-old cease-fire between rebels and government forces; 50 park rangers fled for their lives; very rare mountain gorillas in danger; Congo's war has taken 5.4 million lives since 1998; 45,000 people die every month

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Congolese rebels seized a major military camp and a spacious gorilla park in a renewed bout of heavy fighting that sent thousands fleeing, according to the United Nations and park officials. The fighting comes after a tenuous week-old U.N. brokered cease-fire between rebels and government forces fell apart Sunday. Fighting between the rebels under renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda and Congolese army regulars in the eastern province of North Kivu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaced thousands of civilians, according to U.N. spokesman Michele Bonnardeaux.

The rebels also seized the headquarters of Virunga National Park in eastern Congo after intense fighting with the Congolese army, according to a statement by park officials. The rebels have used Virunga Park as a base but have never seized its headquarters before. The 3,000 square mile (7,800 square kilometer) park has a gorilla facility and is home to 200 of the 700 endangered mountain gorillas in existence. "Over 50 rangers were forced to flee into the forests and abandon the park station, in fear of their lives," the park statement said.

"They have seized the entire gigantic infrastructure [of the park headquarters] which is stategically very close to the main road heading north into Goma," said park spokeswoman Samantha Newport by phone from Goma, about 40 kilometers from the fighting. "The situation is eastern Congo is very dangerous," she said. "It's the first time they've [rebels] ever had the audacity" to take over the park. Newport said the rebels have set up roadblocks so the rangers are making their way through woods south to safety. She said the gorillas and other wildlife in the park are in danger of getting caught in the crossfire.

A park ranger described the takeover. "When the rebels started approaching the park station we thought we were all going to be killed," said Park Ranger Bareke Sekibibi, 29, who spoke by cell phone from the forest earlier as he fled, according to the park statement. " We are not military combatants, we are park rangers protecting Virunga's wildlife." Although the civil war in the Congo officially ended in 2003, recent fighting in eastern Congo between government forces and rebels has caused tens of thousands to flee their homes. The conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo have taken the lives of some 5.4 million people since 1998, and that 45,000 people continue to die there every month, according to an International Rescue Committee report in January.

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waltky · 10-28-2008, 02:06 AM

UN goin' after the rebels...

Congo rebels routed by UN forces
Monday 27th October, 2008 - An assault on rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been launched by the UN.

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Helicopter gunships and armoured units have been sent in to support the Congolese army north of Goma. UN peacekeepers have been called in to shore-up the Congolese troops who had to retreat from the front as rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda advanced on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

The Government forces had joind the flood of civilians fleeing the fighting. On Monday, civilians in the area attacked UN offices, angry that the peacekeeping force had failed to protect them from the rebels.

Congo rebels routed by UN forces