Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch



Welcome to
Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch Blog. Our objective is to promote the institutions of democracy,social justice,Human Rights,Peace, Freedom of Expression, and Respect to humanity in Rwanda,Uganda,DR Congo, Burundi,Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya,Ethiopia, and Somalia. We strongly believe that Africa will develop if only our presidents stop being rulers of men and become leaders of citizens. We support Breaking the Silence Campaign for DR Congo since we believe the democracy in Rwanda means peace in DRC. Follow this link to learn more about the origin of the war in both Rwanda and DR Congo:http://www.rwandadocumentsproject.net/gsdl/cgi-bin/library


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for DRC atrocities Pres.Obama urged

Hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for DRC atrocities
Written by Henry Gombya
Sunday, 16 May 2010 13:52

United States President Barack Obama has been urged to hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for their actions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in which at least 45,000 people are said to be dying every month due to the conflict in which both countries are involved.

In a letter to US Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, the US city of Berkeley in California (population: 107,268) said that for the last 13 years, nearly six million men, women and children have died in the DRC and hundreds of thousands more have been victims of the conflict in which the armies of Uganda and Rwanda have taken part. The Berkeley City letter said the conflict has resulted in unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity and threaten the peace, security and well-being of Congo and its people. It added: "Those responsible for such crimes have largely gone unpunished."

The letter which was also copied to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went on to say that it was gravely concerned for the people of the DRC. It urged the US administration not to use US military forces in the DRC and that it should make it a priority to support local Congolese institutions with a proven record of delivering services to the people. It also urged the United States to play a key role in the DRC and the African Great Lakes region by relieving the tremendous suffering of the region's men, women and children.

Berkeley City also wants the Obama Administration to hold US corporations accountable for their actions in the DRC. Several US companies are involved in the buying of various kinds of DRC precious stones mostly sold by warring military factions who in turn use the hard currency gained from the sale of such stones to buy military equipment such as guns, ammunition, grenades and bombs that prolongs the DRC conflict. It therefore directed Berkeley City Clerk to send the letter to Mrs Clinton, US Senator Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Berkeley also called for an end to the wrongful exploitation of the Congolese people's resources, saying that these should not be a curse but rather a blessing to the Congolese people.

In what has become known as a landmark ruling in 2005, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seating at its Peace Palace headquarters in the Hague, ruled that there was ‘credible evidence' sufficient to conclude that the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), in the course of their military intervention into the DRC, committed acts of killing, torture and other forms of inhumane treatment of the civilian population. The Court concluded that Uganda had violated the sovereignty and also the territorial integrity of the DRC and that its actions constituted interference in the internal affairs of the DRC and in the civil war raging there. "The unlawful military intervention by Uganda was of such magnitude and duration that the Court considers it to be a grave violation of the prohibition on the use of force expressed in Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter," ICJ ruled.

The ICJ also held Uganda as being ‘internationally responsible' for acts of looting, plundering and exploitation of the DRC's natural resources committed by members of the UPDF in the territory of the DRC, for violating its obligation of vigilance in regard to these acts and for failing to comply with its obligations under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907. During ICJ's hearings, Uganda had claimed that the DRC had allowed opponents of the Ugandan regime to operate freely in the country and mount attacks on Uganda. But the court ruled that during its deliberations, Uganda had failed to produce any evidence to support these claims. "The Court notes that during this period, the DRC was in fact acting together with Uganda against the rebels, not in support of them,2 ICJ ruled. While Uganda had argued that its attacks on the DRC was in self-defence, the ICJ ruled it considered that any military action taken by the DRC against Uganda during that period could not be deemed wrongful since it would have been justified as action taken in self-defence. The Court also pointed out that, while it had pronounced on the violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by Ugandan military forces on the territory of the DRC, it nonetheless observed that the actions of the various parties in the complex conflict in the DRC had contributed to the immense suffering faced by the Congolese population. It said it was painfully aware that many atrocities had been committed in the course of the conflict.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Woah! I'm really enjoying the template/theme of this site. It's simple,
yet effective. A lot of times it's hard to get that "perfect balance" between usability and visual appearance. I must say that you've done a awesome job with this.

Also, the blog loads extremely fast for me on Safari.
Exceptional Blog!

Here is my page :: assessor
Also see my web page :: prognostic

Anonymous said...

Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.

The text in your post seem to be running off the screen in Opera.

I'm not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I'd
post to let you know. The design look great though!
Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Thanks

Also visit my weblog :: caretaker
My weblog :: howler

Anonymous said...

Hello there! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be ok. I'm absolutely enjoying
your blog and look forward to new updates.

Stop by my page :: the
Also visit my homepage : bastion

Anonymous said...

Hey there. I was contemplating adding a link back to your site since both of our
sites are based mostly around the same subject.
Would you prefer I link to you using your website address: http://www.
blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1938558784479190403&postID=4543872229207695651 or blog title:
Blogger: Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch.

Be sure to let me know at your earliest convenience. Thanks

Here is my web page; dekorativno

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've worked hard
on. Any recommendations?

My blog :: Vage

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I could have sworn I've been to this blog before but after checking through some of the post I realized it's new to me.
Anyhow, I'm definitely happy I found it and I'll be bookmarking and checking
back often!

my website: chemical
Also see my website :: sds tree

Anonymous said...

Hi! I hope you don't mind but I decided to submit your blog: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1938558784479190403&postID=4543872229207695651 to my internet directory website. I used, "Blogger: Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch" as your website title. I hope this is acceptable with you. However, if you'd like me to change
the title or perhaps remove it entirely, email me at maisiewyant@googlemail.
com. Appreciate it.

my blog :: easy way

Anonymous said...

Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.
Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I'm thinking about creating
my own but I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thank you

Here is my website ... reviews

Anonymous said...

Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn't appear. Grrrr... well I'm
not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say excellent blog!


Here is my page; pakerice

Anonymous said...

Currently it looks like Wordpress is the best blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I've read) Is that what you're using on your blog?


Feel free to visit my web site ... news

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Florida! I'm bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you present here and can't wait to take
a look when I get home. I'm amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I'm not even using WIFI,
just 3G .. Anyhow, great site!

My website: comp

Anonymous said...

This design is incredible! You certainly know how to keep a reader amused.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my
own blog (well, almost...HaHa!) Excellent job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and
more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!

Also visit my web blog: blogtrue.com

Anonymous said...

Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There's a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you

Here is my web-site ... luggage rack

Unknown said...

WWW0424
nike basketball shoes
moncler outlet
adidas yeezy
ralph lauren polo
denver broncos jerseys
dsquared
salomon
louboutin outlet
polo ralph lauren
kate spade outlet

yanmaneee said...

jordans
christian louboutin outlet
supreme clothing
air max 90
nike air max 270
nike air max 270
kobe shoes
louboutin shoes
adidas zx flux
michael kors handbags outlet

tedes said...

have a peek at this web-siteview it now great post to readgo to these guys find more infoSource

shasoo said...

official site i8e84j1t85 luxury replica bags 7a replica bags additional hints l6e07n8a57 replica louis vuitton bags replica bags philippines Bonuses g5d78v5p60 replica ysl bags louis vuitton replica bags neverfull