RWANDA-USA:US in major policy shift in Rwanda, experts say

US in major policy shift in Rwanda, experts say

By Nicolas Revise (AFP) – 13 hours ago 

WASHINGTON — Washington is loosening its ties to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, long a favorite of the donor community, amid allegations his government is stirring violence in neighboring DR Congo, analysts say.
Last week, in a statement slipped out without fanfare late Sunday, the United States said it was freezing its modest $200,000 in 2012 military aid to Rwanda -- a move experts say represents a major shift in long-held US policy.
"As we have repeatedly said to the government of Rwanda, we have deep concerns about Rwanda's support to the Congolese rebel group that goes by the name M23," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The M23 are Tutsi ex-rebels from the Rwanda-backed National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP).
They were integrated into the regular army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2009 as part of a peace deal that followed their failed 2008 offensive on the Congo's eastern city of Goma.
But the ex-rebels mutinied in April, demanding better pay and the full implementation of a March 23, 2009 peace deal, and have been engaged in running battles with the Congolese army in the eastern Nord Kivu region.
Kinshasa accuses Kigali of sponsoring the rebellion -- a complaint supported by a UN panel, which said in June that Rwanda was supplying the rebels with arms and soldiers.
Nuland said the United States also has its own evidence of Rwandan involvement in the upheavals, but believed the UN report was "quite comprehensive and quite concerning."
US State Department war crimes investigator Stephen Rapp even told the British daily The Guardian this week that Kagame could one day find himself charged with war crimes. The Netherlands also cut its military aid to Rwanda.
"It is really the first time we have heard strong words spoken against Paul Kagame in Rwanda by the US government. There is a real shift," said Richard Downie, expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"This is a real change in tone. Rwanda will find itself in a unusual and uncomfortable position right now," he told AFP.
Since Kagame took up the reins of power of his African nation in 1994 ending a bloody genocide which left some 800,000, mainly Tutsis, dead, Rwanda "has been the darling of donors' community for so long," Downie said.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair is a special advisor to Kagame, and has been a steadfast supporter of Rwanda's development through his Africa Governance Initiative.
But the winds began to change in June with the publication of the United Nations report.
Even if the amount of aid was small "there are other signs of unhappiness by the United States," Downie said. "I am told that the head of the Africom postponed a visit to Rwanda and also some people are making some noise that Rwanda wants to get a seat on the UN Security Council."
John Campbell, from the Council on Foreign Relations, said: "The report the UN experts produced provided a clear evidence of Rwandan meddling in Eastern Congo. It is a careful and credible report.
"It has long been US policy to oppose outside intervention in Eastern Congo. In light of the UN report, the Obama administration had to respond."
Rwanda has categorically denied that it is interfering in the DR Congo, accusations which Kagame told CNN were "not true" and "actually ridiculous."
"You see, I hope people can just be fair. It's not even very complicated. I'm really surprised people called experts can make a report this way."
There have long been tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rwanda has been accused on several occasions of aiding Tutsi forces in DR Congo to combat Hutu rebels on its western border. It charges the Hutu rebels with joining the 1994 genocide and says they remain a threat to their country.
Kigali sent troops into the DR Congo from 1996-1997 and then between 1998 to 2002, before moving to act through proxy militias, experts say.
Nuland insisted: "We are continuing to watch this case very carefully and to send public and private messages to the government of Rwanda."
French journalist and expert on the region, Pierre Pean, told AFP the US decision could mark a major shift in regional policy.
It could "perhaps signal the beginning of the end for the soldier Kagame and his license to kill and pillage since 1994 as well as a revision of American policy in the Great Lakes region," he said.

RWANDA-ZAMBIA:The Zambian Government tortured a Rwandan Dissident on Kagame’s interest

July 1, 2012 By Rwema IT Webmaster 1 Comment

With Congo now becoming unstable and allegations that Rwanda is sponsoring rebels operating on the border with Uganda, a Reverend Christopher Mtikila of Liberty International Foundation claims that Zambia has evidence of the firing by Rwandan Patriotic Front soldiers under Paul Kagame’s orders of the missiles that downed Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane killing him and Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira.

Kagame meets Museveni to ask for rebel bases?
The evidence on DVDs and a flash drive is vital for the prosecution of Paul Kagame and extremist Tutsi accomplices for the assassination of the Presidents and the extermination of more than 6,000,000 Hutus. There are allegations that large sums of money were paid for the cover-up by Zambian Intelligence.
The Rwanda online Inyenyeri News says Dr Kagame was recently in Uganda to beg President Yoweri Museveni to allow his (M23) rebels fighting in the Congo to cross over and hide in Uganda while the UN and the Congolese government investigate Kagame’s actions in Eastern Congo.
Reverend Mtikila’s document dated 15^th February 2012, addressed to Zambian President Michael Sata and copied to the UN and other heads of states, has landed in our inbox, and we present it below, without prejudice.
Your Excellency (President Sata)
Untold torture of Rwandese politician Hakiza Paulin and seizure by Zambia Government of his DVD’s, flash disc with evidence of kthe killing of Presidents Habyarimana or Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi by Paul Kagame.
The above named Rwandan Hutu politician, who is heading the Democratic Union for Liberation of Rwanda (DULR) was arrested on 06 July 2010 and very heavily beaten at Luangwa Boma, as he entered Zambia from Zimbabwe.
This was after a thorough search on him by the Immigration officers, who found him with 3 DVDs and one flash disc, which contained the live pictures of the firing of the missiles which hit the plane carrying Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi by the RPF soldiers, commanded by dictator Paul Kagame, with documents with the sort of so sensitive information. They carefully watched the confession by the RPF Abdul Ruzibiza, that they were horrified by Paul Kagame’s order and pleaded with him not to kill the Presidents, but the dictator brutally forced them to SHOOT the plane, lest they die!
The Immigration together with Police and intelligence officers viewed and copied the DVDs and flash disc and read the documents, before carefully packing and consigning them to Lusaka, where the victim was taken to on 08 July 2010 after three days of total starvation and terrible beating by special barbarians, who your Government officers had deliberately delivered him to.
At Lusaka the politician was received by the Immigration boss namely Mr Chavula and his deputy called Mr. Balubita, together with the chief of the Presidential Security Guard at ARM Barracks, where the victim was later taken to. The Chief of the Barracks blamed the officers for delaying the victim as he was heading for the airport for the arrival of the Malaysian President on state visit to Zambia, so he assigned his assistant to deal with the Rwandese politician, who had been awaited with the DVDs and flash disc, which had been reported to the highest authorities by the Luangwa Boma officers.
The delegated Presidential security officer and his colleagues played the DVDs and then opened the flash disc also. After watching the RPF missiles hit the plane carrying President Habyarimana, the Zambian Presidential security officers charged at the anti-Kagame Hutu political dissident saying, “Do you want to overthrow President Kagame? Don’t you know that he is a friend of Zambia?
The officers went further to say that Kagame had offered them a Two million US dollar bribe, so President Chiluba ordered the operation by the Zambian Police Force, Immigration and State security departments, which rounded up the 82 prominent Hutu escapees from Kagame’s mass slaughter, including Akayesu, George Rutaganda etc and delivered them to Arusha ICTR, and that for another good offer they apprehended former Minister Nyiramasuuko and delivered him straight to Rwanda. So the Zambian Government officials demamnded also from the Rwandese Hutu politician a One million US dollars bribe for his dear life, which the victim could not avail.
Seeing that the victim truly did not have the money for them, the officials gave him their phone so that he could tell his family and relatives to send his captors the money they want in exchange for his life. Upon Mr. Hakiza Paulin’s failure to pay for his life, the security officials had him stripped naked and heavily beaten before being taken to the Central Police Station, from where the victim was delivered to the notoriousKamwala Prison, where on 18 September 2010 at 21.00 hours he was handed to the special squad for murder and torture, which bound his legs and arms and gagged his mouth with dirty badly smelling socks, before operating on him.
The dehumanization led by the notorious ‘King David’ was so severe that all the prisoners cried at the horrifying beating of the politician, with his blood flowing from his mouth, ears, eyes, nostrils and all over the body as he lay half dead on the ground, being comfortably watched by the dreadful Kamwala Prison officer named David Bilukeni.
It was the sympathetic Prison officers of the shift which took over at daybreak which saw the victim lying subconscious on the pool of blood, as he could not rise up and rush out for the necessary count, who rushed him to the hospital three kilometers away in handcuffs. When he was brought back significantly attended to by the hospital, with doctors’ advice that the patient must report to Police the dehumanization,David Bilukeni grabbed the hospital file and threatened the victim with death if he dared leak was had been done to him.
The horrifying testimony about the notorious Kamwala Prison is that it is a rich goldmine of the Zambian Police, Immigration and intelligence officers, who round up foreigners from such countries as Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Egypt, Cameroun, Angola, China, Congo Brazzaville, Sudan etc who must pay the authorities 500 US dollars for release, or suffer untold atrocities which claim more than 5 lives each month.
Your Excellency, the Rwandan politician suffered the incarceration in Kamwala Prison until 12^th June 2011, as Prisoner number 182/10 being among the 500 human beings sandwiched in the tiny Cell Number 2 of only 7 meters by 21 meters! But he was released without his very precious belongings, which are the three DVDs, the flash disc and his documents.
Your Excellency, we are writing to beseech you to see to the return to the Rwandan politician, Mr. Hakiza Paulin his three DVDs and flash disc, because the video evidence therein of the firing by the RPF soldiers under Paul Kagame’s orders of the missiles which hit President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane killing him along with President Cyprien Ntaryamira and all their delegations is extremely vital, as time has come for the necessary prosecution of dictator Paul Kagame and fellow extremist Tutsi accomplices for the assassination of the Heads of State and the extermination of more than 6,000,000 Hutus thereafter.
The video evidence confirms the finding by the honourable Judges Jean-Louis Bruguiere of France and Fernando Andreu Merelles of Spain, together with international lawyers John P. Zelbst, Professor Peter Erlinder and Kurt P. Kern of the District Court of Oklahoma, USA, that Paul Kagame ordered the shooting down of President Habyarimana’s plane, triggering the consequential holocaust. The video evidence shall further put to shame French President Nicholas Sarkozy for having offered to be used as toilet paper to cleanse the Tutsi genocidalist, Paul Kagame.
The said Zambian Government officials confiscated other belongings of the politician including documents with similar information, his original South African asylum papers, his Party manifesto, as well as his US dollars 785, so it will be appreciated if all of the properties of the politician shall be unconditionally returned to the owner.
Your Excellency, we thank you very much for your anticipated prompt action and maximum cooperation in the interest of justice for the politician and for the assassinated Heads of State, President Habyarimana of Rwanda and President Ntaryamira of Burundi and the exterminated millions of Hutus, by the extremist Tutsis who are also responsible for the brutal murder of the late President Melchior Ndadaye of Burundi and President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Your Excellency, it is your known reverence of the sanctity of human life and dignity for which it is not only the people of Zambia who hold you in so high esteem and pray for you. We believe that Kamwala Prison will also be looked into.
Liberty International Foundation
Reverend Christopher Mtikila
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
Copy to:
H.E. B.K. Moon, Secretary General, UNO
H.E President Jacob Zuma, Republic of South Africa
H.E. Presdent Robert Mugabe, Republic of Zimbabwe
H.E. President Mwai Kibaki, Republic of Kenya
H.E. President Sassou Ngweso, Republic of Congo-Brazzaville
H.E. President Eduardo dos Santos, Republic of Angola
H.E. President Barack Obama, White House, Washingfton D.C. USA
H.E. Mr. Cameron, British Prime Minister
H.E. The President of France
The Representative, European Union
H.E. The Swedish Prime Minister
H.E. The Chancellor of Germany
H.E. The Canadian Prime Minister
His Highness Pope Benedicto, Vatican

RWANDA:Dutch donors suspend aid to Rwanda

July 26, 2012 By Rwema

 By Jenny Clover and Thomas Escritt Comment on this story Kigali/Amsterdam -
The Netherlands has suspended five million euros in aid to Rwanda over its reported support for rebels in Congo, a spokesperson said on Thursday, hours after Kigali said a similar move by the United States was regrettable and would be proved wrong. The Dutch reaction to a report from United Nations experts saying Kigali was backing insurgents in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo follows Washington’s $200 000 cut in military aid at the weekend. A spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry said the suspended aid was to have been used for improving Rwanda’s judicial system and that support to non-governmental organisations would continue. The Dutch government would discuss future aid to Rwanda with other European Union governments and resumption would require an immediate end to Rwandan support for rebels in Congo, she said. Kigali did not immediately respond to the Dutch move but Rwanda has regularly denied having any link to eastern Congolese rebels and said earlier on Thursday that the US move had been “regrettable” and based on a flawed report. “It would have been better for the US or any other of our partners to actually take a decision based on clear evidence, not on allegations,” Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said. The US cut was seen as a significant shift in policy because Washington has stood by Rwanda in the past despite the tiny nation’s long history of involvement in wars in its vast, unstable neighbour since a 1994 genocide. Asked if the military aid cut had damaged relations with the United States, Mushikiwabo said: “I don’t think so.” Clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels have forced thousands of people to flee their homes in the last 48 hours, adding to 260 000 people already displaced since April. Mushikiwabo also brushed aside a report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper that a US official had warned Rwanda’s leaders they could face prosecution at the International Criminal Court for arming groups responsible for atrocities in the Congo. “Let’s just take the wildest guess and say that the US government actually does believe that (the leaders might be charged). They wouldn’t announce it through a journalist. That’s not how the US government functions,” she said. “There is no truth to that. Not only is there no truth to that but it also shows how people are just going wild with this whole Congo thing.” The UN experts accused high-ranking Rwandan officials of backing the Congolese rebels with arms, ammunition and supplies but Mushikiwabo said Rwanda had no reason to support an uprising in a neighbouring country. Rwandan officials had met the authors of the UN report in Kigali to give their side of the story, she said. The report’s final version is due to be released around November. “We went through each one of them carefully, every single allegation, and gave our own rebuttal… I think when the report becomes final in November it should be very clear that this interim report was just a compilation of allegations, a lot of fabrications,” she said. “What does a photo of a uniform prove? I can get a uniform sewn here in Kigali any time and put it in a report. So what I think is that this report is very superficially plausible but people really need to look at it.” The M23 rebellion takes its name from a 2009 peace accord the rebels say was violated by Kinshasa. It has been swelled by hundreds of defectors from the Congolese army who walked into the bush in support of fugitive Congolese General Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the ICC on war crimes charges. – Reuters

RWANDA-DRC:Thousands flee heavy fighting between Congo army, M23 rebels

July 25, 2012 By Rwema

By Kenny Katombe
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Congolese rebels and government forces traded heavy weapons fire around two eastern villages on Friday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee towards the provincial capital days ahead of a regional summit due to tackle the rebellion.
The clashes took place around Kibumba and Rugari and U.N. helicopter gunships were seen headed towards the frontline, but Reuters reporters said there was no sign of an imminent move on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, some 25 km (15 miles) to the south.
A rebellion launched in April has already forced some 260,000 people to flee their homes. U.N. experts have said neighbouring Rwanda is backing the rebels, prompting the United States, a key ally of Kigali’s, to cut some military aid.
Rwanda denies it is supporting the rebels.
“We were in our house and we heard gunfire and then saw the soldiers running. When we saw the soldiers running, we also fled as we were scared,” Isidore Kambale, a resident of Rugari, told Reuters as he took to the  main road south.
A Reuters reporter on the road between Goma and Kibumba said he heard heavy weapons fire in the early afternoon and saw thousands of people, mostly women laden with bags on their heads, headed towards the provincial capital.
Three U.N. gunships flew earlier in the direction of the fighting but it was not clear if they took part in the clashes.
U.N. peacekeepers have previously fired on rebel positions in support of government troops. They have also reinforced positions around Goma in a bid to make sure the rebels, known as the M23, cannot threaten the town.
Colonel Vianney Kazarama, a spokesman for the M23, blamed the army for the firing: “From our side, we’re calm. Nothing to report.” Congo’s army was not immediately available for comment.
The new rebellion has led to an escalation in tensions between Congo and Rwanda after three years of generally improved relations following years of conflict between the neighbours.
Leaders from Africa’s Great Lakes region plan to send a “neutral force” to Congo to end cycles of violence though no details have yet emerged on where the troops will come from or when they will be deployed.
Uganda, another neighbour of Congo’s, said on Tuesday it would host a summit in early August to discuss the crisis.
“We’ll be discussing a range of ideas aimed at finding a solution to the crisis including a temporary ceasefire and a stationing a permanent international stabilisation force along DRC’s border with Rwanda,” said Asuman Kiyingi, Uganda’s acting foreign minister.
The M23 rebel movement is mostly made up of fighters from a former rebellion that Rwanda was also accused of supporting before a peace deal was signed and they were integrated into Congo’s army.
Local Congolese government officials have accused Rwanda of invading North Kivu.
The United States has announced a cut in military aid to Kigali this year as a result of the reported support for rebels but Rwanda has said the decision was taken on the back of incorrect information.
(Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala and Joe Bavier in Abidjan; Writing by David Lewis)

RWANDA-USA-UK:The end of the west's humiliating affair with Paul Kagame

The US has belatedly woken up to the warts-and-all reality of the Rwandan president. When will Britain acknowledge that its development darling may have feet of clay?

David Smith, guardian.co.uk, in Johannesburg Wednesday 25 July 2012 09.00 EDT

Paul Kagame meets the former US president Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, in Rwanda. Photograph: Cyril Ndegeya/AP

A "visionary leader," said Tony Blair; "one of the greatest leaders of our time," echoed Bill Clinton. Such hero worship is usually reserved for South Africa's Nelson Mandela. But Blair and Clinton were describing the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.
The UK and US have staked their pride, reputations and ability to judge character, not to mention hundreds of millions of pounds in aid, on Kagame's powers of post-genocide healing and reconciliation matching those of Mandela after apartheid.
That is why the US decision to cut aid, and now to warn Kagame that he could even face criminal prosecution over meddling in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, is a humiliating but long overdue reversal.
It piles the pressure on Britain to make a similar admission that its long-time darling, revered as a success story that underpins an entire ideology around donor development aid, could have feet of clay.
There are two main reasons why Kagame's Rwanda has been bulletproof for so long. One is western guilt over doing nothing to stop the 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 people perished. Clinton, whose most recent visit was last week, has described it as "my personal failure".
The UK, US and others rushed to embrace the east African state's new leadership and support the rebuilding of the country: Rwanda was a special case, and would be given more leeway than most. The aid taps were turned on and the money flowed, with tangible results: great gains in education and health and in the reduction of crime and poverty.
Secondly, then, Rwanda has come to symbolise what donor aid can do. It has been a trump card for the defence of the Department for International Development (DfID) when the Treasury attempts to turn the screws.
Britain is the country's biggest bilateral donor, with an average of £83m a year.
"When Clare Short was secretary of state, she was Kagame's number-one fan," says Carina Tertsakian, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Rwanda. "In her eyes, he could do no wrong. We're still living with the legacy of that now. Tony Blair was also taken in."
Blair was, and remains, one of Kagame's most ardent cheerleaders, and an unpaid adviser. His charity, the Africa Governance Initiative, places young interns in Rwandan government offices. Eighteen months ago, he told the Guardian: "I'm a believer in, and a supporter of, Paul Kagame. I don't ignore all those criticisms, having said that. But I do think you've got to recognise that Rwanda is an immensely special case because of the genocide.
"Secondly, you can't argue with the fact that Rwanda has gone on a remarkable path of development. Every time I visit Kigali and the surrounding areas, you can just see the changes being made in the country."
David Cameron appears almost equally enamoured, and the current development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, visited Rwanda only last week. He said he had delivered "frank messages" to both Rwanda and Congo about the current instability and violence.
Diplomatic language apart, however, Britain has been painfully silent about Rwanda's pernicious influence in its war-torn neighbour. The recent UN group of experts' report named names in the Rwandan government and military who are in contact with Congolese rebels, feeding from the trough of its mineral resources and supplying weapons and uniforms.
Yet Kagame categorically denies it , and Britain apparently believes him, or can't bear to disbelieve, lest it suffer buyer's remorse.
"Kagame was here last week and told a barefaced lie to David Cameron and other British officials," says one UK-based analyst. "He denied Rwandan meddling in Congo even though the evidence is overwhelming."
Britain and others have turned a similarly blind eye to Rwanda's domestic affairs. The state has been accused of murder and intimidation; political opponents and journalists have been jailed.
In 2008, the Economist said of Kagame: "Although he vigorously pursues his admirers in western democracies, he allows less political space and press freedom at home than Robert Mugabe does in Zimbabwe."
The warts-and-all reality has been dawning on the US for some time. In 2010 it sounded warnings that "the political environment ahead of the election has been riddled by a series of worrying actions taken by the government of Rwanda, which appear to be attempts to restrict the freedom of expression". Kagame was re-elected with 93% of the vote.
None of this fits the development darling narrative, however. Instead, it is much less unpleasant for visiting diplomatics to admire the transformation of the capital, Kigali, with its safety, orderliness and cleanliness (there is a ban on plastic bags).
Rwanda has a flourishing economy and well-oiled PR machine, and the affable Kagame uses that most democratic of media, Twitter.
In decades past, the west has been criticised for applying selective vision to the sins of leaders such as Mugabe and Idi Amin until late in the day. America, it seems, is reluctantly removing the scales from its eyes regarding Paul Kagame. For Washington it may merely represent the end of a beautiful friendship; for London, it will feel more like a broken heart.

RWANDA-USA:Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes

US tells president he could face prosecution for arming groups that carried out atrocities in Democratic Republic of Congo 

Chris McGreal in Washington guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 July 2012 07.45 EDT

Paul Kagame can count on Tony Blair as one of his strongest supporters.

 Photograph: Wpa Pool/Getty Images

 

 

The head of the US war crimes office has warned Rwanda's leaders, including President Paul Kagame, that they could face prosecution at the international criminal court for arming groups responsible for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Stephen Rapp, who leads the US Office of Global Criminal Justice, told the Guardian the Rwandan leadership may be open to charges of "aiding and abetting" crimes against humanity in a neighbouring country – actions similar to those for which the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, was jailed for 50 years by an international court in May.

Rapp's warning follows a damning United Nations report on recent Rwandan military support for M23, an insurgent group that has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes since April as it has seized territory in the eastern DRC.

The group is led by Bosco Ntaganda, known as the Terminator, who was indicted by the international criminal court six years ago for war crimes including the forced recruitment of child soldiers. The UN report accuses Rwanda of shielding Ntaganda from justice.

On Saturday, Washington said it would halt some military aid to Rwanda after the UN report.

The aid freeze and Rapp's public intervention mark a significant shift away from once-solid US support for Kagame, which was rooted in lingering guilt over international inaction during the 1994 genocide of Rwandan Tutsis.

Rapp, who previously served as chief prosecutor at the Rwanda genocide tribunal and later initiated the prosecution of Taylor over his crimes as president of Liberia in supporting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone, said Rwandan support for M23 and other armed groups "has to stop" because it "maintains the lawlessness and at the end of the day enables the ongoing commission of atrocities".

"There is a line that one can cross under international law where you can be held responsible for aiding a group in a way that makes possible their commission of atrocities," he said.

"Charles Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, and aided and abetted, and was convicted of aiding and abetting, the Revolutionary United Front with assistance that was substantial and, the judges said, without which the RUF could not have committed the atrocities to the extent they did commit them. Because of that evidence, Charles Taylor was convicted and sentenced to 50 years."

Rapp said the evidence by the UN group of experts of Rwandan government support for M23 and other armed groups, including sending weapons and troops into the DRC, exposed Kagame and other senior officials to investigation for war crimes.

"At this stage, I'm not sure if we are there in terms of criminal conduct," he said. "But if this kind of thing continued and groups that were being armed were committing crimes … then I think you would have a situation where individuals who were aiding them from across the border could be held criminally responsible."

The UN report, by a group of experts appointed by the security council, said it had "found substantial evidence attesting to support from Rwandan officials to armed groups operating in the eastern DRC", including shipping weapons and money to M23 in breach of a UN arms embargo and other sanctions.

"Since the earliest stages of its inception, the group documented a systematic pattern of military and political support provided to the M23 rebellion by Rwandan authorities," it said.

The report said the Rwandan government gave "direct assistance in the creation of M23 through the transport of weapons and soldiers through Rwandan territory", and recruited Rwandan youths, demobilised ex-combatants and Congolese refugees as M23 fighters.

It also offers evidence of "direct Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) interventions into Congolese territory to reinforce M23" and "support to several other armed groups".

"RDF operational units are periodically reinforcing the M23 on the battlefield against the Congolese army," it said.

Many M23 members formerly served in another Rwandan-backed militia, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which was responsible along with other militias for widespread atrocities over several years, including ethnic killings and mass rape. Ntaganda was the CNDP's military chief.

The experts accuse Rwanda of shielding Ntaganda from prosecution by the ICC for war crimes.

"Rwandan officials have insisted on impunity for their armed group and mutineer allies, including ex-CNDP General Bosco Ntaganda," they said.

Earlier this week, Kagame denounced western criticism of Rwanda's role in the DRC and blamed the continuing conflict on foreign powers that "don't listen", as well as the continuing threat from anti-Tutsi extremist forces, led by Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide.

"This problem has not been caused by Rwanda and it has not been abetted by Rwanda," said Kagame. "Actually the problem of DRC came from outside. It was created by the international community, our partners, because they don't listen … and in the end they don't actually provide a solution. They just keep creating problems for us. We know better our problems, we know better about this region's problems."

Kagame also denied arming M23.

"The international community was saying that Rwanda is helping rebels, but helping them with what, and for what reason? They say we supply them with ammunition, but these people get guns from the Congolese army. The ammunition they have is from their Congolese armouries," he said. "We are not supplying even one bullet, we have not and we will not."

Kagame rejected accusations that Rwanda is shielding Ntaganda from the ICC. He said he told DRC's government that it should deal with the renegade general, but warned that arresting Ntaganda would only create more conflict.

"After that, members of the international community developed an idea that if Rwanda can't support them to arrest someone in another country, then they would put us together with those they want to arrest, and this is really how it turned out to be," he said.

The Rwandan leadership has faced accusations from the UN before, but the latest report has exposed it to unusual public criticism from Washington.

"We have a lot of influence with the Rwandans. We've been very supportive of them. We're prepared to speak frankly to them as we have privately in the past, and now publicly," Rapp said. "M23 was reinforced by Rwanda, and that has to stop. And that's the message we're delivering."

The US and Britain have long been accused of shielding Kagame from criticism over Rwanda's support for armed groups in the DRC and its plunder of minerals there.

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has been among the Rwandan president's strongest supporters, praising him as a "visionary leader" for the reconstruction and economic development of his country after the genocide.

Rwanda's invasion of what was then Zaire in 1996 to clear out refugee camps sheltering armed groups responsible for the genocide two years earlier was quietly backed by Washington and London, which did not challenge a second invasion two years later and Kigali's attempt to create a proxy administration in eastern DRC using loyal armed groups.

But the solid public support of Kagame grew increasingly difficult to defend given the scale of the suffering in DRC, with hundreds of thousands murdered and millions dying from disease and malnutrition caused by the conflict, and untold numbers of women raped, often repeatedly.

Earlier UN reports accused Kagame's forces of war crimes, including possibly genocide, in the eastern DRC. Others have criticised the increasingly authoritarian nature of the Rwandan president's rule, including the effective barring of political opposition.

RWANDA:Worrying signs’ children are fleeing DRC to avoid forced recruitment by armed groups, says World Vision

Worrying signs’ children are fleeing DRC to avoid forced recruitment by armed groups, says World Vision

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thousands of children fleeing a recent upsurge in violence in eastern DRC are at risk of being forcibly recruited into armed groups, said World Vision today.

The majority of people fleeing violence in DRC are children, with some reporting they are doing so to avoid forcible recruitment into armed groups, the aid agency said from Goma.

Despite the release of some of the estimated 30,000 child soldiers since the height of the armed conflict in eastern DRC, there is evidence that children continue to be recruited into the ranks of armed groups. The Government of the DRC needs to immediately order the release of all children within the ranks of its troops, says World Vision.

“Children are hiding in the forest in North Kivu, and we know for certain that nearly two hundred children have been kidnapped by armed groups recently and forced to join in the fighting,” said World Vision’s Dominic Keyzer in Goma. “Because of the difficult nature of collecting figures, we’re worried the number of children being lost to the fighting is much higher.”

“We are particularly concerned that the majority of the refugees here in Uganda appear to be children under 15 years of age,” said World Vision’s Stuart Katwikirize, from the Ugandan side of the border. “Many are separated from their parents, and are struggling to deal with what they’ve endured.”

And in Rwanda, World Vision’s Martin Tindiwensi said: “Our main concern is the increasing number of children; 65% of the refugees are children and some are unaccompanied.”

Adding to the severity of the situation, said Keyzer, is the ongoing conflict and insecurity are making it nearly impossible for humanitarian organizations to intervene. The fighting has forced World Vision to suspend major, life-saving programs in some areas of eastern DRC, and launch responses in both Uganda and Rwanda.

“The effects of this are just heartbreaking – many children in eastern DRC have lived with violence and uncertainty for the last 20 years, and although they have built up good coping mechanisms, constant displacement exposes them to further risks,” said Keyzer.

Forced recruitment into armed groups is just one of many of the risks children are facing as a result of the conflict. Little or no access to clean water, food or health services, let alone schooling or safe places, will exacerbate poverty and child deaths in DRC, said Keyzer.

“The most critical programs we’ve had to shut down include emergency water and sanitation projects responding to outbreaks of cholera near Rutshuru. The fighting is putting this on hold, and threatening the gains that have been made in eastern DRC over the past few years,” he said.

Water and sanitation specialist Jonas Habimana reached Goma late last week after evacuating out of Rutshuru.

“When I was forced to leave, the situation was very desperate. People were afraid, they were running, and now we’re receiving reports from our local partners still in Rutshuru that youth are being kidnapped by armed groups,” said Habimana.

Building a lasting peace for children caught up in the conflict might be difficult, but needs to be a priority for everyone involved, said Keyzer.

“The UN stabilisation force is overwhelmed, governments remain pre-occupied with the political context of the conflict, but we need guaranteed safe corridors to be able to reach women and children caught up in it. The conflict affects our ability to do our job, every day,” he said.

World Vision field staff over the border in Kisoro District, Uganda, where more than 30,000 people are seeking refuge, and in northern Rwanda, where nearly 20,000 are gathered, report suffering of children and women as basic service systems struggle to cope.

“It’s an incredibly sad thing to see,” said World Vision’s Sylvia Nabanoba in Uganda. “There are lots of sick kids in the camp who can’t reach the health centre because it’s too far – the camp spans over 18 kilometres. I saw a malnourished boy last week who I’m worried will die if he doesn’t get attention. His mother was holding back tears as she spoke to me.

“Pregnant women are writhing in pain on a mattress on the floor because there are no beds in the health centre. It makes you feel incredibly angry at those continuing to cause this conflict. No child should be subjected to this,” she said.

Tindiwensi in Rwanda said: “Ten children have so far died from malnutrition in the camp. I witnessed the burial of a two-year-old child and seeing the grief her mother was going through was heart-rending.”

The protection of children, and their families, has to be the key focus of the Ugandan, Rwandan and DRC governments, and all parties to the conflict, said Keyzer.

“We’ve seen the difference that can be made when peace gets a chance. Despite the complexity of the fighting, the majority of people are yearning to live in peace after nearly 20 years of upheaval. That message needs to be heard by the few who continue to fight,” he said.

World Vision has photos available from the refugee camps, as well on-the-ground staff available for interviews in Goma, Uganda and Rwanda.

SOURCE World Vision

RWANDA:Worrying signs’ children are fleeing DRC to avoid forced recruitment by armed groups, says World Vision

Worrying signs’ children are fleeing DRC to avoid forced recruitment by armed groups, says World Vision

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thousands of children fleeing a recent upsurge in violence in eastern DRC are at risk of being forcibly recruited into armed groups, said World Vision today.

The majority of people fleeing violence in DRC are children, with some reporting they are doing so to avoid forcible recruitment into armed groups, the aid agency said from Goma.

Despite the release of some of the estimated 30,000 child soldiers since the height of the armed conflict in eastern DRC, there is evidence that children continue to be recruited into the ranks of armed groups. The Government of the DRC needs to immediately order the release of all children within the ranks of its troops, says World Vision.

“Children are hiding in the forest in North Kivu, and we know for certain that nearly two hundred children have been kidnapped by armed groups recently and forced to join in the fighting,” said World Vision’s Dominic Keyzer in Goma. “Because of the difficult nature of collecting figures, we’re worried the number of children being lost to the fighting is much higher.”

“We are particularly concerned that the majority of the refugees here in Uganda appear to be children under 15 years of age,” said World Vision’s Stuart Katwikirize, from the Ugandan side of the border. “Many are separated from their parents, and are struggling to deal with what they’ve endured.”

And in Rwanda, World Vision’s Martin Tindiwensi said: “Our main concern is the increasing number of children; 65% of the refugees are children and some are unaccompanied.”

Adding to the severity of the situation, said Keyzer, is the ongoing conflict and insecurity are making it nearly impossible for humanitarian organizations to intervene. The fighting has forced World Vision to suspend major, life-saving programs in some areas of eastern DRC, and launch responses in both Uganda and Rwanda.

“The effects of this are just heartbreaking – many children in eastern DRC have lived with violence and uncertainty for the last 20 years, and although they have built up good coping mechanisms, constant displacement exposes them to further risks,” said Keyzer.

Forced recruitment into armed groups is just one of many of the risks children are facing as a result of the conflict. Little or no access to clean water, food or health services, let alone schooling or safe places, will exacerbate poverty and child deaths in DRC, said Keyzer.

“The most critical programs we’ve had to shut down include emergency water and sanitation projects responding to outbreaks of cholera near Rutshuru. The fighting is putting this on hold, and threatening the gains that have been made in eastern DRC over the past few years,” he said.

Water and sanitation specialist Jonas Habimana reached Goma late last week after evacuating out of Rutshuru.

“When I was forced to leave, the situation was very desperate. People were afraid, they were running, and now we’re receiving reports from our local partners still in Rutshuru that youth are being kidnapped by armed groups,” said Habimana.

Building a lasting peace for children caught up in the conflict might be difficult, but needs to be a priority for everyone involved, said Keyzer.

“The UN stabilisation force is overwhelmed, governments remain pre-occupied with the political context of the conflict, but we need guaranteed safe corridors to be able to reach women and children caught up in it. The conflict affects our ability to do our job, every day,” he said.

World Vision field staff over the border in Kisoro District, Uganda, where more than 30,000 people are seeking refuge, and in northern Rwanda, where nearly 20,000 are gathered, report suffering of children and women as basic service systems struggle to cope.

“It’s an incredibly sad thing to see,” said World Vision’s Sylvia Nabanoba in Uganda. “There are lots of sick kids in the camp who can’t reach the health centre because it’s too far – the camp spans over 18 kilometres. I saw a malnourished boy last week who I’m worried will die if he doesn’t get attention. His mother was holding back tears as she spoke to me.

“Pregnant women are writhing in pain on a mattress on the floor because there are no beds in the health centre. It makes you feel incredibly angry at those continuing to cause this conflict. No child should be subjected to this,” she said.

Tindiwensi in Rwanda said: “Ten children have so far died from malnutrition in the camp. I witnessed the burial of a two-year-old child and seeing the grief her mother was going through was heart-rending.”

The protection of children, and their families, has to be the key focus of the Ugandan, Rwandan and DRC governments, and all parties to the conflict, said Keyzer.

“We’ve seen the difference that can be made when peace gets a chance. Despite the complexity of the fighting, the majority of people are yearning to live in peace after nearly 20 years of upheaval. That message needs to be heard by the few who continue to fight,” he said.

World Vision has photos available from the refugee camps, as well on-the-ground staff available for interviews in Goma, Uganda and Rwanda.

SOURCE World Vision

RWANDA: Does Mr. Clinton Enjoy his friendship with Kagame?

Les intérêts privés de Bill Cliton et de son assassin ami Paul Kagame font couler le sang des millions d' innocents dans la région des Grands Lacs africains ! J

Les · intérêts · privés · de · Bill · Cliton · et · son · assassin · ami · Paul · Kagame · font · couler · le · sang · millions · d · innocents · dans · la · région · des · Grands · lacs · africains

Les Hutu Congolais et les  Hutu Rwandais réfugiés à l'Est de la R.D.Congo continuent d'être massacrés au vu et au su de la communauté internationale par les groupes armés "congolais" coalisés, téléguidés depuis Kigali par Paul Kagame et financés par Bill Cliton.

 

Ces groupes sont le M23  ; Raia Mutomboki, Mayi Mayi Guides appelés FDC (Forces de Défense Congolaise) de Madaragulu, Mayi Mayi Kifuafua de Lucien, Delphin et Mayi Mayi Tcheka .

Tous ces groupes sont créés et appuyés en hommes et en matériel par le gouvernement de Paul Kagame via le truchement du Général Ntaganda, le Colonel Sultan Makenga, Zimulinda , le colonel Tcheka de Misaou- Ruvunge, Mayi Mayi Lucien de Biriko, Mayi Mayi Delphin de Mianga, Mayi Mayi Shemakingi de Mukoberwa, mayi mayi de Madragulu, etc...

 

En date du 26 Juin 2012 vers 03H40 TU, les Mayi Mayi Guides Commandé par Shemakingi et Pilote en provenance de Mukoberwa- Kimua ( près de la MONUSCO ) et ceux de Kifuafua en provenance de Buoye- Kirungu-Mianga (groupements Waloa- Uloba, Waloa-Luanda), Raia Mutomboki ont attaqué et massacré les Réfugiés Hutu Rwandais non armés dans les forêts de Kabare - Kabingo dans le groupement Waloa-Yungu territoire Walikale Nord Kivu.

 

Les assaillants ont utilisé les armes à feu (AK47, FAl, RPG / Roquettes, Mortiers, grenades, Fusils de chasse "calibre 12" et les armes blanches (machettes, lances artisanales, massues etc...). D'autres actes ignobles qui coûtent la vie à des milliers de vulnérables (enfants, femmes, vieillards, handicapés, malades) ont été aussi commises: viols, tortures inhumaines, dépiècement de certaines parties du corps dont sexes, seins, bras, jambes, orteils, doigts etc...

 

Ci-après la liste non exhaustive de certaines  victimes rwandaises.

 

a. Les massacrés:

1.Mr Kabanda Samuel de 65 ans, originaire de l'ex- préfecture de Gikongoro, commune Karama secteur Kiraro; laisse son épouse Nyirabagwiza grièvement blessée et 4 enfants;

 

2. Mr Nyandwi de 35 ans.

 

3.Mr Uwemeye, 50 ans, originaire de l' ex-Préfecture de Butare ,commune Nyaruhengeri; père de 6 enfants ( tué avec son épouse Uwizeyimana et ses 2 enfants );

 

4.Madame uwizeyimana Jacqueline de 35 ans, épouse de Mr Uwemeye ci-haut cité);

 

5.Ingabire (Fille de 7 ans)et Immaculée (fillette de 5 ans ) toutes de Mr Uwemeye et Uwizeyimana Jacqueline ci-haut cités) .

 

6.Mr Nyabuhinja Félicien de 68 ans, père de 5 enfants tué avec son épouse et sa fille dont les noms repris ci-dessous.

 

7. Mme Mukahodari Angélique de 43 ans , épouse de Mr Nyabuhinja Félicien.

 

8. Une fillette Nirere Consolée de 6 ans du Feu Nyabuhinja Félicien et Mukahodari Angelique.

 

9. Habumuremyi de 14 ans, fils de feu Kabanda Samuel et de Nyirabagwiza Thérèse originaire de l'ex-préfecture de Gikongoro Commune Karama secteur Kiraro.

 

b. Les blessés:

1;Uwanyirigira Solange de 20 ans, fille de Birasa Venuste et de Mukampiro Stéphanie originaire de l'ex-préfecture de Kibungo, Commune Sake, secteur Mubuga II.

 

2.Nyirabagwiza Thérèse de 45 ans , épouse de feu Kabanda Samuel ci-haut cité. Ce 06.07.2012, La  CICR de Goma est venu par un Hélicoptère pour évacuer les blessés et un enfant d'une semaine de la famille exterminée de Mr Nyabuhinza ci-haut cité.

 

c. Plusieurs disparus dont on ne connait pas leur sort.

d. Certains emportés en otages.

Après leurs forfaits et carnages, les criminels ont pris la direction du camp MONUSCO dans le village de Mukoberwa (groupement Waloa -Yungu) en tiraillant et en lançant ces slogans; "Mayi mayi dawa yetu,nyiye tutawaua, tutawamaliza nyiye wa réfugiés hutu rwandais; Bahutu tutabaua". càd, les Hutu réfugiés rwandais seront tous massacrés.

 

Nous demandons à la communauté internationale, aux ONG des droits de l'homme et aux hommes épris de Paix de plaider pour ces réfugiés hutu rwandais, sans défense, abandonnés à eux-mêmespour montrer la réalité aux puissances de ce monde qui soutiennent aveuglement le régime de Paul Kagame, le planificateur de tous ces maux. Son double objectif  est bien connu : s'enrichir personnellement et exterminer les rescapés réfugiés hutu,  le "MAPPING REPORT" ayant déjà qualifié ces massacres comme "un génocide" commis par les armmées de Paul Kagame. 

 

Les organisations internationales des Droits de l'Homme et tous les hommes épris de paix devraient intervenir sans tarder pour sauver ces vies en danger.

 

2.Quelques images sur les victimes du 26 Juin 2012 à Kabare – Kabingo

 

 

CONCLUSION
 

Bill Cliton devrait être immédiatement arrêté et traduit en Justice. Nous sommes déterminé à ne plus rester passifs . Aussi  exhortons-nous  les ressortissants Congolais et  rwandais, partout où ils sont,  à  rompre avec le silence et à abandonner leur passivité afin de saisir dans les meilleurs délais toutes les juridictions nationales de leur ressort et même la CPI aux fins de faire payer à Monsieur Bill Cliton tous les massacres des innocents qu'il continue de commanditer dans la région des Grands Lacs  dans le seul but de piller , pour son propre compte, les richesses du Congo.

 

Désormais, nous avons tout compris : Paul Kagame n'est qu'un triste OUTIL! Toute la responsabilité pénale répose sur les épaules de Monsieur Bill Cliton qui utilise Kagame comme une simple marionnette .

 

 

Janvier Maendelo,

Goma, RDC.

RWANDA:U.S. cuts military aid to Rwanda over Congo rebel support

(Reuters) – The U.S. government said Saturday it will cut military aid to Rwanda for this year, citing evidence Kigali is supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a significant step by one of Rwanda’s staunchest allies.

Rwanda has denied reports by United Nations experts and rights groups that it is backing eastern Congolese rebels, including the M23 group, which has seized parts of North Kivu province in fighting that has displaced over 260,000 people since April.
The U.S. State Department cited evidence of Rwandan support for the rebels in announcing the military aid suspension.
« The United States government is deeply concerned about the evidence that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups, including M23, » said Hilary Fuller Renner, a State Department spokeswoman, in an emailed statement.
« We will not obligate $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 Foreign Military Financing funds that were intended to support a Rwandan academy for non-commissioned officers. These funds will be reallocated for programming in another country, » she said.
Washington has stood by Rwanda in the past despite the tiny nation’s long history of involvement in wars in vast neighboring Congo.
Rwanda’s foreign minister has previously said reports of its involvement in Congo fighting were « disingenuous » and a bid to make Rwanda a scapegoat for its neighbor’s problems. Officials in Kigali were not immediately available for comment on the U.S. aid cut.
Renner said Washington was in the process of assessing whether further steps should be taken in response to Rwanda’s actions in Congo.
She said the United States would continue to help Rwanda support peacekeeping missions. Rwanda has a major peacekeeping presence in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Although the amount of cash being withheld is small, analysts said the move clearly signaled Washington’s displeasure.
« The U.S. government has been a longstanding ally of the Rwandan government. This step, even if symbolic, is emblematic of a shift in perception – if not necessarily in aid – in Washington, » said independent Congo expert Jason Stearns.
Rwanda sent its army into Congo, then called Zaire, in the mid 1990s, ostensibly to hunt down Rwandan Hutu rebels who fled there after the 1994 genocide.
A decade of conflict followed, in which Rwandan forces helped Congolese rebels topple the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. They then fell out with the rebels they initially backed, sparking a war that sucked in other neighboring armies and officially ended in 2003.
The current rebellion comes after three years of generally improved relations between Kinshasa and Kigali since the latter helped end a 2004-9 eastern Congolese uprising, which Rwanda was also accused of backing.
The leaders of Congo and Rwanda agreed at a meeting this month to allow a neutral force to be deployed in Congo to defeat each others’ rebels, but the plan’s details have not been announced yet.
Source:Reuters

Rwanda Blasts US Over Military Aid Cut

By Edison Akugizibwe 3 hours 16 minutes ago

Paul Kagame

Rwanda government has slammed United States for withholding military aid, saying the decision was based on “totally flawed “information, Chimp Corps report.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said Sunday the United States or any other donor nation is entitled to dispense or withhold support and will do so according to its own political and policy imperatives.

Minister Mushikiwabo was responding to media reports that the US had decided against proceeding with $200,000 in military aid to the RDF in light of recent accusations of Rwandan involvement in the eastern DRC.

“While we respect the rights of any development partner, at the same time we must make clear to our friends in Washington and elsewhere that this decision is based on bad information, and is wrong on the facts. As we have made clear from the outset, Rwanda is neither the cause nor the enabler of instability in the eastern DRC."

Minister Mushikiwabo pointed out that Rwandan officials are meeting with the UN Group of Experts in Kigali next week to discuss the Group’s interim findings on the current eastern DRC conflict as outlined in a recent report to the UN Security Council.

“We will go through each allegation contained in the interim report and debunk them line by line. We will present our rebuttal to our development partners, including the United States,” she warned.

“In the meantime, we will focus on the Joint Verification Mechanism with the DRC and will work with regional partners to implement a new border patrol initiative. Peace in the eastern DRC is the outcome desired by all parties, none more so than Rwanda.”

President Paul Kagame has vehemently denied Kigali supported M23 rebels whose mutiny sparked another era of instability in Congo, leaving hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to Uganda and Rwanda.

He argues that MONUSCO is entirely to blame for the crisis that has rocked DRC.

US CUTS AID

In light of information that Rwanda is supporting armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Department of State decided it could no longer provide Foreign Military Financing (FMF) appropriated in the current fiscal year to Rwanda, considering a restriction imposed by the 2012 appropriation act.

“As a result, we will not obligate $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2012 FMF funds that were intended to support a Rwandan academy for non-commissioned officers. These funds will be reallocated for programming in another country,” State Department Bureau of African Affairs Spokesperson Hilary Fuller Renner said recently.

“We will continue to provide assistance to Rwanda to enhance its capacity to support peacekeeping missions. The Department continues to assess whether other steps should be taken in response to Rwanda’s actions with respect to the DRC.”

Fuller further stated that United States government is deeply concerned about the evidence that Rwanda is implicated in the provision of support to Congolese rebel groups, including M23.

“The United States has been actively engaged at the highest levels to urge Rwanda to halt and prevent the provision of such support, which threatens to undermine stability in the region,” said Fuller.

“Restraint, dialogue, and respect for each other’s sovereignty offer the best opportunity for Rwanda and the DRC, with the support of their partners, to resume the difficult work of bringing peace and security to the broader region,” he added.

“We are encouraged by the ongoing high-level dialogue among the states of the Great Lakes region, and we join the Security Council in taking note with interest of the communiqué issued by the eleven member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) on July 12,” added Fuller.

He said developing a disciplined and unified army as part of a comprehensive security sector reform process remains critical to the stabilization of the DRC.

“We support efforts to bring to justice alleged human rights abusers among the mutineers, including Bosco Ntaganda, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. We are concerned by reports that the mutineers have forcibly recruited child soldiers.”