Category Archives: DRC

DRC residents ‘have high hopes’ for Intervention Brigade – UN

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

Residents in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) see better prospects for peace in the region now that preparations are underway for stationing a U.N. “intervention brigade” in the region, according to a U.N. official. Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the United Nations Stabilization Mission to the DRC (MONUSCO), said hopes in the region are rising after completion of a barracks complex where the U.N. troops will be housed. “They hope that with this new intervention brigade, we will see the end of the armed groups, and with the end of the armed groups, peace will return and with peace, we can see stabilization, reconstruction and development … Continue reading →

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DRC suspends senior military officers suspected of rape

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended a dozen senior military officers and is interrogating suspects in connection with a mass rape incident in the country’s turbulent east, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping department said on Thursday. The United Nations said 126 women were raped in Minova in November after Congolese army troops fled to the town as M23 rebels briefly captured the nearby provincial capital, Goma, in eastern Congo. The U.N. special envoy to Congo, Roger Meece, told Congolese authorities in a March 25 letter they had seven days to take action on the rapes. That came after earlier U.N. demands that Congolese authorities prosecute the suspected rapists … Continue reading →

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Ntaganda’s surrender to ICC won’t solve DRC’s problems

Posted on March 24, 2013 by

By Richard A Luce The problems of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will not be solved by the transfer of Gen Bosco Ntaganda to the ICC in The Hague. This was said by the leader of Rwanda’s opposition Rwanda People’s Party (RPP) John Karuranga. In a statement he issued after Gen Ntaganda arrived in The Hague after surrendering himself to the American embassy in Kigali last Thursday, Mr Karuranga said: “Ntaganda, brutal as he is alleged to be, is just one war lord amongst many others who have been terrorising the DRC for more than a decade.” This, he added, includes his former best friend and business partner, DRC … Continue reading →

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Congo foils plot to assassinate President Joseph Kabila

Posted on March 23, 2013 by

Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said on Friday it had thwarted a plot involving a Belgian member of parliament that aimed to assassinate President Joseph Kabila and overthrow his government. Two suspects – a Belgian doctor of Congolese origin named Jean-Pierre Kanku Mukendi and Isidore Madimba Mongombe, a former policeman – were arrested last month in the capital Kinshasa, Interior Minister Richard Muyej told journalists. Muyej said the two men, who were in possession of a small quantity of weapons at the time of their arrest, confessed to the plot. “(Mukendi) admitted that this plan to attack the city of Kinshasa and physically eliminate the head of state was adopted … Continue reading →

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Congo rebels clash near Goma after political chief sacked

Posted on February 28, 2013 by

Heavy fighting broke out between two factions of Congo’s M23 rebels near the eastern town of Goma on Thursday after one side said it sent men to arrest a leader of the other who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The M23 military commander said earlier that the M23 political coordinator Jean-Marie Runiga had been sacked, underlining infighting likely to undermine regional efforts to end two decades of conflict in central Africa. The M23 rebellion is the latest uprising in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral rich eastern borderlands. Last year the group inflicted a series of defeats on government forces, culminating in the brief seizure of the major … Continue reading →

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UN chief goes ahead with special force to combat DRC rebels

Posted on February 26, 2013 by

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will urge the Security Council to approve a force to fight rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a draft report seen on Monday, which also applauded suspension of aid to Rwanda over claims it backs the insurgents. In the draft of a special report to the 15-member council, Ban said a brigade of several thousand soldiers should be created within the existing U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and be deployed initially for one year. “The intervention brigade would carry out targeted offensive operations, either on its own or jointly with the FARDC (the Joseph Kabila army), in a robust, … Continue reading →

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Etienne Kabila charged in South Africa for DR Congo ‘plot’

Posted on February 13, 2013 by

A man who says he is the son of former DR Congo President Laurent Kabila has been charged in South Africa with plotting to overthrow the government of Joseph Kabila. Etienne Taratibu Kabila (watch video above) is alleged to be the leader of 19 other people who were charged last week. Etienne Kabila says President Kabila is not the true son of Laurent Kabila. His claims about the president and to be the former leader’s son have been dismissed by DR Congo’s government. Etienne Kabila handed himself in to police at the weekend. He was not asked to enter a plea and the case was postponed until Thursday, when his … Continue reading →

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Kinshasa and Kampala back U.N. plan to deploy drones in DRC

Posted on January 12, 2013 by

Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda on Friday backed a proposal from U.N. peacekeepers to deploy unmanned surveillance drones along Congo’s eastern border, where rebels have carved out a fiefdom. The United Nations says the nine-month insurgency, which has dragged the mineral-rich region back towards war, has received cross-border support from Rwanda and Uganda, accusations strongly denied by both governments. Herve Ladsous, the U.N. head of peacekeeping, said last week he had asked the Security Council for three drones to fly along the porous border in Congo’s mountainous east, after thousands of U.N. peacekeepers failed to prevent rebels capturing the strategic city of Goma in November. “The Congolese government welcomes … Continue reading →

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Congo rebels demand government sign ceasefire for talks

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

Congolese rebels on Thursday threatened to walk away from this week’s peace talks to end their nine-month revolt unless the government signs an official ceasefire, a demand Kinshasa dismissed as unnecessary. The rebel March 23 Movement, preparing for talks on Friday in Kampala, capital of regional mediator Uganda, said government troops had reinforced positions in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and warned it would resist an offensive. “If Kinshasa continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire, M23 is going to ask its delegation to return to DRC. We will wait and when they say ‘we’re ready to sign (a ceasefire)’ we’ll go back,” Jean-Marie Runiga, head of … Continue reading →

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Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui free after ICC acquits him of war crimes

Posted on December 19, 2012 by

The International Criminal Court has ordered that former Congolese militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui should be freed after he was acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The case related to the 2003 killings of 200 residents of Bogoro village in the Ituri region of DR Congo. The court in The Hague heard reports of victims being burned alive, babies battered and women raped. Mr Ngudjolo denied ordering the attack, saying he learned of it days later. He had been charged with seven counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors said he had enlisted child soldiers to carry out the killings. Some of the killings … Continue reading →

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