DRC: Journalist beaten by Angolan Diplomat - arrested while unconscious Committee to Protect Journalists - 24 apr. 08 - 09.54h

A broadcast journalist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo pressed charges today against an Angolan diplomat, alleging he was beaten unconscious by the diplomat and his aides on Saturday, according to local journalists.

Journalists familiar with their colleague's station, Radio Télévision Mwangaza, told CPJ that the attack was in reprisal for coverage of a voter registration scandal in 2006 involving Angolan expatriates in the run-up to the country's elections.

News Director Jean-Pierre Ndolo and reporter Pascal Luboya of Radio Télévision Mwangaza, in the Katangan province's capital of Lubumbashi, were confronted by one of Ngoma's security guards on Saturday while picking up a package of tapes for broadcast near the diplomat's residence, according to several accounts.

After being forced to move their vehicle - which was marked with the station's identification - away from the house, the security agent grabbed their car keys and took Ndolo into the compound, according to Luboya.

The news director was then surrounded by more than a dozen people and severely pummelled before Ngoma joined the melee, punching and insulting the journalist, according to Luboya.

Police arrested Ndolo while he was unconscious and detained him for more than two hours on Ngoma's orders before taking him to the hospital, according to local journalists. Ngoma later accused the journalist of trespassing and assaulting his wife. Ndolo denied the charges, saying he had never met the diplomat or his wife.

"We call upon the Congolese and Angolan authorities to investigate this assault and the reports that Angolan Consulate personnel were involved," said CPJ's Africa program coordinator, Tom Rhodes.

Speaking to CPJ shortly after his release from the hospital today, Ndolo said he suffered from head and chest pains. He said he filed a complaint today with the police for assault and battery against Pedro Gomez Ngoma, the consul general of neighboring Angola in Lubumbashi, he said.

Ngoma's cell phone was out of service when CPJ attempted to reach him.

According to Rose Lukano, president and director-general of Mwangaza (Swahili for "Light"), Ngoma has been hostile to her reporters since the station broke a 2006 story on the illegal voter registration of Angolans in the lead-up to DRC's historic elections.

Neither Ndolo nor Luboya were with the station at the time, but their professional affiliation triggered the incident, she said. Angola temporarily recalled Ngoma in the aftermath of the story, according to local journalists.

UNICEF says DR Congo rebels are recruiting more child soldiers – AFP - 31 mar. 08 - 15.22h

GENEVA, March 31, 2008 - UNICEF is concerned rival armed groups in eastern DR Congo (DRC) are recruiting child soldiers again, two months after the government and rebel groups brokered a fragile peace deal.

Julien Harneis, a representative of the UN Children's Fund, said more child soldiers have been recruited in the two eastern Kivu provinces in the last two months, after a post-ceasefire lull.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has freed up to 300 child soldiers, though not all of them are back with their families, he said. Harneis added that some children have been stuck in Bukavu's UNICEF refuge for up to nine months.

Armed groups have recruited between 2,000 and 3,000 12 to 18 year olds in the east of the country, Harneis said.

Despite a ceasefire in January, violations occur almost daily in both Nord- Sud-Kivu, where conflict has separated seven percent of children from their parents and displaced 500,000 people, the UN said.

The report of renewed recruiting came after the UN's human right's body in Geneva unanimously agreed last week to end the mandate of the special envoy on human rights to the vast central African country.

Fear of attacks in North Kivu IDPs from going home – IRIN - 26 mar. 08 - 16.21h

[IDPs in Mugunga camp, west of Goma, capital of North Kivu Province]

GOMA, 26 March 2008 - Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are reluctant to go back to their villages for fear of attacks despite a truce signed in January between the government and various armed groups.

"We fled our house because [armed groups] were attacking and raping people and looting property," said Gina Kavira, 38, who fled with her husband and eight children from the village of Bambou five months ago and who has been living with a host family in three cramped rooms in Vitshumbi on the shores of Lake Edward.

"There is not enough to eat here. I try and catch fish. Normally, I catch three in a day. I sell two and feed my family on the other," she told IRIN. "My children can’t go to school because we can’t afford school fees. I’d like to return home if there was peace and if I could afford the transport. All we want is peace. I don’t know when we will be able to return."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will build a new shelter on a 54-hectare site near the town of Rutshuru to alleviate congestion in other IDP camps. UNHCR senior field officer Marie-Antoinette Okimba said the camp will cater for an estimated 16,000 people.

The new camp at Nahanga is intended to relieve pressure on communities in the towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja, which have hosted 65,000 IDPs since October 2007.

According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 70 percent of IDPs in North Kivu live with host families, while only 30 percent actually live in formal IDP camps.

Many displaced people are also occupying communal spaces, such as churches, village halls and classrooms.

"In the beginning it is very easy for host communities to look after newly-arrived IDPs, but after a few months it causes big problems," said Okimba. "To provide food and shelter after long periods becomes very difficult."

The ceasefire agreement, signed on 23 January in the North Kivu capital Goma, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, disengagement of troops and the creation of a buffer zone.

Parties to the pact include the government and armed groups such as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), headed by renegade general Laurent Nkunda, as well as traditional warriors of shifting alliances generically referred to as Mayi Mayi.

A Hutu-dominated armed group many of whose members fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), has also been party to the conflict in eastern DRC. However, it was not included in the January agreement because it is considered one of the foreign armed groups in DRC, which should be dealt with according to the provisions of a separate agreement signed in Nairobi in November 2007. Under this deal the FDLR should be disarmed and its members repatriated to Rwanda.

According to Venetia Holland, a civilian official of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), despite the nominal ceasefire agreement, incidents of extortion, sexual violence, lootings, abduction, forced labour, killings and even alleged massacres continue to be perpetrated by both elements believed to be members of FDLR and some signatories of the Goma accord.

Okimba said that some civilians had tried to return home only to become victims of the violence.

"In the beginning of March many IDPs in the Rutshuru region tried to return to their homes, but they are coming back to the safety of the camps saying that [troops loyal to Nkunda] are accusing them of aiding and helping other troops," she said.

Civilians have often been caught between rival forces and accused of complicity with the "opposition" by the various rival groups.

Around Rutshuru, the IDP camps of Kasasa and Nyongera, which cater for a combined population of 13,000, are heavily overcrowded, sparking fears of an imminent cholera outbreak.

Elinor Raikes, the Rapid Response Mechanism Coordinator with the International Rescue Committee, said: "The situation in the camps is very precarious. Both camps are completely saturated and unless a solution is found quickly then there’s a very high risk of public health problems like cholera."

In Kasasa, 60 people share each latrine; a figure that is three times the recommended standard of 20 people per latrine, according to Raikes.

Commissions set up to outline the implementation modalities of the Goma deal, which are chaired by the government and include representatives from all the signatory armed groups, are expected to begin their work before the end of March.

Holland, however, said it is unlikely that the protection situation will improve significantly, or that there will be any mass return and reintegration of IDPs until civilians witness a real military withdrawal on the ground.

DR Congo war crimes suspect in custody of international court – AFP - 08 feb. 08 - 09.22h

THE HAGUE (AFP) — A former militia leader in Democratic Republic of Congo was transferred into the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday to stand trial for the massacre of some 200 villagers in 2003, court officials said.

Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, former head of the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI), is accused of ordering his forces to "wipe out" the village of Bogoro, in the northeast Ituri region.

"Hundreds were killed, maimed or terrorised. Women were forced to become sexual slaves. The village was pillaged by FNI forces and razed to the ground," the court's deputy prosecutor Fatou Besouda said.

Ngudjolo, believed to be 37 years old, was arrested in Kinshasa on Wednesday on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sent immediately to The Hague, DR Congo Justice Minister Symphorien Mutombo Bakafwa said.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Ngudjolo's transfer to The Hague "completes the first phase of the DR Congo investigations" focusing on crimes in the Ituri region.

"We are now moving on to our third case in the DR Congo, with applications for other arrest warrants in the coming months and years," he said from Central African Republic, where he is on a visit.

Moreno Ocampo said his team now will turn its attention to the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, where "there are clear reports of serious crimes being committed even today".

"There will be no impunity for the worst perpetrators of the worst crimes in the DR Congo," he said.

Since 1999, clashes among militias and tribal killings have claimed at least 60,000 lives in mineral-rich Ituri, which borders on Uganda, and displaced more than 600,000 people, according to aid agencies.

The prosecution alleges that Ngudjolo, "as the highest ranking FNI commander, played an essential role in designing and implementing an indiscriminate attack against the village of Bogoro, in the territory of Ituri, on or around 24 February 2003".

About 200 civilians were murdered, while others were tortured, imprisoned in a room filled with corpses, or used as sex slaves, according to the arrest warrant.

The attack was allegedly agreed by Ngudjolo and other commanders from the FNI and the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI). The arrest warrant lists nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of child soldiers.

Ngudjolo is the third person in the custody of the International Criminal Court, after the transfer in October by the Congolese authorities of Germain Katanga, a Congolese national and alleged commander of the FRPI.

Katanga has also been charged in connection with the Bogoro attack.

"For convenience, it would be good to try them together, but that is a determination for the court to make," Bensouda said.

In March 2006, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese national and alleged founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), was the first ICC suspect to be sent to The Hague.

The ICC prosecutor opened investigations in DR Congo in June 2004 after the Congolese government referred the situation in the country to the court, and Lubanga and Katanga were arrested in Kinshasa in March 2005.

Ngudjolo, a colonel with DR Congo's government army (FARDC), was arrested at a Kinshasa military academy where he was being trained since November last year after leaving Ituri following a July 2006 peace accord.

DR Congo president denies murdered woman is half-sister –AFP-18 jan. 08 - 11.17h

KINSHASA (AFP) — Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila's private household denied Thursday any link with a murdered woman reported to be his half-sister.

Aimee Mulengela was slain in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with local human rights campaigners La Voix des Sans Voix (The Voice of the Voiceless) identifying the woman as Aimee Kabila Mulengela Koko, a daughter of the president's late father and predecessor Laurent-Desire Kabila.

A Congolese police source had also said she was related to the president.

However, in a statement released to AFP, the presidential household said there was no family connection.

"Contrary to rumours circulated ..., Aimee Mulengela Koko, falsely presented under the name of Aimee Kabila, is not of Mzee (old man) Laurent-Desire Kabila's family," it said.

Wednesday was the seventh anniversary of Laurent-Desire Kabila's assassination by one of his bodyguards in Kinshasa.

Citing "information gathered from her first husband, police commissioner Jules Mazangala," the statement also denied any "conflict" over the family inheritance.

It presented condolences to the victim's family, deploring "the tragic loss of a human life".

The woman was killed with a "close-range bullet in the chest" at her home by armed men who made off with "mobile telephones ... a computer and a camera," the rights organisation said.

She had sought protection from the United Nations mission to DR Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, on several occasions.

MONUC said she had been arrested roughly two years ago without official charge by special police forces and detained for several weeks.

Security and rights sources said she was claiming a share of Laurent-Desire Kabila's inheritance and was in conflict with certain members of the presidential family.

One security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that there was nothing at this stage to say that her murder was any different from killings that happen under similar circumstances "every night in Kinshasa."

East Congo peace conference postponed until Jan 6

President Joseph Kabila is under pressure from the United Nations and the United States to find a political solution to end years of fighting in the Kivus involving government troops, Tutsi insurgents, Rwandan Hutu rebels and Mai Mai militia. Reuters- 28 dec. 07 - 10.52h

Too much! The persistence of human rights violations in the DRC - MONUC concerned over humanitarian situation in North-Kivu – MONUC - 26 dec. 07 - 17.13h

At its weekly press conference of 26 December 2007, MONUC expressed its deep concern in relation to the humanitarian consequences of the recent combat between Nkunda’s rebels and the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) in North Kivu. MONUC furthermore deplored the persistence of human rights violations in the DRC, and asked the Congolese government to “imperatively” put an end to this violence and to bring the authors of these crimes to justice.

“MONUC continues to deplore the persistence of human rights violations and international humanitarian law in the DRC, in particular those made by the FDLR and Laurent Nkunda's dissidents, as well as other armed groups and members of the FARDC, the Congolese National Police (PNC) and other security and intelligence services,” said MONUC spokesperson Kemal Saiki.

In particular, MONUC denounced human rights violations such as sexual violence towards women and the recruitment of children into armed groups.

Although the situation is being gradually contained in North Kivu, as the FARDC continue their efforts such as blocking Nkunda's forces, “sporadic clashes continue around Kalengera and Rugari in Rutshuru territory between FARDC patrols and Nkunda’s rebels,” announced MONUC.

“In parallel, in Masisi terrotory, violent clashes were noted between Mayi-Mayi groups and Laurent Nkunda’s rebels north-west of Mushake, west of Kitchanga and in the neighbourhoods of Mweso.”

MONUC continues to assist NGO’s and UN agencies in their work with displaced populations. MONUC continues its assistance with the deployment this week of Mobile Operational Bases (MOBs) in North Kivu and northern South Kivu, which have regroupment points for displaced people.

MONUC once again recalled that the recruitment of children into armed groups is a war crime and a crime against humanity, citing the forced recruitment of children by the troops of the CNDP (Congrès national de la défense du peuple), the military political movement of Laurent Nkunda.

“The latest information gives a report on 200 pupils of Tongo secondary school, in Rutshuru territory, who were the targets of forced recruitment on 17 December 2007, after their school materials and their indentity cards were burned,” indicated MONUC.

With regard to the organisation of the peace, security and development conference for the Kivus which will take place from 6 to 14 January 2008 in Goma, MONUC has intensified its day and nighttime air and terrestrial patrols.

North Kivu violence: Top UN envoy meets with DR Congo president regarding North Kivu violence – UN - 16 oct. 07 - 09.19h

Kabila’s Majority is not able to bring peace: United Nations concerned by security situation in eastern DRC – MONUC - 25 jul. 07 - 18.13h

At its weekly conference this Wednesday July 25, 2007, MONUC stressed the United Nations concern over the security situation, conflict and humanitarian crisis in the east of the country, particularly in the Kivu provinces where 700,000 people have been internally displaced.

In a statement made in New York on Friday 20 July 2007, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned by the deterioration in the security situation in the provinces of North and South Kivu in eastern DRC.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon made an appeal to the DRC government and all the parties concerned to continue an inclusive dialogue in the Kivus, and called on the regional and international partners to support the efforts aimed at decreasing the tension in the area.

During a patrol carried out in the morning of Tuesday July 24 last, on the Rutshuru-Nyamilima axis, blue helmets from the North Kivu Brigade discovered five dead bodies in a banana plantation in the locality of Katweguru.

“All the victims were adult men, in civilian clothing, whose hands had been bound, and were dead for a few days. For the moment, neither the identity of the victims nor the culprits of these murders are known. MONUC will do all in its capacity, in collaboration with Congolese justice, to shed light on the assassination of these five people,” explained MONUC spokesperson Kemal Saiki.

In addition, on 21 July, a doctor and a motor cycle driver were assassinated in Muranga in the territory of Masisi, by unidentified armed men, who fled with money and telephones.

In South Kivu, operations led by the FARDC against dissident banyamulenges led to the capture of their headquarters -Moramvia town- on July 21, as the rebels fled into the forest of Itumbwe and Rubanga. The operation left four dead and 10 injured within FARDC ranks, while dissident losses are unknown.

“MONUC firmly condemns all these murders, and we appeal for an end to these acts of violence which continue to affect the Kivu provinces, and demand that all should be done to put an end to the impunity which makes such acts possible,” Mr. Saiki added.

Meanwhile, according to information compiled by MONUC’s Civil Affairs Division, the number of Congolese expelled from Angola has exceeded 26,500, a clear increase from last week.

Those expelled return under very difficult conditions, with cases of rape, torture and racketeering by Congolese and Angolan border security forces reported by returnees.

In Kananga on Tuesday 24 July, MONUC’s Civil Affairs Division facilitated a meeting on the humanitarian consequences of the crisis with the local authorities, United Nations agencies and humanitarian actors.

Security forces in particular were recommended to respect and apply the principles of human rights, and to facilitate the access of the foodstuffs into the zone and to refugees in surrounding areas.

Distributions of drugs and non food items are underway, and an evaluation mission by experts of the International Organisation for Migration (OIM) will take place soon.

In conclusion, Mr Saiki announced that Mr. William Lacy Swing, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General in the DRC, will receive an honoury doctorate in political science from the University of Lubumbashi next Saturday 28 July 2007.

Too much! - MONUC condemns murders in North Kivu – MONUC - 11 jul. 07 - 16.23h

During the weekly MONUC press conference this Wednesday 11 July 2007, MONUC condemned the recent murders in North Kivu province in eastern DRC, including Mr. Floribert Bwana Chuy Bin Kositi, provincial secretary of the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie (RCD-Goma) political party, on Monday 9 July last in Goma, the provincial capital. This follows other recent murders in Butembo and Beni.

“Mr. Swing, UN Special Representative in the DRC to the Secretary General condemns the murder of Mr. Bin Kositi, who was also a lawyer and government official for the Office of “Contrôle Congolais” (OCC), and whose body was found in Goma on Monday 9 July 2007,” said MONUC spokesman Kemal Saiki.

According to information available to MONUC, he was beaten to death, with the reasons for his death as yet unknown. The Congolese justice system, as well as MONUC’s Humans Rights division, have launched an investigation into the murder, to find out whether the assasination was politically based, or because of his professional work with the OCC in North Kivu.

“This odious crime, which comes at the time when efforts are being made to bring a durable peace to North Kivu, can only increase insecurity and exacerbate instability in this part of the DRC. MONUC urges the Congolese authorities to competently do all in their power so that the authors of this cowardly assassination, which cannot be justified, are found and brought before justice,” Mr. Saiki explained.

MONUC expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Mr Floribert Bwana Chuy Bin Kositi, and joins in the mourning in the province of North Kivu. This murder is in addition to other recent assassinations of personalities and civil servants in North Kivu.

On 6 July 2007, a local businessman was killed in Butembo in broad daylight at his home by armed men, like the murder, a few weeks ago, of the Chief of the National Information Agency (ANR) in Beni.

Furthermore, MONUC remains strongly concerned about the fate of the President of the National Mayi Party (PANAM), Célestin Kambale Milonga, who was arrested at his its residence in Goma, on June 24 last, by troops of the 8th Military region of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC).

So far there has been no news following his arrest. MONUC launches an urgent call to the military authorities to observe the existing legal procedures regarding the detention of people.

Justifiably, the population of North Kivu feel a growing insecurity. Indeed MONUC has received reports of serious human rights violations in recent weeks, including harassment, looting and other crimes, such as the forced eviction of civilians (in Kisharo, Buramba, Kisheguru, Katwiguru in Rutshuru, and in Ngungu in Masisi, in a large part by the FDLR militia, the Congolese security forces, the FARDC and other irregular armed groups.

These acts of violence, whether blind or targeted, need to stop, as they have affected this part of the country for too long, and the impunity which makes such acts possible must be brought to an end.

MONUC concerned by increasing attacks on civilians and humanitarians in eastern DRC – MONUC - 27 jun. 07 - 16.19h

During the weekly MONUC press conference this Wednesday 27 June 2007, MONUC raised its concerns over the deteriorating security situation in eastern DRC, citing an increase in attacks against the civilian population and humanitarian organisations, particularly in North Kivu province.

In North Kivu, an attack was perpetrated last Monday by armed men in uniform, against two vehicles belonging to an international NGO circulating in the area of Kisharo (Rutshuru territory).

Even if there were no victims, this incident is all the more worrying as it follows another similar attack a few days earlier in the same area - the looting in the night of June 20 of the warehouse of another international NGO in Uvira - also by armed men in uniform.

The humanitarians concerned have for the moment decided to suspend their activities in the zones controlled by the troops of the dissident general Nkunda, because of the deteriorating security conditions.

Also in North Kivu, MONUC’s Civil Affairs division carried out a joint evaluation mission in the past week in the localities of Kisharo, Nyamilima and Ishasha, whose objective was to evaluate the security conditions of the civilian population, in particular the displaced on the Ngwenda - Ishasha axis.

The mission noted that almost daily attacks were made against civilians by the FDLR or the soldiers of the mixed FARDC Brigades deployed in the area, attacks which caused concentrations of displaced people in Kiwanja, Nyamilima and Ishasha, Kisharo, where nearly 42,000 people have gathered since last February.

Furthermore in North Kivu, MONUC’s Civil Affairs division worries about the operations of the CNDP, the political structure of general Nkunda, who is pressurising the civil authorities to close the displaced people’s camps - in Kichanga, Mweso (Masisi territory) and Nyanzale (Rutshuru territory), to impose taxes on the population, and set up its own administration.

The Red Cross and the NGO CEPAC (the Community Pentecost churches in Congo) announced a shift in population since April 2007 towards Kasugho in the southern part of Lubero territory. They also announce confrontations between two Mayi Mayi groups - "la Fontaine" and "Jackson".  The inhabitants of the villages located at the west of Kasugho, where elements of the FDLR are located, are leaving their villages because of exactions.

In addition, according to the Red Cross and CEPAC reports, the FDLR sexually abuse women, and plunder harvests, houses, and cattle. A mission of evaluation in Kasugho is being prepared.

Following reports of a rise of tension in Kitshanga (Masisi territory) and Nyazale (Rutshuru territory), an evaluation mission was carried out by OCHA and MONUC’s Civil Affairs Division. The mission confirms that the CNDP demands the closing of displaced persons camps, accusing them of sheltering FDLR elements.

Moreover, more than 5,000 former displaced households in Kisharu still did not receive assistance because of the high risk of looting and attacks that persists in the area. In the past three weeks, 2,299 households fled the insecurity caused by the FDLR and the Bravo brigade.

In South Kivu, due to joint operations led by the FARDC against FDLR/Rasta, humanitarians in South Kivu estimate that 18,000 people have been displaced since June, although these figures have not been confirmed.

According to official sources in Itombwe and Basimukindji, in the territory of Mwenga, several children, including girls, are exploited as carriers in the cassiterite and gold mines in Miki, Kapanga, Makenda, Kasenge and Tulambo.

These children are subjected to the transport of mining products and other goods on a distance of 120 kms from surroundings areas, which they traverse in two days of walking. Young girls are also sexually exploited during the course of this work.

DR Congo's Bemba condemn to stay abroad - BBC News - 11 jun. 07 - 09.28h

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, politicians close to opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba say he will not be returning from Portugal.
This is despite the end of the 60-day period the 2006 presidential poll loser was given to seek medical treatment.

Mr Bemba left after sheltering for some three weeks in South Africa's embassy in Kinshasa after his bodyguards and the army clashed this March.
The move was widely seen as a way to ease tension in the capital

Security concerns

As a senator, he had to seek permission for the trip from the senate authorities.

In Kinshasa, where he received two-thirds of the vote in the second round of the presidential election, people I spoke to were keen for him to return.
"If such a person who represents the opposition is out of the country it's going to lead to a kind of dictatorship," one city resident said.

The director of Mr Bemba's cabinet, Fidel Babala, said that the opposition leader did want to return but that at the moment he would not be safe.

"At the time of the fighting on 22 and 23 March his house was destroyed, his cars were destroyed, his media were destroyed.

"If even theoretically he came back today where would he stay? This violence that we saw... is that going to happen again? Can Mr Bemba's security be guaranteed? And by whom?" Mr Babala said.

Should he return, Mr Bemba may well face charges of high treason for the fighting.

He currently has immunity from prosecution because of his position in the senate, but now the time-limit for his trip has expired, his opponents in the senate could take steps to expel him.

DRC: Congo prosecutor asks Senate to lift Bemba immunity – Reuters - 12 apr. 07 - 17.51h

KINSHASA, April 12 (Reuters) - Congo's public prosecutor has asked the Senate to lift Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba's immunity so he can be charged over bloody clashes between his forces and army troops last month, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Public Prosecutor Tshimanga Mukeba said in a letter to the provisional head of the Senate that Bemba, who flew to Portugal on Wednesday for medical treatment, was the "intellectual author" of the fighting in which up to 600 people died.

"I request the authorisation to prosecute Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to allow legal authorities to deepen their investigations and the individual to present his defence," read a copy of Mukeba's letter obtained by Reuters.

The three-page letter was dated April 10 and stamped as received by the office of the Senate president on April 11.

A second letter from Mukeba requesting permission to prosecute Bemba, sent on Thursday, was also seen by Reuters.

The charges pending against Bemba, who lost a presidential runoff in October against incumbent Joseph Kabila, included threatening internal state security, murder, armed robbery and destruction of property, the first letter said.

Bemba was liable for prosecution "on the basis that he was the intellectual author of the acts committed by his troops," it said.

Before leaving for Portugal, Bemba had spent most of the previous three weeks holed up in the South African embassy with his family. Portuguese officials have said his stay will not be a long-term exile.

MONUC: One must not establish a climate of persecution against the opposition - 19 members of the opposition, as well as 8 journalists, were subjected to visits from the security forces, in which there was some looting - 04 apr. 07 - 17.54h

During the weekly press conference of April 4 2007, MONUC deplored the acts of intimidation and threats of March 22 and 23 last, aimed at many opposition members, including those considered to be associated to the MLC- Mr. Bemba’s political party.

“MONUC received information that the residences of 27 people, including 19 members of the opposition, as well as 8 journalists, were subjected to visits from the security forces, in which there was some looting,” explained MONUC spokesperson Kemal Saiki.

On the same issue, MONUC demanded of the highest authorities in the state to guarantee that the Congolese security forces act in conformity with the law, and not seek to establish a climate of persecution against people associated with the opposition, or those who originate from Equateur province, a stronghold of the MLC.

“It is crucial that the fundamental rights of individual security and liberty, as well as the liberty of opinion and expression, which are guaranteed by the DRC constitution, should be respected by all the security forces in relation to Congolese citizens, which includes members of the opposition and the press,” Mr. Saiki added.

In addition, MONUC has put in place a multi-disciplinary investigation team charged with verifying the allegations of human rights violations - summary executions, rapes, torture, illegal detention, looting and forced disappearances - which were committed by both sides in the recent Kinshasa conflict.

MONUC is relying on the collabouration of the Congolese government in order to gather all the necessary information for the investigation, and to have unlimited access to all detention centers.

In the presidential declaration dated April 3 2007, the UN Security Council underlined the ‘legitimate character of the new institutions created following democratic elections, and the necessity for these institutions to ensure the security of the population, and the importance for them to act within the law, as well as respecting international human rights laws, and to act against all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.’

Furthermore, the Security Council appealed to the DRC government to respect the role and rights given to all parties by the constitution, with the aim of guaranteeing their effective participation in national political debate, and to encourage all parties to continue to adhere to the rules of political democracy.

600 deaths: Kabila is faced the man who have 42% of the population behind; EU (European Union) heads express 'indignation' over Kinshasa violence - Eoin Young / MONUC - 27 mar. 07 - 16.28h

At a press conference in Kinshasa this Tuesday March 27 2007, the representatives of the European Union countries to the DRC expressed their ‘indignation’ at the recourse to the violent armed Kinshasa conflict of March 22 to 25 2007, ‘when all routes to dialogue were not yet exhausted.’ German ambassador Karl Albrecht Wokalek said the death toll ‘could reach 600.’

In a statement, they deplored the loss of life, in particular that of civilians, as the Congolese Armed Forces - the FARDC - took to the streets of Kinshasa against ex vice president J.P. Bemba’s guards in the two day conflict that paralysed the DRC capital, causing much destruction and loss of life.

Furthermore, the European Union (EU) heads ‘condemned the numerous cases of looting and rape committed by troops from both camps’ during the conflict.

In the political sphere, the EU ambassadors stressed the importance for the authorities to ‘ensure the existence of a democratic space, in order to guarantee free expression to all political opinions.’

UK ambassador Andy Sparkes said that they were there to show their ‘solidarity with the Congolese people,’ who had ‘suffered much’ from the conflict.

“There remains a war spirit in the country, which is a bit like malaria. We thought we had healed the country with a big dose of quinine, with the holding of free and transparent elections last year, but this war spirit has returned.”

There remains a war spirit in this country, which is a bit like malaria

For the ‘well being of the Congolese people,’ he stressed that it was necessary to eradicate this ‘war spirit’.

“I find this recourse to violence irresponsible, it shows that this war spirit remains, and it needs to be replaced by a spirit of reconciliation and inclusiveness. This is the only way forward for stability in the country.”

The ‘BIAC’ bank building on Kinshasa’s main boulevard, which houses the Greek and Spanish embassies, as well as UNICEF offices, was directly hit by mortar and light arms fire during the violence. The Italian ambassador's Kinshasa residence was also looted. 

On this subject, the ambassadors were forthright in their views.

Greek ambassador Ioannis Christofilis deplored what he termed was a ‘direct attack which broke the Vienna convention’ on diplomatic relations.

“This was a direct attack, with heavy arms, not only on the Greek flag and embassy, but the Spanish embassy, as well as UNICEF, who work here for your (Congolese) children, and the BIAC bank, who are working here for the economic development of this country.”

He added that the DRC government had expressed its regret, and has promised a full enquiry into the events.

Mr. Christofilis went on to say that images of the attack on the Greek and Spanish embassies were aired around the world, and had affected the image of the DRC.

The real vicitms of this situation are the congolese people

“I received more than 40 telephone calls from Greek TV and radio stations. How do you now expect me to persuade donors and investors to come here? The last victims of this situation are the Congolese people.”

Spanish ambassador Jose Martinez added that it was ‘difficult to understand why the BIAC bank building was targeted,’ but he said ‘it was clear that it was not a random attack.’

Italian ambassador Leonardo Baroncelli said that the events were ‘regrettable’. He explained that, in his absence, uniformed men broke into his residence by force on the afternoon of Friday March 23, stealing some property and causing minor damage.

“The issue is that this act constitutes a grave violation of the spirit of the Vienna convention. Article 22 of the convention states that all diplomatic premises shall be inviolable, and that the state is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage, and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission, or the impairment of its dignity,” he said.

The democratic process is not dead, but is seriously wounded

150 deaths after two days of heavy fighting in Kinshasa - Eoin Young / MONUC- 24 mar. 07 - 15.23h

Calm has returned to Kinshasa this Saturday March 24 2007, after two days of heavy fighting in the central district of Gombe between members of ex vice President’s Bemba’s guards and the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), which claimed the lives of at least 150 people, and left many wounded.

Among the dead and wounded were members of Bemba’s guards, the FARDC and the Congolese National Police, as well as Congolese and expatriate civilians.

Normality is slowly returning to Kinshasa, with traffic beginning to circulate freely, although the majority of shops remain shut in Gombe, which experienced much looting during the two day conflict.

The DRC government called on all of Bemba’s guards to surrender, and MONUC is assisting in this process with the setting up of a regroupment centre at the “Mousse” factory, in the suburb of Lumumba, just south of Ndolo airport.

MONUC military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Didier Rancher said that the regroupment point will be open day and night.

“The centre will be secured by Senegalese blue helmets, and will allow Bemba’s guards to present or surrender themselves, where medical care will be given to the wounded,” he said.

In an official statement yesterday, the DRC government pronounced that Jean Pierre Bemba had ‘betrayed the Republic’, in conformance with the DRC constitution, and stated that he and ‘his accomplices would be brought before justice.’

Yesterday it was confirmed that Mr. Bemba, who is a member of the DRC senate, had sought refuge in the South African embassy.

MONUC continues to monitor the security situation in Kinshasa, with frequent military patrols in Gombe and other districts.

In an official statement, MONUC welcomed ‘the restoration of order in Kinshasa by government forces, although it deeply regrets that force was used to resolve a situation that could and should have been