The Hague, 17th August 2012
PRESS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT RECEIVES COMPLAINT AGAINST PRESIDENT KAGAME


We wish to invite Rwandans, Congolese, Africans and the rest of the international community to support this demand for justice.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE FDU-INKINGI

Dr. Nkiko Nsengimana

Lausanne, Switzerland



Interim Committee,

Co-ordinator.



ngombwa@gmail.com



INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

IN THE MATTER OF PAUL KAGAME ET AL

COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 15

OF THE STATUTE OF ROME

Whereas Article 15 (1) of the Statute of Rome states that “The Prosecutor may initiate investigations proprio motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.” And,

Whereas Article 53 of the Statute requires the Prosecutor to “initiate an investigation unless he or she determines there is no reasonable basis to proceed…” and

Whereas it is a matter of public record that the Security Council published on June 27, 2012 a Letter dated 26 June 2012 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to the resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo addressed to the President of the Security Council and its associated Addendum (the Addendum) and,

Whereas the said Addendum presents findings of the Group of Experts that provide a reasonable basis to conclude that crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court have been and are being committed by Paul Kagame and others under his command and control, and

Whereas the Complainants, the United Forces For Democracy in Rwanda (FDU), the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), le Reseau International des Femmes pour la Democratie et la Paix (RIFDP), represent significant elements of the civil society in Rwanda and L’Association Pour la Promotion de la Democratie et du Developpement de la RDC (APRODEC) and Congonova, represent significant elements of the civil society of the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC)


Stephen Rapp  Leader of the US Office of Global Criminal Justice

 And Remembering that the States Parties to the Statute stated in the Preamble to the Statute that they are “Determined to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes”;

The Complainants hereby draw the attention of the Prosecutor to the Addendum that sets out the facts that the Rwandan authorities led by President Paul Kagame, and including his minister of defence, General
James Kaberebe, the Rwandan Defence Forces Chief of Staff, General Charles Kayonga and the Rwandan Defence Permanent Secretary, Brigadier General Jack Nziza have

1. Provided direct military assistance to the M23 rebellion inside the DRC including the use of children under the age of 18 as M23 combatants as described at paragraph 19 of the Addendum which constitutes a war crime under Article 8(b)(xxvi) and 8(e)(vii) of the Statute,
2. Forced former enemy combatants of the Democratic Forces For the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) to serve with units sent by the Rwanda Defence Forces to reinforce M23 which constitutes a war crime under Article 8(2)(a)(v) that forbids compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power as described in paragraphs 20 and 21 of the addendum, and note President Paul Kagame’s criminal responsibility, and that of the other named officers under his authority, for these crimes under Article 28 of the Statute regarding their superior responsibility.

The Complainants further recall the DRC Final Report (the Mapping Report) of June 2010 made to the Secretary-General of the United Nations by Madame Navanethem Pillay, United Nations Commissioner For Human Rights and that, among other crimes therein set out it is stated at paragraphs 20-33 that the armed forces of Rwanda and of the DRC committed genocide against the Hutu ethnic group in the DRC (Zaire). During the entire period of time in which these crimes were committed Paul Kagame had command
responsibility over the Rwandan armed forces.

The Complainants further recall the Report made by Robert Gersony to the UNHCR on October 11, 1994 a written summary of which is attached, in which Mr. Gersony stated that Rwanda Patriotic Army forces under the command of Major General Paul Kagame committed systematic and sustained killings of Hutu civilians in Rwanda between April and July 1994 and recall the report made by ICTR Lead Investigator, Michael Hourigan to the UN Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS) of August 1, 1997 (Hourigan
Report), echoing the report he gave to ICTR prosecutor Louise Arbour, that Paul Kagame was responsible for the shooting down of the presidential plane carrying President Habyarimana of Rwanda and President Ntaryamira, President of Burundi and others.

While neither the Mapping Report nor the Gersony Report nor the Hourigan Report provide evidence of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC they do provide clear evidence of a continuing and systematic pattern of criminal conduct on the part of Paul Kagame in the great lakes region which goes to the strength of the case against him regarding the crimes for which he is responsible within the jurisdiction of the ICC.

The Complainants also note that the Gersony Report and Hourigan Report were, among other evidence of crimes against humanity committed by Paul Kagame, in the possession of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTR) for Rwanda and are public documents made exhibits in trials at the ICTR and yet the various Prosecutors of the ICTR refused to prosecute Paul Kagame for his crimes thereby providing him with complete immunity from prosecution and a resulting sense of impunity and this impunity thereby encouraged him to commit further crimes in the DRC without fear of punishment.

The Complainants therefore request the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to act on the information provided herein and to commence an investigation as requested with a view to laying charges against Paul Kagame and any other person or persons complicit in these crimes and to confirm to the world that no one has impunity for crimes committed within the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Submitted at the The Hague, this 17th Day of August, 2012

Christopher C. Black Barrister
Counsel to the Complainants

The Hague,

The Netherlands

The Hague, 17th August 2012

PRESS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT RECEIVES COMPLAINT AGAINST PRESIDENT

KAGAME

Today Friday 17 August 2012, at 11:30, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague has received the complaint formally presented by opposition parties FDU-Inkingi, Rwandan National Congress (RNC), Congolese organisations and members of civil society Women's International Network for Peace and
Development (RIFDP - Canada, Belgium, Netherlands).



Counsel Barrister Christopher C. Black and Nkiko Nsengimana on behalf of the platform FDU-Inkingi/RNC and other complainants submitted the dossier. The ICC acknowledged with a letter of receipt herewith attached.

We wish to invite Rwandans, Congolese, Africans and the rest of the international community to support this demand for justice.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE FDU-INKINGI
Coordinator
Dr. Nkiko Nsengimana
Lausanne, Switzerland
nkiko.nsengimana@bluewin.ch

RWANDA NATIONAL CONGRESS (RNC)
Interim Committee,
Co-ordinator.
Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa,
Washington DC, USA
ngombwa@gmail.com
As International is an international nonpartisan charity organization devoted to defending human rights. It’s an organization working to promote democracy and national reconciliation, inside countries of the African Great lakes Region.


As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;

As International’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. ASI does not support nor condone violence.


  The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying reality : the Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination with an iron fist, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.


So long as justice and accountability for RPF past and current crimes are ignored and delayed, Peace and Stability will remain illusive and impossible in Rwanda=>As International]





Rwanda - Kigali
By Clive Muhenga, Kigali
The Rwandan parliament recently passed a law authorizing high-ranking security officials to monitor email and telephone conversations of individuals considered potential threats to the national security. Although the law is secretly rejected by most Rwandan citizens around the country, only opposition militants in exile dare to openly denounce what they call a text dictated by fear and violence.

In Rwanda, the chief of police, the army commander and the head of the intelligence services are all allowed to monitor the communications of anyone suspected of threatening national security. The law, which has just been passed by Parliament, also prohibits accessing banned websites or reading certain materials.

Reading documents considered subversive by the government is equated with complicity with the author and carries the same sentence. “It means that if I were to call Patrick Karegeya or read his party’s communiqué, I would be punishable by law,” comments an independent journalist who wishes to remain anonymous.

Colonel Karegeya, former head of military intelligence under President Paul Kagame’s regime, is currently in exile in South Africa with General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former Army Chief of Staff. Two years ago, they formed the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), together with other defectors of Kagame’s administration. The party continuously calls for the Rwandan president’s departure.

Anything and everything
“[The law] means that we are now at the mercy of these three big men of the police, army and intelligence, because the threat to national security is an umbrella charge than can include anything and everything,” explains a young lawyer, who also doesn’t want to reveal his name. “It’s a means of silencing us. It’s censorship, plain and simple,” says a young university student.

On local radio stations only a few voices have criticised the law, denouncing the violation of individual privacy. In a reaction, the Rwandan Interior Minister, Fazil Harerimana, announced a campaign to explain the wisdom behind the law.

Gripped by fear

The most virulent criticism comes from Rwandans in exile. “This is another sign proving that the regime in Kigali is totalitarian,” says Eugène Ndayaho, vice president of the oppositional United Democratic Forces (UDF). The UDF is the party of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire who is being tried for allegedly collaborating with terrorist groups.

“The government is in fact only legalising a long-time practice,” says Ndayaho, who lives in France. “Even Ingabire fell victim to it. It’s a new step in the enforcement of laws that destroy freedom. The regime is protecting itself through dictatorial practices based on fear and violence.” His view is shared by exiled journalist Amiel Nkuriza, who sees in the new law “evidence that the regime is gripped by fear.”


Crush the opposition

The new legislation is an addition to other recently adopted laws on genocide ideology and sectarianism, which sparked wide criticism from international human rights organisations. Amnesty International, for example, called in a 2010 report for the amendment of these laws that are written in vague terms, claiming that the Rwandan government is using them to crush any opposition and silence free speech. The revision process for the law on genocide ideology is currently underway.


As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;

As International’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. ASI does not support nor condone violence.

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

The Eyes of Truth

[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying reality : the Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination with an iron fist, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.


So long as justice and accountability for RPF past and current crimes are ignored and delayed, Peace and Stability will remain illusive and impossible in Rwanda=>ASIF]





Rwanda's President, Gen. Paul Kagame



The demands for the ICC charges are also based on: Report of the DRC Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003, and the Addendum to the interim report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo (S/2012/348) concerning violations of the arms embargo and sanctions regime by the Government of Rwanda.

We invite Rwandans, Congolese, Africans, and members of the international community to witness this historical moment and to sign the subsequent petition in front of the International Criminal Court Building, The Hague (Netherlands), from 11:00 to 14:00.

We thank all the efforts of members of the civil society, JAMBO asbl, le Centre de Lutte contre l'Impunité et l'Injustice (CLIIR) and the Women's International Network for democracy and Peace (RIFDP - Holland and Belgium)
For more information: ngombwa@gmail.com or sixbert.musangamfura@gmail.com

Dr. Nkiko Nsengimana
 is Coordinator with Coordinating Committee FDU-INKINGI

Lausanne, Switzerland



Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa is Coordinator, 
Interim Committee, Rwanda National Congress (RNC)

Washington, D.C.





As International is an international nonpartisan charity organization devoted to defending human rights. It’s an organization working to promote democracy and national reconciliation, inside countries of the African Great lakes Region.

As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;

As International’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. ASI does not support nor condone violence.

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying reality : the Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination with an iron fist, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.
So long as justice and accountability for RPF past and current crimes are ignored and delayed, Peace and Stability will remain illusive and impossible in Rwanda=>ASIF]


Je ne regrette rien: UN reports say President Paul Kagame’s army killed tens of thousands of Rwandans and Congolese while securing his country’s borders – but he remains unapologetic about his record




In 2006, a law was introduced to the US legislature individually sponsored by senator – and future president – Barack Obama. It passed almost unnoticed.

But the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act may now have found its moment, as Rwanda has been accused of helping to foment a fresh rebellion in neighbouring eastern Congo.
The act requires the US to strengthen enforcement of an international arms embargo on Congo and encourage “more effective protection of its natural resources ... especially in the eastern part of the country”. It also authorises the US to withhold assistance for any foreign country determined by the secretary of state to be acting to destabilise the DRC.

On the face of it, that is exactly what has been happening almost 10 years since the official end to Congo’s apocalyptic civil war. Only three years since the war’s main protagonists, Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, and President Joseph Kabila of Congo sealed a bilateral entente addressing a complex web of residual conflicts, Rwanda has been found in violation of the arms embargo by a UN Group of Experts.

The report, issued this month, reinforces earlier allegations from Human Rights Watch and from the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. It details high-level complicity by the Rwandan authorities in mobilising fighters and supplying weapons and ammunition to the M23, a militia led by ethnic Tutsis that is responsible for the worst outbreak of violence in the region in several years. This has escalated in recent days, displacing hundreds of thousands and threatening the regional capital, Goma.

“These mutineers could not even be thinking about taking Goma without the help of Rwanda; the evidence is now overwhelming. We have documented that Rwandan military officials at senior levels are clearly involved in support for M23,” says Anneke Van Woudenberg, the Congo expert at Human Rights Watch.

This is a drama that has played out repeatedly during the past decade as the UN panel of experts, set up by the Security Council to report on the trade in weapons and illicit flow of minerals from Congo, has frequently accused Rwanda of violations.

Furious denials – often in the face of compelling evidence – have followed from the government. Western donors are often left wringing their hands. They have invested heavily in Rwanda’s remarkable social and economic recovery under Mr Kagame’s leadership since the 1994 genocide but are ostrich-like when it comes to his army’s more sinister involvement in the violence and plunder in Congo.

Those donors have been frequently outmanoeuvred by a man, Mr Kagame, and a movement, his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front. For all Rwanda’s dependence on foreign aid to support its budget, they have rarely waited for a green light from the west before acting in what they believe are their best interests.



As Congo faces another meltdown, the dilemma is how to rein in the ambitions of both man and movement. These have appeared to have outgrown the densely populated mountain country of 11m they have controlled with an iron fist since 1994, with potentially enormous consequences for the territorial integrity of neighbouring Congo and the stability of its central African surroundings.

Ever since the Rwandan army crossed into Congo in 1996 in pursuit of ethnic Hutu forces with a persistently genocidal agenda gathered on the border, and went on to help overthrow the former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, speculation has been rife that Mr Kagame harbours expansionary ambitions.

The Financial Times has received a draft of Kigali’s detailed rebuttal to the UN report, which it plans to submit to the Security Council on Monday. Its argues that the UN panel report fails to offer a motive, relies almost exclusively on unreliable, anonymous or compromised sources to “retrofit” evidence to suit a predetermined narrative and serves as “the latest act of a carefully orchestrated media and political strategy to cast Rwanda as the villain in this new wave of tensions in eastern DRC”.

Although the rebuttal is carefully argued, international patience already appears to be wearing thin. If it is proved that Rwanda has been feigning constructive engagement with Congo while undermining hopes of peace in the vast, mineral-rich country it neighbours, a slew of international countermeasures could kick in.

These would squeeze the country’s finances and erode the moral capital Mr Kagame, an ethnic Tutsi, has been accustomed to command since his guerrillas ended the genocide.

Last week, Stephen Rapp, a senior US official, said Mr Kagame could be liable for war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court although the state department later backtracked, saying no action had been initiated. The M23’s leader, Bosco Ntaganda, is an indictee, making Rwanda complicit in another violation of international law if it has indeed been supporting the rebellion.

Donors who fret they have been misled by Rwanda will weigh carefully Kigali’s response in days to come. In the mean time, the Netherlands has suspended budget support to Rwanda’s judiciary worth €5m ($6m). Washington, which counts Mr Kagame among its closest allies in Africa, has frozen $200,000 of military aid in an unprecedented slap. Nordic countries and India on the board of the African Development Bank have meanwhile forced a one-month delay in the disbursal of $38m in budget support while they pore over the allegations.

“We need to see how Rwanda and the region will respond before making our move,” a Swedish official says.
Even Britain, the largest bilateral donor to Rwanda, which could previously be relied on to champion Mr Kagame’s leadership through thick and thin, has delayed the first instalment of a twice-yearly disbursal of £16m aid as it verifies compliance with human rights provisions.

The sanctions applied so far are predominantly symbolic. But they will disrupt budget flows and have put Kigali on the back foot.

The question is whether it is wise to put Mr Kagame on the back foot.

The Rwandan leader has a highly developed sense of western mendacity and an independent-minded streak forged at the height of the 1994 genocide, when the world abandoned the ethnic Tutsi minority to its fate, leaving his RPF guerrilla movement alone to end the mass murder against a better equipped foe.

“The way to get Kagame to do things is not by publicly ridiculing him ... If the US wanted to protect Goma, they should not have withdrawn the money but asked Kagame to rein this guy in. Kagame is the only one in this region who can make this happen. In Congo, Kagame is the game changer, not Kabila,” says a senior official from the region.

“They [the rebels] could over-run Goma for breakfast tomorrow morning. The only restraining force I see is Rwanda; the UN’s not going to do anything.”

Polemics are par for the course in a region scarred by virulent hatreds.

Mr Kagame is viewed either as a ruthless tyrant or visionary leader, rarely both. He has striven to transform Rwanda into a regional economic success story with the same relentless determination with which he once ran his guerrilla army.
But he has also been given extraordinary licence to repress dissent. The prosperity of elites in Kigali derives partly from the plunder of minerals from the DRC during Rwanda’s serial invasions of its neighbour.

According to UN reports, his army killed tens of thousands of Rwandans and Congolese as he secured his country’s borders in the face of continuing threats to surviving Tutsis. Political opponents and journalists still end up in exile, jail or, in some cases, a grave.

Yet he can count on support from luminaries: the likes of former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks. Members of this unofficial fan club have tended to overlook the more troubling aspects of his rule or support the notion that he has done what is necessary to lay the foundations for peace and development.

“Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda, in many respects, leads Africa today,” Mr Blair said recently.

“Lifting 1m people out of poverty over the past five years is an amazing feat by any global standard.”

In an interview with the FT last year Mr Kagame was characteristically unapologetic. “I have no regrets about being who I am, and being what I am in my country for my people. No regrets at all,” he said.

In the face of the latest accusations, Louise Mushikiwabo, foreign minister has been equally defiant, yesterday saying donors made “hasty decisions based on flimsy evidence”.

“Rwanda has had a very tricky history with Congo. We have had war with Congo and we have had peace. But it would be a terrible mistake to judge the present on the basis of the past,” she told the FT.

Still, given Rwanda’s history of meddling across its border it may be much harder this time for Mr Kagame to persuade the world of his case.
As International is an international nonpartisan charity organization devoted to defending human rights. It’s an organization working to promote democracy and national reconciliation, inside countries of the African Great lakes Region.

As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;

As International’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. ASI does not support nor condone violence.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

The Eyes of Truth






AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PRESS RELEASE

11 July 2012

The UN Security Council must call on the Rwandan government to stop providing support for the M23 armed group in DR Congo’s North Kivu province, Amnesty International said as the UN redeployed peacekeepers to the main eastern city of Goma.

The M23 have driven back the Congolese government army in a determined offensive over the last few days. The UN and authorities in eastern DR Congo say Rwanda has backed the non-state armed group, M23, a claim denied by Kigali.

“While redeploying UN troops to Goma to protect civilians is a positive step, the situation in the North Kivu is so tense that it has the potential to turn into a regional conflict if the international community does not take urgent measures,” said Aster van Kregten, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa.

Amnesty International has received reports from numerous sources that M23 is using heavy artillery and continue to forcibly recruit civilians. According to credible sources, two civilians were killed by the M23 in Bunagana on Sunday when they refused to join the group, while two other civilians were killed during the fighting.
Although Rwanda appears to have breached a UN arms embargo, the UN Security Council has done nothing to put pressure on the country to end its support for the M23, which has recently been strengthened with heavy artillery and new recruits.”

“The Council must condemn the reported breach of the UN arms embargo by Rwanda and take concrete measures to prevent any further violations of human rights or international humanitarian law,” said van Kregten.
A UN report last month provided substantial evidence that senior Rwandan officials have backed the M23 armed group, led by Bosco Ntaganda, a former General in the Congolese army who is under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

The armed group named themselves the M23 after a failed peace agreement signed on 23 March 2009. The M23 defected from the Congolese army in April this year amid pressure on the government to arrest General Ntaganda.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), has a robust mandate which allows the use of “all necessary means, including deadly force” to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.

Despite this, MONUSCO has been unable to adequately protect civilians and help restore calm to the volatile North Kivu region and has instead focussed on providing technical support to the poorly trained Congolese army.

Although MONUSCO has a presence in the region, the M23 captured the strategic towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja over the weekend without facing any opposition from the UN forces.

“The recent violence in North Kivu has already led to human rights abuses against civilians and any escalation in the violence will place civilians at further risk,” said van Kregten.

“The future of the eastern Congolese people now mainly lies in the hands of the UN Security Council. It’s crucial that MONUSCO now uses its mandate to effectively protect civilians.”

While the M23 is threatening to attack Goma, recent reports indicate that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - whose leaders are believed to have taken part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda - and other armed groups such as the Mai Mai are also in Rutshuru territory, increasing the fear of violence against civilians.
ENDS
As International is an international nonpartisan charity organization devoted to defending human rights. It’s an organization working to promote democracy and national reconciliation, inside countries of the African Great lakes Region.



As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;
As International’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. ASI does not support nor condone violence

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

DRC: History must not repeat itself as violence flares in North Kivu


Amnesty said the fact FARDC soldiers fled to Uganda is a matter of concern and again weakened the Congolese army’s ability to protect efficiently the civilian population from an armed group whose capacity seems to have strengthened.

“There is a grim feeling that history is repeating itself with ex-CNDP members managing to control several strategic axes as they did in 2008,” said Paule Rigaud, the deputy program director for Africa at Amnesty International.

“Five years ago, a similar situation led to serious atrocities, among them the Kiwanja massacre, during which at least 150 civilians were killed by the CNDP.”

“Amnesty International is deeply concerned that more people are now being displaced by the fighting, adding to those who have been forced to flee over the past months, and that there is an increasing risk civilians may be caught in the crossfire.”

There is growing concern over the increased strength of the M23, which is reportedly planning to retake key towns, including in Masisi territory - the former stronghold of the CNDP.
“It is quite worrying that about 600 Congolese soldiers fled to Uganda while the M23 was attacking the area.”
“The Congolese government, through its security forces, should immediately take measures to ensure the protection of civilians. The UN through MONUSCO should continue to increase its presence in areas
under threat and implement its protection mechanisms to prevent violence against the civilian population”, Rigaud said.

Background:


The CNDP controlled most of the Masisi and Rutshuru territories by the end of 2008 and threatened to attack Goma.
The armed group was then integrated into the FARDC following a peace agreement signed on 23 March 2009 with the Congolese Government.

Defections from the FARDC began in April 2012. Deserters launched military operations against the Congolese army shortly afterwards.

As International is an international nonpartisan charity organization devoted to defending human rights. It’s an organization working to promote democracy and national reconciliation, inside countries of the African Great lakes Region.


As International centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries;




 
 
 
 
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL


COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

6 juillet 2012

RDC. Les nouvelles violences dans le Nord-Kivu font craindre que l’histoire ne se répète

Il faut que le gouvernement de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) prenne immédiatement des mesures pour protéger les civils - parmi lesquels se trouvent des milliers de personnes déplacées - alors qu’une ville du pays vient de tomber aux mains de membres du groupe armé M23, a déclaré Amnesty International.



Cet appel intervient en réaction aux informations selon lesquelles dans le territoire de Rutshuru des soldats du M23 auraient pris le contrôle de Bunagana, ville stratégique située près de la frontière avec l’Ouganda, à la suite de violents combats de plusieurs jours avec les soldats de l’armée congolaise (FARDC).

Les responsables de l’ONU ont indiqué qu’un membre du contingent indien de la Mission de l'Organisation des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo (MONUSCO) était mort après avoir été touché par un tir d’artillerie lors de combats à 50 km au nord de Goma, la capitale de la province du Nord-Kivu.

Selon certaines informations, environ 600 soldats des FARDC auraient fui en Ouganda après avoir été encerclés par des soldats du M23, groupe dirigé par Sultani Makenga et Bosco Ntaganda et composé de déserteurs de l’armée congolaise issus principalement du Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) intégré aux FARDC en 2009.

Amnesty International a déclaré que le fait que des soldats des FARDC aient fui en Ouganda était préoccupant et réduisait encore la capacité de l’armée congolaise à protéger efficacement la population civile contre un groupe armé dont la puissance semble s’être renforcée.

« On a le sentiment désagréable que l’histoire se répète, avec des ex-CNDP qui parviennent à prendre le contrôle de plusieurs axes stratégiques comme ils l’avaient fait en 2008 », a déclaré Paule Rigaud, directrice adjointe d’Amnesty International pour l’Afrique.



« Il y a cinq ans, une situation similaire avait donné lieu à des atrocités, dont le massacre de Kiwanja au cours duquel au moins 150 civils avaient été tué par le CNDP. »



« Amnesty International est très préoccupée par le fait que ces combats entraînent de nouveaux déplacements de personnes qui viennent s’ajouter à celles déjà nombreuses qui ont fui les affrontements des derniers mois ; il y a un risque accru que les civils se retrouvent pris entre deux feux. »

L’inquiétude grandit face à la montée en puissance du M23, qui s’apprêterait selon certaines informations à prendre des villes importantes, en particulier dans le territoire de Masisi, ancien fief du CNDP.
« Il est extrêmement préoccupant que 600 soldats congolais aient fui vers l’Ouganda au moment où le M23 attaquait la région. »

« Le gouvernement congolais, par le biais de ses forces de sécurité, doit immédiatement prendre des mesures pour protéger les civils, a déclaré Paule Rigaud. Les Nations unies, par l’intermédiaire de la MONUSCO, doivent quant à elles continuer d’accroître leur présence dans cette zone menacée et mettre en œuvre leurs mécanismes de protection pour empêcher des actes de violence contre la population civile. »

Complément d’information

Fin 2008, le CNDP contrôlait la plupart des territoires de Masisi et Rutshuru et menaçait d’attaquer Goma.

Ce groupe armé a été intégré dans les Forces armées de la République démocratiques du Congo (FARDC) à l’issue d’un accord de paix signé le 23 mars 2009 avec le gouvernement congolais.



Les défections au sein des FARDC ont commencé en avril 2012. Les déserteurs ont lancé des opérations armées contre l’armée congolaise peu après cela.

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Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton St., Londres WC1X 0DW, Royaume-Uni ; site : http://www.amnesty.org





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