"Look at me, I am a bishop. I didn't join M23 because I was jobless. I have a job. Things have to be changed in this country."
Jean Marie Runiga is the head of several Christian churches in Congo. He has been a bishop for 24 years and is the former spokesperson of the anti-corruption bureau of the DRC.
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:38-39)
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.(Romans 12 19-21)
My Analysis
USA and her new world order
allies have really mastered the art of
deception. They control the mainstream media and use it to misinform and
disinfrom the masses around the world. They
have really managed to deceive the world that the conflict in the DRC is just
an internal conflict with no new world order tentacles. The USA likes a puppet regime in the DRC and would
like the confusion to continue so that American and European companies continue
to loot Congo
minerals unnoticed. It has been evident over the years that the villages were
people were flushed due to rebel insurgencies were turned into mining centers of American and European companies . So,
war must persist so that these people do not return and disrupt the looters. It is surprising that they are very many naïve
Africans who think that Uganda
is neutral in this conflict and some naively think that Rwanda has
nothing to do with the conflict. Just keep on fowing this conflict , it will
not take so long before more contradictions emerge. A person with an analytic
mind can easily see these contradictions and cover-ups.
USA and her allies will
always stick to the old trick of using Christian ministers such as Bishop Jean Marie Runiga to safeguard their
imperialistic interests. They think that by bringing a Christian bishop
into the high ranks of the M23, they are
giving M23 credibility and this will fool many dominionism Christians to link the rebels to Christ.
MUST READ:
Fooling us about Uganda’s neutrality in the Congo Conflict!!! Militarizing the Congo to help USA and allies to rape Congo resources: DRC troops, civilians fleeing to Uganda after rebel clashes
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/fooling-us-about-ugandas-neutrality-in.html
Rwandan tabloid links Kagame to M23: President, Dr, Gen Paul Kagame on a Special visit to Uganda begging for another service
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/rwandan-tabloid-links-kagame-to-m23.html'Congo says insurgency is Rwandan army invasion' as Ugandan MP asks Museveni to ‘come clean’ on Congo
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/congo-says-insurgency-is-rwandan-army.htmlWe will march on Goma if killings continue-M23
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/We+will+march+on+Goma+if+killings+continue+M23/-/688334/1451430/-/13nu0ydz/-/index.html
By John Njoroge
Posted Wednesday, July 11 2012 at 19:00
In Summary
Who is Bishop Runiga?Jean Marie Runiga is the head of several Christian churches in Congo. He has been a bishop for 24 years and is the former spokesperson of the anti-corruption bureau of the DRC.
The breakaway rebel militia, M23, have this afternoon said it will march on to Goma if the killing of innocent civilians does not stop with immediate effect.
“If people of a given tribe are being killed and yet the Monusco peacekeepers cannot protect them, M23 will take over Goma,” the M23 political coordinator Bishop Jean Marie Runiga said yesterday at press conference in Bunagana in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We are capable of capturing even more ground,” Bishop Runiga added.
The group has also given Congolese President Joseph Kabila an ultimatum to respect the wishes of the Congolese people, uphold the M23 Goma agreement or face the wrath of the Congolese population.
This is the first time the M23 is putting forward the semblance of a political agenda and is seeking to show it has a political wing working on the sidelines. The group also said its fight with the Kinsasha administration is informed by the lack of proper accountability by the Congolese government, the abuse of human rights in the country and the oppression of minority groups.
“We are shocked that President Kabila convened a meeting of his parliamentarians and claimed the M23 agreement does not exist,” Bishop Runiga said, as other reports filtered in that Congolese government has ordered civilians in Goma to close shops.
The reported order to close shop fuelled further speculation that an advanced front in the upsurge in fighting is about to be opened in the eastern DRC area of Goma.
“If he cannot solve the problems of M23 and those of the Congolese people, we will rise sharply against him, and soon,” Bishop Runiga declared.
He also refuted claims that the group was being funded by the Rwanda government and sought to distance the group from any association with wanted rebel leader Gen Bosco Ntaganda.
“We have no support from Rwanda. We are supported by the people of Congo. The weapons you see were abandoned by the Congolese army as they fled. The uniforms we put on are uniforms of armies of different countries,” Bishop Runiga said.
“Those who want Gen. Ntaganda should ask President Kabila who we believe is sheltering him although he has recently called for his arrest,” Bishop Runiga added.
He also called on the international community to conduct a speedy investigation into atrocities that have occurred in the recent past in Goma, adding that if quick intervention is not made, a 1994 Rwanda genocide situation could crop up.
He also accused the UN stabilisation mission, Monusco, of not helping the civilian population as the Congolese armed forces molested them.
This newspaper has independently verified reports of several civilians killed on Tuesday night when suspected Congolese military personnel attacked villages in Rutshuru.
“We left Rutshuru in the hands of Monusco. We told Monusco to protect the civilians and not to allow the Congolse army back in,” Bishop Runiga said.
Bishop Runiga said M23 had returned control of all areas it had captured to the Congolese police force and the Monusco peacekeeping force. He however noted that some of these areas had fallen back under the control of government forces who were now harassing civilians.
“The Goma agreement had political and military problems. The Congolese people have problems caused by bad leadership and the lack of vision. The M23 joins the Congolese people in fighting for their rights. The recent elections were not free and fair. The Congolese people are tired,” he said.
“It is in the best interest of President Kabila to call for talks. If he wants to talk, we are ready. If he wants war, we are ready,” he added.
jnjoroge@ug.natiomedia.com
DR Congo: M23 rebels threaten to march on Goma
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18803172
11 July 2012 Last updated at 17:40 GMT
Mutineer soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
have threatened to march on the key city of Goma if attacks against civilians in the city
do not stop.
He denied allegations made by the UN and DR Congo's government that the ethnic Tutsi rebel group was backed by Rwanda.
Kigali also rejects the claim.
Earlier, the UN said peacekeepers were being redeployed to Goma.
The rebels - who took up arms in April - named themselves "M23" after a failed peace agreement signed on 23 March three years ago.
They are supporters of renegade General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Gen Ntaganda is an ethnic Tutsi - like the majority of Rwanda's leadership - and a recent UN report accused Rwanda of backing the rebels.
'No
democracy'
The M23 leadership addressed journalists in Bunagana, a town on the border
of Uganda
which was captured by the rebels last Friday.Jean-Marie Runiga Rugerero, who described himself as a bishop, said he was now the leader of the M23's political wing.
He said several other towns that had been seized over the weekend, including the strategic town of Rutshuru, 70km (43 miles) north of Goma, had been handed over to UN peacekeepers.
But he said the rebel withdrawal was dependent on the safety of the civilians.
"Now about Goma, if civilians aren't protected… We M23 will take over the city of Goma and protect the civilians - the Tutsis, the Balega and the Bashi," he said.
He said Congolese civilians were supportive of their cause and were giving them food, and their ammunition came from the captured towns.
"Our intention is to let the international community know that the problems bedevilling this country are not due to interference from neighbouring countries, the problems facing us are caused by ourselves right here in DR Congo," he said.
"There is total disregard and abuse of human rights here in this country. There is no democracy in this country.
"Look at me, I am a bishop. I didn't join M23 because I was jobless. I have a job. Things have to be changed in this country."
A resident of Goma, Paul Gavichi, told the BBC African Service that the Tutsi community was being harassed - he gave examples of Tutsis being forced off buses and attacked, and said there were allegations of rape.
The UN spokesman in Goma, Alexandre Essone, told the BBC's Focus on Africa that the city was quiet and key areas were under the protection of peacekeepers.
He reiterated claims that the M23 had Rwandan backing, saying that their fighters had new uniforms.
An estimated 200,000 people have fled their homes since April, with about 20,000 crossing the border into Uganda and Rwanda.
The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga on the Ugandan section of the border town of Bunagana says there has been an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting in the last week.
Eastern DR Congo has been plagued by years of fighting.
In 1994, more than a million Rwandan ethnic Hutus crossed the border following the genocide in which some 800,000 people - mostly Tutsis - died.
Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo. Uganda also sent troops into DR Congo during the 1997-2003 conflict.
U-Turn: Time for U.S., U.K. to Change Rwanda Policy
http://enoughproject.org/blogs/u-turn-time-us-uk-change-rwanda-policy
Posted by Enough Team on Jun 06, 2012
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo and WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Evidence is mounting that Rwanda is supporting the new rebellion in eastern Congo, the M23, with recruits, weapons, and ammunition. Following interviews with 23 recent alleged Rwandan recruits and several other eyewitnesses, Human Rights Watch reported on Monday in intricate, horrifying detail how Rwanda has been allegedly recruiting, abducting, and helping train between 200-300 of its own nationals to fight with the M23 since February. Children had been pulled out of movie theaters, and defectors had their heads bashed in with hammers, according to the report.The previous week, U.N. officials stated that their interviews with 11 other Rwandan recruits revealed that 500 Rwandans had been recruited to join the Rwandan army and then taken by Rwanda military officers overnight to eastern Congo to train with the M23 rebels, following a BBC story on the internal report. This follows an extensive U.N. report in December 2011, which alleges that significant amounts of conflict minerals from eastern Congo were likely being smuggled to Rwanda, and ICC-wanted war criminal and possible M23 leader Bosco Ntaganda traveled repeatedly to Rwanda in 2011.
The United States and United Kingdom have been Rwanda’s most prominent allies over the past 18 years yet have not commented on the scandal since it broke last week. Together, the two countries are by far the largest donors to Rwanda, providing an estimated $344 million in annual aid, in addition to ongoing military training and assistance, as well as allying with Rwanda on security and other international issues.
The U.N., U.S., and U.K. should immediately make public their understanding of the role of Rwanda in the conflict in eastern Congo and the extent of their bilateral and multilateral relations with that country.
Given the wealth of evidence provided for grave human rights abuses linked to the Rwandan military in eastern Congo, the U.S. and U.K. governments should ensure that a transparent international investigation is launched into the allegations of Rwandan involvement in the conflict in eastern Congo. While this is ongoing, the U.S. and U.K.
should immediately suspend bilateral and multilateral budget support payments to the Rwandan government, and look closely at other aid categories that might be suspended as well depending upon the outcome of the investigation.
If these continued allegations are proven true, it means that beyond the brazen breach of Congolese national sovereignty, Rwanda is also in violation of several international laws and agreements, including a U.N. arms embargo on Congo, the crime of aggression through fomenting conflict in a neighboring country, and the forced recruitment of child soldiers. The U.S. and U.K. must send a clear signal to Rwanda that manipulation of security and political structures in eastern Congo will not be accepted nor ignored. The U.S. and U.K. will have to immediately reassess the nature of their policies and relationships with Rwanda to ensure that, by extension, they are not being willingly complicit in supporting these violations of international law.
A recent U.N. investigation found that Rwandan recruits were crossing into Congolese soil with arms and ammunition as early as February of this year. The internal U.N. report has been kept strictly confidential, but a U.N. source told Enough that the allegations were accurate, and that 24 Rwandan nationals are currently at the U.N. transit camp for demobilized combatants in Goma. The U.N. has strictly forbidden access to these individuals, apparently because of Rwandan government pressure. According to sources within the U.N. and the Congolese army, the fighters were trained in Rwanda, as the BBC reported. Human Rights Watch published similar evidence on June 4, reinforcing allegations that Rwanda is arming and staffing the mutiny. New recruits have brought Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, and anti-aircraft artillery to Runyoni, in Rutshuru territory, the main base of the rebellion. Intelligence and military officials, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to the Enough Project the recruitment start date of early February.
Some of the Rwandan nationals were forcefully recruited, according to both the U.N. source Enough spoke to and HRW. HRW also found that some recruits are children under the age of 18.
The U.N. bases its allegations on statements from 11 Rwandan recruits who turned themselves in for demobilization. “They were recruited with the pretext to join the Rwandan army, and not to fight in a rebellion on foreign territory,” the U.N. source said. As of last week, at least 14 Rwandan nationals had turned themselves over to the U.N. and are in the U.N. transit camp in Goma. No outside investigators are allowed to speak to the surrenders out of fear that the incident could become a diplomatic nightmare.
"They said they were recruited in a village called Mundede, that they received training in handling weapons and that they were sent to the DRC to join M23," said Hiroute Guebre-Selassie, head of the U.N. mission in Congo, MONUSCO.
The Rwandan government has vehemently denied any involvement with the rebel group. Its foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, called the allegations “categorically false and dangerous.” U.N. Special Representative to Congo Roger Meece has reportedly been invited by Rwandan President Paul Kagame to account for the allegations. A joint commission by both countries has been established to investigate the allegations, but U.N. sources told the Enough Project that Rwanda is pushing its Congolese counterparts on the commission to misrepresent the surrendered fighters as people of “Congolese Kinyarwanda speaking backgrounds” rather than Rwandan nationals.
As more evidence of the close collaboration between the mutineers and the Rwandan government surfaces, the CNDP political wing—whose former members largely make up the new M23 group—has now declared its opposition to the Congolese president who they helped to reelect in last year’s elections through voter fraud and violence. The CNDP disavowed the presidential majority on June 2, making the same complaints as the M23 when it publicly established its agenda a few weeks ago. The CNDP political leadership has distanced itself from the M23, in an attempt to ensure it will not be blamed for violating the Congolese constitution’s provision that prohibits political parties from having military forces. However, the similar grievances articulated by both point to a close association between the CNDP-affiliated politicians and rebels that is difficult to ignore.
U.N. Report Says Rwandans Recruited to Fight in Congo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/africa/un-says-rwandans-recruited-to-fight-in-congo.html?_r=1
By JOSH KRON
Published: May 28, 2012
KAMPALA, Uganda — As the Democratic Republic of Congo
teetered on the edge of civil war three and a half years ago, its tiny neighbor
to the east, Rwanda, was accused of
stirring the conflict by supporting a Congolese rebel leader.
According to the report, dated this month,
rebel soldiers who have defected told United Nations officials that they were
Rwandans who had been sent across the border to fight in a mutiny in eastern Congo
that has displaced tens of thousands of civilians.
The report goes on to say that the Rwandan
authorities have been seemingly complicit in recruiting soldiers for the new
Congolese rebel leader, Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International
Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a statement on Monday, Rwanda denied
and condemned the accusations, calling them “false and dangerous claims.”
“Rwanda has maintained from the
outset that the current instability in the eastern D.R.C. is a matter for the
Congolese government and military,” the statement said. “Rwanda’s national interest is
served by containing conflict and building deeper bonds of peace with our
neighbors.”
The relationship between Rwanda and Congo
has long been considered crucial to the stability in
one of Africa’s least stable regions, an area
laid waste by militias over the last two decades.
Tensions began soon after
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in
which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis were killed by Hutus. Many organizers
of the genocide fled across the border and later established a Hutu rebel group
in eastern Congo
bent on overturning the Rwandan government. Various militias supported by
neighboring countries have been organized in Congo over the years. Rwanda in
particular was accused of supporting Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese
rebel who is also an ethnic Tutsi, and his movement, known as the National
Congress for the People’s Defense, or the C.N.D.P., which in 2008 threatened to overturn the Congolese
government.
Mr. Nkunda was captured by
Rwandan forces in early 2009, and under a peace agreement signed on March 23 of
that year, the C.N.D.P., with General Ntaganda as its new leader, was
integrated into the Congolese Army, although it kept its own command structure
largely intact.
General Ntaganda was born in
Rwanda,
and like Mr. Nkunda, once had military ties to the government there. Although
he was accused of orchestrating a massacre in eastern Congo as a rebel
in 2008, General Ntaganda became a senior officer in the Congolese Army,
working alongside the United Nations as well as Rwanda to subdue the Hutu rebels.
But last month, President Joseph Kabila of Congo made an unusual public
call for General Ntaganda’s arrest, and pressure has mounted to extradite
him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
About the same time,
General Ntaganda mutinied, leading hundreds of his former followers back into
open rebellion. The new rebel group is known as M23, after the date when the
2009 peace agreement was signed.
Fighting between the rebels
and the Congolese government has left an untold number dead, and more than
10,000 refugees have crossed into Rwanda
and Uganda.
The United Nations report
summarizes interviews with 11 rebels who have defected. They said they were
recruited in Rwanda
between February and April under the pretense that they would be joining the
Rwanda Army.
Instead, according to the
report, the defectors were driven to a military camp in northwestern Rwanda and told
to relinquish their national identification cards and their personal effects.
They said they were issued fatigues and were marched overnight by men in
Rwandan military uniforms into eastern Congo.
At a military base there, the defectors said, they
underwent basic training alongside hundreds of other recruits. Some of the defectors said they were told they were in Congo to fight
the Congolese government; others said they were told they were defending
Rwandan-speaking people in the region.
Opposition party UPC yesterday called on the government to intervene and
restore peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also warned against
taking a partisan position.
The party urges the Kampala establishment to intervene as “a peace builder” but not protagonists in the conflict as they did in the 90s.
“UPC as a Pan-African party, we note with deep concern what is happening in the DR Congo,” Mr Okello Lucima, the party’s spokesperson, said at a weekly news conference.
Mr Lucima said Uganda, which has already committed to regional diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict, must still draw from past mistakes when the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was sucked into war with DRC and other countries.
Uganda was accused of committing atrocities and plundering Congo’s natural resources that resulted in legal battles between the two countries at the Hague-based International Court of Justice. Uganda was fined to pay $10billion as compensation to DR Congo.
Several Ugandan army officers and politicians were personally held responsible buta locally-constituted commission of inquiry exonerated them of any wrong doing.
Information and National Guidance Minister Mary Karooro Okurut welcomed the counsel from UPC, saying it was in line with government’s approach of finding a long lasting solution to the troubles in the Great Lakes region. “NRM has always believed and practiced dialogue to resolve conflict. When called in by both parties, government will willingly step in,” Ms Okurut said.
Separately, UPC faulted government for the inter-tribal conflict among Bamba, Basongora and Bakonjo tribes in the Rwenzori sub-region. The party said creation of districts along tribal lines and the proliferation of chiefdoms at the prompting of government are the main reason why there is tension in the area.
“No country can achieve a meaningful social and economic process without a sense of common belonging among its citizens. Today, Uganda is highly fragmented and polarised, particularly along ethnic and religious lines due to Museveni’s systematic divide and rule policies,” Mr Lucima said.
“We must end the creation of districts, administrative and electoral constituencies based on ethnic, culture or religion particulars,” he said.
rwanambwa@ug.nationmedia.com
Uganda govt Should act as a peace builder in DR Congo crisis: oh really!!!!
UPC asks govt to act peace builder in DR Congo crisis
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/UPC+asks+govt+to+act+peace+builder+in+DR+Congo+crisis/-/688334/1451698/-/fkl5v9z/-/index.html
By RICHARD WANAMBWA
Posted Thursday, July 12 2012 at 01:00
Posted Thursday, July 12 2012 at 01:00
The party urges the Kampala establishment to intervene as “a peace builder” but not protagonists in the conflict as they did in the 90s.
“UPC as a Pan-African party, we note with deep concern what is happening in the DR Congo,” Mr Okello Lucima, the party’s spokesperson, said at a weekly news conference.
Mr Lucima said Uganda, which has already committed to regional diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict, must still draw from past mistakes when the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was sucked into war with DRC and other countries.
Uganda was accused of committing atrocities and plundering Congo’s natural resources that resulted in legal battles between the two countries at the Hague-based International Court of Justice. Uganda was fined to pay $10billion as compensation to DR Congo.
Several Ugandan army officers and politicians were personally held responsible buta locally-constituted commission of inquiry exonerated them of any wrong doing.
Information and National Guidance Minister Mary Karooro Okurut welcomed the counsel from UPC, saying it was in line with government’s approach of finding a long lasting solution to the troubles in the Great Lakes region. “NRM has always believed and practiced dialogue to resolve conflict. When called in by both parties, government will willingly step in,” Ms Okurut said.
Separately, UPC faulted government for the inter-tribal conflict among Bamba, Basongora and Bakonjo tribes in the Rwenzori sub-region. The party said creation of districts along tribal lines and the proliferation of chiefdoms at the prompting of government are the main reason why there is tension in the area.
“No country can achieve a meaningful social and economic process without a sense of common belonging among its citizens. Today, Uganda is highly fragmented and polarised, particularly along ethnic and religious lines due to Museveni’s systematic divide and rule policies,” Mr Lucima said.
“We must end the creation of districts, administrative and electoral constituencies based on ethnic, culture or religion particulars,” he said.
rwanambwa@ug.nationmedia.com
