The destruction of the Congo
says much more about the West than it does about the Central African country.
It reveals most clearly that the West is largely a criminal enterprise, the
prosperity of which is based on the genocide of Third
World people and the theft of their resources. The Congo is perhaps the worst example of this but
the West has followed the same policy in Asia, Africa and Latin
America for centuries. In this sense, Western countries can be
seen as a murderous mafia led by their godfather the United States government for which
no amount of blood and wealth is enough. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/october-2001-western-heart-darkness
UN peacekeepers and a Congolese police officer stand in Goma, near the Rwandan border, shortly before the city fell to the M23 rebel militia. Photograph: Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images
FIRST READ:
Chaos by Design: When aggressors become mediators: When wolves pretend to be sheep: The US supports Museveni Congo mediation: M23 rebels capture Goma as the UN looks on: Kabila and Kagame fly to Kampala for talks
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/chaos-by-design-when-aggressors-become.htmlCongolese protest over eastern violence
UN security council condemns Goma takeover by M23 rebels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/21/congo-unitednations
Vote calls for rebels to
pull back and disarm, while France
criticises United Nations force for surrendering city
- Staff and agencies
- guardian.co.uk,
Diplomats at the UN and regional mediators in Central Africa sought on Wednesday night to ward off a deeper conflict after rebels widely believed to be backed by Rwanda captured the eastern Congolese city.
Uganda's president is trying to broker a meeting between the leaders of Congo and Rwanda in Kampala.
The French government expressed broad frustrations with UN peacekeepers, who gave up the battle for the town of one million after Congo's army retreated. France said it was "absurd" the force known as Monusco did not protect the city.
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused neighbouring Rwanda, whose army had repeatedly intervened in Congo's conflicts during the last 15 years, of backing the rebels. Kigali denies the charge and has called for dialogue.
The security council approved a resolution drafted by France, releasing a statement that "demands the immediate withdrawal of the M23 from Goma, the cessation of any further advances by the M23 and that its members immediately and permanently disband and lay down their arms".
The council expressed "deep concern at reports indicating that external support continues to be provided to the M23, including through troop reinforcement, tactical advice and the supply of equipment, causing a significant increase of the military abilities of the M23, and demands that any and all outside support to the M23 cease immediately".
Hundreds of rebels, who took up arms in April complaining that Kinshasa had failed to comply with the terms of a deal that ended a previous rebellion in 2009, poured into the lakeside town on Tuesday. After sporadic gunfire, government troops melted away to the west.
UN peacekeepers who had launched helicopter gunships to back the army did nothing to stop rebels moving into town. The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said: "Monusco is 17,000 soldiers but sadly it was not in a position to prevent what happened. It is necessary that the Monusco mandate is reviewed."
A senior UN official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the withdrawal of civilian and military Congolese officials had left a void it could not fill alone. "We're not the army of any country, let alone the Congolese army, and it's not for us to take positions by ourselves to stop a rebel attack or the movement of rebels," the official said. "Our job is to protect civilians."
The
M23 rebellion has aggravated tensions between Congo
and its neighbour Rwanda,
which Kinshasa's
government says is orchestrating the insurgency as a means of grabbing the
chaotic region's mineral wealth that includes diamonds, gold and coltan, used
in mobile phones.
Thousands of local residents cheering on as government soldiers and police disarmed and surrendered [Al Jazeera]
Goma falls to Congo rebels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/20/goma-falls-congo-rebels?intcmp=239
M23 militia, which the UN
says is backed by Rwanda,
takes control of eastern city despite presence of peacekeepers
- Pete Jones in Goma and David Smith in Johannesburg
- guardian.co.uk,
The militia group M23, allegedly backed by neighbouring Rwanda, marched into the city of 1 million people on Tuesday morning after days of clashes.
Scores of heavily armed rebels walked through the city unchallenged as UN peacekeepers watched and small groups of residents greeted them.
M23 spokesman Colonel Vianney Kazarama told Reuters: "The town of Goma fell at 11.33 local time, despite the attack helicopters, despite the heavy weapons, the FARDC [Congolese army] has let the town fall into our hands."
M23 and the Congolese army were engaged in running battles in the centre of Goma from early on Tuesday morning. M23 made significant advances, particularly in the streets around the airport, which remained under the control of the UN peacekeeping mission, Monusco.
Sporadic booms and persistent light arms fire echoed around the eerily deserted streets of the normally bustling city centre. By late morning M23 had forced the army towards the west of the city; many government troops then fled on the road leading west.
At midday a patrol of some 20 M23 fighters marched down the principal Boulevard Kanyamuhunga, all the way to the Rwandan border. The few citizens who remained greeted the rebels with applause and cries of "Karibou!" – Swahili for welcome.
Police gladly surrendered their weapons at the border post as M23 soldiers secured the abandoned immigration offices.
Monusco did not engage M23 in battle in Goma, according to a South African soldier who did not give his name. "We [Monusco] have had no trouble with M23, to be honest," he said.
The 20 M23 soldiers continued their patrol along the shore of Lake Kivu and met UN armoured personnel carriers along the way. No shots were fired or animosity shown.
Not all citizens were as pleased as those applauding the rebels near the border. Bisimwa Sadiki sat with his family outside a Monusco base. "We came to Monusco to hide, but they won't open the gates," Sadiki said.
"We're scared M23 will kill us. These soldiers haven't done anything but they are just the first wave – we don't know if others will come and attack us."
Chantelle Kambeba was also keen to express her disappointment in the national army, which by early afternoon seemed to have abandoned the city. "We haven't seen them at all, we don't know where they are," she said.
There was also scorn for the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila. "Kabila's little game is finished," said Gabriel Alamazani. "He must resign, he must hand power to [opposition leader Étienne] Tshisekedi. He cannot continue now."
The M23 uprising against Kabila began in April. The group has been accused by the UN and Human Rights Watch of atrocities including rapes and the recruitment of child soldiers.
There have been warnings of a humanitarian disaster if fighting continues. Tariq Riebl, Oxfam's humanitarian co-ordinator, said: "More than 50,000 people have fled camps and homes since Sunday and are in dire need of shelter, water and food. Families have been split up overnight and people are desperately going between sites trying to find loved ones.
"If fighting intensifies further, there are very few places people can go for safety. With almost 2.5 million people now displaced across eastern Congo, this catastrophe requires a concerted humanitarian and diplomatic response."
Goma was last threatened by rebels in 2008 when fighters stopped just short of the city.
DR Congo rebels capture Goma, accused of atrocities
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h9Ub2sQ-gfJ91-Z0E35rPBHkUZrw?docId=CNG.1b924e9a4a88e36e9c27a4a1356d5dfb.4e1
By Phil Moore (AFP)
GOMA, DR Congo — Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo seized the key eastern city of Goma amid warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe, with the United Nations and others reporting killings, abductions, looting and extortion of civilians.Locals however cheered and applauded two vehicles full of rebels as they drove around the city centre after fighters of the M23 movement marched into the city facing little resistance.
Witnesses reported that rebel chief Sultani Makenga had arrived in the capital of mineral-rich North Kivu province, capping a week-long advance by the M23.
In a radio broadcast, rebel spokesman Vianney Kazarama appealed for calm and ordered police and government soldiers to surrender on Wednesday morning at Goma's football stadium.
While the rebels claimed to have captured both the city and its airport, a UN spokesman said peacekeepers were in control of the airport and that UN forces were still on patrol in the city.
The UN has around 1,500 "quick reaction" peacekeepers in Goma, part of some 6,700 troops in North Kivu province, backing government forces against the rebels.
The UN defended its peacekeepers after Goma fell, saying a battle for the city would have put civilians at risk.
"Fifteen hundred in a city of a million, there has to be a value judgement made," said UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey.
"Do you open fire and put civilians at risk or do you hold your fire, continue your patrols, observe what is happening and remind the M23 that they are subject to international humanitarian and human rights law."
France on Tuesday called for a review of the peacekeepers' mandate to allow them to engage directly with rebel forces, not merely to protect civilians.
"Giving them a mandate that does not allow them to intervene is absurd," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told journalists.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a new condemnation of "grave" human rights violations by the rebels.
"Reports indicate that the M23 has wounded civilians, is continuing abductions of children and women, is destroying property and is intimidating journalists and those who have attempted to resist their control," spokesman Del Buey told reporters.
Retreating government troops have also been accused of looting.
Ban vowed Sunday that peacekeepers would stay in Goma, after UN combat helicopters and government troops failed to stop the rebel advance.
The rebels have been blamed for hundreds of deaths since they launched their uprising in April. UN experts have accused neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda of backing the M23, a charge both countries deny.
Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes or refugee camps around Goma, a city of about one million that is sheltering tens of thousands of refugees.
Aid group Oxfam described the situation as "a humanitarian catastrophe on a massive scale" and urged the international community to act.
In a report, it said civilians were being raped, kidnapped and killed, as well as "being subjected to an unprecedented level" of extortion and looting.
DR Congo President Joseph Kabila meanwhile urged people to defend the nation's sovereignty.
In a televised address to the nation, he alluded to Rwanda's alleged role in the conflict.
"DR Congo is today confronted with a difficult situation," Kabila said. "When a war is imposed, one has an obligation to resist. I ask that the entire population defend our sovereignty."
In Goma, few locals ventured outside their homes on Tuesday.
"What country are we in?" one bewildered woman who gave her name as Suzanne Bita asked, telling AFP: "The people who have just arrived come from Rwanda."
The M23, formed by former members of an ethnic Tutsi rebel group, mutinied in April after the failure of a 2009 peace deal that integrated them into the regular army.
The Tutsis are the minority ethnic group of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the target of the 1994 genocide in that country that claimed an estimated 800,000 lives.
Kabila and Kagame were both in Kampala on Tuesday for talks on the crisis. As he left for the Ugandan capital, Kabila said he would be "presenting proof against the countries mentioned".
Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said earlier that "political dialogue is the only way to resolve the ongoing conflict" and pledged to work towards a "full and durable peace".
The rebels on Tuesday also took control of the border posts between Goma and Gisenyi, the town on the Rwandan side of the border, an AFP journalist said.
In Gisenyi, people seemed relieved at the rebel takeover.
"They welcomed them with cheers because the government soldiers had fled," leaving a security vacuum, said a man who had fled Goma and who gave his name only as Alain.
Rwandan Jean-Bosco said: "We can only be happy, because it is over.... It was the (Kinshasa) authorities who stirred up the hatred" of Congolese Tutsis, sometimes branded as "foreigners" in the DR Congo.
Two wars that shook the whole of DR Congo between 1996 and 1997 and then again from 1998 to 2002 both began in the Kivu region, with Rwanda and Uganda both playing active or behind-the-scenes roles in much of the fighting.
Since 1998 more than three million people are estimated to have died from combat, disease and hunger and 1.6 million have been left homeless.
The former Belgian colony, known as Zaire under the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was toppled in 1997, remains one of the world's least developed countries despite a wealth of cobalt, copper, diamonds and gold.
