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
FIRST READ:
When the United Nations exposed itself as a CLIENT STATE of the American New World order system: United Nations distances itself from Congo report: Mean while report accuses Ugandan generals and UPDF for supporting M23 rebels
UN+UN peace keeping in Congo =American New World Order: UN security council condemns Goma takeover by M23 rebels: Rebels accused of gross human rights violations: DR soldiers surrender to M23 rebels
The American New World system and its Bogus elites: Former United States Under-Secretary for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer questions the credibility of a report by a group of UN experts accusing Rwanda and Uganda of backing a rebellion in DRC:
Trying to fool the world that the Conflict in the DR Congo is a regional crisis without western tentacles: Great Lakes leaders arrive for Congo crisis meet
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
Already created a state with in a state: M23 accused of imposing new leaders and taxes
DRC PEACE DEAL: 10 Dead As M23 Factions Clash
http://ugandadailyeye.jibostudios.com/2013/02/drc-peace-deal-10-dead-as-m23-factions-clash/
Clashes between rival factions of the March 23 movement (M23) in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo have left 10 people dead.The fighting broke out late on Sunday in the Rutshuru area because of differences within the ranks of M23 over the stance the rebels should take on the peace deal that was signed by regional leaders on Sunday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
A hospital source in the town of Rutshuru said that 10 people died in the clashes, while two injured men were taken in for medical treatment.
On Sunday, the eleven countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa signed a UN-mediated peace agreement meant to end the interminable cycles of violence that have been plaguing the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for many years.
The leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia signed the peace deal, which paves the way for the deployment of a new military brigade to take on rebel groups fighting the Kinshasa government.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended the signing ceremony, but no representatives of rebel groups came to Addis Ababa.
In a meeting in the Mozambican capital Maputo on February 8, leaders from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) approved the deployment of a 4,000-strong peacekeeping force, which would come from Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries, to Congo.
The force will be able to combat “whoever is trying to destabilize the situation in the eastern part of Congo,” SADC Secretary General Tomaz Salomao said after the meeting.
The force would be contained within the existing UN peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO — the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In July 2012, Congolese President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, along with other leaders from the Great Lakes region, signed an accord that called for the creation of a neutral international military force to combat rebels in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu in the eastern Congo.
The agreement also called for the Great Lakes leaders to work with the African Union and the United Nations “for an immediate establishment of a neutral international force to eradicate M23, FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), and all other negative forces in eastern DRC, and patrol and secure the border zones.”
The M23 rebels defected from t
he Congolese army in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). They had previously been integrated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed in 2009.
Since early May 2012, nearly 3 million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but more than 460,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.
Agencies
SADC, ICGLR leaders sign DR Congo peace deal in Addis Ababa
Regional Leaders Sign DR Congo
Peace Deal
VOA News -
February 24, 2013
Eleven African countries have signed a peace deal aimed at
ending decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The agreement
was signed on Sunday at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region will likely lead to deploying an intervention brigade in the DRC.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says the agreement is composed of two mechanisms:
“First of all, commitment by the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo to implement all what we expect the DRC government and people would do, including security sector reform as well as capacity building and closely working with the leaders of the neighboring countries," said Ban. "And another responsibility is to be ensured by the signing parties of the neighboring countries together with the regional organization.”
The agreement also calls on countries in the region to abstain from interfering in the internal affairs of neighboring countries and to structurally reform institutions in the DRC.
The presidents of DRC, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Congo and South Sudan attended the ceremony and signed the agreement, as did senior representatives from Uganda, Angola, Zambia, Burundi and the Central African Republic. A signing ceremony planned for January was cancelled at the last moment, as more time was needed to bring everyone on board.
Many agreements have been signed in the past, but DRC President Joseph Kabila says he is confident that this peace accord will have more impact as it differs from previous agreements:
“Today it’s under the auspicious of not a region but the United Nations, the African Union and the region of the Great Lakes and the SADC region and of course our continental body the African Union. So that in itself is a change as opposed to the agreements that were signed in the past," said Kabila.
Ban Ki-Moon will appoint a U.N. Special Envoy in the coming days to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement.
A U.N. peace-keeping mission of about 17,000 troops is already deployed in the DRC. The intervention brigade will be integrated with this force called MONUSCO, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC.
The DRC has known armed conflicts for more than two decades, especially in the mineral-rich areas in the east of the country. More violence erupted in April 2012 and M23 rebels captured several cities last November, demanding the government implement a peace deal signed in 2009 that would integrate rebels into the Congolese army.
Leaders of the Great Lake region will meet again in Kampala, Uganda on March 15 to continue discussions with M23 rebels.
Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, signs the peace accord Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
African leaders sign Congo peace deal
By CNN Staff
February 25, 2013 -- Updated 1531 GMT (2331 HKT)
Government forces are battling the
M23 rebel group in the eastern part of that country.
"It is my earnest hope that the
framework will lead to an era of peace and stability for the peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.
Ban praised the framework but stressed that it marks just the beginning of a "comprehensive approach that will require sustained engagement."
The deal was signed in the Ethiopian
capital of Addis Ababa by envoys of several
African nations, including Uganda
and Rwanda.
Representatives from the rebel group were not involved.
Ban said that a U.N. special envoy
would be appointed to support the deal's implementation.
South African President Jacob Zuma
said the agreement represents an opportunity.
"This framework in itself does
not provide all the answers, it is an instrument that points the Government of
the DRC, its immediate neighbors and the international community in a direction
that will take this country out of the current morass," Zuma said at the
signing ceremony. The possible deployment of an intervention brigade of U.N.
troops has been mentioned as a way of stabilizing the nation's restive eastern
region.
The agreement had been expected to
be signed last month, but was delayed because of what Ban described as
"procedural issues."
The M23 group was named for a peace
deal of March 23, 2009, which it accuses the government of violating. The
soldiers, mostly Tutsis, became part of the national army through that accord.
However, they broke away from the
Congolese army in April, complaining they weren't being promoted as promised
and because of a lack of pay and poor conditions.
Fighting between the M23 and the
army has displaced close to a million people in North Kivu province and more
than 300,000 in the southeastern province
of Katanga, according to
the United Nations.
The unrest continues a cycle of misery in eastern Congo,
a mineral-rich region at the epicenter of political and ethnic conflict
involving its neighbors to the east, Uganda
and Rwanda.
The area has been embroiled in violence since 1994, when Hutu forces crossed
the border from Rwanda
fearing reprisals after the genocide in that country.
U.N. chief wants special force to combat Congo rebels
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/640142-u-n-chief-wants-special-force-to-combat-congo-rebels.html
Publish Date: Feb 26, 2013
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will urge the Security Council to approve a force to fight rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a draft report seen on Monday, which also applauded suspension of aid to Rwanda over claims it backs the insurgents.
In the draft of a special report to the 15-member council, Ban said a brigade of several thousand soldiers should be created within the existing U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and be deployed initially for one year.
"The intervention brigade would carry out targeted offensive operations, either on its own or jointly with the FARDC (Congolese army), in a robust, highly mobile and versatile manner," Ban said in a copy of the draft obtained by Reuters.
He added that the intervention brigade would focus on preventing the expansion of armed groups, "neutralizing" and disarming them. Such peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations.
In practical terms, U.N. diplomats say, troops in the brigade will have more freedom to open fire without having to wait until they are attacked first, a limitation that is standard for U.N. peacekeepers deployed around the world.
Ban warned that ongoing support to armed groups in Congo by "neighboring countries continued to be a source of serious instability, and should have tangible consequences for perpetrators." He did not name any countries in the draft.
Some sections of the draft report could be changed before it is approved by Ban's office and given to the Security Council. He is due to brief the council on his proposals next week.
African leaders signed a U.N.-mediated deal on Sunday aimed at ending two decades of conflict in Congo's east and paving the way for the intervention brigade. The 15-member U.N. Security Council will now need to pass a new resolution authorizing the force and diplomats have said it will likely be supported.
The U.N. Security Council's Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, said in a report last year that Rwanda's defense minister was commanding the M23 revolt in Congo and that Rwanda was arming the rebels and supporting them with troops.
Rwanda - now a member of the Security Council - has strongly denied involvement.
The United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Union reacted to the experts' accusations by suspending some aid to Rwanda, which relies on donors for about 40 percent of its budget.
"Actions taken by some bilateral donors to suspend aid and funds to those countries reportedly supporting in particular the M23 send a strong message that such practices must cease immediately," Ban said.
M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels' integration into the army. They have since deserted the army.
Reduce threat
Ban said that attempts to integrate rebels too quickly into the army as part of peace settlements had destabilised its command and control structures.
He said reform of the Congolise army was critical to building a professional force and that Congolese President Joseph Kabila had committed to make this a priority in 2013. Ban encouraged Kinshasa to focus first on creating a rapid reaction force of about five brigades to take on emerging threats.
He said the key priority for U.N. peacekeepers would be to reduce the threat of armed groups to a level that can be managed by Congolese security forces.
Ban said that the regional deal signed on Sunday included a commitment by the countries "not to interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring countries; to neither tolerate nor provide assistance or support of any kind to armed groups."
He said the intervention brigade would be made up of three battalions - two new battalions and one taken from the existing peacekeeping force - along with an artillery battery, a special forces company, a signals unit and support components.
The additional troops would not increase the total MONUSCO force beyond its authorized mandate of about 22,000. Diplomats say South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique are the most likely candidates to supply the troops for the intervention unit.
Ban said the intervention would be under the direct operational command of the MONUSCO force commander. The force will be aided by three surveillance drones, which U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous has said he hopes will be deployed by the summer.
Reuters
U.N. says Congo again on brink, peacekeepers need to combat rebels
http://www.africaglobalvillage.com/africanews/central-africa/democratic-republic-of-congo/1811-u-n-says-congo-again-on-brink,-peacekeepers-need-to-combat-rebels.html
Published on Friday, 22 February 2013 21:38
UNITED NATIONS | Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:30pm EST
(Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s resource-rich east is again on the brink of a major conflict, a senior U.N. official warned on Friday as he urged the U.N. Security Council to urgently approve plans for a peace enforcement unit to combat armed rebel groups.
Roger Meece, head of the U.N. mission in Congo known as MONUSCO, told the Security Council that the creation of a peace enforcement unit within the peacekeeping force – which would be a new move for the United Nations – was “an urgently needed and important response to the existing situation on the ground.”
Peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire, diplomats and U.N. officials say.
The Congolese government has reached an uneasy truce in eastern Congo with M23 rebels and Uganda is now hosting peace talks, but Meece warned of “increased fears and rumors in the area of an imminent resumption of large-scale military actions.”
“The overall situation is volatile and precarious, and could break down at any time into large-scale conflict without much, if any, prior warning,” Meece said. “Our forces and resources are stretched very thin over a broad area.”
“The M23 forces maintain an appearance of being well supplied, well provisioned, and well armed,” said Meece, adding that the rebels continued to recruit “new combatants, including through the use of force and widespread recruitment of minors.”
M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels’ integration into the army. They have since deserted the army.
EXTERNAL SUPPORT
The U.N. Security Council’s Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, said in a report last year that Rwanda’s defense minister was commanding the M23 revolt and Rwanda was arming the rebels and sending troops. Rwanda has strongly denied involvement.
A delayed U.N.-mediated regional peace deal aimed at ending two decades of conflict in eastern of Congo is due to be signed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also said in a report on MONUSCO on Tuesday that the command, equipment quality and fighting ability of M23 rebels when they captured Congo’s frontier city of Goma in November suggested that they had external support, but he did not say where from.
The M23 rebels took Goma in North Kivu province on November 20, but withdrew from the city 11 days later.
“While there has been a general pause in M23 offensive operations since their temporary occupation of the provincial capital of Goma late last year, the M23 has continued to consolidate their own administration structures in the portion of North Kivu they occupy,” Meece said.
Congo’s U.N. Ambassador Basile Ikouebe also urged the Security Council to quickly approve the deployment of a peace enforcement unit for MONUSCO. Ban is due to officially recommend to the 15-member council next week that such a force be created and diplomats have said the move will likely be supported.
“The time is right for this,” Ikouebe told the council.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Tuesday the United Nations had no choice but to create a peace enforcement brigade of a “robust nature” to take on the armed groups.
“The brigade would be tasked … with first preventing the expansion of those armed groups that sprout like toxic mushrooms after the rain all over the place, there’s at least 20 of them,” Ladsous told the International Peace Institute.
Source: reuters.com
