Les forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo ont repris le contrôle des localités de Masisi et Rutshuru, dans la province du Nord-Kivu, qui étaient occupées depuis quelques jours par des soldats mutins loyals au général Bosco Ntaganda.

The Congolese army has regained control of the areas of Masisi and Rutshuru, in North Kivu province, which were occupied last week by mutinous soldiers loyal to renegade general Bosco Ntaganda. DR Congo’s Army Chief of Staff, General Didier Etumba, said in a press release on Sunday that military operations against the “undisciplined” soldiers have been suspended.

President Joseph Kabila held a two-hour meeting with army officers based in North and South Kivu provinces on Tuesday to insist on military discipline and cohesion.

President Joseph Kabila and the Congolese Army Chief of Staff, General Didier Etumba, arrived in Goma on Monday to deal with the security threat posed by the defections of former rebels integrated in the army under a peace deal.

The military operation codenamed “Umbrella” and other joint special operations against Ugandan LRA rebels have significantly reduced their freedom of action and their maneuvering space in Orientale Province, the military spokesman for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Lt-Colonel Mamadou Gaye, said on Wednesday in Kinshasa during a press briefing.

An army Colonel accused of ordering the mass rape of at least 49 women in eastern Congo has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The United Nations Security Council imposed targeted measures including travel bans and asset freezes on four Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) leaders and a former Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) commander integrated in the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), on Wednesday, at the request of the permanent missions to the United Nations of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Un rapport du groupe d’experts chargés du suivi des sanctions des Nations Unies contre la République démocratique du Congo a mis en cause d’anciens soldats du CNDP, qui font maintenant partie des Forces armées congolaises (FARDC), dans l’exploitation illégale des ressources minières dans l’est du Congo. Le CNDP a été intégré au sein des FARDC (du moins officiellement), suite à un accord de paix signé en 2009 et un rapprochement entre les gouvernements congolais et rwandais. Le rapport indique que “des unités des FARDC issues de l’ex-Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) ont pris le contrôle militaire de la plupart [...]

A report by a group of experts monitoring UN sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo has implicated former CNDP soldiers, now part of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), in the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in eastern Congo.

During a press conference held in Kinshasa on Saturday, Defence Minister Charles Mwando Nsimba expressed outrage at the remarks made by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, before the UN Security Council on Thursday.