Dans un communiqué de presse publié dimanche, le Chef d’état-major des FARDC, le général Didier Etumba, a indiqué que les opérations militaires contre ces soldats « indisciplines » sont suspendues et appelle les commandants de leurs unités à créer de conditions favorables pour ceux qui veulent rejoindre l’armée régulière.

« Les FARDC ont suspendu depuis la nuit du 04 au 05 mai les opérations de neutralisation de ces indisciplinés », a indiqué le général Etumba.

« Dans le secteur opérationnel de Masisi et une partie de Rutshuru où ces indisciplinés avaient concentré leurs attaques aux FARDC, la situation a été maîtrisée et elle est à ce jour sous contrôle de nos forces armées », a-t-il affirmé.

Ces soldats mutins, anciens rebelles du CNDP intégrés dans l’armée en 2009 après un accord de paix, sont en débandade, selon les résidents de ces localités.

Le général Ntaganda est sous mandat d’arrêt de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) depuis 2006. Il est accusé d’avoir conscrit des enfants soldats entre 2002 et 2003 en tant que commandant dans la milice que dirigeait Thomas Lubanga dans la région de l’Ituri, en Province Orientale.

Le gouverneur du Nord-Kivu, Julien Paluku, a indiqué mardi que le général Ntaganda est désormais recherché par les autorités congolaises pour indiscipline.

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 and asked the commanders of their units to create favorable conditions for those who want to rejoin the regular army.

“Since the night of May 4 to 5, the FARDC have suspended the operations aimed at neutralizing these undisciplined soldiers,” General Etumba said.

“The situation is now under the control of our armed forces in the operational area of Masisi and Rutshuru, where some of these mutinous soldiers had concentrated their attacks on the FARDC,” he said.

According to the residents of these areas, the mutinous soldiers are in disarray. The former CNDP rebels were integrated into the army in 2009 under a peace agreement.

General Ntaganda was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2006. He is accused of using child soldiers between 2002 and 2003 as a commander in the FPLC militia led by Thomas Lubanga in the Ituri region, in northeastern DR Congo.

The governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku, said on Tuesday that General Ntaganda is now wanted by the Congolese authorities for indiscipline.

General Ntaganda’s whereabouts remain unclear, with some reports saying he may have joined forces with the Rwandan rebels of the FDLR based in eastern Congo.

The head of state arrived in Goma on Monday to deal with the security threat posed by the defections of former CNDP rebels integrated into the army under a peace deal.

DR Congo’s Army Chief of Staff, General Didier Etumba, said after the meeting that the mutinous soldiers will be dealt with according to military justice.

Soldiers must behave as citizens who respect the Congolese nation, General Etumba said. He added that those who do not comply with military regulations will be sanctioned individually according to their responsibilities in the mutiny even if they surrender.

Many of the defectors have begun surrendering as the Congolese army deployed reinforcements to the region after the defections began last week. Radio Okapi reported that 80 defectors surrendered with their commanders on Monday.

The fate and whereabouts of General Bosco Ntaganda remain unclear. The former CNDP rebel leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, is said to have instigated the rebellion fearing an arrest amid increasing calls for Congolese authorities to hand him over to the ICC.

General Etumba, who precedeed President Kabila in the capital of North Kivu Province, said upon his arrival that “those who do not want to submit to the republican order will be hunted down by the army,” alluding to the former CNDP rebels who left their units in North and South Kivu provinces last week.

“There are some undisciplined soldiers that must be hunted down and they are being hunted in the most radical way. This is not about demands. Someone who is undisciplined and does not want to submit to the Constitution of the Republic, the laws of the Republic, someone who does not follow the instructions of the President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Someone who refuses to be patriotic cannot serve under the flag. And when this happens, when they take up arms, well, they must be hunted and neutralized and those who have legal problems will have to answer for them.”

The defections began after Congolese authorities came under heavy pressure from the international community requesting the transfer of Bosco Ntaganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Former CNDP rebels began deserting their units, taking ammunitions and other military equipment with them.

General Ntaganda, a former CNDP rebel leader integrated in the army in 2009 under a peace deal, is wanted by the ICC for war crimes committed in 2002 and 2003 in the Ituri region, in north-eastern DR Congo. He is accused of conscripting children under the age of 15 into his militia.

After Thomas Lubanga was convicted by the ICC on March 14 for using child soldiers, ICC prosecutor José Luis Moreno Ocampo said he will press Congolese authorities to arrest Ntaganda.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders is reported to have urged President Kabila to arrest Ntaganda during a visit to Kinshasa two weeks ago.

Congolese authorities have so far resisted arresting Ntaganda, saying his arrest may cause more harm than good.

Ntaganda, a former member of the Rwandan army, replaced warlord Laurent Nkunda, also a former member of the Rwandan army, as the leader of the CNDP rebels who wreaked havoc in eastern Congo for years.

The United Nations accused Rwanda in 2008 of supporting the CNDP rebels. Congolese and Rwandan authorities struck a deal in 2009 that led to the arrest of Nkunda by the Rwandan army and subsequent joint military operations with the Congolese army against Rwandan FDLR rebels based in eastern Congo.

Lt-Colonel Gaye acknowledged that hunting LRA rebels in this part of north-eastern DRC is a arduous task:

“I can confirm that the LRA has been weakened. It is difficult to track them down. It is made of small groups of fighters who operate in very small groups, which are highly mobile. And they live on land that they control perfectly, which is roughly the size of France, where we have a battalion that is deployed but also some Ugandan army units that operate along with the FARDC.”

According to Lt-Colonel Gaye, MONUSCO has received information indicating that the LRA has been dislocated. Its elements usually move in the Garamba National Park, but also in the area around Dungu, Faradje and Niangara, where they mix with the people, he said.

Lt-Colonel Gaye hopes, however, that the different ongoing military operations against the LRA will lead to its total neutralization:

“The ongoing operations are targeted because we cannot use means that may inflict a heavy toll on the local populations. These operations are beginning to bear fruit. There are cases of defections [and] other cases of LRA members surrendering, which indicate that they are extremely tired. They are facing command, organizational and survival problems.”

 

Radio Okapi article

Lt. Colonel Kibibi Mutware was found guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering his troops to rape, beat and loot the population of Fizi, South Kivu province, on New Year’s Day.

A military court in eastern Congo also sentenced three officers serving under the commander to 20 years and five soldiers to between 10 and 15 years.

The United Nations welcomed the sentences as army soldiers and members of armed groups involved in sexual violence often go unpunished in the strife-torn eastern Congo region.

“Not only did the Congolese authorities react swiftly to the Fizi rapes in January and apprehended a number of the alleged perpetrators, but by all accounts the legal process has been fair and efficient,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, said in a statement.

“The sentences send a strong signal to all perpetrators in the DRC and beyond that conflict-related sexual violence is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. It also shows that accountability for sexual violence is possible,” stated Ms. Wallström.

Lt. Colonel Kibibi Mutware is a former Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) rebel who was integrated into the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) as the result of a 2009 peace agreement.

Exceprts from a joint press release from the permanent missions to the United Nations of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Background:

1. Gaston IYAMUREMYE, born in 1948 in Musanze District (Northern Province), Rwanda. According to multiple sources, including the UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts, Gaston Iyamuremye is considered a core member of the FDLR military and political leadership and has become the group’s president. Gaston Iyamuremye also ran Ignace Murwanashyaka’s (previous President of the FDLR) office in Kibua, DRC until December 2009.

2. Félicien NSANZUBUKIRE, born in 1967 in Murama, Kinyinya, Rubungo, Kigali, Rwanda. Félicien Nsanzubukire has been a member of the FDLR since at least 1994 and operating in eastern DRC since October 1998. The UNSC DRC Sanction Committee’s Group of Experts reports that Félicien Nsanzubukire supervised and coordinated the trafficking of ammunition and weapons between at least November 2008 and April 2009 from the United Republic of Tanzania, via Lake Tanganyika, to FDLR units based in the Uvira and Fizi areas of South Kivu.

3. Innocent ZIMURINDA, born in 1975 or on September 1, 1972 , in Ngungu, Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC. Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was an officer in the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) which was integrated into the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) in early 2009.

According to multiple sources, Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda, in his capacity as one of the commanders of the FARDC 231st Brigade, gave orders that resulted in the massacre of over 100 Rwandan refugees, mostly women and children, during an April 2009 military operation in the Shalio area.

The UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts reported that Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was witnessed first hand refusing to release three children from his command in Kalehe, on August 29, 2009.

According to multiple sources, Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda, prior to the CNDP’s integration into FARDC, participated in a November 2008 CNDP operation that resulted in the massacre of 89 civilians, including women and children, in the region of Kiwanja.

In March 2010, 51 human rights groups working in eastern DRC posted a complaint online alleging that Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda was responsible for multiple human rights abuses involving the murder of numerous civilians, including women and children, between February 2007 and August 2007. Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda has also been accused in the same complaint to be responsible for the rape of a large number of women and girls.

According to a May 21, 2010, statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Innocent Zimurinda has been involved in the arbitrary execution of child soldiers, including during operation Kimia II. According to the same statement, he denied access by the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) to screen troops for minors. According to the UNSC DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts, Lt Col Zimurinda holds direct and command responsibility for child recruitment and for maintaining children within troops under his command.

4. Leodomir MUGARAGU, born in 1954 or 1953, in Kigali, Rwanda or Rushashi (Northern Province), Rwanda. According to open-source and official reporting, Leodomir Mugaragu is the Chief of Staff of the Forces Combattantes Abucunguzi/Combatant Force for the Liberation of Rwanda (FOCA), the FDLR’s armed wing. According to official reporting, Mugaragu is a senior planner for FDLR’s military operations in the eastern DRC.

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 des zones stratégiques des Kivus riches en ressources naturelles, ce qui complique leur intégration dans les FARDC. Ce processus a également été entravé par le fait que le CNDP conserve des unités et des armes non intégrées, a des liens avec des groupes armés et présente de profondes divisions internes. Dernièrement, le CNDP s’est réunifié et a intensifié les recrutements afin de contrarier son redéploiement en dehors des Kivus.”

Extraits du rapport:

Obstacles à l’intégration des groupes armés

152. Les ex-officiers du CNDP intégrés aux FARDC ont déployé leurs unités mixtes dans la majeure partie du Nord-Kivu et du Sud-Kivu. Selon les FARDC, les exofficiers du CNDP se sont réunis à diverses reprises pour décider entre eux du déploiement de leurs troupes au lieu de suivre la voie hiérarchique normale. Le Groupe a recueilli auprès d’officiers des FARDC un certain nombre de témoignages dont il ressort que dans la plupart des brigades des FARDC, ce sont les ex-officiers du CNDP qui exercent le pouvoir de décision, même s’ils n’ont que le rang de commandant adjoint d’unités.

153. Alors que des rumeurs avaient circulé en septembre sur sa suspension imminente des fonctions qu’il exerce dans les FARDC, le général Bosco Ntaganda a conservé son poste de commandant adjoint des opérations Amani-Leo. Bien que les FARDC n’aient jamais admis publiquement qu’il jouait ce rôle, il l’a lui-même confirmé dans une interview accordée à l’agence Reuters, dont le texte a été publié le 6 octobre.

Liens avec des groupes armés

163. La collaboration d’ex-officiers du CNDP avec des groupes armés est un autre obstacle à l’intégration des forces du CNDP. Les débriefings d’anciens combattants rapatriés au Rwanda auxquels a procédé la MONUSCO indiquent que certains éléments du CNDP ont communiqué et collaboré en 2010 avec les FDLR (voir par. 87 et 88).

164. De plus, selon plusieurs témoignages dignes de foi, d’anciens officiers du CNDP sont en contact avec des dissident rwandais établis en Afrique du Sud, dont Patrick Karegeye, ancien chef des services de renseignement rwandais, et le général de corps d’armée Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, qui a échappé en juin 2010 à Johannesburg à une tentative d’assassinat. Le Groupe a été témoin en septembre, dans l’est de la RDC, d’un entretien entre Karegeye et des ex-officiers du CNDP intégrés aux FARDC. Selon les fonctionnaires des Nations Unies et les combattants interrogés par le Groupe, il est possible que Kayumba ait envoyé en février un émissaire s’entretenir en territoire congolais avec des chefs des FDLR, des FPLC et de groupes maï maï.

Exploitation illégale des ressources naturelles

173. En application du paragraphe 10 de la résolution 1896 (2009) du Conseil de sécurité, le Groupe d’experts a enquêté sur l’exploitation illégale et le trafic des ressources naturelles dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo et les mines stratégiques dont on sait qu’elles sont aux mains de groupes armés ou exploitées par eux. Le Groupe s’est entretenu avec de nombreux anciens combattants et s’est rendu dans plusieurs zones minières des provinces du Nord- Kivu et du Sud-Kivu. Une des principales constatations qui ressort de cette enquête est que les opérations militaires des FARDC ont chassé des principales zones minières de nombreux groupes armés congolais et étrangers, qui continuent néanmoins de contrôler des centaines de gisements dans des zones plus reculées. Le Groupe a établi aussi que les groupes armés recouraient de plus en plus à des intermédiaires pour investir dans les mines auxquelles ils n’ont plus accès et en acheter la production. Il a de plus constaté la recrudescence des raids de pillage ou de mise à sac lancés par des groupes armés contre des négociants en minéraux ou des transporteurs de produits miniers. Il estime que la majeure partie de la production minière finit par être écoulée sur des marchés légitimes après avoir transité par différents pays de la région. Enfin, le Groupe a recueilli des éléments d’information attestant les gains que les groupes armés continuent de tirer de ressources naturelles autres que les minéraux, en prélevant une partie des recettes provenant de l’exploitation des terres agricoles et des forêts, de la pêche, du braconnage et du commerce du charbon de bois.

174. Au début de septembre, le Président Kabila a dénoncé publiquement cette « espèce de mafia » dont il a dit qu’elle avait infiltré le secteur minier, et en a engagé les responsables soit à renoncer à leurs intérêts miniers, soit à renoncer à leur uniforme. Dans une déclaration publique ultérieure, le Ministre des mines a évoqué « la participation manifeste de certaines autorités locales, provinciales et nationales, tant civiles que militaires, à l’exploitation illégale et au commerce illicite des substances minérales » (voir annexe 19). Le Gouvernement justifie officiellement le gel temporaire des activités minières qu’il a décrété le 11 septembre 201014 dans les trois provinces de l’est (Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, et Maniema) par la nécessité de débarrasser le secteur minier de ces réseaux criminels.

175. Les travaux de recherche auxquels le Groupe a procédé confirment très nettement l’analyse que le Président et le Ministère des mines ont faite de la situation; la présente section du rapport met en lumière certains aspects des ingérences complexes et illicites de ces réseaux dans l’exploitation des ressources naturelles. Le Groupe considère que les cas dont il est question plus loin, les lieux où ils se sont produits et la position des individus en cause illustrent la militarisation de l’exploitation des ressources naturelles et ses incidences néfastes sur la sécurité, le respect des droits de l’homme et la stabilisation de l’est de la RDC.

176. L’implication des FARDC dans l’exploitation minière et dans le commerce des minéraux est illicite à plusieurs égards. L’article 27 du Code minier interdit aux fonctionnaires, y compris les membres des forces armées, de participer à des activités minières (voir annexe 20). De plus, le Président Kabila, commandant suprême des FARDC, ainsi que plusieurs officiers supérieurs, ont donné ordre aux militaires de se tenir à l’écart des activités minières (voir S/2010/252, annexe II). Les articles 63 à 65 et 113 du Code pénal militaire de la RDC interdisent les actes de pillage et le non-respect des ordres en présence de l’ennemi, en temps de guerre ou dans des circonstances exceptionnelles (voir annexe 21). Or, bien que certains procureurs militaires aient tenté d’appliquer ces dispositions du Code, il est dans la pratique difficile de les faire respecter pour diverses raisons, dont le manque de moyens logistiques et l’obstructionnisme d’officiers supérieurs.

177. Le conflit entre les intérêts économiques des réseaux criminels implantés dans les FARDC et la mission de l’armée, qui est d’assurer la sécurité, entraîne des conséquences très graves :

a) Les FARDC ne donnent pas la priorité à la protection des civils; b) Les FARDC comprennent des filières hiérarchiques concurrentes, et les cas d’insubordination n’y sont pas rares; c) Les FARDC négligent la poursuite des opérations militaires contre les groupes armés et finissent par cohabiter, voire agir en collusion avec eux.

Le Groupe conclut que cette situation a directement contribué à la persistance de la menace que font peser les groupes armés et fait très gravement obstacle au rétablissement de la sécurité dans l’est de la RDC.

The CNDP has been integrated in the FARDC (at least officially), following a peace accord signed in 2009 and a rapprochement between the Congolese and Rwandan governments.

The report says that “units of the former Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) in FARDC have gained military control over most of the strategic areas rich in natural resources in the Kivus, presenting a challenge to their integration into FARDC. ”

Excerpts from the report:

Challenges for the integration of armed groups

152. Former CNDP officers within FARDC have deployed their mixed units throughout most territories of North and South Kivu. According to FARDC sources, former CNDP officers have convened meetings in order to bypass approved channels in making decisions on troop deployments. The Group received testimony from a number of FARDC officers that former CNDP officers, even when posted as deputy commanders in FARDC units, are the real decision makers within most FARDC brigades.

153. After rumours of his imminent suspension from FARDC circulated in September, General Bosco Ntaganda remained deputy commander of Amani Leo operations. Although his role has never been officially acknowledged by FARDC, Ntaganda publicly confirmed it in a Reuters interview published on 6 October.

Links to armed groups

163. Another challenge to the CNDP integration process has been the collaboration of certain former CNDP officers with armed groups. MONUSCO debriefings with former combatants repatriated to Rwanda indicate communication and collaboration between certain elements within CNDP and FDLR in 2010 (see paras. 87 and 88).

164. In addition, according to credible testimony from various sources, former CNDP officers have been in contact with Rwandan political dissidents in South Africa, including Patrick Karegeye, the former head of Rwandan intelligence, and Lieutenant General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who survived an assassination attempt in June 2010 in Johannesburg. The Group directly witnessed a conversation between Karegeye and former CNDP FARDC officers in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September. According to United Nations sources and combatants interviewed by the Group, Kayumba may have sent an emissary to meet with FDLR, FPLC and Mai Mai leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in February.

Illegal exploitation of natural resources

173. The Group conducted numerous interviews with former combatants and visited several mining areas in North and South Kivu Provinces. A key finding of the Group from this research is that while FARDC military operations have driven many Congolese and foreign armed groups out of the principal mining areas, these groups nonetheless continue to control hundreds of more remote mining deposits. In addition, the Group has established that armed groups have increased their use of intermediaries to invest and purchase minerals in mines that they can no longer access. The Group has further noted an increase in pillaging and looting attacks by armed groups on mineral traders or transporters. The Group estimates that most minerals find their way onto legal markets through countries in the region. Finally, the Group has documented the financial benefits that armed groups continue to receive from natural resources other than minerals, such as land, timber, fishing, poaching and charcoal.

174. In early September, President Kabila publicly denounced the “kind of mafia” he said had become involved in mining, and called upon them to set aside either their mining interests or their uniforms. In a subsequent public statement, the Minister of Mines referred to “the manifest involvement of certain local, provincial, and national authorities, both civilian and military, in the illegal exploitation and illicit trade of mineral substances” (see annex 19). The need to rid the mineral trade of such criminal networks is the official justification for the Government’s temporary freeze on mining activities in the three eastern provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Maniema as from 11 September 2010.

175. The Group’s research strongly supports the analysis of the President and the Minister of Mines, and some aspects of the complex, illegal involvement of these networks in the exploitation of natural resources are documented in this section. The Group considers that the cases, locations and individuals included illustrate the militarization of natural resources and its negative impact on security, human rights and the stabilization of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

176. The involvement of FARDC in mining and the mineral trade is illegal for several reasons. Article 27 of the Mining Code prohibits public servants, including members of the armed forces, from involvement in mining (see annex 20). In addition, President Kabila, who is the FARDC supreme commander, and several senior FARDC officers have ordered the military to keep out of mining (see S/2010/252, annex II), and articles 63 to 65 and 113 of the military penal code of the Democratic Republic of the Congo prohibit looting and the violation of orders in the presence of the enemy or during wartime or under exceptional circumstances (see annex 21). Yet while some military prosecutors have sought to apply this law, in practice they face serious obstacles, including limited logistical resources and obstruction by superior officers.

177. The conflict between the economic interests of criminal networks within FARDC and the security mandate of the army has led to three critical negative consequences:

(a) Failure on the part of FARDC to prioritize the protection of civilians; (b) Competing chains of command and insubordination within FARDC; (c) Distraction from the pursuit of military operations against armed groups, leading to cohabitation and in some cases active collusion with those same groups.

Read full report

 “There is already some information from MONUSCO [UN mission in Congo] peacekeepers on the ground that rapes, killings and lootings have been perpetrated by FARDC [Congolese army] soldiers,” Wallström told the Security Council, without giving any details or proof on the allegations.

Wallström was returning from a trip to eastern Congo, where at least 300 women and children were raped for days by Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels and elements of a Mai Mai militia in August, a few kilometers from a United Nations peacekeepers’ base.

The United Nations has been heavily criticized for its failure to prevent these rapes, especially in light of the fact that the UN mission had received information of the presence of the rebels in the area. The Congolese army is now conducting operations against the rebels accused of these rapes.

“I want to express here my deepest indignation and raise the strongest protests against these serious charges, which objective is to curb the momentum of our forces in their determination to eradicate the last irreducible FDLR and throw an unfair discredit on our forces. These remarks do not honor the UN,” Mwando Nsimba said.

He added that, if the UN has any proof of its allegations, it should provide it. “We have a framework for exchanging information with MONUC, or MONUSCO”. They can alert us at any time, he said, of any commander, or soldier, who is involved in human rights abuses. “It’s called zero tolerance, zero.”

“We are not here to cover any abuses by the FARDC, to the contrary. We continue to seek help in putting out of service any soldiers who may be involved in such acts,” Mwando Nsimba said.