NKUNDA SAY UN CRIMINALS IN CONGO
The following is a partial transcript from the January 3, 2009 video interview of Congo's fighter-for-freedom, Laurent Nkunda. See NKUNDA LAST CONGO INTERVIEW. ~ Jackie Jura
...Now MONUC asked for the people to come to a camp for Internally Displaced People in Kiwanja. When I came, I went to the camp. And I told the population there: "There is no house here, you are under rain, please go back to your home and I'll be in charge if someone will be killed. I take the charge of your security. Please go home."
And MONUC, the following morning, they say: "Nkunda forced people to leave".
I'm asking people to go to their homes, and I'm taking in charge their security. I'm in charge. MONUC can not take in charge security of Congolese. Then it's a crime because I am asking them to go to their home? It's not understandable.
But going to Rutshuru, you are going to find 90% of the people in their houses; a small group around MONUC. Then ask them, in this 95% back: Who was killed; who was raped since I told them to go back?
It's not, you cannot force someone under rain to go to his house. Maybe you can force someone to leave his house, but not to be back.
And this is a crime, is a crime?
One day I told the responsible manager - the one in charge of Humanitarian Affairs - I told him: If we do a statistic in the camps around Goma, each week there is around 100 people dying of different disease.
Since CNDP exist, you accuse me to have killed 70 people in Rutshuru - 70 people in Masisi. It's 100 in four years.
But you are killing 100 people each week in your camps.
That's a powerful...
Please ask them to be back and accept to be killed at a rate of 100 for four years instead of dying 100 in one week.
You say CNDP will kill 100 in 4 years - but you are killing 100 each week - but for you it's not a crime. It's normal, 100 each week.
But for CNDP, 100 for four years. And even today you are not sure of what you said because we asked for an investigation and you are not doing, you didn't accept.
So let them back.
Now you can go in Rutshuru. And you are going to see they are in their houses, they are cultivating. Go and compare their life and the life of those in Displaced Camp. They are different, they are different.
Who is now criminal? The one maintaining someone out of his house? Or the one securing someone in his homeland? Who is criminal?
But because Nkunda (snap fingers) is known like that, now the world accept it like that.
But what I know is that I am doing for my people. And I cannot be courted by someone doing business here. I'll be courted by my people; not by someone doing business in the name of Humanitarian Affairs. I am not caring for it. Because I am in charge. Now I can do, and I have do. But they are doing business; they are paid for being in Congo. But I am not paid for it. But I have a responsibility for my people. Yes.
Have you met personally with Alan Doss? [top UN ambassador to Congo]
No.
You've never met with him?
No, we talked only on phone.
What do you say to him when you talk to him?
The first time I talked to him it was in January when we were in Goma in a Peace Talks of this Amani process. But we were talking when this discussion was going on.
One day I told him: You are coming with your tanks to ask us to shut our mouth.
But Congolese can enjoy today to be a British colony instead of being what we are today. But when I go in the former British colonies, there is infrastructures from the colony and there were education. But in Congo there is nothing: education nothing, infrastructure nothing.
That's why I told him: If African countries who were under your colony refused you to continue to colonise them - even if you were doing something - don't think that you are going to oblige us to shut mouth. Because we are going to fight.
It's a problem of freedom.
I gave him an example of South Africa. I said South Africa was under opposite, and this opposite was in some kind reinforced by your countries. And this so-called opposite raised South Africa today as the first strong country in Africa economically and politically. But even though South Africans opposed themselves to opposite - the first economy in Africa; the tenth in the world - he is bringing himself to represent Africa in the Security Council.
But we in the Congo there is no opposite. We are not a colony since 48 years. But the infrastructures brought in South Africa - by opposite - are not in Congo. The economy made by opposite in South Africa is not in Congo. This political power and representation - made by opposite to South Africa - is not in Congo.
So you are asking us to not fight. No. Congolese can enjoy opposite, if opposite will bring hospitals, salary, roads, schools and raise economy.
Our president is bad, and so bad - comparing to opposite - because he is robbing the country; he is destroying the country; he is destroying the people. He is destroying the economy and the minds. Because there is no education when teachers are not paid. He is destroying the nature of Congolese.
So you ask me to not fight.
I say to him: Bring the tanks and other aviation forces because we will fight until we will be free.
That's the last time I talked to him - when he engaged MONUC to fight.
And I told him: You are engaging MONUC to fight. I'll fight them because I'm fighting for freedom.
And you want me to shut mouth. And to be a slave - a slave in economic slavery of China. I'll not accept.
I'll fight 'til I die. Then my brothers will continue to fight. And my elders will fight. And my son will fight.
So does China's influence concern you now?
Yes, of course. Because we are going now in economic slavery, if we will accept this Chinese contract. It's the end for Congolese.
Yeah, I can say: What Congo can expect from the world is to help Congo to be free from this kind of leadership in power in the Congo.
Instead of bringing so much troops - we want to have well trained and equiped soldiers in the Congo.
Instead of spending much money giving to MONUC - we want to have roads.
Instead of bringing experts from elsewhere - we want well trained leaders for Congo.
If they want really to help Congo, please help us in training trained leaders, trained soldiers.
And help Congolese leaders to have the vision for the country.
And the country will give it to Congo - will be the one who loves Congo.
UN calls for extra US$38-million for Eastern Congo Civilians, NewsRoomAmerica, Jun 17, 2009
United Nations agencies and their partners have launched an appeal for US$38 million to help nearly one million people in need of assistance amid armed attacks and military operations in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the funds would be used for education, logistics, nutrition, non-food items, protection, water and sanitation in North and South Kivu, where renewed fighting has broken out. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ross Mountain said from Kinshasa that the prevailing situation has "practically brought us back to square one" and new financial contributions would ensure that lives are saved and allow humanitarians to stay the course. OCHA estimates that there are 780,000 returnees in South Kivu and 300,000 in North Kivu, while a total of 1.7 million people are currently internally displaced in the entire country. OCHA said the constant movement of population has also affected humanitarian workers as it has made the planning and the delivery of aid more difficult. The office said that weeks of fighting have left a "dire humanitarian situation characterised by massive population displacement, killings, acts of sexual violence, lack of protection and other human rights violations". "Humanitarian gaps such as the destruction of schools, the deterioration of water supply systems and health services, and the weak response against acts of sexual violence have grown wider OCHA," said...."The coming months will be trying times for thousands of men, women and children. Once again lives will be at risk, and without additional support, we will fail to meet our responsibility," Mr Mountain said on behalf of the humanitarian community.
Kabila Congo soldiers fire shots at UN base over no pay. AFP, Jun 17, 2009
Some Congolese soldiers, apparently disgruntled over months with no pay, fired shots at a UN base in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, UN officials said Wednesday. No one was injured in the shooting that took place late Monday in Pinga in Nord-Kivu province where some 160 UN peacekeepers are based, according to a spokesman for the UN mission in DR Congo known as MONUC. "No one was killed or injured. The armed men took off into the surrounding hills where sporadic gunfire could be heard during the night," said MONUC spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich. "The commander of the DR Congo armed forces (FARDC) told us later that they have arrested 27 soldiers believed responsible for firing" at the MONUC base, he added. According to a UN military source, the soldiers were showing "their discontent because they have not been paid for several months" by the Kinshasa government. Dietrich commented: "Not paying the salaries of the soldiers at the front is a major concern. The problem must be resolved quickly." The Congolese army is engaged in fighting rebel militias in the east of the vast central African country, including Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of having taken part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. MONUC provides logistical aid to the Congolese forces.
UN soldiers refuse to protect Kivu Congo people (watch Rwandan genocidal Hutu soldiers massacre, rape & loot civilians) NKUNDA CONGO'S ONLY PROTECTOR & FREE NKUNDA TO FIGHT FOR CONGO & NKUNDA FIGHTING FOR PEACE
CONGO ARMY NEEDS NKUNDA (training soldiers for the nation)
UN complicit in Congo Kabila army atrocities (unpaid FARDC soldiers prey on population) & Rwandan Hutus back to killing in Congo (since Nkunda gone no one to fight them) & 4,500 Hutu soldiers pillaging Congo civilians (committed genocide in Rwanda in 1994). AP/Reut/AFP, May 12-18, 2009 100,000 displaced in last month. AlterNet, Apr 24, 2009 DR Congo: over 100,000 uprooted in latest wave of rebel attacks, says UN. UN News Center, Apr 22, 2009 NKUNDA CAN'T BE COURTED (by someone doing business). Nkunda-Support Forum, Mar 27, 2009 (http://www.nkunda-support.com/support_page.html) For Congo's uprooted, fear trumps hopes for peace. AP, Mar 28, 2009 Tens of thousands more flee armed groups in eastern DR Congo, UN agency reports. UN News Center, Mar 27, 2009 10 Reasons to Free Major-General Laurent Nkunda Mihigo. CNDP-Congo.org, Mar 24, 2009 COMPATRIOTS DEMAND NKUNDA RELEASE NKUNDA SAVED CONGO GORILLAS (transcript of interview) NKUNDA SAY CONGO OWNS RESOURCES (transcript of interview) KABILA KILLS, RAPES & BLAMES NKUNDA (transcript of interview) Nkunda, Kagame receive European Commissioner for Development & Humanitarian Aid - Dec 12, 2008. YouTube (silent video of EU Commissioner Louis Michel's flight to Goma to meet with president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and helicopter flight to the bush to meet with Congolese rebel commander Laurent Nkunda) Nkunda would fight African peacekeepers if they were sent to Congo to back government troops. Guardian, Nov 10, 2009 Mugabe backing Kabila against Nkunda in Eastern Congo. NewTimes, Nov 2, 2008 Congo groups re-arming against Nkunda (6 planeloads weapons to Goma for Kabila helping Rwandan Hutus kill Tutsis). BBC, Aug 1, 2008 UN PEACEKEEPING NOT KEEPINGPEACE 6.Disputed Territories and 2.Big Brother and 12.Ministry of Peace (War) and 11.Ministry of Plenty (Starvation) Jackie Jura email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
UNHCR is increasingly concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as Congolese civilians continue to flee their homes fearing reprisal attacks by the rebel Hutu militia, the so-called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). We estimate that more than 100,000 people have been displaced by these raids over the past two months. In Luofo village, some 170 km from Goma, the capital of the troubled North Kivu province, the FDLR has issued further threats against local communities. According to the local government authorities, FDLR rebels are engaged in a house-to-house terror campaign, telling those they visit: "you will all die.".... The FDLR stepped up its reprisal raids against civilians in North Kivu after the Congolese and Rwandan military concluded their joint offensive against the rebel group in mid-February. They also have been targeting humanitarian relief convoys, NGOs and commercial traffic. Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the local population and IDPs sheltered in the makeshift site in Kiwanja near Rutshuru, some 80 kilometres north of Goma.... Rutshuru is one of the areas worst hit by the crisis in the North Kivu province which accounts for at least 1million IDPs who have been forced to flee a series of conflicts since 2006.
Rebel attacks in recent weeks have forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This brings the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern DRC to over 1.4 million, mostly in North Kivu province, UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond said. The raids by the so-called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) [Rwandan genocidal Hutus] in east of Goma, North Kivu’s capital, have “left a trail of death and destruction and caused recurrent displacement,” he noted. The group is stepped up its attacks against civilians in North Kivu after the DRC and Rwanda ended their joint military offensive against it in January. Late last week, the FDLR raided the village of Luofu, killing seven people, five of whom were children, and burning some 250 homes, according to authorities. This caused panic among the area’s residents, who fled to the bush or the nearby town of Kirumba, which has reportedly been surrounded by the rebels who are threatening to overrun it. The crumbling security situation, exacerbated by the FDLR tactic of attacking commercial vehicles on main roads, is preventing humanitarian agencies from distributing vital aid, Mr. Redmond told reporters in Geneva yesterday. IDPs in North Kivu have typically been uprooted more than once, with families often being separated, UNHCR said. Currently, the agency [UN] runs 11 camps and monitors the human right situation of the uprooted in eastern DRC.
The UN representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has urged combatants fighting with the FDLR militia group in the Eastern DRC to put down their arms and use the available opportunity to return home.
KIBATI, Congo — The teenage newlyweds fled the fighting in eastern Congo that destroyed their home. They want to start a family, but their lives remain on hold months later along with 20,000 others at this refugee camp. Here children play with trash in the dirt beside open sewers, while their parents wait in long lines for food provided by aid groups. "It's still not safe for us to go back home yet," said Christophe Matata, 19, as his 18-year-old wife Odette lit a cook fire by their plastic tarp strung over discarded bits of wood. "Life back at home was really scary, with blasts of gunshots roaming the air." There were renewed hopes for peace in the region after Rwandan troops arrested Congo's powerful Tutsi rebel leader in January and an unprecedented joint Congolese-Rwandan military operation drove out some of the extremist Hutu militia fighters linked to Rwanda's 1994 genocide. But fears of resumed violence are widespread among refugees, many of whom already had lived through Congo's back-to-back civil wars even before the rebel advance by Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's troops drove 250,000 people from their homes last year. "We're not really sure that everything is OK," Christophe Matata said. "That's why we want to stay where we are."
Eastern Congo has been mired in conflict since Rwanda's genocide nearly 15 years ago spilled war across the border and Hutu militias sought refuge here. Nkunda contends he was defending the region's minority Tutsis against the Rwandan Hutus. In a rare move by former enemies, Congolese and Rwandan forces drove out about 600 of the Hutu militia's fighters earlier this year and the Congolese army hoped to force out 400 more by the end of March, said Kudura Kasongo, the Congolese presidential spokesman. But that potentially leaves as many as 5,000 to 6,000 fighters still in eastern Congo, according to figures provided by Kasongo and the U.N. "The concern is what happens next, now that the Rwandans have left," said Ross Mountain, the U.N.'s deputy mission chief in Congo.
U.N. officials say in recent weeks the Hutu militiamen have already started fighting to retake their old positions and are carrying out reprisal attacks on civilians who they suspect cooperated with the Congolese-Rwandan offensive — forcing at least 35,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks. Last week, Alan Doss, the U.N. special envoy to Congo, visited two hotspots now held by U.N. peacekeepers and vowed that the hunt will continue "to stop them from regaining their positions, and committing further exactions on the local population." Stung by accusations that the U.N. peacekeepers were failing their mandate to protect civilians and use force when necessary, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ordered them to hold their ground at dozens of remote locations. "We revised these rules of engagement, so we will be more proactively protecting the civilian population," Ban told The Associated Press. The U.N. peacekeepers are supposed to join with the Congolese army in hunting militiamen who have fled to the forests. "Are they going to be able to tackle the threat? It is difficult to give you a positive answer," said Senegalese Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye, the U.N. mission's force commander. "If this deployment is properly done, I think that they will have some capacities — not to prevent all atrocities, but at least to be capable of a degree of, let's say, diminishing them." Behind the public encouragement for an end to the conflicts, government and U.N. officials were less confident in their private assessments that the fighters had been neutralized. Officials also worry about the 20 other militias that operate in the region. Without more troops and equipment to cover an area the size of Western Europe, they say, the new orders may not help much. "There is no way in the world, whatever the mandate says, that we're going to be behind every banana tree," Mountain said. "This is just simply impossible for us to be able to prevent all these (reprisals)." And so thousands of refugees say they are enduring misery in the refugee camps rather than risk renewed violence in their communities. Sebukoko Sebazungu, 49, who has eight children, says life in Kibati is desperate. There's no way to educate any of the children at the camp, but he sees little alternative: "From where we come from, there's not one house that's still standing," he says.
The United Nations refugee agency voiced serious concern today over the plight of thousands of civilians who have fled their homes to escape daily attacks by the many armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that civilians in North Kivu province continued to be terrorized by groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been the target of recent joint operations conducted by Rwanda and DRC....In the past several weeks, after their homes were plundered and torched by various armed groups, more than 20,000 people fled into the forest from villages in the Rutshuru district of North Kivu, UNHCR said....During a visit to North Kivu last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for the DRC, Alan Doss, pledged that the UN peacekeeping mission there – known as MONUC – will reinforce its presence in localities and continue to logistically support the Government army in its operations against the FDLR and other armed groups.
The Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, today warned he would fight African peacekeepers if they were sent to back government troops in fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A regional summit of African leaders said yesterday they would "not stand by" and watch the violence which has displaced about 250,000 people and led to UN accusations of war crimes over the systematic killing of civilians. Countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola, agreed to send in "peacemaking forces" to the region of North Kivu "if and when necessary". Nkunda, whose rebel forces sparked the current violence, said his troops would fight peacekeepers if they were deployed alongside Congolese government soldiers. "If SADC engages like this, they will have made a mistake. I am ready to fight them," Nkunda told Reuters by telephone....The scale of Angolan military support for Congo is not clear but it appears to have emboldened the government's army. However, it carries the risk of widening the conflict. Angolan forces played a crucial role in stopping the advance of the second Rwandan invasion of Congo, in 1998. Rwanda denies that it continues to support Nkunda after backing him immediately after its invasion. But it may not stand by if the Angolan military swings the conflict against Nkunda while Hutu extremist rebels, comprising members of the forces that led the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, continue to operate unhindered from Congo.
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
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