Hutu rebels defy military offensive in DR Congo: UN report
By AFP
May 24, 2009
Photo:
A Rwandan Hutu rebel of the FDLR (Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda) checks a path in a dense forest in February 2009 outside Pinga, 150kms north west of Goma. Hutu rebels have defied a recent joint military operation between arch-rivals Rwanda and DR Congo, carrying out new attacks since the offensive ended, a UN report obtained by AFP said Sunday.(AFP/File/Lionel Healing).
KINSHASA (AFP) – Hutu rebels have defied a recent joint military operation between arch-rivals Rwanda and DR Congo, carrying out new attacks since the offensive ended, a UN report obtained by AFP said Sunday.
The draft report by five United Nations experts also criticised the unprecedented joint military operation in January and February that targeted Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some members of the rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), participated in that country's 1994 genocide.
"The military operation suffered from a short time-span, logistical bottlenecks and the reported embezzlement of operational funds, and failed to break the FDLR command and control apparatus, which remains intact," the UN report says.
As a result, the already violence-scarred provinces of Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu in eastern DR Congo have seen further unrest, according to the experts, whose report has been sent to the UN Security Council.
"Since the (Rwandan military's) withdrawal, the FDLR has counter-attacked in various locations across North and South Kivu, resulting in increased civilian casualties," said the experts, who spent five weeks in eastern DR Congo.
According to the report, the FDLR has financed itself through illegal mining in the mineral-rich country and by controlling charcoal production in Congo's Virunga National Park.
FDLR is one of a myriad of armed groups operating in DR Congo's east that have caused widespread displacements and carried out human rights violations, experts say.
The report also addresses the Congolese government's difficulties in dealing with a Tutsi rebel group, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), whose leader Laurent Nkunda was captured in Rwanda.
DR Congo has been attempting to integrate the CNDP into its regular armed forces.
The experts say they have "evidence that a number of former CNDP military officers who are now in the (regular army) are operating parallel command structures."
The rebels' ex-military chief of staff, Bosco Ntaganda, "is acting as de facto FARDC deputy commander for military operations in the Kivus," the report says, using the abbreviation for the Congolese army.
Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
Delayed salary payments have also led to indiscipline in the integrated army units, "resulting in ongoing human rights violations" by troops.
The violations include "looting and attacks on the civilian population," it said.
More generally addressing violence against civilians, the report spread the blame widely.
"These violations consisted of arbitrary executions, reprisal killings, abductions and willful destruction of property, perpetrated mainly by the LRA and the FDLR, and sexual violence, forced labour, looting and ill-treatment of civilans perpetrated by FARDC soldiers," it said.
The LRA is the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, which has also operated in the area.
Related Materials:
UN: The Joint Military Operation Against The FDLR Has Failed
Rwanda, Congo Military Assault Fails to Break Rebels, UN Says
Rwanda: Warning against the preparation for massacres within Rwanda
New Report to Detail Failed Military Operation Against Hutu Rebels
DRC-Rwanda: More than 8000 FDLR rebels have surrendered
Growing Atrocities Reported Against Civilians in Eastern DRC
DRC: Wanted warlord helping UN’s DR Congo operations
Oxfam criticises UN for joining Congo war
DR Congo: Hold Army to Account for War Crimes
DRC-UN commanders: Ex-rebels integrated into Congo army responsible for rapes, killings
DRC: Comprehensive strategies critical for Kivu peace, ICG says
posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 4:55 PM
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