Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Confusion in Kivu

Reports coming in from Nord-Kivu in the D.R. Congo are stating that General Laurent Nkunda's CNDP Tutsi rebels may be falling into fratricide. Reuters Alertnet has this report of a leadership dispute within the ranks, and claims that General Bosco Ntaganda may have tried to take over the leadership of the force.

This is, if even in part true, bad.

B. Ntaganda is on the ICC wanted list for recruiting child soldiers (under 15 years of age) for his army. He certainly has a history of it from his rebellion days in Ituri during and after the Second Congo War period.

MONUC United Nations peacekeepers are "monitoring the situation closely"...

1 comment:

MJPC BLOG said...

Petition Calling on UN (MONUC) to arrest NTAGANDA wantedWanted by the ICC

The UN in Congo(MONUC) is not doing enough to arrest NTAGANDA for his committed war crimes


The Mobilization for Justice and Peace in D.R. Congo (MJPC) announced today that it has launched a new online petition that can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/24459.html asking concerned citizens around the world to demand MONUC to take concrete actions to arrest Bosco Ntaganda wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.

MONUC is currently the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world with more than 17,600 uniformed personnel from 58 countries with an annual budget of more than $1bn.

In April 2008, the International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed the warrant of arrest against Mr. NTAGANDA whic was first issued on 22 August 2006 by Pre-Trial Chamber I. The Chamber concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that from July 2002 to end of December 2003, Mr. NTAGANDA had played an essential role in enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen years into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities.

According to Amede KYUBWA, Executive Director of MJPC, "concerned citizens around the world are being asked to contribute to the arrest of NTAGANDA by putting pressure on MONUC to take whatever necessary actions to arrest this war criminal." He decried MONUC's failure to take appropriate action to arrest him despite evidence showing that they know his whereabouts. MJPC urges MONUC to treat those who have committed war crimes in Congo as criminals and refrain from helping them to be appointed to high governmental posts. "rewarding war criminals with the governmental posts does nothing else than promoting more war criminals, preventing justice to thousands of victims including children and women who have suffered at the hands of these criminals and it shamefully contradicts directly the values and principles of the U.N" said Mr. KYUBWA

As part of its global campaign to help end the cycle of violence and impunity in Congo, MJPC lounched it first online petition in November 2008 calling for MONUC to immediately arrest notorious war criminal NKUNDA which can still be signed http://www.gopetition.com/online/23604.html. So far more than 1085 people have signed the petition, including those from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, USA, Kenya, Rwanda, France, German, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Malawi, Burundi, Senegal, Nigeria, Spain, Japan, the UK, Venezuela, Itali, Ethiopia, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Uganda.

About the MJPC.
MJPC seeks to add a voice in advocating for justice and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo particulary in the east of the D.R. Congo where thousands innocent civilian including children and women continue to suffer massive human rights violations while armed groups responsible for these crimes go unpunished. Visit the Online Museum of Victims of War in Congo in Congo at http://www.yoursilenceoncongo.org to see the unacceptable barbarity that you could help stop by signing the petition. For more information on MJPC and the activities, visit the wbsite www.mjpcongo.org. or call Amede Kyubwa @ 916 753 5717. The online petitions can be signed at the following addresses: for arresting NKUNDA at http://www.gopetition.com/online/23604.html and arresting NTAGANDA at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/24459.html