Blog Entries 1 to 10 of 24
Two days ago, President Kabila removed Major-General Gabriel Amisi as head of the Congolese land forces, one of the most powerful positions in the military. Amisi, aka Tango Four, was a well-known racketeer, who had made a fortune from kickbacks and embezzlement in the army, and who has also been cited for grave human rights abuses, including the May 2002 Kisangani massacre. Yesterday, he named Lieutenant-General Francois Olenga as his replacement.
The rot in the Congolese army runs deep; naming a new commander will not change the way things are done. But we should still ask - who is Olenga?
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As the M23 crisis has unfolded in the eastern Congo, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has emerged as a holdout within American foreign policy, a sort of minority report to the prevailing criticism of Rwanda and the M23.
The first indication of this emerged in June, when Rice delayed the publication of UN Group of Experts' interim report, insisting that Rwanda be given a chance to see the report first and respond. While these UN investigations are supposed to give the accused the opportunity to respond and explain--the Group says it was refused meetings by the Rwandan government, which Kigali denies--they rarely allow them to see the entire report before publication. In any case, the Group finally did brief a Rwandan delegation in New York in June in New York ...
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Goma has fallen to rebels. Who are they, and what does it mean for peace prospects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
What is the state of the fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo?
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Fighting in Goma 'tip of the iceberg' as some 25 armed groups control much of region As the M23 armed group fights to take control of yet more territory in eastern DRC, and a multitude of other armed groups terrorise communities, there is a very real risk of complete collapse of state authority and the [...]
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GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Residents settled into an uneasy calm today "under our new masters," a day after mutineers from the Congolese army, now leaders of the M23 military wing, forced government troops, or FARDC, out of the city and took control of the lucrative border crossing between Congo and Rwanda. While over a thousand people flocked to Goma stadium to hear from the M23 leaders about their plans, Congolese President Joseph Kabila, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni held emergency meetings in the Ugandan capital aimed at stemming the widening crisis.
"The journey to liberate Congo has started now," M23 spokesman Vianney Kazarama told the crowd gathered at the rally. "We're going to move on to Bukavu and then to Kinshasa. Are you ready to ...
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UN and western governments signed up to false accord, leaving the people of DRC at the mercy of their tormentors
When the provincial capital of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fell to rebel forces yesterday, the rapidity of the rebel advance was shocking, but the fait accompli failure of both Congo's armed forces and the country's United Nations mission was not.
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