Coalition fails to dismantle Rebels

by AfroAmerica Network on November 25, 2009

The coalition forces of Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), and UN MIssion of Congo (MONUC) have failed to dismantle Rwandan rebels, says UN Experts Report.

David O’Brian
Baltimore, November 25, 2009

AfroAmerica Network just finished to review a copy of the UN Group of Experts report leaked to the media, and to us. The conclusion of the Report is damning for everybody and especially discredits the claims by the coalition of the Congolese Defense Forces (FARDC), Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) and MONUC of having broken the military and political structure of the rwandan rebels, including Democratic Liberation Forces (FDLR) and the Rally For Unity and Democracy (RUD-Urunana). Instead, the report asserts, these two rebels groups, not long ago competitors, have created alliances among themselves and with the Congolese ethnic groups including Hunde, Nande, and Congolese Hutu in North-Kivu and Tutsis Bagogwe and Banyamulenge in Masisi and South-Kivu. Besides, the report affirms that the two groups, especially a RUD Colonel named Winceslas Nizeyimana, has been recruiting hundreds of combatants across the border in Uganda from the refugee camps of Nakivale and Cyaka. CNDP, led by the accused war criminal General Bosco Ntaganda has increased in numbers, strength, and wealth and committed most of the worst abuses, including massive rapes, mass slaughters of civilians, looting and illegal levy of taxes, following its integration within the congolese army, the FARDC.

As most human rights group have pointed out, the UN Experts’ report concurs that instead of reaching sought out solutions, the military operations known as Umoja Wetu, Kimia I and KImiaII against the rwandan rebels, have complicated the problem, and created one of the most appalling human catastrophe the humanity has experienced: thousands of women and girls raped, thousands of civilians killed, hundreds of thousand of refugees and displaced, countless villages looted and burned to ground. All countries are accused of supporting or helping the Rwandan rebels: China, Angola, South Africa, Russia, Tanzania, North Korea, Sudan, France, Germany, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, North America, Great Britain, Switzerland, and most importantly the Democratic Republic of the Congo itself.
Among the Congolese accused of supporting FDLR and RUD-Urunana are: Congo-Kinshasa’s Minister of Decentralization, Mbusa Nyamwisi, who was previously Foreign Minister, and the businessman Kasereka Maghulu, also known as Kavatsi, who has apparently been helping RUD-URUNANA to obtain food supplies, arms, ammunition and cash in return for minerals and timber. The commanders of the FARDC 10th military region, General Pacifique Masunzu, a Banyamulenge (South Kivu Banyamulenge Tutsi) who broke with the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) back in 2003 and who clearly remains implacably opposed to the Rwandan government, and his deputy Colonel Baudouin Nakabaka, a former Mai-Mai fighter accused responsible of providing logistical support to Rwandan rebels.

One interesting accusation is directed to Roman Catholic networks. The UN Group particularly names two Spanish charities linked with the Roman Catholic church, the Fundació S’Olivar and Inshuti, and funded by the government of the Islas Baleares Province. The Spanish charities, Fundació S’Olivar and Inshuti are accused of providing financial support to the FDLR, funding allegedly used to recruit combatants from refugee camps and young Congolese Hutus. Fundació S’Olivar is run by the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Juan Carrero, a prominent figure in Spain and renown conscience objector. Inshuti used to be run by Joan Casoliva. Both men are cited in the report as being FDLR sympathizers and for seeking the prosecution of RPF officials in the Spanish courts. Inshuti is accused of collaborating with a Belgian brother of a charity called Constant Goetschalckxhas.

The UN Experts especially targets the FDLR political leaders in the following sections (93 – 95):

93. To further corroborate the modus operandi of the FDLR chain of command, the Group worked in collaboration with an FDLR ex-combatant who in turn obtained information in the presence of the Group from a radio operator active in DRC. This conversation, which was heard and transcribed by the Group, related to military instructions issued in March 2009 by the FDLR high command to attack civilian populations and hospitals (see transcription made by the Group as the radio operator read them out in Annex 18). Four FDLR ex-combatants, two of whom were senior officers, reported that they had received similar orders to act against the civilian population following the end of Umoja Wetu. Dozens of FDLR ex-combatants have also stated to the Group that orders of this nature must be given by Gen Mudacumura, who in similar circumstances consults first with Mr Murwanashyaka.
94. The Group obtained testimonies from FDLR ex-combatants that Mr Murwanashyaka has been involved in coordinating the transfer of arms and ammunition to FDLR units and relaying specific instructions on their use (see paragraph 71 for one example). The Group also obtained evidence that Mr Murwanashyaka has been involved in managing large sums of money that have been raised through the illicit sale of natural resources derived from areas under the control of the FDLR. This money is used by the leadership to pay for operational needs such as the phone bills of satellite phones used by the FDLR military high command.
95. The Group obtained evidence thatEtablissement Muyeye, one of the biggest minerals trading houses in Bukavu, has organised the transfer of funds through Western Union to individuals in Germany who are helping Mr Murwanashyaka violate the terms of the assets freeze imposed upon him by the UN and German authorities (Etablissement Muyeye was cited in paragraphs 78-88 of the Group’s December 2008 report (S/2008/773), as well as paragraphs 164 to 172 of this report for purchasing minerals from FDLR areas). The Group was informed by an employee and a family member of Mr Muyeye Byaboshi, the owner of Etablissement Muyeye, that Mr Muyeye was transferring money to Germany on behalf of the FDLR. The employee of Mr Muyeye showed to the Group some receipts of such money transfers. They included payments of several thousand dollars, and the most recent had been made as late as April 2009. The transfers were all made in the name of Jean Marie Shamavu, an associate of Mr Muyeye in Bukavu, to Metete Nzita in Germany, who is an agent of Mr Murwanashyaka in Germany, according to several sources close to the FDLR.

In summary, it is clear that the military solution in the DRC has failed. What is next? The report concludes without ambiguity that military operations against the rwandan rebels have failed to dismantle the organization’s political and military structures on the ground in eastern DRC. The UN Group of Experts observes with dismay that the increasing rate of rwandan rebels combatants defections and the FDLR temporary removal from many of its bases only provided a partial success as the rebels have regrouped in a number of locations in the Kivus, and continue to recruit new fighters in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Rwandan rebels have maintained close ties with top commanders of the FARDC, particularly those officers in the 10th military region (South Kivu), and have sealed strategic alliances with other armed groups in both North and South Kivu. External support networks, both regional and international, continue to support rwandan rebels.

It is time for the International Community to be pragmatic and draw a conclusion: military solutions do not work and will not work. The period of new solutions is overdue. Here is our AfroAmerica Network proposition:
The problem in the great lakes region of Africa is complex. Yet, a simple solution is possible, because the root cause of the problem is known.
One may not tackle a complex problem without tackling the root cause: the Rwandan political dimension. That is where one needs to look first. Otherwise, let us forget it: jailing rwandan rebels leaders, imposing travel and asset freeze sanctions, and trying to enforce an unworkable arms embargo appear useless enterprises. These actions only complicate the problem further, harden the rebels, and push even farther away
the political solutions, hence the durable solutions.