UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
4 Mar
2009
DRC Press Review
This Wednesday (March 10th) Kinshasa's press devotes its main headlines to the increasing insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a situation particularly marked by troubles in Bukavu and Bunia. Some newspapers broach the controversy surrounding the holding of [future] elections and the eligibility conditions for future presidential candidates, as well as the outcome of the Olenghankoy case.
Judging from such headlines as, "General strike in Bukavu", "Rwanda-DRC borders closed", "Militias clash with and UN peacekeepers in Bunia", today's news is alarming.. "The town of Bukavu organises again a "general strike" today and tomorrow, in protest of last week's attack on the residence of General Prosper Nabyolwa, superior officer named by Kinshasa as Commander of the 10th military region of South Kivu and whose whereabouts have remained unknown for several days", announces LE POTENTIEL, quoting the Catholic news agency Misna, whose sources say there were gunshots in town yesterday.
"The case of General Nabyolwa," the paper recalls, "raised tensions in the provincial capital of South Kivu. On the night of 23rd to 24th of February 2004, a group of Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsis) armed men, probably former rebels of the RCD-Goma – the Rwandan-backed faction that is now participating in the Transitional Government in Kinshasa – attacked Nabyolwa's residence, trying to kill him and murdering two of his bodyguards. ..Organisors of the general strike [in Bukavu] demand that the security of Nabyolwa, who went into hiding at an unknown location, be guaranteed and that he continue his work."
Quoting one source, Misna says there exists in Bukavu "deep public dissatisfaction about MONUC, which generally patrols the streets, but did not intervene when Nabyolwa was attacked. MONUC is accused of indifference in the face of the tension that prevails in Bukavu".
A similar situation is noted in Bunia, where LE POTENTIEL recalls "a Sunday evening clash between militias and Blue Helmets which claimed two lives.. Four militiamen were wounded, two of them seriously, and a Moroccan Blue Helmet was hit with a bullet in the leg."
The same paper publishes a press statement from the Congolese rally For Democracy (RCD) dated March 2nd, "accusing President Kabila's political allies of inciting ethnic hatred and fuelling violence against MONUC observed in the media in Kinshasa"
In this statement, the RCD "denounces, as it calls the national and international community to witness, the dangerous tendency toward incitation of ethnic hatred and [hatred] against the United Nations, which, for a week, has been observed on the part of members of the political parties PPRD (People's Parti for Reconstruction and Development, close to Joseph Kabila) and M17 (Movement of May 7th 1997, born of Laurent-Désiré Kabila's accession to power) in the media, which, in an excessive manner, keep conveying messages aimed at creating social and ethnic tension between the communities in eastern DRC... most of the press organs in the capital and calling MONUC and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for the DRC, Mr. William Swing, all names imaginable."
According to the RCD, "leaders of PPRD and M17 are behind the events in Bukavu, manipulate a part of the civil society, a part of the Catholic church...and some of the most noxious tracks are distributed in town."
What is more, "Four Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese compatriots and two Rwandan nationals, while on a brotherhood visit to Bukavu, have been lynched by a group of overexcited extremists...acting on behalf of these instigators. The grave of the late Commander Masasu Nindaga, executed on the decision of the notorious (military tribunal) was vandalised in Bukavu by the same group on the 1st of March 2004", the RCD charges.
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES recalls a statement from the Hema Community in Kinshasa "denouncing the massacre of the civilian population by MONUC soldiers deployed in Ituri". Quoting the statement, the paper writes, "troops of the United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUC), deployed in Ituri in order to restore peace, turn away from their noble mission to indulge in serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity."
On the night of February 29th, 2004, around 11P.M., the statement goes on saying, "more than 30 MONUC troops entered the residence of Mr. Nzani, a tradesman who had lost one of his children earlier on that same day. While bereaved members of the family were mourning their child, they found themselves surrounded by these troops who opened fire on these people, killing ten among them and wounding several others."
The traumatic situation in Bukavu has provoked the closure of the borders between Rwanda and the DRC, according to LA TEMPETES DES TROPIQUES. This is a decision made by authorities in Kigali, LA REFERENCE PLUS points out. However, according to L'OBSERVATEUR, there seems to be "a concentration of armed troops at Cyangungu - a Rwandan town adjacent to Bukavu – waiting only for the time appropriate to invade, once again, the DRC."
Looking at the political arena in Kinshasa, LE POTENTIEL warns that "ten months from the end of the Transition, the political class is afraid of elections." It points out that "Neither the army nor the police are reunified; [and that] the national territory still remains divided". This is a reference to yesterday's meeting of members of the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT) with President Kabila to whom they communicated "their concerns and apprehensions"
At the Senate, meanwhile, "the age of the Head of State [is] on the agenda", FORUM DES AS announces. The paper believes that "a heated and passionate debate could take place in Parliament on the proper age [for someone] to become President of the Republic...Some, in an understandable outbidding manoeuvre, would like the minimum age set at 40. Others would vote for a maximum age of 70."
"The political game has sometimes unexpected surprises," comments LE PALMARES, referring to the suspension of Minister Olenghankoy. According to the paper, "this decision seems to have given President Joseph Kabila some political advantages. With this precedent, the Head of State is from now on vested with powers enabling him to suspend or dismiss the transitional Ministers. The danger of such powers is that they might lead to despotism."
"The case of General Nabyolwa," the paper recalls, "raised tensions in the provincial capital of South Kivu. On the night of 23rd to 24th of February 2004, a group of Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsis) armed men, probably former rebels of the RCD-Goma – the Rwandan-backed faction that is now participating in the Transitional Government in Kinshasa – attacked Nabyolwa's residence, trying to kill him and murdering two of his bodyguards. ..Organisors of the general strike [in Bukavu] demand that the security of Nabyolwa, who went into hiding at an unknown location, be guaranteed and that he continue his work."
Quoting one source, Misna says there exists in Bukavu "deep public dissatisfaction about MONUC, which generally patrols the streets, but did not intervene when Nabyolwa was attacked. MONUC is accused of indifference in the face of the tension that prevails in Bukavu".
A similar situation is noted in Bunia, where LE POTENTIEL recalls "a Sunday evening clash between militias and Blue Helmets which claimed two lives.. Four militiamen were wounded, two of them seriously, and a Moroccan Blue Helmet was hit with a bullet in the leg."
The same paper publishes a press statement from the Congolese rally For Democracy (RCD) dated March 2nd, "accusing President Kabila's political allies of inciting ethnic hatred and fuelling violence against MONUC observed in the media in Kinshasa"
In this statement, the RCD "denounces, as it calls the national and international community to witness, the dangerous tendency toward incitation of ethnic hatred and [hatred] against the United Nations, which, for a week, has been observed on the part of members of the political parties PPRD (People's Parti for Reconstruction and Development, close to Joseph Kabila) and M17 (Movement of May 7th 1997, born of Laurent-Désiré Kabila's accession to power) in the media, which, in an excessive manner, keep conveying messages aimed at creating social and ethnic tension between the communities in eastern DRC... most of the press organs in the capital and calling MONUC and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for the DRC, Mr. William Swing, all names imaginable."
According to the RCD, "leaders of PPRD and M17 are behind the events in Bukavu, manipulate a part of the civil society, a part of the Catholic church...and some of the most noxious tracks are distributed in town."
What is more, "Four Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese compatriots and two Rwandan nationals, while on a brotherhood visit to Bukavu, have been lynched by a group of overexcited extremists...acting on behalf of these instigators. The grave of the late Commander Masasu Nindaga, executed on the decision of the notorious (military tribunal) was vandalised in Bukavu by the same group on the 1st of March 2004", the RCD charges.
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES recalls a statement from the Hema Community in Kinshasa "denouncing the massacre of the civilian population by MONUC soldiers deployed in Ituri". Quoting the statement, the paper writes, "troops of the United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUC), deployed in Ituri in order to restore peace, turn away from their noble mission to indulge in serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity."
On the night of February 29th, 2004, around 11P.M., the statement goes on saying, "more than 30 MONUC troops entered the residence of Mr. Nzani, a tradesman who had lost one of his children earlier on that same day. While bereaved members of the family were mourning their child, they found themselves surrounded by these troops who opened fire on these people, killing ten among them and wounding several others."
The traumatic situation in Bukavu has provoked the closure of the borders between Rwanda and the DRC, according to LA TEMPETES DES TROPIQUES. This is a decision made by authorities in Kigali, LA REFERENCE PLUS points out. However, according to L'OBSERVATEUR, there seems to be "a concentration of armed troops at Cyangungu - a Rwandan town adjacent to Bukavu – waiting only for the time appropriate to invade, once again, the DRC."
Looking at the political arena in Kinshasa, LE POTENTIEL warns that "ten months from the end of the Transition, the political class is afraid of elections." It points out that "Neither the army nor the police are reunified; [and that] the national territory still remains divided". This is a reference to yesterday's meeting of members of the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT) with President Kabila to whom they communicated "their concerns and apprehensions"
At the Senate, meanwhile, "the age of the Head of State [is] on the agenda", FORUM DES AS announces. The paper believes that "a heated and passionate debate could take place in Parliament on the proper age [for someone] to become President of the Republic...Some, in an understandable outbidding manoeuvre, would like the minimum age set at 40. Others would vote for a maximum age of 70."
"The political game has sometimes unexpected surprises," comments LE PALMARES, referring to the suspension of Minister Olenghankoy. According to the paper, "this decision seems to have given President Joseph Kabila some political advantages. With this precedent, the Head of State is from now on vested with powers enabling him to suspend or dismiss the transitional Ministers. The danger of such powers is that they might lead to despotism."
