UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
DRC Press Review for September 29, 2004
*Original in French
Today's newspapers discuss various news items including the presence in the DRC of an International Criminal Court mission and the current debate in Parliament on the draft law of amnesty. The papers also consider the law of amnesty adopted in the Senate last week.
Today's newspapers discuss various news items including the presence in the DRC of an International Criminal Court mission and the current debate in Parliament on the draft law of amnesty. The papers also consider the law of amnesty adopted in the Senate last week.
A delegation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to travel to Bunia (in northeastern DRC's Ituri district) today, according to LE PHARE. The delegation's mission is to 'investigate various crimes committed in that region since July 2002, when the Rome Statute [of the ICC] came into force,' the paper quotes human rights officers of MONUC/Bunia as saying. Bunia, LE PHARE recalls, was the scene of the worst crimes committed by a myriad of warlords' ethnic militias that had fought one another in that part of the DRC since 1999. The presence of the ICC delegation, the paper notes, recently sparked a war of words between various political organisations using the media as their battleground. 'The latest controversy centred around the accusations made by a group of pygmies at Mambassa against Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC for the alleged involvement of its troops in acts of cannibalism during their operation known as 'Erase the Backboard' at Mambassa (Ituri),' the paper says.
In a piece on the case of cannibalism, LE SOFT-GRANDS LACS speculates about an 'incredible political, economic, and diplomatic saga that the MLC leader is about to tell the world in a bid to exonerate himself of the charges pressed against him by pygmies'
According to the paper, the MLC leader will be trying to show 'how the public enemy number one (Jean-Pierre Bemba)'s death had been plotted in PPRD [presidential party) circles and allied groups in Kinshasa.' LE SOFT-GRANDS LACS quotes pygmies as claiming to have met with President Joseph Kabila and to have gone to the Central Bank as well. 'They claim to have met with Ntumba Luaba, the Minister of Human Rights of the time, and with various other Ministers, including that of the Press,' the paper notes.
LE POTENTIEL, for its part, denounces delaying tactics within the lower chamber of Parliament, which 'is only pretending to speed up the process of adopting the key laws needed to pave the way to the referendum and general elections.' Looking at the draft law of amnesty, for example, the paper notes that lawmakers remained divided into two groups. 'One group, led by the presidential party, wants absolutely a selective amnesty, while the other group, led by the RCD, is pressing for a general amnesty,' notes the paper, fearing that if these differences persist, the law of amnesty could face the same fate as the laws of the Army and that of Nationality.
L'AVENIR deplores that most of the laws already adopted, including the law of amnesty, 'were passed merely as a matter of form.' According to the paper's editorial, the law's article granting Congolese nationality to all ethnic groups and nationalities that were found in Congo in 1960, constitutes 'an abomination.'
How can nationality be given to other nationalities, asks the paper, saying Maï Maï MPs were probably right in refusing to take an any responsibility in the voting of that law.
Yet, the South African President has hailed the adoption of the law of nationality as 'an important step forward in the political process,' notes L'OBSERVATEUR, saying Mr. Thabo Mbeki has expressed his optimism about a successful transition in the DRC. ' [The adoption] raises hopes for a positive future of the transition, I think. It remains [for lawmakers] to adopt the draft constitution and the electoral law as well,' the paper quotes him as saying.
On a different tone, LA REFERENCE PLUS quotes a press release from the local NGO 'Congo Fraternité et Paix' speaking about Banyamulenge refugees' difficult return to Uvira from Burundi. 'They are reported to have been met with hostility and referred to as Rwandans by other Congolese,' the paper notes. There have been reports of 'stoning and death threats', the paper quotes the press release, but adds that these alarming reports have not been independently confirmed.
According to FORUM DES AS, however, the national community has welcomed the return of thousands of Congolese to South Kivu. At the same time, the paper notes that 'two documents, which were distributed to the media in the capital, shed new light on the conflict in the East of the DRC.' This an allusion to a memorandum issued by Congolese speaking languages in use in Rwanda and a press statement from the headquarters of the RCD in Goma. According to the paper, the two documents express concerns about persistent problems of cohabitation between the peoples of North Kivu, but suggest ways to resolve the crisis, emphasising the use of force.
In a piece on the case of cannibalism, LE SOFT-GRANDS LACS speculates about an 'incredible political, economic, and diplomatic saga that the MLC leader is about to tell the world in a bid to exonerate himself of the charges pressed against him by pygmies'
According to the paper, the MLC leader will be trying to show 'how the public enemy number one (Jean-Pierre Bemba)'s death had been plotted in PPRD [presidential party) circles and allied groups in Kinshasa.' LE SOFT-GRANDS LACS quotes pygmies as claiming to have met with President Joseph Kabila and to have gone to the Central Bank as well. 'They claim to have met with Ntumba Luaba, the Minister of Human Rights of the time, and with various other Ministers, including that of the Press,' the paper notes.
LE POTENTIEL, for its part, denounces delaying tactics within the lower chamber of Parliament, which 'is only pretending to speed up the process of adopting the key laws needed to pave the way to the referendum and general elections.' Looking at the draft law of amnesty, for example, the paper notes that lawmakers remained divided into two groups. 'One group, led by the presidential party, wants absolutely a selective amnesty, while the other group, led by the RCD, is pressing for a general amnesty,' notes the paper, fearing that if these differences persist, the law of amnesty could face the same fate as the laws of the Army and that of Nationality.
L'AVENIR deplores that most of the laws already adopted, including the law of amnesty, 'were passed merely as a matter of form.' According to the paper's editorial, the law's article granting Congolese nationality to all ethnic groups and nationalities that were found in Congo in 1960, constitutes 'an abomination.'
How can nationality be given to other nationalities, asks the paper, saying Maï Maï MPs were probably right in refusing to take an any responsibility in the voting of that law.
Yet, the South African President has hailed the adoption of the law of nationality as 'an important step forward in the political process,' notes L'OBSERVATEUR, saying Mr. Thabo Mbeki has expressed his optimism about a successful transition in the DRC. ' [The adoption] raises hopes for a positive future of the transition, I think. It remains [for lawmakers] to adopt the draft constitution and the electoral law as well,' the paper quotes him as saying.
On a different tone, LA REFERENCE PLUS quotes a press release from the local NGO 'Congo Fraternité et Paix' speaking about Banyamulenge refugees' difficult return to Uvira from Burundi. 'They are reported to have been met with hostility and referred to as Rwandans by other Congolese,' the paper notes. There have been reports of 'stoning and death threats', the paper quotes the press release, but adds that these alarming reports have not been independently confirmed.
According to FORUM DES AS, however, the national community has welcomed the return of thousands of Congolese to South Kivu. At the same time, the paper notes that 'two documents, which were distributed to the media in the capital, shed new light on the conflict in the East of the DRC.' This an allusion to a memorandum issued by Congolese speaking languages in use in Rwanda and a press statement from the headquarters of the RCD in Goma. According to the paper, the two documents express concerns about persistent problems of cohabitation between the peoples of North Kivu, but suggest ways to resolve the crisis, emphasising the use of force.
