UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press Review
Today's local papers devote their comments to the brutal clash between the students of the National Educational Institute (IPN) and the police force. They also go back over the difficulties faced in putting in place of the territorial administration and echo the various reactions to the presence of Rwandan troops in the DRC.
Police force apparently spread terror at IPN, reports LE POTENTIEL condemning the ''unacceptable acts'' committed by uniformed men at IPN in Kinshasa. Quoting accounts from eyewitnesses, the paper indicates that a hundred police officers rushed to IPN yesterday to disperse angry students demonstrating against the decision made by the head of IPN to definitely expel eleven students for having not complied with the order asking them to vacate some of their rooms. According to a press release from La 'Voix des Sans Voix' a (local NGO), echoed by LE POTENTIEL, ''the police officers dispatched to the scene to disperse the demonstrators tracked the students up to the rooms firing into the air''. According to this NGO, ''the police officers stripped off three students before raping them and carried away their personal effects''.
LE PHARE, in turn, confirms that ''the police officers raped IPN students'', and ''the minister of Higher Education and University, Emile Ngoy Kasongo, personally moved to the scene''. The paper indicated that actually two students raped were heard by Minister Ngoy Kasongo. He reportedly noted that the incidents left 9 people wounded, eight of them seriously, says the paper.
FORUM DES AS for its part gives a different version of the IPN incidents, indicating that minister Emile Ngoy rejected the version stating that police officers broke into girls' rooms and raped some of them. ''The minister of higher education and university who personally moved to the scene minimises what some people consider to be serious'', notes the paper, adding that the minister dispatched a vehicle to IPN to carry nine injured students to the hospital.
''Sud-Kivu is now the bone of contention causing the impasse stalling the harmonious putting-in- place of the Territorial Administration'', reveals LE PHARE. Quoting pro-MLC sources, the paper says ''there were some blunders in the putting-in-place of the territorial administration, especially regarding the appointment of the South Kivu Governor''. According to the paper, RCD reportedly rejected the three personalities put forward by the Civil Society for the post of South Kivu Governor on the grounds that they have a bad ''reputation for being extremists and spreading hatred against Rwandan speaking compatriots''. We are still at that stage!, writes the paper noting further that the '' CIAT launched diplomatic contacts from last week end to break the deadlock''.
LA REFERENCE PLUS is of the same opinion. The paper indicates that CIAT is to decide this Thursday, ''All the Congolese having fallen in disgrace and having shown their intention to stall the electoral process''. According to the paper, ''the disputes around the territorial administration has irritated Kinshasa's partners who are now planning to impose their scheme, like in South Africa''. The paper quotes what it refers to as reliable information stating the following, ''if the deadlock persists, the UN would convene an extraordinary session on the DRC in order to decide for a trusteeship of the ex-Zaire''.
Reacting to the occupation of the DRC by Rwanda, the PPRD (People's Party for Reconstruction and Development), pro-president Kabila, calls on the UN to exercise pressures on Kigali. This is what reports LA REFERENCE PLUS, echoing a press conference account held by the PPRD Secretary General, Chikez Diemu. The latter said he could not understand '' the silence observed by the UN'', when Monuc has recognized that part of the Congolese territory is occupied by Rwanda. According to the paper, the PPRD feels that the UN should pressure on Kigali, ''based on its international prerogatives'', in order to discourage ''the machiavellian adventures of the Rwandan Government''.
The Rwandan incursions into the Congolese territory also sparked the reactions of the North Kivu Civil Society against the Government and Monuc, according to LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. ''The Government is allegedly party to this situation'' for ''contenting itself to an accusation at the level of the International Community without sending military troops to the scene''. Monuc is condemned for ''its laxity after being alerted by the Congolese population to the Rwandan troops incursions into the DRC, precisely in North Kivu, Monuc is guilty for its belated reaction', reports the paper.
LE PHARE, in turn, confirms that ''the police officers raped IPN students'', and ''the minister of Higher Education and University, Emile Ngoy Kasongo, personally moved to the scene''. The paper indicated that actually two students raped were heard by Minister Ngoy Kasongo. He reportedly noted that the incidents left 9 people wounded, eight of them seriously, says the paper.
FORUM DES AS for its part gives a different version of the IPN incidents, indicating that minister Emile Ngoy rejected the version stating that police officers broke into girls' rooms and raped some of them. ''The minister of higher education and university who personally moved to the scene minimises what some people consider to be serious'', notes the paper, adding that the minister dispatched a vehicle to IPN to carry nine injured students to the hospital.
''Sud-Kivu is now the bone of contention causing the impasse stalling the harmonious putting-in- place of the Territorial Administration'', reveals LE PHARE. Quoting pro-MLC sources, the paper says ''there were some blunders in the putting-in-place of the territorial administration, especially regarding the appointment of the South Kivu Governor''. According to the paper, RCD reportedly rejected the three personalities put forward by the Civil Society for the post of South Kivu Governor on the grounds that they have a bad ''reputation for being extremists and spreading hatred against Rwandan speaking compatriots''. We are still at that stage!, writes the paper noting further that the '' CIAT launched diplomatic contacts from last week end to break the deadlock''.
LA REFERENCE PLUS is of the same opinion. The paper indicates that CIAT is to decide this Thursday, ''All the Congolese having fallen in disgrace and having shown their intention to stall the electoral process''. According to the paper, ''the disputes around the territorial administration has irritated Kinshasa's partners who are now planning to impose their scheme, like in South Africa''. The paper quotes what it refers to as reliable information stating the following, ''if the deadlock persists, the UN would convene an extraordinary session on the DRC in order to decide for a trusteeship of the ex-Zaire''.
Reacting to the occupation of the DRC by Rwanda, the PPRD (People's Party for Reconstruction and Development), pro-president Kabila, calls on the UN to exercise pressures on Kigali. This is what reports LA REFERENCE PLUS, echoing a press conference account held by the PPRD Secretary General, Chikez Diemu. The latter said he could not understand '' the silence observed by the UN'', when Monuc has recognized that part of the Congolese territory is occupied by Rwanda. According to the paper, the PPRD feels that the UN should pressure on Kigali, ''based on its international prerogatives'', in order to discourage ''the machiavellian adventures of the Rwandan Government''.
The Rwandan incursions into the Congolese territory also sparked the reactions of the North Kivu Civil Society against the Government and Monuc, according to LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. ''The Government is allegedly party to this situation'' for ''contenting itself to an accusation at the level of the International Community without sending military troops to the scene''. Monuc is condemned for ''its laxity after being alerted by the Congolese population to the Rwandan troops incursions into the DRC, precisely in North Kivu, Monuc is guilty for its belated reaction', reports the paper.
