UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
Press Review
The Cannibalism on the Mambassa pygmies allegedly perpetrated by MLC 'Mouvement de Libération du Congo' led by Jean-Pierre Bemba and the DRC electoral process are the major issues raised by today's local press.
The headlines in LE PHARE read: The Mambassa pygmies barbecued and cannibalised by MLC in 2003, have come back to life and were presented in Kinshasa at the Grand hôtel. The paper echoes Thursday's press conference held by MLC, during which it presented to the press ''four pygmy women, one of whom was carrying a kid. The women are those allegedly cannibalised in the Mamabassa district by Jean-Pierre Bemba's troops. ''We were not cannibalised, that is how we are here among you today; we simply fled Mambassa in hopes that the fighting would end; There was not a single such a victim'', they declared.
LA REFERENCE PLUS quotes the pygmies as declaring that ''Dr. Jackson is the one who told them that their relatives were cannibalised by the MLC's troops''. The doctor reportedly took them to Beni to confirm the facts, which proved to be suspicions, the paper says, indicating that after the fighting, ''the pygmies reunited with their family when the politicians were setting up their hoaxes''.
On the strength of the new testimonies allegedly clearing it from any cannibalism, MLC has demanded new investigations, says FORUM DES AS, adding that MLC spokesman, Thomas Luhaka, has called on MONUC to update its report on the DRC human rights abuse in light of ''the new development in which the pygmies deny having been cannibalised'', considering that MONUC probe into cannibalism is thus far ''incomplete''. In this regard, LA REFERENCE PLUS wonders what would be the point in launching new investigations, when the dossier has been referred to the International Criminal Court.
L'OBSERVATEUR, in turn, raises the UN Deputy Director of Electoral Division, Mr. Nouredine Driss' visit to the DRC as part of the assessment of the electoral process. At the end of his visit, Mr. Driss suggested that the electoral process should be accelerated in order to respect the timing allotted by the all-inclusive agreement, the paper reports, further indicating that the UN expert commended DRC Government's efforts and commitment in the process.
Referring to the elections, LE PALMARES says it is opposed to the postponement of the elections, even if the ''the transition is behind schedule'', recalling that MONUC, through the International Support Committee to the Transition (CIAT), and considering its mandate to assist the political stakeholders, ''has urged the Congolese people to surpass themselves and stick to their commitment in order to prevent undue postponement of the elections''.
In its today's editorial, L'AVENIR recalls that in three months we would have reached the year 2005. Very optimistic, the paper says the Transition's stakeholders can still stick to their promise to hold the elections in the allotted time frame, if all the laws could be voted one after another, advising the Congolese people not to ''seek to know what others are doing for the electoral timing to be respected'', but to rather ask '' what they are doing in term of their own participation to the elections''.
The same paper reports, in another development, that in the margin of the United Nations General Assembly, Kinshasa and Kigali have reached an agreement on security mechanism along their common border, known as the Joint Verification Mechanism, a body tasked to resolve security problems along the border between the DRC and Rwanda. The United Nations Secretary General's spokesman is quoted by the paper as indicating that ''the mechanism will be an efficient instrument to restore confidence between both countries''.
In the same development, LE POTENTIEL echoes a CIAT statement declaring ''the DRC transition's process as decisive''. CIAT members, among other things, highlighted the need for ''a permanent dialogue between the Joint Verification Mechanism and the Transition's institutions and requested more assistance from the International community in favour of the military integration and the formation of the Congolese national police''.
Interior Minister Théophile Mbemba officially launched the formation of the integrated police unit (PI) yesterday, L'OBSERVATEUR reports, underscoring that the ceremony took place in Kasangulu, Bas-Congo. The Police Unit will work for a successful transition, the paper says, indicating that ''its specific tasks will consist in protecting Government institutions, reinforcing internal security mechanism in the DRC, taking over from MONUC with regard to the protection of transition's authorities and integration of the Congolese National Police to the global strategy''.
LA REFERENCE PLUS quotes the pygmies as declaring that ''Dr. Jackson is the one who told them that their relatives were cannibalised by the MLC's troops''. The doctor reportedly took them to Beni to confirm the facts, which proved to be suspicions, the paper says, indicating that after the fighting, ''the pygmies reunited with their family when the politicians were setting up their hoaxes''.
On the strength of the new testimonies allegedly clearing it from any cannibalism, MLC has demanded new investigations, says FORUM DES AS, adding that MLC spokesman, Thomas Luhaka, has called on MONUC to update its report on the DRC human rights abuse in light of ''the new development in which the pygmies deny having been cannibalised'', considering that MONUC probe into cannibalism is thus far ''incomplete''. In this regard, LA REFERENCE PLUS wonders what would be the point in launching new investigations, when the dossier has been referred to the International Criminal Court.
L'OBSERVATEUR, in turn, raises the UN Deputy Director of Electoral Division, Mr. Nouredine Driss' visit to the DRC as part of the assessment of the electoral process. At the end of his visit, Mr. Driss suggested that the electoral process should be accelerated in order to respect the timing allotted by the all-inclusive agreement, the paper reports, further indicating that the UN expert commended DRC Government's efforts and commitment in the process.
Referring to the elections, LE PALMARES says it is opposed to the postponement of the elections, even if the ''the transition is behind schedule'', recalling that MONUC, through the International Support Committee to the Transition (CIAT), and considering its mandate to assist the political stakeholders, ''has urged the Congolese people to surpass themselves and stick to their commitment in order to prevent undue postponement of the elections''.
In its today's editorial, L'AVENIR recalls that in three months we would have reached the year 2005. Very optimistic, the paper says the Transition's stakeholders can still stick to their promise to hold the elections in the allotted time frame, if all the laws could be voted one after another, advising the Congolese people not to ''seek to know what others are doing for the electoral timing to be respected'', but to rather ask '' what they are doing in term of their own participation to the elections''.
The same paper reports, in another development, that in the margin of the United Nations General Assembly, Kinshasa and Kigali have reached an agreement on security mechanism along their common border, known as the Joint Verification Mechanism, a body tasked to resolve security problems along the border between the DRC and Rwanda. The United Nations Secretary General's spokesman is quoted by the paper as indicating that ''the mechanism will be an efficient instrument to restore confidence between both countries''.
In the same development, LE POTENTIEL echoes a CIAT statement declaring ''the DRC transition's process as decisive''. CIAT members, among other things, highlighted the need for ''a permanent dialogue between the Joint Verification Mechanism and the Transition's institutions and requested more assistance from the International community in favour of the military integration and the formation of the Congolese national police''.
Interior Minister Théophile Mbemba officially launched the formation of the integrated police unit (PI) yesterday, L'OBSERVATEUR reports, underscoring that the ceremony took place in Kasangulu, Bas-Congo. The Police Unit will work for a successful transition, the paper says, indicating that ''its specific tasks will consist in protecting Government institutions, reinforcing internal security mechanism in the DRC, taking over from MONUC with regard to the protection of transition's authorities and integration of the Congolese National Police to the global strategy''.
