UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
Press Review 5 November 2004
Today's local papers report new clashes in Eastern DRC between two factions of the Congolese Armed Forces known as FARDC. They also comment on the recommendation issued by a UN expert for the creation of an International Criminal Court for DRC and disagreement in the National Assembly over the law on nationality.
LE POTENTIEL quotes MONUC as reporting that two FARDC factions are fighting in Eastern DRC ''in Bweremana district between a faction of the Congolese National Army (former branch of the Congolese Rally for Democracy) and the Maï-Maï combatants''. Monuc says, it ''knows nothing'' about the cause of the clashes that has caused the displacement of populations towards Minova and Nzilo, the paper says.
L'OBSERVATEUR highlights, once again, the need for swiftly ''merging the troops drawn from the different rebel factions and forming a new national, integrated and republican army''. The fight pitting troops of the same army is an indication that the army's reunification will be ''a long drawn-out job'', the paper says.
On the same subject, LE PHARE writes General Mbuja Mabe who is heading the 10th military region goes to war against Interahamwe in Walungu. According to the paper, the commander of the 10th military region (South-Kivu) is preparing a deployment of his troops to ''fend off the uncontrolled foreign armed groups, namely, the Interahamwe, in that part of the South Kivu province''. The paper recalls that the last UN resolutions calls on the DRC government to do everything in its power to get the negative foreign forces to return to their home country. The paper quotes General Mabe as declaring ''we will do that with MONUC support. The population must trust us''.
The same paper goes back over the creation of an International Criminal Court for the DRC, recently put forward by a Burkinabé lawyer, Titinga Fréderic Pacere, an Independent Expert working for the Human Rights Commission on the DRC situation. LE PHARE further indicates that the UN expert supports the idea of ''putting in place an international court to judge all the crimes perpetrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1997 and 2002''. In this regard, the paper says, ''warrants of arrest must be issued against dozens political players, officers and troops currently protected by different agreements on Privileges and Immunities''.
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES asks the Congolese ''to stand up and support the initiative'', considering that Titinga's recommendation needs some ''lobbying by the Congolese people themselves in order to get the members of the Security Council to consider it as a priority and a pressing need''.
LE POTENTIEL further reports that the draft law on nationality submitted to the Head of State for promulgation is the ''wrong'' document. According to the paper, there was some ''manipulation'' when finalizing the draft. ''Parliament staff did not comply with the regular procedures and took the liberty to insert terms which were discussed neither by the Senate nor the Parliament'', the paper says. ''Back from his trip to the USA, the speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Olivier Kamitatu immediately reacted and denounced the irregularities'', the paper says, indicating that the Speaker of the Parliament has called on President Kabila, over 48 hours ago, to return the document submitted by Philomène Omatuku (the deputy speaker of the Parliament drawn from the ex-government component) and Bishop Marini Bodo (speaker of the Senate).
LE PALMARES, for its part, announces an ''explosive meeting'' scheduled for today, alluding to the meeting between the President and his four Vice-Presidents. On the meeting's agenda are included ''the two clashing subjects'', namely the sharing of management posts in public firms and in security services. The paper believes that ''the issue about the sharing of management posts in public firms is likely to spark of heated debates''. With reference to the sharing of management posts in public firms, LE PHARE says that President Joseph Kabila is to give ''his final position'' today.
LE PHARE also mentions the disinformation campaign orchestrated against Monuc in Bukavu, recalling that ''some Civil Society and Catholic church leaders have indulged in a dangerous game of manipulating the crowds''. The paper goes on to say that Monuc is facing a paradoxical situation in eastern DRC; ''It is asked, on one hand, to continue securing civilians and government officials and, on the other hand, to clear off for reasons of inefficiency'', the paper writes, indicating that ''such an attitude from some of the compatriots living in Eastern DRC vis-à-vis Monuc has raised some concerns''. The paper therefore calls on the latter to think about ''the fate of civilians in South Kivu, Maniema, North Kivu, Eastern Province and Katanga should the UN troops decide to leave the area''.
L'OBSERVATEUR highlights, once again, the need for swiftly ''merging the troops drawn from the different rebel factions and forming a new national, integrated and republican army''. The fight pitting troops of the same army is an indication that the army's reunification will be ''a long drawn-out job'', the paper says.
On the same subject, LE PHARE writes General Mbuja Mabe who is heading the 10th military region goes to war against Interahamwe in Walungu. According to the paper, the commander of the 10th military region (South-Kivu) is preparing a deployment of his troops to ''fend off the uncontrolled foreign armed groups, namely, the Interahamwe, in that part of the South Kivu province''. The paper recalls that the last UN resolutions calls on the DRC government to do everything in its power to get the negative foreign forces to return to their home country. The paper quotes General Mabe as declaring ''we will do that with MONUC support. The population must trust us''.
The same paper goes back over the creation of an International Criminal Court for the DRC, recently put forward by a Burkinabé lawyer, Titinga Fréderic Pacere, an Independent Expert working for the Human Rights Commission on the DRC situation. LE PHARE further indicates that the UN expert supports the idea of ''putting in place an international court to judge all the crimes perpetrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1997 and 2002''. In this regard, the paper says, ''warrants of arrest must be issued against dozens political players, officers and troops currently protected by different agreements on Privileges and Immunities''.
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES asks the Congolese ''to stand up and support the initiative'', considering that Titinga's recommendation needs some ''lobbying by the Congolese people themselves in order to get the members of the Security Council to consider it as a priority and a pressing need''.
LE POTENTIEL further reports that the draft law on nationality submitted to the Head of State for promulgation is the ''wrong'' document. According to the paper, there was some ''manipulation'' when finalizing the draft. ''Parliament staff did not comply with the regular procedures and took the liberty to insert terms which were discussed neither by the Senate nor the Parliament'', the paper says. ''Back from his trip to the USA, the speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Olivier Kamitatu immediately reacted and denounced the irregularities'', the paper says, indicating that the Speaker of the Parliament has called on President Kabila, over 48 hours ago, to return the document submitted by Philomène Omatuku (the deputy speaker of the Parliament drawn from the ex-government component) and Bishop Marini Bodo (speaker of the Senate).
LE PALMARES, for its part, announces an ''explosive meeting'' scheduled for today, alluding to the meeting between the President and his four Vice-Presidents. On the meeting's agenda are included ''the two clashing subjects'', namely the sharing of management posts in public firms and in security services. The paper believes that ''the issue about the sharing of management posts in public firms is likely to spark of heated debates''. With reference to the sharing of management posts in public firms, LE PHARE says that President Joseph Kabila is to give ''his final position'' today.
LE PHARE also mentions the disinformation campaign orchestrated against Monuc in Bukavu, recalling that ''some Civil Society and Catholic church leaders have indulged in a dangerous game of manipulating the crowds''. The paper goes on to say that Monuc is facing a paradoxical situation in eastern DRC; ''It is asked, on one hand, to continue securing civilians and government officials and, on the other hand, to clear off for reasons of inefficiency'', the paper writes, indicating that ''such an attitude from some of the compatriots living in Eastern DRC vis-à-vis Monuc has raised some concerns''. The paper therefore calls on the latter to think about ''the fate of civilians in South Kivu, Maniema, North Kivu, Eastern Province and Katanga should the UN troops decide to leave the area''.
