ONU
Nations Unies Maintien de la paix
6 mar
2009
Press Review
The headlines in today's local papers are particularly alarming following the Gatumba events and the threats posed to the DRC transitional process.
The situation is indeed serious, titles LE PHARE, indicating that ''things are looking gloomy for Kivu and serious threats are hanging over the DRC transition''. The paper highlights that ''Nothing will ever be the same'' after the massacre of the Congolese refugees in the Gatumba camp in Burundi on 13 August 2004. The paper notes ''an atmosphere of a break-off or the eve of a battle'' due to the fact ''the majority of RCD senior members have travelled to Goma where the 8 dissident MPs took refuge earlier''. The paper detects other ''signs of the breaking-off'' in the official declarations made by Vice-president Azarias Ruberwa during his funeral oration in Gatumba, when he was insistent upon the ''need for the review of the transition''. The same paper also wonders about the sense of the weeklong mourning declared Tuesday by RCD leader in memory of the Gatumba refugees. According to the paper, ''Azarias Ruberwa hoped that the mourning would be held worldwide wherever the Banyamulenge live'' and suggested that a memorial on the Minembwe hauts plateaux would be erected in the Sud-Kivu, ''lightly modelled on the Rwandan memorial of the 1994 genocide''. Criticizing the ''tribal nature of the funerals'', the paper declares that it could not imagine a single moment that ''the Tutsis of Congolese origin could make their victimisation exactly like the Rwandan's''.
Ruberwa: Rebel or dangerous to the DRC' Wonders LA REFERENCE PLUS. The paper goes back over Vice-president Azarias Ruberwa's statement and indicates that ''his statement is criticized by many people''. According to the paper, Mr. Ruberwa is blamed for ''taking too daring initiatives alone'', such as the mourning, which he unilaterally declared in Goma. '' The mourning should be a national business rather than his own'', says the paper wondering how the RCD could appropriate the event and invite the Government, the other transitional Institutions and the Head of State to join him in Goma for the funerals.
Vice-president Ruberwa's declaration sparked off the reaction of another Vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba who, according to LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES, ''wiped out'' Mr. Ruberwa's argument, namely regarding the call for a halt of the transitional process and the declaration of the national funeral. The Vice-president for economic and financial affairs says that whatever the disaster, ''this is not the right time to halt the peace process nor to move backwards. We must, on the contrary, continue honouring our commitments made to the Congolese people'' in Sun City, reports the paper. With regard to the weeklong funeral decided by Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa, the paper says, his colleague Jean-Pierre Bemba, ''while acknowledging that no one shall be prevented from mourning when affected'', thinks that ''the best option would be to avoid acting without prior consultations'', indicates the paper, for which ''the difference of views in the presidential circle is indicative of another crisis likely to disrupt the DRC transitional process''.
LE PALMARES, which is of the same views, singles out that conflicts have become commonplace in the presidential circle. ''How can a country plagued by internal division can serve the best interests of its people''', the paper wonders.
Vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba has reacted to Mr. Azarias Ruberwa's statement, while visiting Lukala, in the Bas Congo province, says FORUM DES AS indicating that the Vice-President is in Bas-Congo to ''woo the Kongo notables''.
The massacre of the Congolese refugees largely dominated MONUC press conference Wednesday, LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES says. Echoing the Head of MONUC Public Information, the paper indicates that an investigation was initiated with a view to establishing the truth about the Gatumba massacre. The finding of the preliminary investigations conducted by the Human Right field Office and the UN operation based in Burundi as well as MONUC, will be made known early next week, the paper says.
L'OBSERVATEUR notes that a week after the massacre of the Congolese refugees was committed, ''tensions continues growing in the Great Lakes region, to the extent that many observers fear new unrests in the sub-region'', alluding to ''the declarations of war'' made by Burundi and Rwanda threatening to launch a military offensive on the DRC to track down the perpetrators of the Gatumba massacre who allegedly came from the Congolese territory. The paper echoes DRC reaction through its Foreign Minister, Mr. Ramazani Mbaya, denouncing the threats of a new attack on its territory, underscoring that ''the FARDC stands prepared for all contingencies of an attack against its territory''.
In the same development, L'AVENIR says that ''the situation risks worsening given the pace of the declarations hardly covering up malicious intentions nurtured by the DRC neighbours''. The paper reports that MONUC, following the example of the International Support Committee to the Transition (CIAT), is seriously concerned about the hatred rhetoric between the three countries. ''It further condemns the destabilisation attempt of the peace process in Burundi as well as DRC. It encourages any initiative likely to restore peace to the Great Lakes region'', indicates the paper echoing the Head of MONUC Public Information Office statements, during the Mission's News Conference on Wednesday.
Ruberwa: Rebel or dangerous to the DRC' Wonders LA REFERENCE PLUS. The paper goes back over Vice-president Azarias Ruberwa's statement and indicates that ''his statement is criticized by many people''. According to the paper, Mr. Ruberwa is blamed for ''taking too daring initiatives alone'', such as the mourning, which he unilaterally declared in Goma. '' The mourning should be a national business rather than his own'', says the paper wondering how the RCD could appropriate the event and invite the Government, the other transitional Institutions and the Head of State to join him in Goma for the funerals.
Vice-president Ruberwa's declaration sparked off the reaction of another Vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba who, according to LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES, ''wiped out'' Mr. Ruberwa's argument, namely regarding the call for a halt of the transitional process and the declaration of the national funeral. The Vice-president for economic and financial affairs says that whatever the disaster, ''this is not the right time to halt the peace process nor to move backwards. We must, on the contrary, continue honouring our commitments made to the Congolese people'' in Sun City, reports the paper. With regard to the weeklong funeral decided by Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa, the paper says, his colleague Jean-Pierre Bemba, ''while acknowledging that no one shall be prevented from mourning when affected'', thinks that ''the best option would be to avoid acting without prior consultations'', indicates the paper, for which ''the difference of views in the presidential circle is indicative of another crisis likely to disrupt the DRC transitional process''.
LE PALMARES, which is of the same views, singles out that conflicts have become commonplace in the presidential circle. ''How can a country plagued by internal division can serve the best interests of its people''', the paper wonders.
Vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba has reacted to Mr. Azarias Ruberwa's statement, while visiting Lukala, in the Bas Congo province, says FORUM DES AS indicating that the Vice-President is in Bas-Congo to ''woo the Kongo notables''.
The massacre of the Congolese refugees largely dominated MONUC press conference Wednesday, LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES says. Echoing the Head of MONUC Public Information, the paper indicates that an investigation was initiated with a view to establishing the truth about the Gatumba massacre. The finding of the preliminary investigations conducted by the Human Right field Office and the UN operation based in Burundi as well as MONUC, will be made known early next week, the paper says.
L'OBSERVATEUR notes that a week after the massacre of the Congolese refugees was committed, ''tensions continues growing in the Great Lakes region, to the extent that many observers fear new unrests in the sub-region'', alluding to ''the declarations of war'' made by Burundi and Rwanda threatening to launch a military offensive on the DRC to track down the perpetrators of the Gatumba massacre who allegedly came from the Congolese territory. The paper echoes DRC reaction through its Foreign Minister, Mr. Ramazani Mbaya, denouncing the threats of a new attack on its territory, underscoring that ''the FARDC stands prepared for all contingencies of an attack against its territory''.
In the same development, L'AVENIR says that ''the situation risks worsening given the pace of the declarations hardly covering up malicious intentions nurtured by the DRC neighbours''. The paper reports that MONUC, following the example of the International Support Committee to the Transition (CIAT), is seriously concerned about the hatred rhetoric between the three countries. ''It further condemns the destabilisation attempt of the peace process in Burundi as well as DRC. It encourages any initiative likely to restore peace to the Great Lakes region'', indicates the paper echoing the Head of MONUC Public Information Office statements, during the Mission's News Conference on Wednesday.
