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Congolese Populist Movement Requests URGENT Meeting With S.O.S. Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Rice
Co-authored by Linda Milazzo and Georgianne Nienaber
To: The Honorable Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, Washington, DC 20520
To: The Honorable Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations, United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
Dear Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice,
The humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is disintegrating and it is time for the United States to intervene publicly and forcefully. According to report after report from human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), the violence is escalating, and the United Nations does not have enough peacekeeping troops to contain the violence. Already more innocents have died than in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The world cannot say again that it had no idea of the scope of this disaster. Rwanda can no longer be given a free pass because of its suffering during the genocide, and Rwandan President Paul Kagame must be held accountable for the alliance he has formed with Congolese President Joseph Kabila who is turning a blind eye to the crimes committed against innocent Hutu civilians in eastern Congo.
In an urgent communiqué to independent media, the Congolese National Congress for the Defense of the People (French acronym, CNDP), is asking to meet with you precipitously regarding the Rwandan government’s unwarranted detention of CNDP leader, General Laurent Nkunda, and the corresponding increase in massacres of Congolese civilians since his January 22nd arrest. As documented by Human Rights Watch on February 13, 2009:
"The rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which includes elements of the Interahamwe responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide) brutally slaughtered at least 100 Congolese civilians in the Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between January 20 and February 8, 2009."
"The FDLR have a very ugly past, but we haven't seen this level of violence in years," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "We've documented many abuses by FDLR forces, but these are killings of ghastly proportions."
In addition, Human Rights Watch has accused Rwandan Tutsi elements of the joint “peacekeeping” forces of "having raped several women since the start of operations against the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda)." HRW also said the joint force's "information-sharing has been scant and too late to permit the UN forces to be able to plan for providing the needed protection" of civilians.
“The Congolese government nominally leads the joint operations against the FDLR, but the coalition troops that attacked the FDLR in Ufamandu were largely soldiers from the Rwandan Defense Forces. These Rwandan soldiers were allegedly responsible for having raped several women since the start of operations against the FDLR,” HRW said.
Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice, in order to facilitate this urgent meeting on behalf of General Nkunda and the people of Eastern Congo, the CNDP will offer a delegation to meet in Washington with State Department officials and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. It is imperative that you understand that with every passing day since the General's detention, Rwandan Tutsi troops have slaughtered more and more Hutu civilians. Unless immediate assistance is provided and high level dialogue is initiated with the United States, the General will remain in grave danger (including the possibility of assassination), and civilian massacres will continue to rise.
You should be further aware that reports issued by corporate media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, BBC and Voice of America regarding the General's unprecedented detention have neglected to include interviews with the General himself or testimonies by Hutu government officials. As a result of these omissions, the U.S. State Department and the people of the United States have not received the full story of the tragedy of Eastern Congo - including the deaths of 45,000 innocent people who are tragically and unnecessarily killed each month. These cataclysmic numbers should be sufficiently alarming to warrant America's immediate intervention.
The CNDP identifies itself as a populist young political party. It was created in 2006 on the eve of the first democratic elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It prides itself on its vibrancy and its democratic ideals. Its leader, General Nkunda, has always proclaimed his goals were the protection of civilians and the fight against the corruption of the Congolese Government and its President, Joseph Kabila. Independent journalists, Georgianne Nienaber and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Helen Thomas, who visited the CNDP controlled territory in early January 2009, report that the local population supports the CNDP because of the protection it offers. Nienaber and Thomas' complete unedited interview with General Nkunda prior to his January 22nd detention, can be seen in the 5 YouTube videos, two of which are provided below:
Video 3:
Video 5:
Underscoring the dire situation in East Congo, “Hotel Rwanda” humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina sent an open letter to Barack Obama on January 27, 2009, asking him to intervene in what is becoming an apocalypse of violence, aided and abetted by mining interests from nations in the west. According to Rusesabagina, "The international community needs to intervene to prevent the lives of more innocents from being lost."
Regarding the arrest and detention of General Nkunda, Rusesabagina says:
“It [the arrest] is not a panacea for the violence. Rwanda’s President Kagame bankrolled and directed Nkunda in the past. His arrest is a “chess move” on Kagame’s part to try to get back on good terms with his [Kagame's] international donors. Both Sweden and the Netherlands, two of the four biggest donors to the Rwandan government, pulled their funding after the release of the U.N. Security Council report on the Congo in December 2008.”
Ambassador Rice, you are already on record in your pledge of a new era in U.S. support of human rights. In a powerful statement during your first appearance in the United Nations Security Council as the United States Representative to the U.N., you stated the following on behalf of the protection of citizens:
"Civilian protection is not just a moral duty; it must be a core element of military operations. The United States government understands that protection of civilians is a vital priority – indeed that it must be an essential part of our missions."
It is clear from this heartfelt statement that you plan to oversee a more proactive and humane policy toward international human rights.
Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice, in order to solicit your intervention in this monumental and ever growing catastrophe, civilian and military representatives from the CNDP reached out to the independent journalists who recorded the last video interview with Laurent Nkunda, prior to his detention by Rwandese officials on January 22nd. Through an ensuing series of emails and phone conversations with these journalists, the CNDP is providing you the following points of concern:
• President Paul Kagame should immediately free General Laurent Nkunda who is being illegally detained.
• The Congolese parliament is not in agreement with the central Kabila government. The Congolese Government has stopped the legal proceedings initiated against Major General Laurent Nkunda Mihigo, President of the National Congress for people’s Defense-CNDP. This has not been reported in western media.
• General Nkunda was arrested because he has created powerful grass roots populist movement in eastern Congo, which exists to protect the riches of Congo for the Congolese people. Powerful business interests in Kigali, Rwanda, needed the CNDP to be placed under the control of Rwanda so that exploitation of Congolese minerals (which has been documented by the UN) can continue.
• Nkunda’s arrest is a major setback for the Nairobi peace talks. There was about to be a breakthrough in which Congolese refugees now in Rwandan detention camps would be allowed to return to Congo. If this were allowed to happen, the CNDP movement would become too strong for Rwandan interests to control.
• Powerful intelligence sources in Kigali, with or without the knowledge of President Paul Kagame, suggested that the removal of General Laurent Nkunda by assassination would assure political victory for Kinshasa, which was losing territory to the strong CNDP movement.
• There was pressure on the Rwandan government when Great Britain and the United States accused Rwanda of responsibility in the growing insecurity in the eastern DRC, especially the Kivu Provinces and its capitol city, Goma. American and British interests threatened to pull monetary support to Rwanda. As a gesture to this pressure, Rwanda offered up Laurent Nkunda as a concession.
• The chief of the Rwandan defense Forces, James Kabarebe, was sent to Kinshasa to strike a bargain with Rwanda for the removal of Nkunda. He is an ethnic Tutsi who helped Rwandan President Paul Kagame mastermind the overthrow of the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. He is also on the United Nations list of 54 individuals linked to the exploitation of Congo's natural resources.
• The plan was for Rwandan troops to dress in FARDC (Congolese) uniforms, assassinate Nkunda, and claim that his death was caused by his defense against FARDC forces in the fight against the FDLR. This would satisfy intelligence interests that already understood that the Kabila government has been in collusion with the FDLR to perpetuate unrest through displacement of the population, rape, lootings and killing.
• Bosco Ntaganda is a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Army and allegedly a former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (FPLC) who was used in an attempt to destabilize the CNDP. Rwandan intelligence infiltrated the CNDP and tried to bribe certain officers, telling them they would receive promotions and money in return for their betrayal of Nkunda. Ntaganda was promised a good position in the Congolese military hierarchy and $250,000. He was also offered a deal through Rwanda in which his indictment by The Hague for war crimes would be forgiven and erased. On 22 August 2006, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Ntaganda bore individual criminal responsibility for war crimes committed between July 2002 and December 2003, and issued a warrant for his arrest.
• As of May 2008, Bosco Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities. Ntaganda is also known as "the Terminator." In early January, with support from the governments of Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila, Ntaganda did attempt to unseat Nkunda and proclaimed himself to be the chairman of CNDP, but hefailed in his attempt because the 7,000 CNDP soldiers were solidly behind Nkunda.
Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice, you should also please consider that in a horrible twist of fate, the testimony of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo was released hours before news came that Dr. Alison Des Forges was killed in the crash of Flight 3407 from New York to Buffalo on February 12, 2009. Des Forges, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch’s Africa division for almost two decades, dedicated her life to working on Rwanda and was the world’s leading expert on the 1994 Rwanda genocide and its aftermath.
Des Forges represented all that is good with humanity in a region of the world that seems to have lost its grip on what it means to have human compassion. Before her death, President Paul Kagame banned her from entering Rwanda.
The following recent testimony from Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it all. There is no need for a filter or more explanation. Please do not allow what happened during 1994 to be repeated upon people who have absolutely no voice:
“The Tutsi [Rwandan] soldiers accused me of being the wife of an FDLR combatant, just because I’m Hutu,” said one woman who was raped by a Rwandan army soldier in Remeka. “After they raped me, they burned my house, saying it was the house of an FDLR. I was pregnant, but there’s no more movement in my womb. I think I have lost my first child,” says the February 13th press release from Human Rights Watch (HRW).
A woman from Lulere village in Ziralo told HRW that the FDLR said they would not leave Congo without “first exterminating the Congolese people.” The FDLR forces then killed her 73-year-old father and 80-year-old uncle by smashing their skulls with small hoes.
Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice, it is critical that you intervene in this matter. By complying with the CNDP’s urgent request, the United States can compensate in a small way for our inattention and negligence during the horrific days of 1994.
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This CNDP propaganda is more sinister than the RPF propaganda about the Rwandan genocide of 1994 because it's so confusing, and it can be used as a powerfull tool for misinformation.
To free Nkunda as you advocate for or to neutralize the FDLR will not bring peace in the region.
Western powers that sponsor these proxy wars must to understand the need of tackling the current crisis from its roots causes that are in Rwanda not in eastern DRC. The current DRC crisis needs political solutions not military ones.
About the root cause of the crisis in eastern Congo:
The presence in the DRC of what the media calls "Hutu genocidaires" is a direct consequence of the military coup which put the RPF on power in Rwanda. Up to date, the RPF continues to spread lies that its decision to take power by force in Rwanda was directly linked to its willingness and determination to end the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
This baseless argument does not stick at all since every Rwandan knows that the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was not the cause of the Rwandan civil war which began in 1990. Instead, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was a direct consequence of the Rwandan civil war which spanned from 1990 to 1994.
In addition, the Rwandan genocide was triggered by the terrorist attack against the Rwandan presidential aircraft on April 6th, 1994. Numerous reliable sources attest that this terrorist attack is the triggering event of Rwandan genocide and that it was ordered and executed by the RPF.
In 1994, the RPF was indeed in a desperate need of a strong argument so that it can resume the Rwandan civil war which had been ended by the Arusha Peace Agreement signed between the RPF and the Rwandan government on August 4th, 1993.
The RPF wanted to resume the war because the application of the Arusha Peace Agreement would have lead in just 22 months to democratic elections and the RPF was strongly convinced that there was no way it could have won these elections.
The RPF was in great fear of a strong coalition that would have emerged between MRND, MDR, and PSD political parties before and/ or after these elections. This great fear was somehow real: in neighboring Burundi, the political party of Pierre Buyoya (UPRONA) had just lost the democratic elections.
On one hand, the RPF back-up base in Burundi, the second largest back-up base both politically and militarily, was in great danger of being wiped out. On the other hand, well-informed sources suggested that in Rwanda, MRND, MDR, and PSD political parties were gaining key allies in neighboring Burundi. That is why the RPF decided to halt the implementation of the Arusha Peace Agreement by resuming hostilities in Rwanda.
On April 6th, 1994 the RPF fired two missiles, shot down the Falcon 50, and killed at scene two African Heads of State: the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and the Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira.
This terrorist act achieved two goals. Firstly, by killing the Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, the RPF halted, at least temporarily, the democratic process in Burundi and stabilized its back-up base in this country. Secondly, by killing the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, the RPF triggered the resumption of the Rwandan civil war and at the same time halted the implementation process of the Arusha Peace Agreement.
In the aftermath of signing the Arusha Peace Agreement, the RPF deliberately resumed the recruitment of new combatants long before the April 6th 1994 terrorist act. In strong violation of the Arusha Peace Agreement, these new RPF recruits were enlisted in the APR late in March 1994.
The consequences of this enlistment are well-known: crimes of genocide, collapse of the Rwandan government, exodus of 2.5 million Rwandans to Tanzania, then to Burundi, and finally to the DRC, which alone received more than 1.5 million Rwandan refugees in its two eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, provinces that are up to date war torn. Moreover, from 1996 to 1997, the RPF continued to track the ex-FAR inside the DRC in order to exterminate them and install its allies in Kinshasa.
To achieve this goal, the RPF massacred at least 200,000 Rwandan refugees inside the DRC. It even tried to conceal evidence for these mass killings by burning victim corpses and scattering the ashes away in the forest and/ or in the river. Such a sinister plan was thwarted when a revolutionary Congolese, the late Laurent-Desire Kabila, took power in the DRC and decided to restore the sovereignty of the land.
In August 1998, the RPF launched a new war aiming at not only completing the installation of its allies in Kinshasa, but also to prevent any international criminal justice inquiry into its role in the DRC, given the extent of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by its army. Some of these crimes have already been documented by an investigation team established by the UN Secretary-General. This new proxy war in the DRC made it possible for many survivors of the Rwandan refugee massacres of 1996 and 1997 to stand up and defend themselves against this strenuous common enemy.
The birth of the FDLR is a direct consequence of the RPF sinister plan in the DRC. That is the origin of the current proxy war in the province of North Kivu. In other words, the origin of the current DRC civil war is in Kigali not in Goma or in Kinshasa. Sooner or later this problem will be solved.
This crisis is the result of the RPF refusal to face free democratic elections in Rwanda. It also is the result of the RPF inability to handle the actual state of Hutu-Tutsi problems in Rwanda. Indeed, the RPF regime has been trying to underestimate and ignore the existence of such Hutu-Tutsi problems in Rwanda.
In Rwanda, there are nearly 85% Hutus and 14% Tutsis. Democratic elections in Rwanda would probably give back the power to a "Hutu" movement.This analysis has always been in the RPF calculations with regard to plausible results of democratic elections in Rwanda. The RPF suggests that such results simply denote "confusion between the ethnic majority and the political majority."
Since 1993, the RPF estimates that such results would inexorably relegate it to the opposition for an indefinite period of time. Indeed, this is the case for the UPRONA of Pierre Buyoya in neighboring Burundi since the democratic elections of June 1993 and 2005.
This also is the case in South Africa where democratic elections have thrown the National Party of De Klerk (now renamed the Democratic Alliance) in the opposition since 1994. That is root cause of the current DRC crisis in the province of North Kivu.
About a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Congo:
A democratic government is urgently needed in Kigali. In my opinion, it is obvious that a democratically elected government in Kigali would not need to sponsor armed groups in the provinces of North and South Kivu.
In addition, such a democratically elected government in Kigali would refuse to offer back-up bases to any Congolese armed groups, including the one belonging to the Tutsi rebel Laurent Nkundabatware, whose rebellions would shortly die off by themselves. Concerning the Rwandan armed groups, including the FDLR combatants, a democratically elected government in Kigali would not be afraid to directly discuss with them.
Direct talks between these combatants and the democratically elected Rwandan government would set up new relationships under which the armed struggle would be meaningless. These armed groups would not have any reason to refuse to face justice in Rwanda, should some of their combatants have to respond for their acts, just as any other Rwandan in similar situation would have to, especially the RPF members who are accused of several crimes, including crimes against humanity.
A democratically elected government in Kigali would provide impartial justice for all Rwandans without any discrimination. Therefore, there would be no need for such a democratic government in Kigali to request that these combatants be sent "elsewhere".
Their home is in Rwanda. That is where they belong and no where else. Most importantly, it is up to the Rwandan people to judge their fellow citizens, and not to anyone else. With numerous uncertainties and political machinations mostly owing to regional and international geopolitics, the international community can only offset the inability of the RPF regime to create suitable conditions for a fair and impartial trial in its own courts.
A realistic approach:
Anyone who is still skeptical towards such an approach should take a closer look at what the CNDD-FDD accomplished in neighboring Burundi. One should also recall that Burundi represents a good specific example because both Rwanda and Burundi share the same ethnic composition of their populations not to mention a similar dark history of sporadic ethnic cleansings.
The CNDD-FDD painfully but straight forwardly negotiated with the rebellion movement PALIPEHUTU-FNL. Interestingly, beyond all expectations, a peace deal is about to be concluded, simply because the CNDD-FDD is not longer afraid to face the PALIPEHUTU-FNL in democratic elections.
Let’s make it clear: the Hutu factor does not and will not absolutely play any role between the CNDD-FDD and Palipehutu FNL Burundian supporters. These political parties have the obligation to play modern politics. Their respective leaders, including the FRODEBU leadership, will have to propose to the Burundian Hutu voters something smarter than the length of their noses during the upcoming electoral campaigns. That is the right solution to their current political deadlock. Everything else is none other than a patch on a wooden leg.
The DRC crisis cannot be solved without taking into account its root causes that are in Rwanda. Westerners should always be aware of some misleading statements that usually characterize the RPF rhetoric.
With regard to the current political deadlock in Rwanda, it is important to recall that for several centuries to come, there will be a majority Hutu and minority Tutsi as it has always been in the Rwandan history. The RPF will not have any other voters than the Rwandan people.
It is therefore, up to the RPF to change its ideology and practices, a metamorphosis that will require that the RPF become less Tutsi but more Rwandan. That is the only way which could allow the RPF to face with confidence democratic elections that are regularly held in civilized countries.
Concerning the ethnic composition of the Rwandan population and the political mind set of the Rwandan voters, these two parameters are not prone to any change in the near future. The Republic of Rwanda will always be inhabited by a majority Hutu and minority Tutsi. Given such a situation, the RPF cannot indefinitely run away from the democratic elections. It must have the courage to face them right away.
Should the RPF lose these elections, it will have to learn from its mistakes of the past. It is now time for the RPF to get ready for the upcoming political defeat, rather than attempting, without any perspective of political reforms in the near future, to delay these democratic elections. Sooner or later democratic elections will be held in Rwanda.
That is the way the Rwandan history course has been drawn and nobody can change it. People who are still skeptical about such a realistic approach should take a closer look at South Africa where the white racist regime has done everything it could in the past to delay democratic elections by denying the voting rights to the black people. The white racist regime already knew that black people (the majority) would likely vote for a political movement mainly composed of black people.
Fortunately, there was not much the white racist regime could do about this ethnic composition of the South African population and this situation will undoubtedly last several centuries to come.
What would then the white racist regime have done to keep its head above water? Continue to be stubborn by fear of losing democratic elections? Continue to spread proxy wars in neighboring countries, under the umbrella of waging the war against the communism system, and establish a huge protective shield, spanning from Namibia to Mozambique not to mention Zimbabwe and Angola?For how long the white racist regime would have blocked the actual course of the South African history?
That is what Frederick De Klerk thoroughly understood and I strongly believe that this is probably why he won the Nobel Peace Prize that he shared with Nelson Mandela. That is also why the ANC needs a comprehensive plan that would improve the quality of life for all South African black voters besides the credit it already enjoys for having successfully fought against the apartheid.
The stake could not be higher for the ANC. It must address the social concerns of all South African people, create jobs, provide lands, decent housing, affordable healthcare system and access to higher education, etc. rather than selling out the fact of being a “black” movement.
Interestingly, that is exactly what Pierre Buyoya of Burundi has come to realize lately. Actually, there is no doubt that Pierre Buyoya deserves strong respect from the Burundian people, despite his many terrible mistakes of the past and strong disagreement from his own party leadership.
In Rwanda, one can still delay the opportunity to alleviate the sufferings imposed to the Rwandan people. However, one should keep in mind that such an attitude does not mean that the Rwandan history will not ultimately relegate the RPF into the opposition for an indefinite period of time.
Therefore, it is time for the RPF to lift its many blockades to such a great opportunity in the Rwandan history. That is how the eastern DRC might regain its lasting stability. The time for proxy wars in DRC is over. It is time for the RPF to cope with its weaknesses and humbly accept the change the Rwandan people have been waiting for.
It is time for the Rwandan people to stand up and request for an end to the current political deadlock in Kigali. Unless the RPF accept to play modern politics, it will not escape from this unfortunate fate. Keeping running away from this process by intensifying headlong rushes denotes a political anachronism of a failed regime.
Unfortunately, such an attitude inexorably prolongs the sufferings of the Rwandan people who are desperately begging for help. Tenacious memories still rime in so many Rwandans who survived the RPF atrocities. Therefore, the more the RPF will intensify its headlong rushes, the longer will be the time it will have to spend in the opposition.
In the 2010 Rwandan presidential elections, the RPF will have one more chance to make up its mind set for the common good of the Rwandan people.