EDITORIAL: A Rwandan Mediation? A New Joint Congolese-Rwandan Military Operation? NO THANKS!

KIVU

1. Military Operations Against Bosco Ntaganda’s Troops and M23

2. Rwanda Offers to Help Solve Conflict in North Kivu

3. Bosco Ntaganda Cornered by ICC and HRW

4. FDLR Intensifying Attacks in Villages

5. The Mai-Mai Too

EDITORIAL: A RWANDAN MEDIATION? A NEW JOINT CONGOLESE-RWANDAN MILITARY OPERATION? NO THANKS!

The fighting continues in North Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo) between the national army and the deserting troops, loyal to General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the Congolese government for “indiscipline” and by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which, in 2006, issued a warrant for his arrest for recruiting child soldiers. Ntaganda was originally a member of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), an old pro-Rwandan armed group that has since been transformed, at least officially, into a political party and member of the Presidential Majority (MP). The mutiny began as a response to the strong pressure from the ICC and the international community to have Congolese president Joseph Kabila arrest Bosco Ntaganda.

Recently, a new armed group has emerged, the March 23 Movement (M23), led by Colonel Sultani Makenga, who is also a member of the CNDP. In theory, this new armed group is both demanding new negotiations with the Congolese government to bring to completion the implementation of the peace agreements signed on March 23, 2009 in Goma, as well as claiming their independence from Bosco Ntaganda. In reality, it is most likely a strategy devised by the CNDP, in an attempt to open several fronts to hinder to the arrest of Bosco Ntaganda, while at the same time burdening the government with new difficulties, such as new demands, both military (promotions) and political (ministerial posts in Kinshasa or at the provincial level).

At the same time, the Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have intensified their attacks against the local population, massacring more than 250 people over the course of this past month alone. The threat that the FDLR poses is serious and must not be underestimated. But it must be handled with an appropriate strategy: a military solution is clearly insufficient and extremely dangerous for the local people. As if that weren’t enough, Rwanda has offered to collaborate to find a peaceful and political solution to the new crisis in Kivu. According to many observers, Rwanda seems to be offering to act as a mediator between the Congolese government and the new M23 rebellion. Rwanda’s proposal makes one suspect that Kigali might be involved with the new armed group, M23. This suspicion seems to be confirmed by the fact that Kigali is also proposing a new joint military operation in Kivu against the Rwandan rebels of the FDLR, still active in the province. Kigali seems to be forgetting the negative results of the previous joint military operations and deliberately refusing to admit that only an inclusive inter-Rwandan dialogue can resolve the FDLR problem. A dialogue between the Rwandan government and the FDLR, in view of a political agreement and reconciliation between Rwandans, is the only way to disarm the FDLR. But Kigali refuses to admit this. For the umpteenth time, Kigali would rather use the FDLR threat as a pretence to, on the one hand, indirectly hinder the arrest of Bosco Ntaganda, a Rwandan citizen, and his right-hand man in Kivu, and on the other hand, maintain its presence in Kivu, in view of exploiting the mining riches of the region, where one finds coltan, cassiterite, gold, oil, and natural gas in abundance.

The Emperor is Finally Naked

The UN, the Security Council, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), the European Union, and the international community should have realized a long time ago that Rwanda’s interference in DR Congo in general and particularly in Kivu is the main cause of the violence perpetrated by the FDLR against the Congolese people and of the activism of the Congolese armed groups that radically oppose, and rightly so, the foreign occupation of their land.

A peace agreement between the Rwandan government and the FDLR would allow the latter to return to Rwanda safely and with dignity. Putting an end to Rwanda’s interference in Congo is all that it would take for the various Mai-Mai self-defence groups to put down their weapons for a bit.

In peacetime, everyone would be able to invest in the extraction and commercialization of the minerals, while respecting human rights and conforming to national and international standards. In peacetime, there would no longer be a need for a political party for the defence of a particular tribe (the Tutsis, for instance), particularly in Congo, where 450 dialects are spoken and each of the 250 tribes still in existence are “minorities” with respect to the entire Congolese population.

President Kabila and the Matata government now have the chance to prove that they have the will and the ability to reestablish peace throughout the entire country, and particularly in Kivu, by establishing a relationship with neighbouring Rwanda based on equality and not on dependence, and by upholding the unity of the People, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Justice, the memory of the victims, and the suffering and will of the Congolese people demand it!

KIVU

1. Military Operations Against Bosco Ntaganda’s Troops and M23

On May 8, nearly 25 tons of heavy mortars and light weapons as well as ammunition were found and confiscated by the army at the dissident general Bosco Ntaganda’s farm, in the Kirolirwe region of the Masisi territory, more than 60 km northwest of Goma (North Kivu). The soldiers also confiscated another cargo of weapons and ammunition in Mushaki, a town located about 40 km from Goma in the same territory. Some local sources say that there are several other arms caches still hidden in Masisi and Rutshuru.

On the night of May 10, the M23 rebels, coming from the Virunga National Park, took over the towns of Runyonyi, Chanzu, and Bikenge, east of the administrative center of the Rutshuru territory (North Kivu), after having fought the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) for two hours earlier that evening.

On May 12, the Congolese army bombed Runyonyi, the rebels’ “base”, as well as some of their other positions in Chanzu and Bikenge. But the rebels still have control of those towns. According to military sources, the army still controls Bunagana, near the Ugandan border.

Deputy Jason Luneno stated that in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, “searches were conducted in the homes of ex-officers of the FARDC who joined M23. We continue to find weapons in the homes of some officers.” He also emphasized that “when the military had the upper hand on the ex-CNDP, the CNDP troops were in disarray. Ceasing the operations has created frustration on the FARDC side. They have expressed their disappointment, and some have said that they no longer feel motivated to fight.” He also noted that even though some rebels have turned themselves in, others are still defecting. Nearly 7,500 people have sought refuge in Rwanda, according to sources from that country, and “about 3,000 Congolese” have found temporary refuge in Uganda, according to the UN.

For the past two weeks, families, primarily Tutsis, have been leaving their homes in Kitchanga, in the Masisi territory, and heading for the Nkamira refugee transit camp in Rwanda, via Goma. Witnesses on the ground confirm that these families are saying that they have been fearing for their safety ever since the FARDC took back control of Kitchanga, after fighting with the M23 rebels. “How could they possibly feel unsafe?” asked a resident of the town of Kitshanga. The fact that the Tutsis are fleeing to Rwanda is worrying those residents of Kitshanga and Mwesso who have decided to stay put. They are asking the authorities to put an end to this mass displacement. The Administrator of the Masisi territory has stated that the Tutsi community should not be worried. The security in the zones where they live is ensured by the FARDC.

According to Radio France Internationale (RFI), the rebels now seem to be divided into two groups, one led by Colonel Makenga, the other led by General Bosco Ntaganda. The FARDC have carried out bombings in the Runyonyi region, where the insurgent troops led by Colonel Makenga are located. The dissident general Bosco Ntaganda is thought to have taken refuge in Virunga National Park, probably in the Runyonyi region: perhaps in Mikeno or Karisimbi. According to the French media, “the FARDC are now engaged on two fronts. They are fighting against the M23 and the loyalists of General Bosco Ntaganda.” They are all ex-CNDP who refuse to leave North Kivu as required by the army’s reform plan.

On May 18, during a press conference in Kinshasa, the spokesman of the Congolese government, Lambert Mende, stated that Bosco Ntaganda and Colonel Sultani Makenga are confined with their rebel troops between the hills of Runyonyi and Mbuzi, at the border between DR Congo and Rwanda. The area where they are currently located is under complete surveillance by the loyalist forces, declared the spokesman, who estimated that 300 of the rebels were former Tutsi rebels of the CNDP.

Lambert Mende invited the rebels loyal to Bosco Ntaganda to return to the army. According to him, of the 350 rebels who had entrenched themselves in South Kivu, 304 have already returned to the army. Readmitted after investigation, most of them were put at the disposal of the military high command to be redeployed to other provinces.

The rebels, who defected at the beginning of April in North and South Kivu, strengthened themselves by forcing children and adults to join their ranks and by creating alliances with militia groups in North Kivu (Tsheka, La Fontaine, and l’Alliance pour un Congo Libre et Souverain-APCLS), stated Mr. Mende. Also among the rebels, he said, is Colonel Mandevu, one of the major leaders of the FDLR, the Hutu-Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

Minister Lambert Mende also rejected any offer to negotiate with “those undisciplined people” of the M23, which he doesn’t see as a movement of rebellion, since their demands were met with the signing of the Goma Agreements on March 23, 2009. In his opinion, “When it comes to Ntaganda and Makenga, it’s six of one, half dozen of the other, there’s no difference! The Congolese government is calling on the rebels under the orders of General Bosco Ntaganda and Colonel Makenga to turn themselves in “before it’s too late,” stating that those who turn themselves in “will be reintegrated in the ranks of the FARDC and will be redeployed to other regions of the country.” “Only the initiators of the rebellion and the criminals will be brought to justice,” he promised.

2. Rwanda Offers to Help Solve the Conflict in North Kivu

On May 12, Rwandan and Congolese ministers of Defence, General James Kabarebe and Alexandre Luba Ntambo met in the Rwandan prefecture of Gisenyi. Rwanda offered its help in trying to obtain an amicable settlement to the conflict in North Kivu. Kigali is offering to help Kinshasa find a peaceful and political solution to the current crisis, without using military force. Kigali is proposing that Kinshasa resolve the current situation through political negotiations.

It is now clear: according to several observers, Kigali is offering to mediate between the Congolese authorities and the new M23 rebels led by Colonel Makenga, ex-CNDP (former rebellion of the CNDP). According to observers, this mediation could play to the advantage of the fugitive general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the ICC and accused by Kinshasa of being behind the new fighting in Kivu.

In addition, the Congolese government is under international pressure to arrest the General Bosco Ntaganda for war crimes committed in Ituri and hand him over to international justice. For Kinshasa, accepting to negotiate would mean putting an end to the manhunt of Bosco Ntaganda.

According to a joint communiqué from the office of General Joseph Nzamwita, spokesman of the Rwandan Army, DR Congo and Rwanda have also just signed a new memorandum of understanding with regard to security. The mandate of the Commission mixte des agents de renseignements (Joint Commission of Intelligence Agents) of the two countries was expanded and the commission was given the task of monitoring more cross-border regions, in order to work together to eliminate any possible “security threat” between the two countries. Both countries’ chiefs of staff must also “present a coordinated plan of operations” and prepare a “future joint military operation” against the Rwandan rebels of the FDLR, operating in the two Kivu provinces. According to some Rwandan security authorities, the FDLR rebels could possibly benefit from the current chaos in eastern DR Congo to organize an attack against Rwanda. In Kigali, Rwandan officials have made it clear from the beginning that Rwanda will not engage in any negotiations with the Hutu rebels operating along the Rwandan border in the east of DR Congo.

On May 14, Lambert Mende, spokesman for the Congolese government, denied the information of a potential Rwandan mediation, saying that “It’s information that I cannot confirm in the name of the government. None of our neighbouring countries have asked us to do any sort of mediation.”

The civil society of North Kivu is opposed to any attempt of negotiation between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels. Omar Kavota, Vice President and spokesman of this body, thinks that “any attempt of negotiating with armed groups that are creating insecurity and causing the displacement of thousands of civilians in North Kivu is a way of encouraging armed violence in the region.” According to him, civil society in North Kivu is encouraging the FARDC to continue to hunt down all active armed groups in the region and reestablish the authority of the State.

By offering to help or mediate discussions between the Congolese government and M23, Kigali is revealing itself to be behind of the birth of the new M23 rebellion. Kigali, whose geoeconomic objectives with respect to Kivu are clearly evident, is playing the role of a pyromaniac firefighter, likely benefiting from its complicity with the Congolese capital. It is widely known that Kigali continues to keep an eye on everything that is going on in eastern DR Congo. In fact, Rwanda is involved in just about everything that goes on in the eastern part of the country. Rwanda still serves as a base of operation for all attempts to destabilize DR Congo in its eastern zone.

On May 18, the Minister of Media and spokesman of the Congolese government, Lambert Mende, told the press that the meeting of Rwandan and DR Congo ministers of Defence on May 12 in Gisenyi-Rubavu (Rwanda) was a part of the standard follow-up of bilateral mechanisms agreed upon by the two countries. Lambert Mende insisted that “no new agreement was reached between DR Congo and Rwanda. Verbal proceedings are the only record of the work session that took place between Luba Ntambo, Congolese Vice Prime Minister in charge of Defence, and his Rwandan counterpart, James Kabarebe.” The document “announces the decision to put in place a joint mechanism of verifying security along common borders in line with previous agreements,” he explained.

The two parties having agreed upon the implementation of a mechanism to prevent anything that might hurt the climate of security, DR Congo took the initiative to stabilize the situation of some 9,000 Congolese displaced in Rwanda, so that they can return to their place of origin.

As for Rwanda, it has committed itself to supporting the efforts of the Congolese government, aimed at definitively stabilizing the eastern part of the country, said Minister Lambert Mende.

Therefore, he doesn’t believe that through the statement of the spokesman of the Rwandan minister of Defence, General James Kabarebe, Kigali proposed a mediation between the Congolese government and the rebels. “Rwanda is willing to help DR Congo come to a peaceful – not with weapons – and political solution. But, I don’t see how such a statement, if one was even made, can undermine what I am saying: Rwanda did not propose any mediation to us. A political solution can be sought by giving information to both sides,” he emphasized.

As for the threat that the FDLR still poses today, it was agreed that only the FARDC would lead the ground operations against the enemy troops, the Rwandans having to settle for a technical support within the framework of the joint mechanism of monitoring (surveillance and evaluation) involving experts from both countries.

Lambert Mende concluded by confirming that, contrary to the information that has been circulated recently by the media, Kigali has not presented Kinshasa with any offer, neither for a mediation with Bosco Ntaganda and M23 nor to fight beside the FARDC, the FDLR having control in DR Congo.

On May 18, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed during a bipartisan meeting between Rwanda and DR Congo in Kigali, that Rwanda cannot engage itself in a mediation between DR Congo and M23 without having been solicited by the Congolese government.

On May 18 and 19, the 5th ordinary meeting of the Rwanda-DR Congo Joint Commission was held in Kigali. The DR Congo delegation was led by Raymond Tshibanda N’Tungamulongo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, while the Republic of Rwanda delegation was led by Louise Mushikiwabo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The meeting ended with a final communiqué from both parties:

“Concerning the question of security, the two parties reiterate their commitment in working together to put an end to the existence of armed groups in the region.

The two parties fully support and recommend the rapid and effective implementation of the conclusions adopted by the Ministers of Defence of the Republic of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo at their last meeting in Gisenyi, Rubavu (Rwanda) on May 12, 2012:

-The Ministers of Defence agreed to expand the mandate of the Joint Commission of Intelligence Agents to the joint verification of security along the borders as well as in the interior of each country.

-The Chiefs of Staff of the Intelligence Services from both countries will verify the effectiveness of this mechanism over the next ten days.

-Over the next ten days, the two Chiefs of General Staff will present a coordinated plan for the operations against the FDLR. The plan will include, in particular, a joint mechanism of monitoring these operations.

-Within ten days, the heads of Intelligence Services are to set in motion a prevention mechanism for any action that could harm the good relations or security of the two countries, particularly by appropriate actions and negative propaganda.

-The DR Congo government is committed to creating favourable conditions so that those affected by the recent operations may return to their place of origin as soon as possible.

-The Rwandan government will continue to support the efforts of DR Congo aimed at restoring and maintaining peace and security in the east of the DR Congo.

-As for the refugees, the two parties have recommended following and spreading awareness among the refugees from both countries so they can return home on their own, in a timely manner.

Also, the two parties were happy to learn that the second HCR-DRC-Rwanda tri-partisan meeting addressing the question of refugees will be held in Kigali in July 2012.”

What is really mind-boggling in this communiqué is the priority given to the FDLR, while the FARDC are currently working to track down the rebels led by Bosco Ntaganda and his accomplices: Makenga Sultani, Kazarama Vianney, etc. It certainly seems like a deal in which Kigali’s priorities trump those of Kinshasa.

The agreement reached between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda favours the latter. Everything revolves around the FDLR. Securing common borders is only mentioned to offset the large concessions made by Kinshasa. DR Congo let itself be fooled big time by the false promise of closing the borders to the rebels of the renegade general, Bosco Ntaganda. In return, a new joint military operation against the FDLR is in preparation. Trying to track down the FDLR during a previous joint military operation revealed its limits. Must the same unfortunate experience be carried out all over again?

Unfortunately, the DR Congo government seems to have already committed itself to this path.

The priority for the DR Congo at this point in time is to bring an end to Bosco Ntaganda’s adventure. It is important for DR Congo to neutralize Bosco Ntaganda by depriving him of all military and logistic support. Once again, Rwanda is taking advantage of its alleged position to impose its priorities as the most important, to the detriment of DR Congo. The agreement reached with the Rwandan government is nothing but a fool’s deal.

3. Bosco Ntaganda Cornered by the ICC and HRW

On May 14, the ICC prosecutor officially submitted a new request for an arrest warrant against Ntaganda. But the ICC doesn’t have an army. The ICC thus plans to work with DR Congo to neutralize the dissident general. However, the Congolese army is poorly equipped, not well organized, and the soldiers are not paid well. It is unclear whether MONUSCO will decide to work with them as well. For unclear reasons, the Blue Boys who were sent into DR Congo are doing more observing (like tourists) than protecting civilians, mainly involved in the gruesome counting of cadavers. And yet, MONUSCO and the ICC are both products of the United Nations. In the particular case of DR Congo, the United Nations Security Council is invited to urgently review the copy of the MONUSCO’s mandate to allow it to truly carry out its peacekeeping role.

On January 16, The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses General Bosco Ntaganda of having forcibly recruited 149 children and young men to his armed forces between April 19 and Friday May 4 in and around the towns of Kilolirwe, Kingi, Kabati, Mushaki, and Rubaya, as well as other towns along the road to Kitchanga, in the Masisi territory (North Kivu).

In its report, HRW estimates that the number of soldiers who followed Bosco Ntaganda in his mutiny is between 300 and 600. He allegedly enlisted children and young men between the ages of 17 and 20. At least 48 of them were under 18 years old, and 17 of them were under 15 years old. The NGO stated that, for the most part, they came from the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. According to the HRW report, Ntaganda’s forces kidnapped some of the children from their schools, homes, fields, or from the side of the road, as they were trying to get away on foot or on motorcycle taxi. The recruited children and young men quickly received military training, and most of them were forced from the very beginning to carry weapons and ammunition in the front lines, explains HRW.

“Bosco Ntaganda is once again committing crimes against children that are identical to the crimes for which the ICC had already issued a warrant for his arrest,” stated Anneke Van Woudenberg, researcher in the African department of HRW. “As long as Bosco Ntaganda remains free, children and civilians living in Congo will be exposed to a serious security risk,” she added.

4. FDLR Intensifying Attacks in Villages

Ever since the national army has had to face-off against Bosco Ntaganda’s deserting troops and the new M23 movement, the FDLR militias have intensified their attacks in the villages and committed horrible massacres.

During the night between May 3 and 4, FDLR combatants attacked the village of Lumenje, 13 km northwest of Bunyakiri (South Kivu), killing 11 people. Among the victims were four women who were fleeing to the fields. The FDLR often retaliates when it suspects the people of a village of having collaborated with the Mai-Mai Raïa Mutomboki group.

During the night between May 13 and 14, individuals suspected of being members of the FDLR attacked the village of Kamananga, located between Kambegeti and Kambale, administrative post of Bunayakiri, in the Kalehe territory, in the South Kivu province, killing nearly 65 people, according to the NGO, Héritiers de la Justice (HDJ). The massacre took place 3 km from MONUSCO’s mobile operating base. Thus far, 31 bodies have been found, identified, and buried in a mass grave, and the search continues to find other missing people. HDJ has documented about fifteen names, but the list is not exhaustive.

On the morning of May 14, the local residents organized a demonstration to protest against MONUSCO, accusing them of “protecting their executioners”. During the demonstration, 11 Pakistani peacekeeping troops were injured, seven of whom were seriously injured.

Héritiers de la Justice is asking the international community to spare no effort to liberate the Congolese people from this FDLR disaster that has gone on for too long. Particularly by encouraging the Rwandan government to organize a dialogue and reconciliation between the Rwandans, which would pave the way for Rwandan citizens still wandering the forests of DR Congo to return to Rwanda.

During the night between May 16 and 17, FDLR rebels killed 13 civilians in the town of Tchambutsha, in the Waloa Loanda region, about 100 km south of Walikale Centre (North Kivu). Local sources confirm that the Rwandan rebels launched this attack in retaliation against the inhabitants of this town, who they accused of supporting the Raïa Mutomboki People’s Self-Defence Militia. The traditional chief of the Waloa Loanda, Mwami Kiroba Bulenezi, also says that some residents were seriously injured with machetes and other bladed weapons used by the assailants. The traditional chief also claimed that the same combatants took some Tshambutsha residents hostage, but did not say exactly how many. According to Mwami Kiroba Bulenezi, the FDLR attacks have increased since the beginning of the military operations against the Bosco Ntaganda loyalists and the M23 rebels in the Masisi and Rutshuru territories. For the time being, the village of Tshambutsha is empty. Some people are fleeing towards Walikale Centre, Itebero, and Karete, while the others are heading in the direction of South Kivu.

During the week of May 14 to 20, more than 100 people, mainly civilians, were killed in eastern DR Congo during attacks attributed to Mai-Mai militiamen and Rwandan Hutu rebels of the FDLR.

According to Omar Kavota, Vice President of the civil society in the province of North Kivu, one week ago, the Mai-Mai attacked the FDLR who, in retaliation, came back attacking anyone they could find, claiming that they were collaborating with the Mai-Mai. He added that the Mai-Mai, who were looking for the FDLR, attacked everyone that they could find, accusing them of being with the FDLR. More than 100 people are thought to have been killed, most by bladed weapons. The attacks took place in the Ufamandu 1 and Ufamandu 2 region, in the neighbouring territories of Masisi and Walikale, in North Kivu. Among the targeted villages were: Kibati, Kibua, Kilima, and Nyakisofi.

A Katoyi community leader confirmed this information during a meeting held on Sunday, May 20, with other heads of Masisi villages. “On May 19, they killed five people, one man and four children in Bitoyi, 39 people in Kibati. In Kibua, they killed 36, in the village of Kilina Nyakisosi, they killed 47 people,” he stated. A local source confirmed that the Mai-Mai combatants attacked the FDLR militiamen first, on May 14.

The activity of the FDLR and other local militia groups in North and South Kivu has doubled since the suspension of military operations led against these groups, which was decided on April 11 by Congolese president Joseph Kabila. That decision had been made following the defection of the army in the beginning of April, in those two provinces, of several hundred ex-members of the CNDP, ex-rebellion.

5. The Mai-Mai Too

Between April 11 and 14, in the Mbunyampuli and Luvungi sectors, in the Walikale territory (North Kivu), confrontations between the FARDC and Cheka’s Mai-Mai Nduma Defence Of Congo group (NDC) resulted in at least 27 deaths, of which 12 were FARDC soldiers and 15 were Mai-Mai militiamen.

On April 22, nine soldiers were killed in an ambush by Mai-Mai militiamen in the Bunyampuli region, in Walikale, in North Kivu. Among the victims were colonels Bulumisa Chuma and Kamatimba Pili Pili, commanders of the 4th sector and 803rd regiment of the FARDC respectively. Six soldiers were also wounded in the ambush. According to FARDC authorities, the soldiers were on a mission in the Mpofi-Kibua region, where the rebel leader Cheka’s Mai-Mai group and their allies, the ex-CNDP and the “Guides”, are wreaking havoc.

On April 24, around 2 a.m., a group of Mai-Mai militiamen attacked the FARDC Ozacaf military camp located in downtown Beni, in the province of North Kivu. The commander of the 1st sector of the FARDC based in Beni, Colonel Eric Rwiyombere, confirms that the assailants were driven back by loyalist soldiers. The Ozacaf military camp houses the military intelligence bureau and the arms depot of the logistics base of the 1st sector of the FARDC.

According to some sources, the Ozacaf camp houses Rwandan-speaking soldiers deployed in the Great North, with the objective of protecting the interests of the Kabila and its Rwandan mentor, Paul Kagame: ensuring the security of the people and their possessions is not a part of their mission. According to the same sources, around 1 a.m., a group of about 30 combatants of the Forces du Droit pour la Défense des Citoyens (Forces of Justice for the Defence of the Citizens) penetrated the FARDC-rw lines of defence by neutralizing a few of the guards who were asleep while on duty in front of the Ozacaf camp’s munitions depot. In less than 45 minutes, a good stock of weapons and ammunition was taken by the commando and loaded into a truck that was waiting outside. The operation was possible thanks to the involvement of a few FARDC compatriots within the Ozacaf camp who have had enough of seeing the Rwandan-speakers, without any consideration for the Congolese, lead our army, subordinated to the Rwandan dictatorship.

On May 4, Mai-Mai Simba troops attacked a FARDC position in the Mambassa territory, in the Orientale province (northeast DR Congo), killing 27 people, 26 of whom were civilians and a FARDC captain, and injuring more than 60. The Mai-Mai Simba are present in the southwestern zone of the Maiko National Park. Their area of action includes the Lubutu territory in the Maniema province, where their headquarters is located. The ethnic composition of the Mai-Mai Simba is mainly Kumu. General Jean-Claude Kifua, commander of the 9th FARDC Military Region, confirmed that “the Simba are natives of this area. During the day, they are dressed like civilians,” adding that they are poachers and illicit exploiters of raw materials.

On May 9, an FDLR-Mai-Mai coalition attacked two FARDC positions in Kilambo and Butalongola, 5 and 7 miles south of the city of Kanyabayonga, respectively, in the chieftainship of Bwito, in the Rutshuru territory (North Kivu).

Three new alliances were made over the past two weeks between various armed groups in the Walikale, Lubero, and Masisi territories. An alliance was made by the Mai-Mai group, Lafontaine, and a group of FARDC deserters led by Colonel Kahasha in the Lubero territory, according to the civil society.

The alliance, called “Union des Patriotes Congolais pour la Paix” (Union of Congolese Patriots for Peace), has had control of almost all of the southeastern part of Lubero for the past four days. The alliance worries those living along the axis that runs through Kanyabayonga, Kirumba, and Kaseghe.

Another agreement links the Mai-Mai Janvier to certain FDLR rebels who occupy a large part of the northwestern Masisi territory. The Mai-Mai militiamen commanded by Cheka have also formed a coalition with the Forces de defense congolaise (Congolese Defence Forces) to occupy several regions in the western part of the Walikale territory.

The president of the North Kivu civil society, Thomas d’Aquin Mwiti Mustafa, attributes this situation to the fact that the integration process of the people from the armed groups into the national army was poorly executed. On May 7, he clearly stated that “this situation could easily be solved if the FARDC would just become a truly republican army.”

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The PerMondo initiative, Mondo Agit (translation agency) and the translator Holden Ferry have made possible this translation from French into English. PerMondo offers free translation of websites and documents for NGOs.

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