Rwanda Backing Nkunda’s Rebel Army in Eastern Congo, UN Says


By Franz Wild and Bill Varner

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Rwanda is supporting rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo, while the Congolese government is arming a Rwandan militia, a United Nations report said yesterday.

The report to the UN Security Council “found evidence that the Rwandan authorities have been complicit in the recruitment of soldiers, including children, have facilitated the supply of military equipment, and have sent officers and units from the Rwandan Defense Forces” to the DRC. The support is for the National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP, led by Laurent Nkunda.

A “Group of Experts” appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to monitor UN sanctions in Congo also cited “extensive collaboration” between Congolese government troops and rebel groups in the country’s North Kivu province that fight against Nkunda, the report said. Groups including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, are getting government support.

Nkunda says he is fighting to protect Congo’s Tutsi minority from militias such as the ethnic Hutu FDLR that took refuge in the east of the country after participating in the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994. Since August, more than 250,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, the UN said.

The CNDP is accused of war crimes by the UN. Its military leader General Bosco Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting child soldiers.

The Congolese rebels’ funding sources include local and export taxes, payments from landowners in areas they control and the charcoal trade, the report said.

‘Organized Structure’

Jason Stearns, the coordinator for the Group of Experts, declined to say whether Rwandan President Paul Kagame ordered the assistance to Nkunda’s forces.

“We don’t want to speculate on who is giving the orders,” Stearns told reporters at the UN in New York. “It is obvious that given the fairly organized structure of Rwanda’s government there is certainly knowledge of this. They must know and they haven’t done anything to bring it to an end.”

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, an adviser to Kagame, “plays a role in CNDP financing,” evidence showed, according to the report. Assistance from inside Rwanda would violate a 2007 commitment the country made to stamp out support for Nkunda’s army.

Yolande Makolo, Kagame’s press officer, said she would e- mail any official government position on the report. Rwanda Investment Group, of which Rujugiro is the chairman, doesn’t list a phone number in online directories and no Web address was available.

Laurent N.

Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s government in Kinshasa has long accused Rwanda of supporting Nkunda, a claim that has been denied.

In an e-mail seen by the UN panel, Rujugiro thanked a Dubai- based employee for arranging the payment of “$120,000 to cover the salaries of the soldiers for our friend Laurent N.”

Rujugiro has been in the U.K. facing a South African extradition order on tax evasion charges since October, according to the UN report.

Raphael Soriano, the brother of a provincial Congolese governor, was also behind payments to the CNDP, through intermediaries such as Nkunda’s wife, the group said.

A woman who answered Soriano’s mobile phone in Belgium hung up when a reporter from Bloomberg News asked to speak to him. Another mobile phone was switched off.

The FDLR makes millions of dollars a year from illegal mining of resources including tin and gold, according to the report. The minerals are sold to international companies including refiners via Congolese exporters, it said.

The FDLR receives most of its weapons and ammunitions from Congo’s national army, the report said.

It may not be in the interest of government forces to “end the conflict in eastern DRC as long as their units are able to deploy to, and profit from, mining areas,” the report said.

jk2008

Hutu fighters in DRC call for talks as Kigali and Kinshasa agree on military operation
Article published on the 2008-12-06 Latest update 2008-12-07 09:49 TU

Rwanda Foreign Affairs Minister Rosemary Museminali (L) and DRC counterpart Alexis Thambe Mwamba, 5 December 2008
(Photo: Reuters)
Exiled Rwandan Hutu fighters based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are calling for direct talks with the governments of Rwanda and DRC following Friday’s announcement of a joint military offensive against them. The two countries signed an agreement targeting the Rwandan Hutus who fled to the DRC after a Tutsi rebellion took control in Rwanda in the wake of the country's genocide 14 years ago.
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“We have always advocated for a peaceful settlement of the Rwandan problem, which is actually a political problem, and therefore can only be settled through political talks,” Calixte Mbarushimana, Executive Secretary of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the groups targeted for attacks, told RFI.

“We don’t want to go to war,” he continued. “What we want is to have direct talks with the Rwandan government so that we can settle that problem peacefully.”



Reaction: Calixte Mbarushimana, Executive Secretary, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)
06/12/2008 by Billie O'Kadameri


For years Rwanda has demanded that the DRC disarm the Hutus. This week, DRC Foreign Minister Alexis Thambe Mwamba and his Rwandan counterpart Rosemary Museminali met for two days to agree on a plan to crack down on the FDLR and other groups in DRC’s troubled North-Kivu province.

Mbarushimana says the Rwandan government is trying to deal with a political problem with its opposition by force, which does not work.

“I think they should take lessons from other countries,” he said, like Burundi and Uganda, which are talking to their rebel groups, the FNL Palipehutu and Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, respectively.

“So why does the Rwandan government not really want to talk with its opposition, especially the FDLR, to solve the problem which is there?” asked Mbarushimana.

Operations are to begin in a few weeks, in early 2009, a diplomatic source told the AFP news agency. The force will be led jointly by the Congolese army and the UN Monuc peacekeeping force, with input from Rwanda, though without Rwandan troops on Congolese soil.

Rwanda/DRC - interview
Kinshasa accepts Rwandan intelligence to track down militias
2008-11-19 10:51 TU

Comment: Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali
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Rwandan Hutu rebels call for end to Kagame 'dictatorship'
7 hours ago

FDLR SORDERS ON PATROL IN LUSHEBERE,DR CONGO

LUSHEBERE, DRCongo (AFP) — High in the mountains in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan Hutu rebel leader Edmond Ngarambe denounces the Tutsi "dictatorship" in his homeland.

Lieutenant Colonel Ngarambe, spokesman for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has been exiled here, since he joined the FDLR in 1998. He is one of some 6,000 fighters with the FDLR, one of the many armed factions fighting in this troubled corner of DR Congo.

Some members of this rebel force have been here since 1994 when, having taken part in the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda, they were driven over the border by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR). According to UN figures, an estimated 800,000 people died in the genocide.

Ngarame, 40, is a hefty looking man in full combat fatigues and a pistol on his belt. He acknowledges that some of his men may have been taken part in the Rwandan genocide.

"Some elements are ready to surrender, but they don't trust justice in Kigali," he said, referring to the courts in the Rwandan capital.

The FDLR fighters would like to return to Rwanda, he said. "But there is no safety for us in Rwanda, it is a dictatorship," he insisted.

"Those who don't want to kneel down before the regime are considered as an enemy," he added.

Before his men could return home, he said, Rwandan President Paul Kagame had to leave office and what he called an "equitable" justice system had to be put in place to judge suspects in the genocide.

Ngarambe denounced the community-based courts, known as "gacaca", that have been dealing with such cases in the Rwanda, where only the Hutus were considered to be guilty.

Members of the Kagame's ruling FPR should also be held to account for their actions, he argued. "Nobody says anything on FPR reprisals after the genocide," he said.

From his position 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the Rwandan border, Ngarambe pointed out a mountain a few kilometres off. This was the battle line where his men were fighting their main enemies in the region, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), of renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda.

Since fighting resumed in the eastern DR Congo province of Nord-Kivu in August, the FDLR has formed makeshift alliances with DR Congo government soldiers and the pro-government Mai-Mai militias against the CNDP.

Nkunda, whose forces have made significant gains in the recent fighting, has denounced President Joseph Kabila for making common cause with the FDLR, who he says threaten the local Tutsi population.

But Nkunda's forces have themselves been accused of receiving support from eastern neighbours Rwanda.

"Laurent Nkunda is Kigali's puppet," said Ngarambe. "His only aim in fighting us is to wipe out all opposition to the regime in Kigali," he said.

"If Kinshasa helped the FDLR as much as Kigali helps Nkunda, we would march on Kigali in two days!" he said. Most of Nord-Kivu province was already in Rwandan hands, he said: and Nkunda was fighting for control of that land.

Ngarambe did not accept UN accounts of FDLR collaboration with Kabila's soldiers, preferring to speak only of cohabitation.

At the nearby town of Lushebere, government soldiers and Mai-Mai militia members could be seen rubbing shoulders with the rebels of the FDLR. But each force fought as an autonomous unit, Ngarambe insisted.

He raised an agreement in November 2007 between the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to flush out illegal armed groups in the east of DR Congo.

It was "unfortunate", he said, that the FDLR "were always the scapegoats for the insecurity in the region."

While he wanted talks with all the other concerned parties, he said, his forces were being hunted down and talked of in terms of "forced neutralisation." Yet when it came to the rebels in Uganda and Burundi, people were happy to talk about negotiation.

DR Congo rebels recruited from Rwanda army
Exclusive: Rwanda is allowing its territory to be used as a recruiting ground for the rebel movement behind the DR Congo's latest bloodshed, according to first-hand accounts.

By David Blair in Goma
Last Updated: 4:43PM GMT 20 Nov 2008



let the justice be done
Evidence gathered by The Daily Telegraph contradicts Rwanda's official denial of any role in the war in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 250,000 people have endured months of suffering since they were forced to flee their homes.

Instead, fighters recruited from inside Rwanda's army have joined General Laurent Nkunda's rebels in Congo.

Rwanda is one of Britain's closest African allies, receiving £46 million of aid last year. President Paul Kagame appears to be treading a thin line between officially helping the rebels and turning a blind eye to their use of Rwandan territory.

A 27-year-old fighter in Gen Nkunda's movement said that he served as a platoon commander in Rwanda's army until last month.

"There are many former Rwandan soldiers with the CNDP [Gen Nkunda's rebels]. When I was still in the Rwandan army, I was in touch with them. They wanted me to join the CNDP," he said. "I decided to join them because fighting for the CNDP is like fighting for Rwanda."

Gen Nkunda's stated goal is to eliminate the militias who murdered at least 800,000 people in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. These armed groups have found refuge in eastern Congo and Rwanda has a vital interest in neutralising them. Hence Rwanda and Gen Nkunda share common aims.

The rebel, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Gen Nkunda needed more fighters when he launched his offensive in August. Rwandan officers who were in touch with the rebels quietly conveyed the need for recruits.

Along with seven other Rwandan soldiers, the fighter crossed the Rwinyoni border post shortly before Gen Nkunda advanced towards Goma, eastern Congo's main city, last month.

"We met our friends from the CNDP on the Congo side. They gave us new uniforms," said the rebel.

The fighter described himself as a "deserter" from Rwanda's army and an "ex-Rwandan soldier", saying that he destroyed his military identity card. But he added that Rwandan officers are aware of the flow of former soldiers over the frontier.

Some are deserters, others have been officially demobilised. But Rwanda's highly centralised government has full control over its borders. The authorities could almost certainly stop this movement of recruits for Congo's rebels.

Instead, it has become a long-standing tradition. Another 28-year-old rebel said that he was demobilised from Rwanda's army in 2006. He crossed the border into Congo and joined Gen Nkunda six months later.

"I am a soldier, not a politician," he said. "I am fighting to protect our community here in Congo."

Gen Nkunda has proclaimed himself the protector of the Tutsis in eastern Congo. The presence of genocidal militias who tried to eradicate Rwanda's Tutsis 14 years ago amounts to a constant threat.

These gunmen, who once called themselves the Interahamwe, or "those who kill together", are the prime cause of eastern Congo's chaos. For as long as they remain at large, Gen Nkunda's rebellion will continue - with tacit Rwandan support.

But great wealth is also at stake. Wealthy Rwandans, including members of the government, have farming and mining interests in eastern Congo.

They need Gen Nkunda to protect these assets. Meanwhile, the rebels must finance their campaign. Gen Nkunda's movement is believed to hold bank accounts in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

Despite this, Gen Nkunda is not a puppet of Rwanda's government. He possesses an independent agenda and copes with deep splits inside his movement. But the neighbouring country serves as a crucial recruiting and financial centre.

the Rwandan Justice

ROSA KABUYE TO FACE THE LAW OVER THE RWANDAN DRAMA



PARIS (Reuters) - A Rwandan official extradited from Germany over the 1994 killing of a Rwandan president which was blamed for triggering genocide arrived in Paris on Wednesday and was put under investigation by magistrates, her lawyers said.
German authorities had held Rose Kabuye, a senior aide to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, since arresting her on November 9 at Frankfurt airport under international warrants issued by France for her and eight other Kagame associates.
A member of Kabuye's legal team, Belgian lawyer Bernard Maingain, said she was escorted on a flight from Frankfurt by French police officers and taken to be interviewed by judges investigating the 1994 plane crash that killed former President Juvenal Habyarimana.
That event is widely seen as triggering the start of the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
After interviewing Kabuye, a judge ordered that she be released under court-ordered supervision, her lawyers said. She will have to remain in France to answer questions but will be allowed to travel abroad with a judge's permission.
"It's a reasonable decision which will allow the investigation to go ahead and the defense to formulate its requests so that the truth can emerge," said Kabuye's French lawyer, Lef Forster.
During the interview with anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic, Kabuye denied allegations of complicity in murder related to a terrorist enterprise, her lawyers said.
Earlier, thousands of demonstrators in the Rwandan capital Kigali chanted "Our Rose, Our Rose" and waved Rwandan flags as they demonstrated their support. Some waved placards reading: "Rose is innocent and she is ready to prove it."
"GET UP, STAND UP"
The peaceful protest stopped outside the German embassy, where a stage was set up and a band sang "Get up, Stand up" by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Some demonstrators wore patches showing a rose, and others T-shirts decorated with Kabuye's face.
"Why did they arrest Rose, and not the genocidaires?" asked genocide survivor Ididas Mpole. Kigali accuses Berlin of failing to detain hard-line Hutu leaders Rwanda blames for the genocide.
"It just doesn't make sense," Mpole told Reuters.
Berlin says it was obliged to act on the French warrants, but the Rwandan government says Kabuye was on official business in Germany and had diplomatic immunity. Kigali asked the German ambassador to leave and recalled its own envoy from Berlin.
Kabuye's arrest this month marked a new low point in relations between France and Rwanda, which has broken off diplomatic ties over the warrants issued by judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere in 2006

PARIS (Reuters) - A Rwandan official extradited from Germany over the 1994 killing of a Rwandan president which was blamed for triggering genocide arrived in Paris on Wednesday and was put under investigation by magistrates, her lawyers said.
German authorities had held Rose Kabuye, a senior aide to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, since arresting her on November 9 at Frankfurt airport under international warrants issued by France for her and eight other Kagame associates.
A member of Kabuye's legal team, Belgian lawyer Bernard Maingain, said she was escorted on a flight from Frankfurt by French police officers and taken to be interviewed by judges investigating the 1994 plane crash that killed former President Juvenal Habyarimana.
That event is widely seen as triggering the start of the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
After interviewing Kabuye, a judge ordered that she be released under court-ordered supervision, her lawyers said. She will have to remain in France to answer questions but will be allowed to travel abroad with a judge's permission.
"It's a reasonable decision which will allow the investigation to go ahead and the defense to formulate its requests so that the truth can emerge," said Kabuye's French lawyer, Lef Forster.
During the interview with anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic, Kabuye denied allegations of complicity in murder related to a terrorist enterprise, her lawyers said.
Earlier, thousands of demonstrators in the Rwandan capital Kigali chanted "Our Rose, Our Rose" and waved Rwandan flags as they demonstrated their support. Some waved placards reading: "Rose is innocent and she is ready to prove it."
"GET UP, STAND UP"
The peaceful protest stopped outside the German embassy, where a stage was set up and a band sang "Get up, Stand up" by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Some demonstrators wore patches showing a rose, and others T-shirts decorated with Kabuye's face.
"Why did they arrest Rose, and not the genocidaires?" asked genocide survivor Ididas Mpole. Kigali accuses Berlin of failing to detain hard-line Hutu leaders Rwanda blames for the genocide.
"It just doesn't make sense," Mpole told Reuters.
Berlin says it was obliged to act on the French warrants, but the Rwandan government says Kabuye was on official business in Germany and had diplomatic immunity. Kigali asked the German ambassador to leave and recalled its own envoy from Berlin.
Kabuye's arrest this month marked a new low point in relations between France and Rwanda, which has broken off diplomatic ties over the warrants issued by judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere in 2006