Brutal, Conflict Minerals Smuggling General Escapes Justice
In important developments last Thursday, on 31 July, Congolese authorities cleared all charges leveled against General Amisi Kumba, former commander of the Congolese land forces. Amisi was suspended on 22 November 2012 following accusations made by the United Nations Group of Experts that he “oversees a network distributing hunting ammunition for poachers and armed groups, including Raïa Mutomboki” and Nyatura. The Rwandan government further asserted that Amisi contributes weapons to the FDLR rebel group. Amisi is also accused of a number of war crimes including widespread killings, summary executions, rapes, and pillage ...
Questions Remain in The Death of Rebel Leader Morgan
Paul Sadala, aka. Morgan, leader of the Congolese militia Mai Mai Morgan, was killed last week on April 14, two days after he surrendered with 42 members of his militia. It is still unclear why Morgan, who was alleged to engage in sexual violence, gold pillaging, and ivory poaching, surrendered in the first place. Here we provide an in depth look into his death ...
Enough Project, Other NGOs to World Bank: Effective DDR Program Needed in Congo
Since the defeat of the M23 in eastern Congo, around 8,000 combatants of other rebel groups surrendered to the Congolese army. The surrenders are a very positive development, but the Congolese government together with are slow to put in place a robust disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program (DDR). They risk losing a great opportunity for peace ...
Op-ed: After M23, it is time to focus on DR Congo’s FDLR rebels
In early November, the Congolese army, supported by the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade, defeated the most powerful rebel group in eastern Congo - the M23 ...
Understanding Eastern Congo’s ADF-NALU Rebels
On January 17, the Congolese military began conducting military operations in northeastern Beni territory, in North Kivu province, against one of its oldest and least understood armed rebel groups: the Allied Democratic Forces - National Army for the Liberation of Uganda, or ADF-NALU ...
Policy Alert: Rebels Surrendering in Eastern Congo – Time for Feingold and Robinson to Act
On December 10, rebel leader Paluku Hilaire Kombi, commander of roughly 280 rebel troops, surrendered to the Congolese army. This stunning development is part of a larger defection trend that escalated after the army, along with the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade, defeated the M23 rebel group in early November. This is a very promising trend, but U.S. and U.N. Special Envoys Russ Feingold and Mary Robinson should quickly urge the Congolese government to act now to implement a new robust demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration, or DDR, program. Without this more robust program, the trend is at risk of reversing ...
Taking Back Eastern Congo: Comprehensively Addressing the FDLR and M23 Rebel Groups
Over the past 19 years, one of the most intractable symptoms of mass violence in Congo’s eastern regions has been the proliferation of armed groups that threaten security, perpetrate horrific human rights abuses, and undermine economic development. Two of these armed groups—the M23 and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR—not only have committed some of the worst atrocities in the conflict, but they have also internationalized it in multiple ways. The FDLR is headed by some of the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and it has attacked Rwanda in the past year. Kigali believes the ...
The Recent Fighting in Eastern Congo and Its Implications for Peace
On Sunday, July 14, 2013, fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group resumed on the outskirts of Goma in eastern Congo, with each side blaming the other for initiating the hostilities. This field dispatch explores the recent fighting and lays out the implications for peace in the region ...
Field Update: Goma’s Destiny
On Monday morning, the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army, or FARDC, clashed in the village of Mutaho, approximately six miles northwest of the provincial capital of Goma. The fighting comes after six months of relative calm between the warring parties following the 12-day occupation of Goma by M23 in November 2012 ...
Congo Security Update: M23, the United Nations, and the U.S. Government in the Kivus
Rumors circulated last week that the M23 rebel group reportedly signed an agreement with eleven other armed groups on April 21, 2013. The groups are said to include FAP-Nyatura, FDC, FPC-AP, FPD, Mai-Mai Cheka, MPA, M26, PARECO Lafontaine, PRM, URDC, and Vutura. They allegedly agreed on mutual defense – an armed attack against any one of them would be considered an attack against them all – in response to an attack by the forthcoming United Nations Foreign Intervention Brigade, or FIB ...
