The Congolese army says it is preparing for the next phase of operations against the FDLR, this time expanding the operations to South Kivu. The rapidly mixed brigades of former enemies have been sent to the front lines with no salaries, rations, or any formal training, increasing the likelihood of future human rights violations, HRW says.
Serious abuses against civilians by government soldiers have already been reported. Army soldiers killed at least five civilians in Lubero territory in March, some while on looting sprees. In Ziralo, an elderly man was killed by soldiers while they raped his wife and looted his home.
Human Rights Watch decries the fact that there is no formal vetting mechanism to stop those with serious records of past human rights abuses from being promoted and integrated into the Congolese army.
Bosco Ntaganda, wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers and using them in hostilities, was promoted to the position of general in the Congolese army in January 2009. In addition to the ICC charges, Ntaganda has been accused of commanding troops that massacred 150 civilians at Kiwanja in North Kivu province in November 2008.
Jean-Pierre Biyoyo was recently appointed a colonel in the Congolese army despite being found guilty by a Congolese military court in March 2006 of recruiting child soldiers. He later escaped from prison. Both Ntaganda and Biyoyo play an important role in current military operations.
"Protection of civilians can only be taken seriously if known human rights abusers are removed from the ranks of the Congolese army," said HRW's Van Woudenberg.
As for the fate of Congolese General Nkunda, his attorneys and private counsel have filed applications and protests in Rwandan courts reminding the courts that "it is useful to recall that habeas corpus applications are normally heard within 24 hours."
Image: Nkunda in Interview before his detention © 2009 Nienaber
Counsel says that the "arbitrary detention of Laurent NKUNDA MIHIGO, in violation of the fundamental rights of any person present on the territory of the Republic of Rwanda - recognized internationally by, amongst others, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 9), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 9(1)), the African Charter of Human and People's Rights (Article 6) as well as by the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda (Article 18) - Counsel for Laurent NKUNDA requested that it be heard on an urgent basis." Counsel also cited Article 89 of the Rwandan Code of Criminal Procedure.
In a nutshell, Rwanda is not abiding by its own Constitution, which the United States and other Western powers hold as a model for the region. The US has just completed work on an $80 million embassy in Rwanda, a country the size of the State of Maryland.
Congo is the size of Western Europe and contains the most strategic store of minerals necessary for the defense industry and telecommunications as well as substantial stores of uranium.
In a complete disconnect regarding realities in this region, Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times interviewed Congolese President Joseph Kabila, whom HRW names as an egregious human rights violator, and gave him a free pass. No mention is made of the rapes and killings by Congolese troops in Kivu. Gettleman does manage to get a few laughs from Kabila at Nkunda's expense, and then goes on to discuss Kabila's motorcycles and cars, which the president uses "to blow off steam."
Gettleman has not interviewed Nkunda, nor did he press Kabila on HRW's insistence that Bosco Ntaganda be arrested as a war criminal. There are absolutely no international arrest warrants for Nkunda, nor are there arrest warrants for him in Rwanda or DRC.
Neither did the NYT mention the HRW report "WE WILL CRUSH YOU" which details the Kabila government's use of violence and intimidation to eliminate political opponents. Kabila himself set the tone and direction by giving orders to "crush" or "neutralize" the "enemies of democracy," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them, according to the report.
Meanwhile 250,000 people who were living in their homes before the arrest of Nkunda are now displaced, rape and murder is on the rise, Nkunda, a man with no warrants against him, languishes in detention in a corrupt Rwandan court system, Kabila rules Congo in spite of extreme human rights violations, and a man wanted by the Hague, Bosco Ntaganda is in charge of troops in eastern Congo.
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