Monday, October 31, 2011

Conflict & abuse continue to plague eastern Congo



Conflict and abuse continue to plague eastern Congo ahead of elections

The humanitarian situation in Congo's eastern provinces is unlikely to bolster regional support for President Joseph Kabila

Posted by

Kristin Palitza Wednesday 19 October 2011 11.00 BST


The army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has had a rough ride since May 2009. That was when President Joseph Kabila started to integrate into the force about half of the estimated 330,000 militia who waged an eight-year civil war. Around 5 million people were killed in the conflict.
Two years later, as a presidential election looms, it is obvious the integration strategy has failed. Internal power disputes along old militia and tribal lines, ineffective control of troops, lack of training and low pay have destroyed the the military's morale. The civilian population regards the army as a corrupt body of murderers, rapists and thieves.
"We don't have a professional national army yet. There are elements that loot and rape," says Lieutenant Colonel Muhima Busanga, who is stationed in Bukavu, in eastern Congo. He feels the situation is difficult to resolve if soldiers don't receive an appropriate salary.
According to Busanga, soldiers are paid an average of $50 a month - if they are paid at all - an amount hardly sufficient to feed their families. "Proper pay will stabilise soldiers. They will not go and steal from civilians to survive," the lieutenant explains, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
The condition of the army barracks in Bukavu demonstrates that soldiers' lives are far from comfortable. The run-down brick dwellings are interspersed with rickety shacks built with discarded planks of wood and plastic. Soldiers and their families live like squatters, largely without running water or electricity.
"The reintegration of armed groups has not been successful because the government ordered different militia to be grouped together, without a proper integration mechanism," says Professor Gustave Nachigera, political analyst and rector of Bukavu's Evangelical University in Africa. "Men who used to torture, rape and kill are from one day to the next supposed to protect the population. That's impossible."
The humanitarian situation in the eastern provinces continues to deteriorate. Militia attacks remain the order of the day. In Katana, for example, a small village 50km north of Bukavu, women hide at night in banana plantations, fearful of attacks. "There is almost no one here who hasn't been raped," says Angelique Rusumba, a woman speaking on behalf of the village. "Rape is used as psychological warfare by all sides."
Militia fighters steal crops and livestock, forcing villagers into abject poverty, she says. According to a 2009 UN Human Development Report, almost 80% of the Congolese population live under the poverty line of $2 a day.
A few years ago, the village was protected by its own militia, the Maï-Maï, but such groups were demobilised in 2006 – and peace did not come as promised. "We are now unprotected, but the attacks continue. Just last week, armed men came at night to pillage and abducted eight men to carry their loot," says Claude Nyamwemera, 25, a former Maï-Maï fighter.
The lack of a functional peace process, and the failure to pursue perpetrators of abuse through recourse to the law, has been strongly criticised by human rights groups. "The inability to bring to justice members of its own army and armed groups for crimes under international law has fostered a culture of impunity, leading to attack after attack against civilians," says Amnesty International's Africa director, Erwin van der Borght.
Congo has officially been at peace since December 2002, when the warring parties signed an accord. This was followed in 2006 by the country's first democratic elections. Yet the country seems doomed to war and stagnation due to conflicting national and international interests in its vast mineral wealth. Much of the gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and coltan is concentrated in North and South Kivu provinces, but the population there has seen little of the profits.
Without the fundamental issues at the heart of the instability and insecurity being resolved, the estimated 9 million citizens of the Kivu provinces – about 13% of Congo's population – are unlikely to vote for Kabila at next month's election.
• Kristin Palitza is a freelance journalist based in Cape Town, South Africa

Photo: Members of the Democratic Republic of the Congo army. Failure to integrate militia groups into the army has hindered peace efforts. Photograph: Thomas Einberger/EED
The original article can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/oct/19/conflict-abuse-plague-eastern-congo?newsfeed=true

Thursday, October 27, 2011

CONGO SIASA - US should not repeat Ugandan failures against the LRA

This blog Congo Siasa, by author Jason Stearns, does a really good job of keeping up with what's going on in Congo... Part of the post is below, the rest you can find on his site, the link is here for you as well.

http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/2011/10/guest-blog-us-should-not-repeat-ugandan.html



This guest blog was written by Ledio Cakaj. He has worked almost exclusively on the LRA conflict for the last three years as a consultant with various organizations. Most recently he was part of an international group of experts looking into possible ways to deal with the LRA. 

On 14 October 2011, President Obama announced in a letter to Congress his decision to deploy “a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces … to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.”

Kony is the founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group which for more than two decades waged civil conflict in Northern Uganda before moving to bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2006. Since the end of 2008 the Ugandan army with significant US support, has hunted the highly mobile LRA in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan. The aid from the US over the last three years includes logistics and intelligence to the Ugandans to the tune of about $40 million.

US troop deployment to central Africa is part of a larger US strategy to deal with the LRA that was unveiled on 24 November 2010. Obama’s recent announcement and the related media fanfare just shy of the strategy’s one-year anniversary are somewhat anachronistic, given that the current campaign against the LRA has largely stalled. Total numbers of armed LRA combatants today are virtually unchanged compared to last November – at about 350 – and the leadership of the rebel group remains intact.

In the meantime LRA groups have conducted numerous accounts in all three countries. Since December 2008, the LRA has purportedly killed over 3,000 people and caused the displacement of 440,000. The majority of killings and displacements have taken place in DRC.

Friction between the pursuing Ugandan troops and the regional armies, particularly the Congolese (FARDC), is one of many reasons for the shortcomings of the current efforts. Despite public pronouncements from Kampala and Kinshasa hailing the Ugandan-Congolese cooperation, the situation on the ground is dire. A recent Ugandan army internal report stated that FARDC troops have openly threatened to shoot Ugandan soldiers in DRC while a Congolese army officer told a journalist that the Ugandans were intent on looting Congolese resources. Ugandan officials accuse some FARDC commanders originating from  the Kivus of being pro-Rwanda and anti-Uganda. The history of the Ugandan-Rwandese conflict played out in Congolese territory in the late 1990s and early 2000s and the abuses by both sides are firmly rooted at the heart of the current hostilities.
... 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

"I will not lose."

"I know one thing for sure, I will not lose," Mr. Kabila replied when asked if he thinks there is a candidate who could beat him. So said the fearless leader of the DR Congo, Joseph Kabila.

What is his confidence rooted in? 
His assurance of the people's support and affection for him as the president?
His knowledge that regardless of other factors or candidates, the votes will swing his way, in the end, if not miraculously?
His understanding that with over ten opponents, there's little possibility for a large enough number of people to vote for just one of the other options, thus putting his power at risk?

Maybe it doesn't matter. The general population has a better understanding of elections and the electoral process, than they did in 2006, for the first elections. But in some key areas that generally are unhappy with Kabila's tenure as president - voter registration is down.
Even in Kinshasa.
Hasn't that city seen a high rate of growth in the past five years?
Seems strange.

But whatever. The vote will happen at the end of November. Kabila is confident he will not lose. And the people are ready to vote.

So we are left waiting to see what will happen... Whether it's already been decided or arranged... Or whether it will happen naturally. I guess it doesn't matter. For Kabila, the election has already been won. But for the rest of the population, they will try to make their opinions heard on November 28th.

The news article quoted is Kabila Confident He Will Win Re-Election - Congo Planet

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Joseph Kony and The Lord's Resistance Army

The fight against a man and his army, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)... People who have terrorized Northern Uganda, DR Congo, CAR and Southern Sudan - for decades.

So, what or who is the LRA? Below are some articles which I've taken some sections from... The original articles are referenced in each section, and at the end of this post.



October 14th, 2011
The Lord's Resistance Army, formed in the late 1980s, is a sectarian military and religious group that operates in northern Uganda and South Sudan. It has committed numerous abuses and atrocities such as abducting, raping, maiming and killing civilians, including women and children, according toglobalsecurity.org. Its members are known for hacking off the lips and ears of their victims, looting villages and burning huts, and stealing clothes and medicine from the communities they terrorize, CNN has reported.
On Friday, President Barack Obama announced that he is sending about 100 U.S. troops to Africa to help hunt down the group's leaders.
The Lord's Resistance Army has sought to overthrow the Ugandan government and has contributed to instability across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
It is led by Joseph Kony, who professes to have spiritual powers. He is often "underrated" as a leader, according to a 2011 Jane's report on the group. Kony has claimed to be possessed by spirits who dictate the group's strategy. Jane's notes that the tactic has served him well, enabling him to speak to followers who have mixed beliefs. By portraying himself as a medium with supernatural abilities, his authority becomes harder to question within the ranks.
U.S. military personnel will advise regional forces working to target Kony and other senior leaders. The president said the troops will not engage Kony's forces "unless necessary for self-defense."
The Lord's Resistance Army is sophisticated and less like the ragtag group of fighters it is sometimes portrayed as, Jane's says. It has benefited from the military experience of former Ugandan military officers and years of combat in Sudan.
International aid convoys and non-government organizations operating in the region have been threatened by the Lord's Resistance Army, according to numerous reports. Human Rights Watch, in a letter released in May, urged the U.S. government to step up its effort to protect people from the group.

Obama orders U.S. troops to help chase down African 'army' leader

Joe Sterling, CNN
updated 7:22 AM EST, Tue October 18, 2011

"I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield," Obama said in letter sent Friday to House Speaker John Boehner and Daniel Inouye, the president pro tempore of the Senate. Kony is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army.

U.S. military personnel advising regional forces working to target Kony and other senior leaders will not engage Kony's forces "unless necessary for self-defense," Obama said.



October 17th, 2011
By Daniel R. DePetris - Special to CNN
The mission?  To provide assistance to the region’s governments in their fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a notorious and inhumane insurgent group that has been terrorizing the region since its creation in 1987.  While an overt generalization, the group could perhaps be described as a small-time Christian version of Al’Qaeda led by Joseph Kony—a cult-like figure as equally delusional as the former AQ emir Osama bin-Laden.
This comparison may seem farfetched to some.  But to innocent Africans in the Sub-Sahara who have experienced the sharp edge of the LRA, it is a perfectly suitable parallel.  Much like the late bin Laden, Joseph Kony claims to speak to his subjects on the behalf of God.  Kony’s LRA group has no qualms about targeting civilians, whether it includes killing a bystander during an operation against the Ugandan Government or deliberately kidnapping a small child from his family—only to drug and brainwash him to join their cause.
Tens of thousands of men, women, and children have been murdered as a result of LRA rampages, which often include the razing of entire villages and the kidnapping of young girls and boys to refurbish its rank-and-file.  It is not uncommon for the girls who are abducted to be converted into sex slaves or forced into marriages with LRA fighters.  The boys who are snatched up have two choices, which are not really choices at all.  Either they fight to the death for Kony’s apocalyptic worldview, or they can expect to be executed and dumped into a mass grave filled with their victims.
Civil society organizations and international aid groups have long documented LRA abuse, with reports that are so disturbing (note of caution) that even people without a full heart feel queasy after reading them.
This is not the first time the United States has tried to weaken Kony.  In 2008, President George W. Bush sent a small team of counterterrorism advisors to Uganda in order to train the Ugandan military for an offensive against his cult.  President Bush personally authorized the order to assist the Ugandan and Congolese armed forces in the jungle dividing the two nations, where at the time it was believed the bulk of the LRA was holed up.  American military officials, packed with satellite technology and human assets on the ground, coordinated with both countries in the assault, which was such a dismal failure that by the time the armies reached their desired location, Kony and his band of animals were already long gone.
President Obama has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor when it comes to the anti-LRA campaign.  In May 2010, Obama signed the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 to reassure its Central African allies that Washington will help punish the LRA’s leadership for their butchery with technical intelligence and logistical assistance.  The deployment of 100 fully armed U.S. military advisorscomplements this effort, which the weak governments of Central Africa would like nothing more than to complete.
The articles referenced above are listed here:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/14/what-is-the-lords-resistance-army/?iref=allsearch
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/14/world/africa/africa-obama-troops/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/17/fighting-a-terror-kingpin-in-africa/?iref=allsearch

Let's pray that this time around the forces sent to remove Kony and the LRA will be more effective, for the sake of the civilians who are directly impacted by this deranged man and his army.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Which one to choose...?

Hi Friends! 
Will you please read the appeal below and consider supporting UCBC, once again? We are trying to make UCBC's radio station, Radio Tele Bilingue, a powerful and consistent presence in the community. In order to do that we need a dependable generator that can be used even after school hours. We have already received a significant donation to purchase it and need to raise $7,000 more. Read below for more details!!!
For a few photos of the radio station, go to my blog post here.
Thank you for considering this! 
with love,
Bethany

Movie and popcorn or democracy and education?

Dear Friends of Congo Initiative,

Movie and popcorn or democracy and education?

Hmmm....an interesting choice, isn't it? But it's in your power to make it!

You've already demonstrated that you are interested in the work of Congo Initiative (CI) and the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC). Thank you for your support!  

Please extend that support and help us expand CI's impact. 

Literacy. Health. Democratic Elections. These are powerful forces for change in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) right now. And you can help!
Radio journalist
UCBC student broadcasting

For the price of 2 movie tickets and popcorn ($25) you can help Radio Tele Bilingue (RTB), CI's just-launched radio station, double its broadcast time from 4 hours/day to 8 hours OR MORE! To do that, however, RTB requires a dedicated generator to power the station. The total cost: $12,000.*

A generous donor has given a $5000 gift towards the purchase, shipping, and installation of the generator. If 300 people each give $25, we'll raise the addtional $7000 that will enable CI and UCBC to power RTB-a station with a potential listenership of 400,000-700,000 people!

A one-time donation of $25 is the price of going to the movies this month. Entertainment or education? The choice is yours! 

Please, donate today and be part of the power for change!


*The generator is a high-quality, dependable machine with a superb track-record, and an expected life-span of service of 30 years or more. Our staff and students will be able to maintain and service the equipment to assure dependability and service. Even after UCBC campus installs a fully-integrated power source that includes renewable energy sources, the generator will continue to serve as back-up power, necessary for assured operations.  

RTB is on the air thanks to the generous support of a committed group of donors and the Eastern Congo Initiative.  

Eradicating Malaria - BBC News

Good news for Africa!
Especially since Malaria is a frequent and expensive problem for our students, staff and friends in the community...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15346624


18 October 2011 Last updated at 07:46


Malaria deaths fall nearly 40% worldwide in last decade



There has been a fall of nearly 40% in the number of deaths from malaria worldwide in the past decade, the World Health Organization says.
A new report said that one-third of the 108 countries where malaria was endemic were on course to eradicate the disease within 10 years.
Malaria accounts for 20% of childhood deaths in Africa.
Experts said if targets continued to be met, a further three million lives could be saved by 2015.
Malaria has been eradicated from three more countries since 2007.
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership aims to eliminate malaria in another eight to 10 countries by the end of 2015, including the entire WHO European Region.
The mosquito-borne disease is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of deaths occur. In 2009, 781,000 people died from malaria.
Robert Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said "remarkable progress" had been made.
"Better diagnostic testing and surveillance has provided a clearer picture of where we are on the ground - and has shown that there are countries eliminating malaria in all endemic regions of the world," he told an international Malaria Forum conference in Seattle.
"We know that we can save lives with today's tools."
Global eradication
A global malaria eradication campaign, launched by WHO in 1955, succeeded in eliminating the disease in 16 countries and territories.
But after less than two decades, the WHO decided to concentrate instead on the less ambitious goal of malaria control.
However, another eight nations were declared malaria-free up until 1987, when certification was abandoned for 20 years.
In recent years, interest in malaria eradication as a long-term goal has re-emerged.
The WHO estimates that malaria causes significant economic losses, and can decrease gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 1.3% in countries with high levels of transmission.
In the worst-affected countries, the disease accounts for: up to 40% of public health expenditures; 30% to 50% of inpatient hospital admissions; and up to 60% of outpatient health clinic visits.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Concert in Butembo

We took a trip to Butembo yesterday (spending just a few hours there), to support our church's choir, Echo du Salut. They sang with another choir from Goma and Orioni, a Butembo choir in a large concert. Here are a few images! 

singers from Goma

 some of the musicians

 Echo du Salut

 Zack and Kizito leading the song

some of the ladies

Orioni choir from Butembo

And now I need a massage... It's been a long time since I've made that trip to Butembo - twice in one day! It's physically exhausting. And unfortunately, I don't have photos of all the dust I had to wash off of me after getting home... That might be kind of gross though! 

But thankfully, we had no car or any other troubles. Besides, smooth travel wasn't really expected and it's not the reason we went to Butembo. It was to support and be a part of our local choir. 

The day and the concert, were both beautiful. 

Friday, October 14, 2011

Recently...

our house

Becoming pros - Noé and Tikva making samosas!


Bye Tikva :(


My new boss, Joel



UCBC students with Sabato (holding the flowers), 
after he gave his final presentation for graduation


Noé crossing a small river

Eating grilled meat on the road with Baraka 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Silence is "not" golden...

This is an interesting opinion piece on Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-otis-moss-iii/congo-breaking-the-silenc_b_1003431.html

I love when I find articles about Congo... Most aren't good or positive, but hearing and knowing people are talking (even if just a little) about this country, is so important!



Silence Is 'Not' Golden When It Comes To The Congo


Rev. Otis Moss III
Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago


The ancient proverbial statement says, "Silence is golden." But how can a person, especially a person of faith, be silent when a woman is raped every minute and 45,000 children, women and men are dying in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world. 64 percent of the world's reserve of Coltan, the mineral that allows you to read this on your iPad, laptop, desktop computer or cell phone -- comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The commercial sale of cell phones and computers is a $1 billion dollar per year global industry. But 80 percent of Congolese women, men and children live on 30 cents or less per day. At the July 2011 "Voices from the Congo" Conference at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) , who has traveled to the Congo twice said, "It is a nation of breathtaking natural beauty, rich in natural resources. It is also a badly broken country dominated by relentless poverty, war lords, pillaging soldiers, and horrific, almost incomprehensible violence."

The national and global politics of Blood Coltan mining includes the minute-by-minute rape of women and the deaths of children every day. The six million deaths caused by Blood Coltan mining exceeds the number of people who have died around the world in any war in the history of humanity. Why is the world silent? Why is the Christian community silent? Why is the interfaith community silent about this indescribable human tragedy?

Like the Bible, each religion's source of truth emphasizes that love, righteousness and justice are guiding principles for human beings. Yet, silence is offered instead of an interfaith clarion call for justice on behalf of our beloved Congolese sisters and brothers. Are we not our brothers' and sisters' keepers?

We must break the silence about the daily child deaths, rape of women and economic and human exploitation that is occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and around the world.

Trinity United Church of Christ and the rest of the global "Breaking the Silence" community will participate in the Blood Coltan "Cell Out" Awareness Campaign, October 16 -22. While the challenges seem overwhelming, we can stop the maiming, rape and exploitation of children, families and communities. It's critical that even after this campaign we continue to nonviolently protest the Blood Coltan mining tragedy. By not using your cell phone every Wednesday from noon until 1:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. you can show your solidarity with those being exploited. I also encourage you to email and call members of Congress with a clear moral message: stop the exploitation, and protect the people of the Congo.

Silence is not golden when 45,000 people die every month and innocent youth are forced to be child soldiers. How can we as a nation and a faith community ignore these horrific injustices? Silence to wrongful death is not golden. Silence to exploitation of the poor is not golden. It is time to "Break the Silence." The sins of racism and oppression in the Congo and around the world must stop.


Friday, October 7, 2011

Land Rush


Oxfam warns about effects of 'land rush'




An increasing number of land deals are displacing farmers and leaving poor communities homeless, campaigning charity Oxfam has warned.
It says up to 227m hectares (560m acres) have been sold or leased worldwide since 2001.
Half of all deals that have been verified are in Africa, amounting to an area the size of Germany - 35m hectares, Oxfam says.
A worker on small-scale farm in Zimbabwe (archive shot)
Among the worst affected by so-called land grabs are women, Oxfam says
Vulnerable communities in Uganda and South Sudan have been affected.
The report also focuses on Honduras, Guatemala and Indonesia.
'Frenetic competition'
The organisation's Chief Executive, Barbara Stocking, said the "blinkered scramble" for land by investors was ignoring the needs of those who live on the land and depend upon it for their survival.
"Many of the world's poorest people are being left worse off by the unprecedented pace of land deals and the frenetic competition for land."
Oxfam says that among the worst affected by these so-called land grabs are women, who despite producing up to 80% of food in some poor countries, are often more vulnerable as they have weaker land rights.
"Investors, no matter how noble they pertain to be, cannot sweep aside the needs and rights of poor communities who depend on the land they profit from," she said.
The organisation said that land grabs had accelerated especially since 2008, when soaring prices highlighted the issue of food security.
It said an increasing demand for food, combined with climate change and the increase of agricultural land being used to grow biofuels, meant that the number of such deals would be likely to only rise in the future.
It called on the EU to scrap its target of obtaining 10% transport fuels from renewable sources by 2020 - which has fuelled the planting of crops for biofuels - and asked investors and governments to implement policies to ensure land deals are fair and those affected are properly consulted.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15013396