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In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz.
Fourth Estate. Retrieved 31 March May 18, The New York Times. Mobutu in French. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sep 26, Archived from the original on March 11, Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September Articles with permanently dead external links CS1 French-language sources fr Articles needing additional references from September All articles needing additional references Year of birth uncertain.
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Some observers expressed concern over the government's decision in September to suspend indefinitely all mining activities in three eastern provinces. There were reports that, following the suspension, the military's control of the mines intensified and that some FARDC elements increased their use of forced labor in the mines since mine activity had dropped following the suspension.
On November 29, UN Security Council Resolution endorsed the UNGOE's recommendations for supply chain due diligence developed for importers, processing industries, and consumers of Congolese mineral products to ensure that companies do not exacerbate the conflict by "providing direct or indirect support to illegal armed groups… those found to violate the asset freeze and travel ban on sanctioned individuals and entities…or criminal networks and perpetrators of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, including those within the national armed forces.
The UNGOE's reporting in presented information indicating that Etablissement Namukaya, a gold exporting company based in the Kivu provinces, purchased gold from traders who were linked to armed entities in eastern DRC, bought gold from a mine that provided visiting FARDC officers gold, and worked with members of the FDLR in an attempt to sell material that they claimed was uranium.
The same report also indicated that the DRC-based company Hill Side's cassiterite supply chains originated from conflict-affected areas of North Kivu, including near the Bisie mine of Walikale Territory. Dissident elements of the DRC's state security forces controlled significant mining interests in this area.
According to information presented by the UNGOE in and , the dissident state security elements that controlled the Bisie mine and other mines in Walikale unlawfully used and recruited child soldiers, deliberately and regularly prevented UN peacekeepers from repatriating foreign combatants, regularly engaged in the extortion of miners and other local residents and were loyal to and engaged in mining activities, some of which were financed by General Bosco Ntaganda.
In addition, the same report presented information indicating that the supply chains of the following corporations, all based outside of the DRC, included one or more of the nine DRC-based companies mentioned above, and originated from areas in which mines were controlled by armed entities, such as the FDLR, which perpetrated serious human rights abuses in the eastern DRC during the year:. In addition, according to the UNGOE interim report of May , "in the Kivu provinces, it appears, almost every mining deposit is controlled by an armed group.
According to the report, the export records of the DRC government's Division of Mines showed that two Chinese companies and one Hong Kong company purchased percent of the In addition, Global Witness identified Chinese state-owned company CNMC Ningxia Orient Nonferrous Metal Group as one of the top three tantalum smelting and producing companies in the world and reported that the company declined to identify for Global Witness the origin of the tantalum ore that it used. At times verification of reported abuses in the east was difficult due to geographical remoteness and hazardous security conditions; however, MONUSCO's presence allowed observers to gather more information than would have otherwise been possible.
State security forces arrested, illegally detained, raped, tortured, and summarily executed or otherwise killed civilians and looted villages during military actions against nongovernmental armed entities during the year, according to reports by UN agencies and NGOs. Impunity remained a severe problem, and several individuals in the state security forces continued to hold high positions despite credible evidence of their involvement in serious human rights abuses or despite failing to hold their subordinates accountable for committing serious abuses see section 1. Taking advantage of parallel command structures, ex-CNDP FARDC units in the east controlled their own stockpile of weapons and resisted central government orders to deploy outside of the mineral-rich east.
For example, on February 2, members of the st Battalion killed the head of an elementary school and his son in Mwenga, South Kivu, because of suspicions of collaboration with the FDLR.
By year's end there were no reports of an investigation or judicial proceedings. Four of these cases were being investigated by authorities. No other details were available at year's end. According to the UNGOE report of November, "most troops have not been rotated in over a year and allegations of human right abuses continued to be reported. There were no known reports that authorities were taking steps to investigate or prosecute the commander or members of the FARDC's th Brigade implicated in the killing of at least 62 civilians between May and September , during its participation in Kimia II, in the Lukweti area near Nyabiondo, North Kivu.
Investigations by human rights organizations indicated as many as may have been killed during this period. MONUC ceased all support for this brigade in late Authorities took no steps to investigate or prosecute those responsible for killing an employee of Secours Catholique-Caritas, an international human rights and humanitarian organization, in Musezero, North Kivu, in July Military authorities took no action against any of the following FARDC elements accused of killings: members of the FARDC 13th Integrated Brigade reportedly responsible for the disappearance of at least six civilians and the arbitrary execution of at least one civilian during in Kamatsi, Orientale; or members of the FARDC 2nd Integrated Brigade who allegedly killed eight civilians in in Musezero, North Kivu.
No further information was available regarding the arrest of 24 FARDC soldiers accused of allegedly committing serious abuses against the local populations, including the killing of nine civilians, the rape of three girls, and the pillaging of numerous homes, stores, and restaurants. FARDC soldiers engaged in anti-FDLR operations often arbitrarily arrested civilians whom they suspected of being collaborators or sympathizers of the FDLR and detained them without charge for days or weeks, often beating them and demanding payment for their release.
HRW documented more than such cases between January and September in the Kivus; however, there were no reports of authorities taking disciplinary action against those soldiers responsible for the arbitrary arrests. The soldiers beat the men each time they tried to rest, and two civilians died of exhaustion and mistreatment.
Authorities took no action against FARDC elements accused of gang-raping nine women and committing other abuses in after reportedly deserting their units in Orientale. Rape by members of state security forces remained a serious problem, and perpetrators enjoyed almost total impunity.
According to a December report by HRW, in North Kivu, in of the sexual violence cases documented by HRW, the victim or other witnesses clearly identified the perpetrators as government soldiers. Authorities arrested him on June 17 and held him in the 9th Region's headquarters until his eventual court martial and incarceration. The soldier's commander subsequently arrested him and transferred him to the military prosecutor's office in Bukavu, where he remained in detention pending the outcome of an investigation.
Authorities took no action against FARDC soldiers in Nyamilima, North Kivu, who allegedly raped eight women and five minors in June during a riot protesting a delay in the payment of their salary. There were no reports of authorities taking action against soldiers of the FARDC 7th and 15th integrated brigades, who raped at least 10 women while retreating amid combat operations in the Rutshuru Territory villages of Kibirizi and Nyanzale in North Kivu between September and December According to the UN secretary-general's report of July, following the fast-track integration of former rebels and militia members in , which brought many child soldiers from RMGs into the ranks of the FARDC, "the FARDC not only accounted for the highest number of children recruited during October through December but was also the only armed entity for which an increase in child recruitment was documented.
By contrast, all the other groups showed a downward trend in child recruitment, with the transfer of their children to the FARDC. Gwigwi, along with his commanders, systematically hid children from child protection officers and otherwise obstructed their efforts, according to witnesses. UNICEF expressed concern about frequent reports of the prolonged detention of children at detention centers following their separation from armed entities.
The group noted that children were often subjected to interrogation and inhumane treatment. Government security forces in the east continued to force men, women, and children, including IDPs, to serve as porters, mine workers, and domestic laborers. However, on April 7 Lieutenant Colonel Mboneza destroyed the warrant and detained the officers carrying it. Throughout the year stories of unknown persons, either refugees from camps in Rwanda, economic migrants from Rwanda, or IDPs from other areas in the DRC, trickled back to reoccupy contested land in the Kivus, exacerbating ethnic and land-based tensions among local communities.
Illegal armed entities committed numerous serious abuses, especially in rural areas of North and South Kivu and Orientale during the year. Such groups killed, raped, and tortured civilians, often as retribution for alleged collaboration with government forces. Armed entities maintained and recruited child soldiers, including by force, sometimes from schools and churches, and sometimes killed, threatened, and harassed humanitarian workers.
Many armed entities abducted men, women, and children and compelled them to transport looted goods for long distances without pay. On occasion, armed entities also forced civilians to mine. Armed entities forced men, women and children to provide household labor or sexual services for periods ranging from several days to several months. Armed entities in conflict-affected areas in the east used children, including child soldiers, for forced labor in mines.
Armed entities in parts of the east sometimes detained civilians, often for ransom. They continued to loot, extort, and illegally tax civilians in areas they occupied. There were no credible attempts by nonstate armed entities to investigate abuses allegedly committed by their fighters. In addition the CNDP agreed to transform itself into a political movement. This ambiguous and incomplete integration contributed to impunity within the CNDP.
They were also targeting young adult men to serve in their ranks. However, unconfirmed allegations received by UNJHRO human rights officers suggested that the number of victims could be much higher. Other human rights groups reported in that as many as civilians may have been killed during and after the fighting between CNDP and Mai Mai combatants. In addition the UNJHRO received testimonies alleging that the CNDP burned homes and a police station, raped a woman, arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians, abducted 23 men and boys to forcibly recruit them as combatants, and dismantled camps for IDPs in and around Kiwanja after the CNDP took over local administration.
The FDLR, which was led by individuals responsible for fomenting and implementing the Rwandan genocide, committed several killings during the year. They also allegedly killed an unknown number of civilians, kidnapped 50 others, burned approximately houses, and stole one ton of cassiterite. The abductees were forced to carry the looted items. During the night of February 3, civilians in Walikale, North Kivu, were forced to hide in the forest for fear of further attacks after the FDLR attacked, killing six inhabitants, injuring five others, and looting and burning many houses.
FDLR combatants also abducted scores of civilians as hostages, seemingly for use as "human shields" against the impending attack; however, when the hostages tried to escape as Umoja Wetu forces began attacking the FDLR's Kibua headquarters in January , FDLR combatants shot and hacked to death many of them.
Over the days that followed, the FDLR deliberately killed a further 41 civilians, injured many others, and then burned the village to the ground. The FDLR attackers then destroyed Busurungi, burning to the ground houses, three health centers, and several schools and churches, according to HRW. Between January and September , the FDLR destroyed at least 7, homes and other structures and perpetrated cases of sexual violence in North and South Kivu in areas affected by military operations.
When her daughter resisted being raped, the attackers shot and killed her. In , scores of women were abducted and forced to serve as sex slaves in FDLR camps, where they were raped repeatedly for weeks or months at a time. The FDLR took no credible action to investigate or address human rights abuses allegedly committed by its members, including FDLR members responsible for the following reported abuses: the killing of the village chief of Kilali, North Kivu; arbitrary execution of three civilians in Tchanishasha, South Kivu, in ; or the killing of three residents of Kabunga, North Kivu, in Abuses by militias in Ituri were more often acts of banditry, rather than politically or ethnically motivated violence.
On August 9, the military tribunal in Bunia sentenced Kakado Banaba Yonga, spiritual leader for FRPI militia leader Colonel Cobra Matata, to life in prison for war crimes, including attacks against civilians, rape, and sexual slavery that he had committed. There were no credible reports of action taken by rebel leaders in Ituri District against those responsible for the following abuses: the attack on villages in and around Lalo and Djurukidogo in Ituri District by FNI combatants, who burned children to death and kidnapped individuals; and attacks by FPRI members on local populations in Tchey and other villages of Orientale in No additional information was available regarding the case of Yves Kawa Panga Mandro, alias Chief Kawa, a former Ituri militia leader convicted in for crimes against humanity in In , the Kisangani Court of Appeal, citing the amnesty law, acquitted Kawa.
Various Mai-Mai community-based militia groups in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, and Katanga continued to commit abuses against civilians, including killings, abductions, and rapes.
The Patriots Alliance for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS) . they contain relevant information not available in more recent documents. form, the relevant web link has been included, together with the date that the link was When Kabila fell from favour, Uganda and Rwanda backed a. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 27 JANUARY The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as.
During the year various Mai-Mai groups continued to commit abuses against civilians, including the recruitment and use of children for use as soldiers. Authorities took no action against PARECO combatants, who allegedly raped a woman, stabbed a year-old girl, and arbitrarily executed six other civilians during an attack on Luwuzi, North Kivu, in In addition, the report included testimonies alleging that, outside the context of combat, Mai-Mai combatants killed at least one civilian and abducted several persons in Kiwanja.
There were no further developments in the trial of Katanga Mai-Mai leader Gideon for war crimes and crimes against humanity.