Laurent Nkunda, Savior or Villain in the DR Congo? by Mac McKinney and Georgianne Nienaber

Inside a Congolese Displaced Persons Camp - photo by Georgianne Nienaber


Nkunda’s Pilgrimage of Reconciliation

The YouTube video is amateurish and grainy, but the images are irrefutable testimony. The date is August 6, 2006 in the tiny village of Nyamitabo in eastern Congo—a region where warfare between various players including militias funded by multi-national interests, invading armies, rebel armies and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Forces Armées de la République démocratique du Congo, or FARDC) has been ongoing for years at the cost of 6 million lives. Up to 1.1 million people are displaced here and aid agencies put the continuing death toll at 1,200 people per day. The numbers are truly Biblical in proportion.

The flickering images reveal a tall, lean-muscled man with wire-frame sunglasses and erect posture, dressed in crisp, green-camouflage army fatigues, field jacket and a dark green beret. He is holding a microphone in his left hand and addressing a large crowd in their dialect. The crowd of several thousand includes villagers, a contingent of soldiers loyal to this man, and other visitors.

Many are seated, and others are standing on a grassy hill and in a meadow. Various structures and canopy shelters ring the perimeter and high ground. Under the dignitaries’ canopy atop the hill, the man has just received a ceremonial longbow, shield and spear from one of the village elders and is now addressing the crowds assembled around and below him. They treat the man with the respect due a tribal chief, which he is, as he speaks:

First of all I thank all the wise men behind me, and everybody. This day, we want to tell you, our parents, who spend nights without sleeping but thinking about us, that even if we know that many among us have lost their lives on military front; you have to be happy because we, the survivors, can come again and still do something for you. I like what our soldiers have sung: “No more people in exile” and that’s true I repeat: “No more people will go into exile”.

“Secondly, why Nyamitabo? In 1964, the North-Kivu authorities took the decision to exterminate the Kinyarwanda (Rwanda-Bantu language) speaking community. The meeting that saved us from this killing took place here at Nyamitabo; therefore forgetting this place is a curse. That meeting convinced the Kinyarwanda speaking community that they had a right to live even if other communities were planning their massacres. Those who participated in that important meeting deserve my respect. The participants at that meeting decided to help each other in order to survive these planned killings.

Let me once again honor them because without their courage, we wouldn’t be born and alive today.

The man is relating a regional history that the crowd knows well. It is a history of genocide and exploitation that began in the late 1800’s, when baskets of severed hands tallied the price of disloyalty to the armies of Belgium’s King Leopold. By 1959 ethnic animosities fanned by the Catholic Church and multinational interests unleashed the “wind of destruction” against the people of this region. The historical presentation of this conflict as Hutu retribution against Tutsi is simplistic, and the Kinyarwanda know this.

As he continues to speak, this imposing figure moves about casually, continually and forcefully gesturing with his right hand to emphasize points, like a teacher lecturing his class for the afternoon. He has an air of confidence and charisma about him as he looks out on the crowds just below him, even a hint of evangelical fervor, which is not surprising for he happens to be an ordained Christian minister, as well as a rebel commander. Who is this man? Major General Laurent Nkunda, chairman of the CNDP— Le Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple. He continues:

This time we are not only protecting the Kinyarwanda speaking community but also all tribes of the Eastern-DRC in duress, and those who are still in exile who have to come back to their homeland - Bahunde, Banyanga, Barega, Bashi, Bahema, Lendu, and people from Equateur are all here to support this common struggle. Therefore this is a struggle for the whole Congolese nation. Don’t be afraid, nothing will stop you from achieving this noble objective.

The mention of “Equateur” is critical and is the word that gives Nkunda his legitimacy as a leader of this popular movement. In Equateur Province, the opposition candidate to current Congolese president Joseph Kabila, Jean-Pierre Bemba, won almost 100 percent of the vote at some polling stations. Bemba vowed to stand up to foreign interests that he said wanted to control Congo “like a puppet.”

On May 24, 2008, authorities in Belgium arrested Bemba on the basis of a warrant charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the rapes, torture, and looting allegedly carried out by his forces during the 2002-2003 conflict in the Central African Republic.

But before his arrest, Bemba was a serious threat to the political aspirations of Joseph Kabila. Kabila was, and is, willing to silence opposition at all costs. With Bemba silenced by The Hague, Nkunda rose to prominence as a defender of the rights of the Congolese people to their resources and destiny.

In a 96 page document [reference], “We Will Crush You,” prepared by Human Rights Watch, a document which has barely seen the light of day, Congolese President Joseph Kabila is accused of crimes against humanity which, intriguingly, pale when compared to those luridly leveled against Bemba and Nkunda in the international corporate media controlled by resource-hungry Western interests. Is a double standard at work here?

Regarding the persecution of law-abiding Congolese villagers who supported Bemba during the 2006 election process, HRW writes:

The government's lack of popularity in western Congo, and the fear of losing power through a military overthrow, have dominated policy discussions amongst Kabila and his advisors in their first two years of administration. According to many military and intelligence officials and others close to Kabila who were interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Kabila set the tone and direction of the repression. In giving orders, he spoke of "crushing" or "neutralizing" the "enemies of democracy," "terrorists," and "savages," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them.

According to testimony obtained by HRW from within and without the inner circle of Joseph Kabila, including that of foreign diplomats, Kabila pursued an approach of "winner take all," leaving no room for other strong political opponents.

State security forces deliberately killed or summarily executed more than 500 persons in Kinshasa and Bas Congo and arbitrarily arrested and detained about a thousand more, many of whom were tortured or ill-treated. Many of the detainees were from Equateur (the home province of Bemba) and were insulted about their origins, questioned about their alleged support for Bemba, accused of being disloyal to President Kabila, and threatened with death…including the use of electric batons on their genitals and other parts of their bodies, beatings, whippings, and mock executions.

Another man from Equateur arrested during a separate incident described what happened to him. HRW reports:

”When I arrived they put me on the ground and beat me with a plank. They told me not to scream but it hurt so badly that I did scream. They questioned me about Bemba and my brother who they said was a Bemba [supporter]. A soldier started to sharpen his machete and said he would kill me and then he beat me on my back with the flat side of the machete.” The same detainee was sexually assaulted by a Republican Guard who forced his penis into his mouth.

In stark contrast to the blood-curdling speeches we often hear from the Kabila camp, or even in response to atrocities that cry out for retribution, Laurent Nkunda ends his speech on his “Pilgrimage of Reconciliation” with the following admonition:

Thirdly, we have to cleanse the malediction that came from killings of our brothers and sisters. The Bible story tells us that Cain was cursed because of his brother’s blood. Today, any one of us must look behind and decide not to kill his brother, so that he may not be cursed. Go and cohabitate, share all you have, as this was our culture a long time ago.

To view this speech on YouTube see:

Video One

Video Two

Video Three


Who Is Laurent Nkunda?

The speech in this village was just one of many that Nkunda gave as his contingent moved from village to village in the eastern Congo in the fall of 2006 promoting unity among the Congolese people.

The speech was filled with curious words from a man often accused by the West, not to mention the Congolese government of President Joseph Kabila, of being both a selfish, brutal warlord and war criminal, words not curious at all, however, if he is actually neither, but rather a militant revolutionary in the tradition of, say, a Simon Bolivar, George Washington, or Fidel Castro, all men with visions of unity and independence for their countries and peoples, men whose methods were indeed martial.

Who is Laurent Nkunda? What motivates him, and why are his followers in Rwanda and Congo unwavering?

Laurent Nkunda Batware was born in Rutshuru, North Kivu, the then Republic of Congo on February 2, 1967 and studied psychology at Kisangani University before becoming a schoolteacher in Kichanga. He was also quite religious, becoming an ordained Christian minister of the Seventh Day Adventist persuasion at some point.

When the assassination of the Hutu President of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, in April 1994 ignited the Hutu Rwandan Genocide against the minority Tutsis, led primarily by the extremist Hutu Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, Laurent Nkunda, incensed by their mass murders of Tutsis, traveled to Rwanda to join the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) battling against the Hutu controlled Rwandan Armed Forces. Nkunda quickly became an officer in the RFP ranks.

The RPF, spectacularly victorious by July of this same year, consolidated their hold on the Rwandan government, precipitating a mass exodus of Hutus, many of them genocide perpetrators, into Zaire, the latest name for the Congo at that time.

Nkunda quickly returned to his home territory in Zaire. By 1998 he had became a senior officer in the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), backed by Rwanda, as what is now known as the Second Congo War began, a horrific regional struggle that at one point involved eight countries and some 25 militias, lasting until 2003. By then, over five million people had died of violence, starvation or disease, with millions more displaced. The country had also adopted, in 1998, the name still used today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nkunda was a prominent figure throughout this catastrophic war, continuing to prove himself an able defender of Congolese ethnic Tutsis against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the FDLR, the latest incarnation of the original Hutu Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi movements out of Rwanda, movements which together had murdered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus within Rwanda. Ironically, Nkunda began to see war crime charges surface against himself during this war.


Selective Condemnation of War Crimes By Media

In 2006, the respected and revered Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, who tragically died in the recent crash of Flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo on February 12, 2009, had this to say about Nkunda:

In May 2002 Nkunda, together with General Amisi, is alleged to have been among the RCD-Goma officers responsible for the brutal repression of an attempted mutiny in Kisangani, where more than 160 persons were summarily executed. In one incident, forces under Nkunda's command are alleged to have bound, gagged, and executed twenty-eight persons and then put their bodies in bags weighed with stones to throw them off a Kisangani bridge. After the U.N. began investigating these crimes, Nkunda and several armed guards are alleged to have entered the U.N. premises where they abducted and beat two guards.

In 2003, when the war was meant to be over, the RCD joined the national army of the transitional government. In 2004 Nkunda was named general. Nkunda refused, however, to report to Kinshasa under the new integrated army and withdrew with hundreds of his former troops to the forests of Masisi in North Kivu. Nkunda and troops loyal to him took control of the South Kivu town of Bukavu on 2 June, claiming this action was necessary to stop genocide of Congolese Tutsi, known locally as Banyamulenge. Some accused Nkunda of still following orders from Kigali; he however said that, although he considered Rwandans his allies, they had not told him to capture Bukavu. During the fighting, Nkunda's troops are alleged of carrying out war crimes, killing and raping civilians and looting their property

In August 2005, Nkunda declared the current Congolese government corrupt and incompetent and called for its overthrow. (reference)

It was in December of 2006 that Nkunda and others formed the National Congress for the Defense of the People, a military/political movement with the large ambition of uniting and rebuilding the Congo, which describes itself on its website as “ a a socio-political organization founded on a socio-democratic vision.” [reference]

Why is the world media so selective of who it accuses of war crimes? Is it precisely because Nkunda speaks of standing up for a truly independent Congo, free from the hidden hands of selfish world powers? Where is the condemnation today of the deaths of 1 million innocents in Iraq at the hands of the United States?

Nkunda vigorously denies charges of war crimes made against him by Human Rights Watch, arguing that they did not really know the facts on the ground, and points to the large numbers of civilians and refugees, including women, who flock to areas under his control for protection. It must be said that the only body that has actually indicted Nkunda is the Congolese government of Joseph Kabila, sworn enemy of Nkunda, whose impartiality must naturally be questioned. The indictment fails the test of an “international” arrest warrant, is not registered with INTERPOL, and according to Congolese law, has not been renewed by a judge. It no longer exists.

Alison Des Forges, before her death, was summarily banned from Rwanda by the regime of President Paul Kagame, who was indicted himself in 2006 by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere on terrorism charges. Why have these charges against Kagame been largely ignored?

Is it possible that, despite denials, Nkunda has indeed committed any war crimes? Certainly, especially given the horrendous nature of the ongoing Congolese wars, the third of which is underway now.

But, there are also documents that have been given to Western media and to Human Rights Watch by Hutu leaders in Congo that exonerate Nkunda from recent charges of brutality and murder in the Kiwanja area. Independent journalists have presented these documents directly to Western media interests. Regional Hutu officials maintain it was the FDLR and FARDC who are the agents of violence and murder against civilians.

As of this writing, Nkunda has vanished into the hands of the secret police in Rwanda in an act of betrayal designed to satisfy Western criticism of Rwanda’s covert support of his movement, and Bemba is under arrest in Belgium. Meanwhile, Congolese President Joseph Kabila is writing contracts with the Chinese, lining his pockets in an imitation of Mobutu, and sources report he has a 40 million dollar mansion in Malibu for one of his mistresses.

Furthermore, in a deal made with the tacit approval of the United States, an accused war criminal with a rap sheet that rivals Bemba’s alleged atrocities has now been installed as a military leader in eastern Congo by an alliance forged between arch-enemies Kabila and Rwanda’s Kagame. We are referring to Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by The Hague for murder and torture. In May 2008 The International Criminal Court unsealed a warrant for arrest against Ntaganda, also known as the “Terminator. This 35 year Congolese is also accused of enlisting children as young as 15 between July 2002 and December 2003.

Ironically, quoting from The Washington Post:

The Congolese government had pledged to disarm the FDLR and enable the return of its members to Rwanda, where many would probably be prosecuted for their role in the genocide. But the U.N. panel said it had obtained "strong evidence" showing that the Congolese army has "collaborated extensively" with the FDLR since 2007.

Congo stands accused of supplying the Rwandan militia with large shipments of ammunition in exchange for participating in joint military operations against Nkunda's forces, according to the panel. The panel said that it has documented more than 98 satellite and cellphone calls between Congolese and FDLR commanders over the past year, and that Congolese troops routinely sold military supplies to the Rwandan exiles, including bullets for a dime apiece and uniforms for as much as $3 dollars each. [reference]

Eyewitness Account of Nkunda’s Arrest by Rwanda

Sources close to General Nkunda and his family report that Nkunda remained consistent in his admonition to “turn the other cheek” towards enemies in the face of his betrayal by Rwandan authorities. Nkunda was not “hunted down” as celebrity-with-access to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Ben Affleck, reports in Time Magazine. This story was apparently cooked up to mask the Rwandan government’s treachery while smearing Nkunda’s integrity and respectability. This eyewitness, who must remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from Rwandan intelligence, tells the true story that has been emerging from various sources:

The Night when General Nkunda wanted to go to Rwanda he knew they (would) kill him or arrest him, all the commanders refused he can go they said. “We will fight till the last to protect you.” But he said: “We did not go in the bush to protect me but to protect our people. So if they have to fight us, they will kill our soldiers and we will kill our cousins from Rwanda, what will be the price of the bloodshed? So let me go for Peace to come.”

One of Nkunda’s loyal soldiers and aids reported Nkunda’s last public words as he was about to be arrested:

He said: “When David wanted to go to fight Goliath he was afraid but when he hear that Goliath abused the name of God he said, let me fight him because he don't know God. The last words General Nkunda he said was: "Let me go to them because they don't know GOD." We cried all of us even the commanders. M…. and the deputy Chief of Staff accompanied him. They released them after.

Furthermore, we have the spectacle of the Congolese government in Kinshasa condemning General Nkunda and seeking to extradite him while Kabila himself is accused of collaborating with the worst perpetrator of atrocities of all against Congolese citizens of his own country, the FDLR. Who is free of sin in the Congo? More importantly, less journalists be put in the position of judge and jury, what do the Congolese people want, and why have the voices of local Hutu officials in Kiwanja been silenced?

Perhaps Human Rights Watch has an answer. However, it must be noted that HRW was also given a copy of the declaration from Hutu Officials, which they have neglected to publish. Why?

Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch told us today that the original document explaining events at Kiwanja was riddled with inconsistencies. She had not seen the latest document and was going to review it at this writing. What she was able to say is that Bosco Ntaganda was in charge of the CNDP troops on that day, further calling into question why Nkunda would be betrayed in favor of Ntaganda. Van Woudenberg referred us to the HRW report [reference] on Kiwanja.


The Geopolitical Whys: HRW on the Responsibility of Donor Nations

In the press, in order to establish good relations with the newly elected president, donor nations and other international actors have given little attention to the grave human rights violations of the first two years of the Kabila government and the failure to hold accountable the perpetrators of these abuses. The rare UN reports detailing abuses were buried and others published too late to have a significant impact on policy decisions by diplomats in the immediate aftermath of the events. In September 2008, after the completion of this report, Congolese Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga resigned, and the following month a new government with Adolphe Muzito as prime minister was appointed by President Kabila. In October 2008, security services in Kinshasa conducted another round of arrests and arbitrarily detained dozens of civilians and military personnel from Equateur province, many of them Bemba supporters. [reference]

Foreign governments prefer to stay on good terms with Kabila, ensuring access to Congo’s vast riches that in two hundred years have not reached the people. The Internet would not exist were it not for the coltan from eastern Congo that runs electronic devices that provide access.

Preferring the silence of anonymity, diplomats report to HRW from the shadows.

"We let Kabila get away with it [persecution of Bemba supporters] and we did not reprimand him. It was a mistake." Another said, "In hindsight, this was the moment when we started to see President Kabila's true colors."

Journalists have also been targeted, one of whom is an author of this article and was detained by the DCM intelligence in 2007.

HRW says more than a dozen journalists who worked at media outlets owned by Bemba, including CCTV, RALIK, and Canal Kin Television (CKTV), received threatening phone calls, text messages, and visits by Republican Guards or other state agents in March and April 2007, causing many of them to go into hiding and at least three to flee the country.

There were numerous reports of cover-ups of mass graves and bodies caught between the rocks in the Congo River, downstream of Kinshasa—the calling card of Kabila’s republican Guard.

Government authorities ordered hospitals to provide no information on the numbers of persons killed or injured.

The government developed elaborate documents and PowerPoint presentations to try to convince diplomats, foreign journalists, and others that Bemba was a "terrorist" and his supporters "savages,” according to HRW documents.

Journalists concerned with access through Rwanda either went silent or paid for information supplied by the New Times, mouthpiece of the Kagame regime.

For donor governments, concern about winning a favored position with the new Congolese government took priority over halting abuses and assuring accountability, HRW says.


Obama on His Knees to China as China Loots Congo

In another stunning report that gives little hope for the state of human rights in DR Congo, Kabila, backed by Western interests, made an unholy alliance with China, one of the worst human rights abusers on the face of the earth, in a deal to trade resources for infrastructure. U.S. Secretary of State Clinton broached the issue of global human rights with Chinese leaders, but “emphasized that the global financial slump and other international crises were more pressing and immediate priorities.” [reference]

The Obama Administration, despite African citizens’ widespread hopes that Obama, with direct roots in this vast continent, will become a savior figure, seems to be following suite and is already on its knees to China.

On her first foray as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton pleaded with China to buy US Treasuries. The U.K. Telegraph reports, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pleaded with China to continue buying US Treasury bonds amid mounting fears that Washington may struggle to finance bank bail-outs and ballooning deficits over the next two years.” [reference]

The United States has just completed the construction of an $80 million embassy on a hill overlooking Kigali in Rwanda, a country smaller that the state of Maryland. It is the most imposing structure in the city and compliments $7 million for ACOTA, a military co-operation program within which the US trains African military personnel in “various fields.” Is this yet another backdoor attempt to embed AFRICOM on African soil in close proximity to vast resources?


Refugees Call Out for Their “Leader”

So while the iron fist of Rwanda has silenced all reports about the whereabouts of Nkunda, Bemba is ensconced in The Hague and Kabila lives in luxury, the AFP (Agence France-Presse ) says this week that the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported "many attacks" on Nord-Kivu villages by the Rwandan rebels, "sparking a new wave of displacement."

UNCHR spokesman Ron Redmond reported about 3,000 newly displaced villagers in the Masisi region, when he said civilians were killed and women raped by FDLR fighters with firearms and knives.

In effect, the Third Congo War continues to devour the living in eastern Congo while the one man most able to protect its population, General Laurent Nkunda, not wanted by any international crimes tribunal yet a gadfly to cynical governments, languishes under house arrest in Rwanda while hundreds of thousands of Congolese clamor desperately for his release.

Indeed, demonstrations for Nkunda’s release by Congolese refugees in Rwanda have been hushed up, but photos survive, courtesy of an enterprising and brave Norwegian photographer by the name of Ilona Jablonski. These refugees from Kivu consider Nkunda their leader and “father.”

The signs read, "We want you to release our Laurent, release him, release him.”



Meanwhile, most of the members of DR Congo’s top parliamentary committee have quit in a deepening dispute over the presence of Rwandan forces in the violent east. National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe has publicly criticized the decision by his former ally President Joseph Kabila to allow thousands of Rwandan troops to enter Congo last month to attempt to stamp out Rwandan Hutu rebel groups.

Human Rights Advocates and journalists both seek the truth. Anneke Van Woudenberg has shown by her bravery and tenacity that she is a truth-seeker. When asked if there was any person who offered hope for eastern Congo, Anneke Van Woudenberg said, "The problem with eastern Congo is that there are no good guys." The thousands of demonstrators in Rwandan IDP camps might want to have a conversation with her about that.

Giant Demonstrations to Free Nkunda in Congolese Refugee Camps

Gen Nkunda, in the middle, speaking at his eastern Congolese compound on Jan 3, 2009 prior to being detained by the Rwandan military. (photo by G. Neinaber)


There have been large demonstrations in several Rwandan-run Congolese refugee camps in support of General Laurent Nkunda, chairman of the CNDP, after Rwandan authorities detained him under some sort of "house arrest", apparently deceitfully, while he was attending a joint meeting with them. This is according to people on the ground in contact with independent journalist Georgianne Nienaber, who has been staying on top of the evolving situation, as well as according to the BBC.

Nienaber has received several messages recently, which she has now conveyed to me. Here is one communique from one of the camps. I have modified the punctuation and capitalization to make it easier to read:

thanks Georgianna,

We do not know we will pay you back, but God knows to do it in a better way than us. I tried to get you some photos but I couldn't because of the police. No one can enter the 2 camps anymore. It (is) surrounded by soldiers and police, but refugees decided to go on demonstrating until they release their leader,and yes this has an important effect on the world.

Maybe with this, people will realize that Nkunda is not a criminal as everyone said, and everyone here does support NKunda, but people are scared. No one can say it aloud, people are angry but there is no place to express it. That (is) why we need you, Georginna.

I'll get some more news this evening. A journalist from suede (sic) reached the camp yesterday but the police catch her and they deleted all the photos she has taken.

May God bless you Georgianna

*********

Here is a second dispatch sent to Ms. Nienaber:

”Release Major-General Laurent Nkunda MIHIGO”, was one of the main message of Congolese living in refugee camps in Byumba and Kibuye on Sunday January 25, 2009. In fact, more than 45,000 Congolese gathered in their camps in Byumba and Kibuye (Rwanda) for a peaceful march and a strong message to the Rwandan government, asking for the unconditional release of General Laurent Nkunda Mihigo was sent out.

In chanting the slogan of the day,''Release our Leader, we ask for our Leader'', the demonstrators from the Byumba camp, escorted by the police and the army gathered in their game plot before walking around the whole camp to express their dissatisfaction against the Government of Rwanda after the arrest of Major-General Laurent Nkunda Mihigo.

On the signs, it was writen:''We condemn the arbitrary arrest of Major General Laurent Nkunda”, “we have lost the hope of returning home" and “We denounce all the traitors of the nation; allies of the evil forces”. The peaceful march started at 11.00, was covered by some foreign media and ended at 15:00 without incident.

However, in Kibuye, the peaceful march started at 8:00 but was disrupted by a Police Officer who wanted to arrest a demonstrator. A fight between demonstrators and the police followed, the latter shot into the crowd injuring a girl in the arm. According to preliminary information, the girl was between life and death.

The angry demontrators beat the Police Offistate. The refugees’ anger continued until evening, when they burned all the houses of policemen guarding the camp. The Rwandan army intervened and several arrests are reported.

*********

Finally, here is an excerpt from a BBC report confirming that massive demonstrations have indeed taken place in support of Nkunda.

Rwanda Puts Down Nkunda Dissent

(original at: http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=81321)

Security has been tightened at refugee camps in Rwanda after protests calling for rebel Laurent Nkunda's release.

Gen Nkunda, who claimed his fighters were protecting the Tutsi community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was arrested by Rwanda last week.

A joint force of Rwandan police and soldiers put down the protests mainly by Congolese Tutsis, on Sunday - reportedly using live bullets.

Correspondents says demonstrations against the government are very rare.

A Tutsi like Rwanda's leaders, Gen Nkunda had guarded Rwanda's western flank against attacks from ethnic Hutu Interahamwe militias who fled there after the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

But in a change of policy, he was arrested after being invited by Rwanda to discuss a joint military force from both countries against Hutu forces.....(For the full article, click here.)

Unedited Interview with General Laurent Nkunda: Parts 2 thru 4

In early January, Georgianne Nienaber and Helen Thomas, rather courageous and enterprising independent journalists, traveled to the compound of General Laurent Nkunda, charismatic leader of the rebel CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) in the eastern Congo to interview him. They had become suspicious that a great many demonizing myths and groundless allegations had been hurled against him, and they wanted to get to the truth about the General if at all possible.

The CNDP, for those of you who don't know, has been one of the key protagonists in the ongoing and bloody conflict in the Congo, and has been a very disciplined and effective military force.

General Nkunda, however, has been getting a large amount of negative press in the mainstream media, and has been accused of massacres and war crimes, even the killing of endangered Congolese gorillas.

In the past few days, after the Rwandan government, which had been loosely allied with Nkunda, forged an agreement, whose details we do not fully know yet, with President Joseph Kabila of the DR Congo, a shift in alliances subsequently took place and Nkunda suddenly found himself isolated, on January 23, by the Rwandan military. At first the reports were that he was arrested. Now the term is "house arrest". At first there were deep concerns that he might be extradited to the DR Congo, where the Congolese government has already been making serious war crimes charges against him. However, how really true are these charges, or might they just be a contrived attempt to railroad Nkunda and eliminate him?

In reality, it seems that the Rwandan military still considers Nkunda a figure to be respected, if for no other reason than the powerful support he can command, and might be loath to toss a former key asset to President Kabila's wolves in Kinshasa. (For the latest on Gen Nkunda's "house arrest" as of January 26, click here.)

There are already reports coming out of Africa of popular riots and demonstrations against his detention, which reports fly in the face of the monstrous picture some detractors have painted of Nkunda. If he is a super-villain, you would think we would be reading about celebrations in the streets voer his arrest.

So, what is the truth about the man? Rarely is Nkunda's side of the story heard in the West, so here is an opportunity to hear it directly from the horse's mouth in Parts 2 thru 4. You, the reader, be the judge, instead of allowing pundits and newscasters to decide for you. Part 1 was posted earlier. You can watch it by clicking here.

So here is more of the interview, Parts 2 thru 4, with more forthcoming.

Unedited Interview with General Laurent Nkunda Part I of 6

Georgianne Nienaber and Helen Thomas, independent journalists, traveled to the compound of General Laurent Nkunda, charismatic leader of the rebel CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) in the eastern Congo. The CNDP, for those of you who don't know, has been one of the key protagonists in the ongoing and bloody conflict in the Congo, and has been a very disciplined and effective military force.

General Nkunda, however, has been getting a large amount of negative press in the mainstream media, and has been accused of massacres and war crimes, and even the killing of endangered Congolese gorillas.

In the past few days, after the Rwandan government, which had been loosely allied with Nkunda, forged an agreement, whose details we do not fully know yet, with President Joseph Kabila of the DR Congo, a shift in alliances subsequently took place and Nkunda suddenly found himself arrested by the Rwandan military. He may now face extradition to the Congo, where the government has already been making serious war crimes charges against him. However, how really true are these charges, or might they just be a contrived attempt to railroad Nkunda?

Rarely is his side of the story heard in the West, so here is an opportunity to hear it directly from him.

Since Miss Nienaber has written extensively about African gorillas, the interview actually begins with that topic before moving on to other subjects.

General Laurent Nkunda: the Congo’s George Washington or Western Media Villain?

General Nkunda (center) being interviewed in his CNDP compound in eastern Congo. (photo by G. Nienaber)


Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda generally gets short shrift in the Western media as a “Bad Guy”, while the president of the DR Congo, Joseph Kabila, generally gets a “Good Guy” pass. But is that the case in reality? How many times has the lazy, opinionated, power-worshipping mainstream media gotten it wrong in the past? WMDs in Iraq, the “successful” coup against Chavez in Venezuela, the Gulf of Tonkin, the “Good Guy” Diem in Vietnam, the “Good Guy” Saakashvili vs. the “Bad Guy” Russians in Georgia, and on and on. Is it possible that, once again, the Western media has got it all wrong, this time in the Congo, scene of one of the worst nightmares on the planet? Getting it wrong here could sink an already devastated country into the lower rings of Hell.

Independent journalist Georgianne Nienaber certainly thinks the media has it backwards, and she has just returned from the eastern Congo, where she has been gathering facts on the ground, including a face-to-face interview with General Nkunda, which is a lot more than other mainstream so-called journalists have done. Here, in her own words, is what she has to say about him, as well as a postscript timeline to bring the reader up to date regarding rumors and reports that Nkunda has been arrested or overthrown as chairman of the CNDP:


















Nkunda: More than One Side to the Story

by Georgianne Neinaber

January 23, 2009

I was completely surprised upon meeting National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) General Laurent Nkunda that his first words to me were to describe me as a “nature writer” who was in Congo to protect the gorillas. The General had obviously done his homework on me, but had no clue as to my personal and moral evolution regarding humanitarian issues in DRC since 2007.

Western media has fabricated an image of Nkunda as an eccentric warlord and murderer who is to be despised and feared. Nkunda is a military leader and military men kill. Nkunda admits that war has its consequences. Every army in the history of humankind has been responsible for atrocities, and citizens of the United States need look no further than Abu Ghraib. Who is ultimately to be blamed?

An underground resistance movement arranged the interview with Nkunda. This movement is not populated with wild-eyed freedom fighters, but rather by serious professionals and government officials who believe that Nkunda offers the possibility of hope and change for a country riddled with corruption.

Aussie journalist Helen Thomas, an American medical doctor and a former member of the RPF army, joined me in entering rebel controlled territory. The most difficult and stressful part of our entry was a Ugandan border check where an inebriated Ugandan official demanded $50 each to guarantee our “safety.” After much arguing and discussion, a call came from “Chairman” Nkunda that we were his guests and should be allowed to pass the short distance to the Congolese border, where we were met by well-trained and disciplined officers of the CNDP army. This was obviously no rag- tag group of freedom fighters. CNDP “Captain Sahara” met us with a polite “bon jour” and assisted our crossing into Nkunda’s 21,000 square kilometers of territory.

Entering the rebel stronghold was far less intimidating than entering the United States Coast Guard monitoring station at Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana.

At no time while under Nkunda’s rule did we feel frightened or threatened. On the contrary, I can say that I am absolutely terrified of the regular Congolese army (FARDC), which controls Goma and points north and west. This is not an investigative report, but suffice it to say that we received many instances of personal testimony describing harassment and shootings by the FARDC. A human rights worker told how the windows of his aid vehicle were shot out by a uniformed FARDC solder riding a motorcycle on the pulverized tarmac that passes as a “road” through the spine of Virunga Park. The same aid worker said he felt safe while crossing into CNDP held territory.

Refugees related stories of being chased from their homes by “soldiers,” but could seldom identify which army. In one instance in FARDC territory north of Goma a woman said she was “chased by Mai Mai,” and in one other instance a woman said she was “told” that it was the CNDP that attacked her village, but that she “never saw them.”

Congolese president Joseph Kabila rules through intimidation and fear. His army (FARDC) is undisciplined and guilty of many more atrocities than the allegations leveled against Nkunda. Kabila is clearly exploiting the wealth of Congo as much or more than Mobutu did, yet Western interests, including the United States support him. Dan Rather recently did an excellent report “All Mine,” which is available for $.99 on iTunes.

Human Rights Watch has also condemned the suppression of free speech in DRC under Kabila. (reference)

We have heard again and again that Kabila owns homes all over the world, including a mansion in Malibu, California. Instead of persecuting Nkunda, perhaps the New York Times might want to do an investigative report on this.

In CNDP held territory, villagers were in extreme poverty by Western standards, but had gardens, pigs in the yard, flowers growing, and they happily waved and shouted as we drove along the road cut by Nkunda’s army. Villagers were engaging and offered none of the blank, sullen stares or frightened responses one gets in FARDC controlled sectors.

As far as Nkunda is concerned, human rights groups will have fits of apoplexy as I report that he was completely appropriate in demeanor. I cannot judge the man, but the medical doctor who was with us remarked that Nkunda exhibited no grandiose, narcissistic or paranoid traits. He is certainly charismatic and one must always be on guard when in the presence of charisma, but my impression of Nkunda is that he is a man who has dedicated his life toward the liberation of Congo from foreign interests, graft and corruption.

Nkunda was surprised when I told him about the distorted photos that accompany articles about him in the Western media. Weird angles, harsh shadows and imaginative prose by writers intent upon furthering writing careers, rather than journalism, have dominated the New York Times and other western print media.

Nkunda was courteous, engaging and welcoming. As the dirt floor flooded during the course of our interview, Nkunda became concerned for our gear and equipment. This was hardly the reaction one would expect from an imperious warlord. Was it a snow job? I doubt it. He seems serious about reaching out to Western interests. And I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed our informal conversations after the interview. Why? Because I found a human connection that involved serious concern for the people of Congo.

I shared dinner with the man as an intense Virunga thunderstorm raged outside of the open-sided rondeval with a shredded tarp from UNICEF providing the only buffer from the wind. We talked politics, family life, and shared a pleasant conversation..















Eating dinner with the general (photo by G. Nienaber)


I am ashamed to know that some American journalists who provide reports that shape world opinion have been too frightened to enter Congo to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears.

It was horrible to learn from sources in Rwanda that a noted US reporter was terrified to meet with Nkunda. Instead, he paid for information, instead of accepting an invitation for an interview as we did.

Journalists should be witnesses. We should tell the story. We can use our gift of turning thoughts into words to describe the conditions we encounter in the world. Let the politicians and think tanks determine policy. If we are able to present a clear picture, perhaps the politicians will be forced to act in the name of humanity.

What should I say when a member of the resistance comes to me and asks with tears in his eyes, “Why won’t journalists tell the truth?” I heard the phrase “we are crying,” many times from Congolese.

We were invited back to visit at any time. And Nkunda had a request. Would I try to bring a Congolese American to visit with him?

Then, there was the final question. Would the new Obama government listen to what we reported with an open mind for the Congolese? I replied that I was very small but that I would shout in a loud voice on behalf of the Congolese people. I also told him that I did not know how I would do this.

Nkunda told me, and I will never forget this, “Don’t worry about what you will do. You are “doing” now. By coming here, by speaking on behalf of the Congolese people when you write about the conditions in Goma and in the camps, by speaking openly about this, you are doing. You are doing.”

*********

TIMELINE:

January 3, 2009: Australian Journalist Helen Thomas and I meet with General Laurent Nkunda in occupied territory. We spend over six hours with him. Nothing seems unusual in terms of stress or concern on the part of his troops. Peace talks are scheduled to begin in four days in Nairobi. The CNDP Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, Rene Abandi, joins us for discussion. Abandi is scheduled to be at the peace talks.

January 5, 2009: While in Goma, rumors begin to surface that Nkunda has been removed from power of the CNDP. Sources from within the CNDP tell us this is not true. We wait.

Western mainstream media picks up a consistent drumbeat castigating Nkunda. The stories originate in Dakar, and Kinshasa. No one is reporting this from our location.

January 12, 2009: Posting from Dakar, Senegal, the New York Times said, "Disagreements over tactics and power have split the once seemingly invincible Congolese (CNDP)."

Nkunda vehemently denied the NYT article in a phone interview with us.

One thing is clear. The Congolese Regular Army (FARDC), under President Joseph Kabila, attacked the CNDP in August 2008, and quickly lost ground despite superior numbers. The attack shattered a tentative peace agreement. The NYT account supports BBC reports that Nkunda is fighting off an attempt to topple him by CNDP faction leader Jean Bosco Ntaganda.

"This is absolutely not true," Nkunda said from his location in north Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Nkunda said that Ntaganda was "unable to move more than one kilometer from his home," and was surrounded by CNDP forces. Nkunda estimated that Ntaganda had "as few as 36 soldiers" with him.

January 19: Rwanda announces a “joint operation” with DRCongo that has been agreed upon since December 2008 in which troops will attempt to disarm remnants of the Interahamwe in eastern Congo. Leaders of the FDLR are responsible for the genocide of 1994. Nkunda has said all along he is protecting his people from attacks by the FDLR.

Thomas and I are no longer in country and must rely upon emails and phone conversations with sources on ground in Congo.

One source close to the CNDP described a meeting which took place in Gisenyi, Rwanda in which the CNDP, Ntaganda, Congolese General Numbi and “others Rwandese and Congolese staff were invited.”

“In that meeting the chief of Staff of Rwanda told our high commander that there was a plan and they must be part of it and for that they must accept Ntaganda as their chief of staff. It was an order and it wasn't negotiable. And they said that General Nkunda must be removed as the chairman of CNDP and that they won't deal with him.

“Of course our high commander refused at first to sign the document which was already prepared, but the Chairman (Nkunda) told them to sign and they did so.

“The chairman is in danger because he has an army which is loyal to him and as long as he is around the plan can't be carried out as they want.”

Apparently there was a deal between DRC and Rwanda that no one in the Western media has reported.

Sources say Rwanda assured Kabila that Rwanda was capable of destroying Nkunda. They tried to accomplish this by installing Ntaganda as head of the CNDP, but the plan fell apart when the CNDP army remained loyal to Nkunda.

Sources say Ntaganda was given $250,000 and promise of amnesty from his indictment by The Hague for war crimes.

Rwanda sends 3000 soldiers into DRC.

Another source, not connected to the CNDP, described the situation.

“In all honesty, I just don't know what is happening at the moment, and I suspect it wasn't exactly planned.

“Like so many things over here, it's basically quite messy.

“I think Nkunda has taken a slight hit, because he was not able to quell Bosco's (Ntaganda’s) insubordination, but as far as I can tell, he is still very much in the driving seat of CNDP, but he's obviously going to have to make some compromises if the Rwandan and Congolese governments are behind Bosco's initiative.

“It was reported that MONUC have been blocked out of Rutshuru, but that's not actually true. For now everything is very calm, but we're bracing ourselves. A major coalition assault on the FDLR may well be in the pipeline, but I can't believe they'll actually succeed in bringing them in.

“We're quite worried about the consequences, in terms of insecurity, but at a very superficial level, I can't help hoping that something good may come of the fact that CNDP, FARDC and RPF are together, if it means the fighting will stop and the IDPs can return to their homes without getting attacked.”

January 23, 2009: From source close to Nkunda:

“I know you've heard the news that the Chairman has been arrested, that is not the truth but he came by himself to Gisenyi last night to meet the Chief of staff of Rwanda. He is at Gisenyi in a hotel but anything can happen. Although the option of arresting him will be a huge mistake because there will be a terrible fight between CNDP and RDF and FARC. “

Inside A Congolese Displaced Persons Camp: Children Cling To Our Arms, Begging For Human Touch (PHOTOS)

Independent journlaist Georgianne Nienaber continues to write her eye-witness reports about the horrors besetting humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here is an excerpt from her latest article at Huffington Post.

Australian journalist Helen Thomas was the first to ask the question. "Do you find it hard to believe that we are able to function here and do our work?"

We were wading through a literal sea of humanity housed on a volcanic landscape that mirrored Dante's Inferno. Children clung to our arms as if our limbs were the branches of trees. The doctor warned us to avoid touching, since disease was present in every snotty nose and dirty hand that reached for comfort. You cannot say no to the begging for human touch, and soon rivers of green, yellow, and brown fluids from runny noses cover arms and hands and clothing, and eventually you give up trying to clean it off. The stench is overpowering--13,360 adults and 7,000 children crammed into huts unfit for animals. It is a little over a week since Christmas day and it occurs to you that even HE was born into better conditions than this.
(For the full article with photos, click here.)

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Congolese Rebel Leader Denies Reports of His Ouster in Western Press

General Laurent Nkunda (photo by Georgianne Nienaber)

In the ongoing horror story that is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are reports and counter-reports that the main rebel army, the CNDP, is breaking apart into two camps. According to a New York Times report on January 11, 2008:

Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the leader of the Tutsi-dominated rebel group known as the C.N.D.P., is fighting off an attempt to topple him by Jean Bosco Ntaganda, his chief of staff, a ruthless fighter known as the Terminator who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes, according to accounts from both camps. (source)

In fact a BBC report on January 5, 2009 was quoting allegations that Nkunda may have actually been overthrown, as well as denials by the same. A split would be a welcome development to Joseph Kabila, the president of the Congolese government and army, who has been losing battle after battle to the CNDP, but seasoned journalists should be asking just how true the reported split is and whether Kabila, more than just welcoming such a development, may actually be aiding and abetting any split.

Because communications between the media and the CNDP are difficult at best, it is always an effort to hear Nkunda's side of the story. However, two independent journalists, Georgianne Nienaber and Helen Thomas, did just that, traveling to Nkunda's compound in eastern Congo to interview him face-to-face in early January, prior to the above BBC report. Miss Nienaber recently filed her transcription of the interview at The Huffington Post, which you can click here to read.

Miss Nienaber now follows up that report with the results of a telephone interview Nkunda gave to journalists on January 12, which she has given me permission to post here at Mosquito Blog:

Congolese Rebel Leader Denies Reports of His Ouster in Western Press

Congolese sources allege $250,000 in bribes from Congolese General John Numbi to CNDP faction leader Bosco Ntaganda





General Laurent Nkunda leads the National Congress for the Defense of the People in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On January 12 Nkunda vehemently denied western news accounts of his ouster in a phone interview with independent journalists who were on the ground in the region and had met personally with Nkunda days before.

"This is absolutely not true," Nkunda said from his location in north Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday January 12.

The rival who challenged Nkunda's leadership was CNDP military chief of staff General Bosco Ntaganda, who accused Nkunda of obstructing peace efforts in the region on January 8.

This is the second time in recent months that Ntaganda has caused a controversy. In October, Ntaganda signed a statement announcing Nkunda's death, according to AFP reports.

Most major western news outlets are today reporting that CNDP faction leader Ntaganda is now in control of the CNDP following a meeting in Goma with alleged “senior officers” of the CNDP.

Contrary to the drumbeat present in western media that Nkunda has lost control of the CNDP; there is another side to the story.

The continuing reports of a split are puzzling to sources within the CNDP movement. Information gathered on Numbi and Ntaganda from sources within the CNDP was obtained weeks before the current move by Ntaganda.

Sources very close to Nkunda and professional members of the resistance maintain that Ntaganda has personal contacts and enhanced communication with the BBC and is in collusion with General John Numbi, the current chief of the Congolese Air Force, who was a prominent player in Ntaganda’s Goma press conference.

Nkunda confirmed reports from these civilian sources within the CNDP that Congolese General Numbi arranged for payment of $250,000 and promise of amnesty from Congolese president Joseph Kabila to destroy Nkunda.

Possessing no military training, Numbi was originally recruited by Congolese President Laurent Kabila and was promoted to his current rank by Joseph Kabila.

In "DRC Update: Building Security for the Elections," prepared before the last election, Jim Terrie in African Security Review wrote about General John Numbi, who remains a close confidant of Joseph Kabila:

"[He and others] declared support for President Kabila's re-election campaign, although they are contesting his Partie du Peuple pour la Réconstruction et la Démocratie (PPRD) in all other constituencies in Katanga. To achieve their objectives, they have supported the tribal 'Mai Mai' militias as well as urban gangs that are available for hire for political agitation and violence against political and ethnic opponents, including members of the Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) party of Kabila's main opponent (at the time), Etienne Tshisekedi...."

The situation here is further complicated by the fact that the CNDP does not have access to the current news cycle. It may take days before they can react to stories appearing in international media.

Nkunda estimated that Ntaganda had "as few as 36 soldiers" with him, out of an estimated 7,000 in the CNDP.

Nkunda said Ntaganda "is suspended from command, and being followed by the disciplinary committee of the CNDP high command." Nkunda sent his military representatives to talk with Ntaganda and told him that he would be held accountable for his actions.

This was the second time in a week that Nkunda agreed to talk with the independent journalists. An interview was obtained with General Nkunda at his compound three days before the initial BBC reports of his ouster. >