OCHA humanitarian info on North Kivu
I have just received a report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the information meeting they hold this morning in Goma. For anyone interested, all their information...
View ArticleBig news, secret reasons
This morning I was doing some shopping in the market district (Birere) when a big number of taximotos started to pass by. They may be more than one hundred, many of them claxoning. It looked like a...
View ArticleMistrust
Today I´ve been asking several people what they think about the new prospects of peace announced in the media. The word that describes better what everyone has answered is mistrust, scepticism at best....
View ArticleCake-sharing strategies
A friend just informed me about a very interesting article appeared last month in The New York Times. The text is signed by Herman J. Cohen, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to...
View ArticleOur neighbours are here
Approximately 2,000 Rwandan soldiers have entered North Kivu this morning through Kibumba. Their deployment is part of an agreement with the government of the DRC to put an end to the presence of FDLR...
View ArticleStearns on today´s events
“This marks a major turning point in Kinshasa’s attitude toward the conflict in the east. It appears (President Joseph) Kabila’s government has decided to turn on what has been an ally, the FDLR.”...
View ArticleNkunda arrested
All the media confirm that Laurent Nkunda has been arrested by Rwandan armed forces. Hence it was true: Nkunda´s political fate was in peril during the last months. The release of the UN Stearns Report...
View ArticleWait and see: opinions
According to Father Luigi, Dire que la guerre est finie ou dire que le long calvaire des populations du Kivu est terminé, c’est peut etre trés prematuré. Personne fait rien pour rien. Si les Rwandais...
View ArticleDRC – Belgium normalisation
Congo-belgian diplomatic relations are normalized again, obviously boosted by recent events. I fear the humanitarian consequences of the military operations. FDLRs live within the population. How are...
View ArticleDiplomatic pressure and unknown deals
Last Friday, Chris McGreal provided a very comprehensive analysis of the recent events in The Guardian. Together with Foreign Policy, the Guardian points to diplomatic pressure pushing the deal,...
View ArticleExtreme opacity
A few days ago, I had a very long and illustrative talk with a Congolese expert on the politics in the DRC. Before, he told me, he was aware of what was going on. He basically got the information, and...
View ArticleGlobal Witness press release on the arrest of Nkunda
“Global Witness investigations have revealed that all the main armed groups in eastern DRC, as well as the Congolese army, are financing themselves via the trade in minerals and metals such as...
View ArticleMiliband on the roots of conflict in the DRC (or how to avoid direct questions)
I have just come across a revealing interview to the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on the BBC. I don´t know when exactly it was on air, probably a few weeks ago. After a few questions,...
View ArticleFilip Reyntjens on EU Election report in Rwanda
Indeed, according to several of its members, the mission found out that the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) had been too efficient in intimidating the voters and fixing the ballot, as it obtained...
View ArticleThe blue helmets asked will never come
Source: United Nations Security Council Date: 27 Jan 2009 Letter dated 27 January 2009 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2009/52) I have the honour to...
View ArticleDíaz de Villegas: “My only option was to resign. It was my duty”
Those who have been following closely the war in North Kivu will remember general Vicente Díaz de Villegas. General Díaz was named Commander in Chief of the MONUC forces on October 4th, 2008. He...
View ArticleHRW: Rwandan Rebels Slaughter Over 100 Civilians
HRW informs today that the FDLR slaughtered at least 100 Congolese civilians in the Kivus between January 20 and February 8, 2009. In Remeka village in Ufamandu, the FDLR rebels called a meeting at...
View ArticleGlobal Witness: Metals in mobile phones help finance Congo atrocities
Global Witness recently wrote to major mobile phone manufacturers as well as mineral and metal traders to ask them what due diligence measures they are taking to ensure that their sourcing practices...
View Articlelooking for reliable information
It is almost one month since the Rwandan armed forces entered North Kivu to fight the FDLR. In spite of the dimension of the joint military operation RAF-CNDP-FARDC, little is known. People wonder what...
View ArticleIDPs fleeing Masisi towards Goma
We have just received the visit of the representative of GNK (Gourvernorat du North Kivu) in one of the camps. GNK represents the government in the camp and are basically in charge of registering the...
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