The UN operation in Congo MONUC has been criticized for helping the very people it is supposed to be bringing to justice. Ntaganda, a Congolse rebel leader is shown to have been heading raids, looting, burning of houses, and rapes. It's also said to be no limit to these operations as Nurses from a local hospital, who were robbed at gunpoint, their car raided, reported the crime said to be committed against them and were told that it was not in their job description to help them. It has been said that this is not a situation of peacekeepers just standing by to watch what happened, but that the peacekeepers are actually helping the crimes to be committed. As this continues to go on, Congolese leader, Joseph Kabila, claims that the the war in the country is 90% better than what it was before and is calling for peacekeepers to leave in June. June, 2010 will mark 50 years of the country's independence from Belgium.
The country's armed forces are now mixed with a hybrid force. Laurent Nkunda's CNDP militia group was legitimized by the Congolese government which decided to collaborate and go against the FDLR (an exile Rwandan Hutu militia group). However, the Congolse government's army is accused of atrocities such as burning people alive, killing people with machetes and beating them with clubs. If any of these actions sound like the Rwandan genocide in 1994, it's because many members of the "hybrid" army were active in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, in which over 500,00 people were killed. MONUC supports the army saying that it is a step to some stability in the country even as its head, Alan Doss, admits that the army is guilty of human rights abuses. President Kabila has stated that "Peace must come before justice" defending his reason for working with individuals wanted by the ICC
Congo conflict: 'The Terminator' lives in luxury while peacekeepers look on World news guardian.co.uk
1 comment:
This is tragic. However, if this will lead to peace, I guess we'll have to take it one step at a time.
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