Jetzt gibt es auch Spannungen zwischen Äthiopien und Somalia.

Die vom äthiopischen Premierminister Abiy Ahmed und Somalilands Präsident Muse Bihi Abdi unterzeichnete Vereinbarung ermöglicht es dem Binnenland Äthiopien, über einen Zeitraum von 50 Jahren eine 20 Kilometer lange Küste in der Nähe des strategischen Hafens Berbera für Marine- und Handelsoperationen zu pachten.

Das Abkommen hat Somalia zurückgewiesen, das Äthiopien über den Hafen von Berbera Zugang zum Roten Meer gewährt.  Der Pakt, der Äthiopien die Nutzung des Hafens im Gegenzug für die mögliche Anerkennung der Unabhängigkeit Somalilands ermöglichte, wurde von Somalia sofort verurteilt, da Somaliland als Teil seines souveränen Territoriums betrachtet wurde.

Somaliland, offiziell Republik Somaliland genannt, ist ein nicht anerkannter Staat am Horn von Afrika.  Es ist international als de jure Teil Somalias anerkannt. 

 

Burundi, DRK und die Tutsis

Präsident Ndayishimiye sucht nach einem Vorwand, um seine Massaker an kongolesischen Tutsi in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo fortzusetzen.

 Am 29. Dezember beschuldigte Präsident Évariste Ndayishimiye Ruanda, die Rebellen von RED-Tabara (RED-Tabara ist eine bewaffnete Rebellengruppe aus Burundi, die ihren Stützpunkt in Süd-Kivu, im Osten der Demokratischen Republik Kongo, hat. Die Gruppe ist dafür bekannt, aktiv zu sein und wird als eine der prominentesten burundischen Rebellenorganisationen angesehen. Sie wird beschuldigt, Angriffe auf die Grenze zwischen Burundi und der Demokratischen Republik Kongo durchzuführen. Der Präsident von Burundi hat angekündigt, mit RED-Tabara und anderen burundischen Rebellenorganisationen, die in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo operieren, in einen Dialog treten zu wollen) zu unterstützen und auszubilden, denen er vorwarf, ältere Menschen, schwangere Frauen und Kinder getötet zu haben.

 Entgegen der Anschuldigung von Ndahishimiye wurden 19 Mitglieder der Rebellen von Red-Tabara, die am 29. September 2020 von Burundi aus Ruanda überquert hatten, am 30. Juli 2021 von Ruanda an die burundische Regierung übergeben.

 Die Aussage des burundischen Präsidenten Ndayishimiye ist unwahr und die Regierung ist sich dessen bewusst.  Bei dieser Anschuldigung handelt es sich um eine Ablenkungsstrategie der Regierung, um den fehlgeschlagenen Einsatz der FDNB in ​​Nord-Kivu zu rechtfertigen.  Die FDNB hat sich der von der FARDC geführten Koalition angeschlossen, die sich aus einheimischen und ausländischen bewaffneten Gruppen, darunter der FDLR, zusammensetzt, die unter dem Deckmantel der Bekämpfung der M23 die kongolesischen Tutsi entwurzeln wollen.  Seit Oktober 2023 startete die von der FARDC geführte Koalition Angriffe gegen M23, hat jedoch Gebiete verloren, während eine Reihe von FDNB-Soldaten von M23 entweder getötet oder gefangen genommen wurden.

 Der Einsatz burundischer Streitkräfte ist auch durch finanzielle Gewinne im Kontext der derzeit in Burundi herrschenden Wirtschaftskrise motiviert.

 Die neue Sündenbockstrategie zielt offenbar darauf ab, die internen Probleme Burundis nach außen zu schieben und sie Ruanda zuzuschreiben.  Dies ist eine Strategie, die derzeit vom Präsidenten der Demokratischen Republik Kongo, Tshisekedi, verfolgt wird.  Es wurde auch vom verstorbenen Präsidenten Nkurunziza während der politischen Krise 2015 genutzt.

Anne Rwigara verstorben

 Gerade eben hat mir Débit, dieser Wazalendo, eine Nachricht geschickt :

"Paul Kagame ein Tutsi hat Anne Rwigara das Leben genommen."

"Die Nachricht muss um die Welt gehen, damit das Wort Tutsi seine echte Bedeutung bekommt."

Meine Recherche hat das ergeben :

Nein, Paul Kagame hat Anne Rwigara nicht das Leben genommen. Anne Rwigara ist die Schwester von Diane Rwigara, einer prominenten Kritikerin von Ruandas Präsident Paul Kagame. Anne Rwigara unterstützte ihre Schwester in ihrem politischen Kampf. Diane Rwigara wurde 2018 von den Vorwürfen der Anstiftung zum Aufruhr und der Urkundenfälschung freigesprochen. Die Familie Rwigara hat jedoch immer noch mit Schikanen und Repressionen zu kämpfen. Ihr Vater, Assinapol Rwigara, ein bekannter Geschäftsmann, starb 2015 bei einem mysteriösen Autounfall, den die Familie als Mord ansieht. Die Familie bat Präsident Kagame, eine Untersuchung seines Todes einzuleiten, erhielt aber keine Antwort.

Präsident Kagame wird oft beschuldigt, die Meinungsfreiheit zu unterdrücken und seine politischen Gegner zu verfolgen.

Anne Rwigara verstarb am Donnerstag in den USA. 

Was ich nicht verstehen ksnn, dass ein Wazalendo sich um innere Angelegenheiten von Ruanda einmischt?

Wenn diese Aussagen für wahr genommen werden und das sollten sie auch, denn wird wieder ein Völkermord an den Tutsis vorbereitet. Es geht um nichts anderes als um Kivu, dass reich an Bodenschätzen ist und Tshisekedi keinrn Zugriff hat, den er gerne hätte, aber nicht bekommen wird.

Jetzt sind die SADC im Kongo, die die EAC abelöst hat.

"Das sind Bantous, denn Bantous Soldaten singen, wenn sie in Krieg ziehen. Tutsis die Nilotiken singen nicht bzw es gehört nicht zu ihrer Tradition. Man spürt schon den Unterschied. Wazalendos haben jetzt Blutbrüder bekommen."

. Das wird sich erst zeigen. Es ist schwer zu glauben, dass ein SADC Soldat in die DRK kommt um dort zu sterben. Vielleicht machen sie das was EAC nicht gemacht hat, Frieden.

Tshisekedi hatte vorgehabt, dass die EAC in den Krieg zieht, gegen die Tutsis, und er sich gemütlich zurück lehnt. Nur die Burundier haben an der Seite der Regirungssoldaten gekämpft.

Glückliches Neues Jahr, Kenia

Business Daily - Im Jahr 2023 bot Präsident William Ruto den Kenianern eine großzügige Schocktherapie durch eine Reihe weitreichender Steuermaßnahmen an, die größtenteils auf einem Programm des Landes mit dem Internationalen Währungsfonds (IWF) beruhten.

 Der Vorteil dieser schmerzhaften Steuermaßnahmen sei, sagte Präsident Ruto in seiner Rede zum Jamhuri-Tag, dass das Land eine katastrophale Finanzkrise abwenden könne, die Länder wie Ghana, Sambia und Äthiopien heimgesucht habe.

 Im Juni verabschiedeten die Mitglieder der Nationalversammlung vehement das Finanzgesetz 2023, wobei die kenianische Kwanza-Regierung zusätzliche 211 Milliarden Sh aus den Steuermaßnahmen aufbringen wollte, um einen erweiterten Haushalt aufgrund erhöhter Schuldendienstkosten zu finanzieren.

Die Einführung einer Wohnungsabgabe von 1,5 Prozent, die von Angestellten gezahlt wird und von den Arbeitgebern übernommen wird, die Verdoppelung der Mehrwertsteuer (MwSt.) auf Erdölprodukte auf 16 Prozent und die Erhöhung der Kosten für den Geldversand über Mobiltelefone haben dazu geführt, dass sowohl Arbeitgeber als auch Arbeitnehmer quälte. 

Neben der Verdoppelung der Mehrwertsteuer und der Wohnungsbauabgabe wurde mit dem Finance Act 2023 auch eine Steuer auf die Übertragung digitaler Vermögenswerte wie Kryptowährungen sowie die Verdreifachung der Umsatzsteuer auf drei Prozent eingeführt.

 Auf die Gebühren für Geldsendungen über Mobiltelefone würde eine höhere Verbrauchsteuer von 12 Prozent auf 15 Prozent erhoben. Safaricom, das größte Telekommunikationsunternehmen des Landes, erhöhte die Gebühren für Geldsendungen über seinen mobilen Geldtransferdienst M-Pesa um drei Prozent  Prozent.

 Es wurde eine 15-prozentige Verbrauchsteuer auf Werbung auf verschiedenen Medienplattformen für alkoholische Getränke, Wetten, Glücksspiele, Lotterien und Gewinnspiele eingeführt.

 Das Gesetz führte zwei neue Steuerklassen von 32,5 Prozent und 35 Prozent für monatliche Arbeitseinkommen über 500.000 Sh bzw. 800.000 Sh ein.

 Ebenfalls ab Juli wurden vom Arbeitgeber im Namen des Arbeitnehmers gezahlte Clubeintritts- und Abonnementgebühren als Vorteil behandelt und besteuert.

Die Ausgaben können jedoch vom Einkommen des Arbeitgebers abgezogen werden.

 Auf importierte Glasflaschen – mit Ausnahme importierter Glasflaschen für die Verpackung pharmazeutischer Produkte – wurde die Verbrauchsteuer von 25 auf 35 Prozent erhöht.

 Auch die Ersteller von Inhalten in sozialen Medien sollten mit dem Finanzamt ihren Spaß haben, nachdem das Gesetz eine Quellensteuer von fünf Prozent für Einwohner und 20 Prozent für Nichtansässige ohne festen Platz auf die Monetarisierung digitaler Inhalte eingeführt hatte.

 Aber KRA war noch nicht fertig.  Besonders hart hatten es die Händler von Elektronikartikeln und insbesondere Mobiltelefonen.  Seit dem 1. Juli wird auf importierte Mobiltelefone eine Verbrauchsteuer von 10 Prozent erhoben.

 Gegen Ende Juli wies die KRA alle Händler, einschließlich derjenigen, die ihre Waren über einen Frachtkonsolidierer versenden, an, Steuern auf ihre Fracht pro Artikel zu zahlen und sie innerhalb von 21 Tagen abzufertigen oder zu versteigern.  Am stärksten betroffen waren Händler, die sich mit dem Import von Smartphones befassten, da es bei diesen Artikeln zu Engpässen kam.

 Dann ließ die KRA die Revenue Service Assistants auf die Kleinunternehmen los, eine Horde von Außendienstmitarbeitern, deren Aufgabe es war, die Einhaltung der Steuervorschriften in den Kleinunternehmen durchzusetzen.

Diese Maßnahmen gehen über die normalen Einnahmen aus Pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), Körperschaftssteuer, Mehrwertsteuer (VAT), Verbrauchsteuer und Einfuhrsteuer hinaus.  Die Außenministerien haben außerdem die Gebühren und Bußgelder, die sie für ihre Dienstleistungen wie die Bearbeitung von Reisepässen, Heiratsurkunden, Grundbuchurkunden usw. erheben, drastisch erhöht.

Die hohen Kosten für Treibstoff und Strom sowie der Druck auf die Lebenshaltungskosten aufgrund erhöhter Steuern führten ab September zum Einfrieren der Beschäftigung, so die Ergebnisse des Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) der Stanbic Bank Kenya, der auf dem Feedback von etwa 400 Unternehmensmanagern basiert  .

 Im September reichten Hersteller ein Gerichtsverfahren ein, um die neue Export- und Investitionsförderungsabgabe von 17,5 Prozent auf importierte Waren wie Stahl und Klinker zu blockieren, mit der Begründung, sie werde sich negativ auf ihr Geschäft auswirken.

 Über ihre Lobby, die Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), wollen die Hersteller, dass der Oberste Gerichtshof die Abgabe für verfassungswidrig erklärt, mit der Begründung, dass sie ihr beabsichtigtes Ziel, die lokale Produktion und den Export anzukurbeln, nicht erreichen werde.

 Aber der Finance Act 2023 war nicht nur düster.  Das Telefonieren und Surfen wurde etwas günstiger, nachdem die Verbrauchsteuer auf Telefon- und Internetdatendienste von 20 auf 15 Prozent gesenkt wurde.  Infolgedessen senkte Safaricom die Gebühren für Anrufe, SMS, Daten und Glasfaser zu Hause um fünf Prozent.

 Lizenzgebühren und Zinsen, die von einem Unternehmen, das Humanimpfstoffe herstellt, an eine nichtansässige Person gezahlt wurden, waren von der Zahlung der Quellensteuer befreit, da die Regierung versuchte, ausländische Direktinvestitionen in die Arzneimittelindustrie zu locken.

Kurz

 

Kurz

As a result of the upheaval caused by the last election, hardly anyone remembers this scandal. The big bang was that the black attacked and penetrated the white and the white no longer knew what was happening to it!

What do we know about our brains? Not much! The information in our brains and that of all other living beings is transported with the help of electrical charge.

There is also much to suggest that perhaps sparse remnants of information from whites and blacks have found their way into the human brain. And because there is resistance, this information does not always arrive where it should arrive.

Let's briefly recall the events of that time.

As polls had shown, the young man his party had chosen to run for chancellor was vastly superior. The surveys and statistics of all institutes responsible for the opinion had shown that the population wanted this young man as Chancellor.

What the population did not know, however, is that these opinion polls were bought. Opinion polls can also be purchased!

"I want an opinion poll that clearly says I'm the best, the prettiest, the smartest...!"

It costs a lot of money, but who cares? Once you're chancellor, you'll never be poor again, that's simply impossible.

This policy would be discovered towards the end of the 20th century. The young man was involved, without him it would not have been possible. What was not considered, even scientists got it wrong, was that this policy had a short lifespan, it had an acquired genetic defect that went unnoticed by most people and still does to this day. This genetic defect, maybe it was also a virus, that particularly affected the brain. Saar's illness was short-lived, but it had caused quite a stir. Nevertheless, it was foreseeable that this illness would be short-lived and not taken seriously. A permanent existence of this disease seemed unlikely!

Then something unforeseen happened. Another virus appeared and made the first virus fall into oblivion. The population was and was so panicked that they were ready for anything and let everything happen to them.

And that was the beginning!

Politics has thrown our life so far out of the ordinary that the events we want to tell here have become unusual, illogical and sometimes strange. It takes all the dazzling brightness of truth, like lightning illuminating the dark shadows, to stamp events with a reality that, after all, is very simple.

This young man, his vice president and a priest are riding a boat on a lake. Suddenly the boy gets out and walks on the water. His deputy does the same, gets out of the boat and walks on the water. The priest folds his hands and prays: "Dear God, please make me walk on water too."

Then the priest gets out of the boat - and goes under.

Then the boy says to his deputy: "Do you think we should have told him where the stones are?"

Then the deputy: "Which stones?"

This is how the politicians see themselves.

Every society exactly the belief that those who have the power and use it in the interests of the majority, and those who believe in what emanates from the level of power. To downplay or even talk away this hierarchy is an illusion. Social cohesion can only work if there are enough people who stand up for the powerful, who trust them to the extent that they, in turn, retain their power and shape politics.

What have we not been talked into!

Vote me! We did it.

Eat more vegetables, less meat! We did it.

Walk more! We did it.

Don't go visit your parents anymore! We did it.

Don't eat tomatoes! We did it.

Don't go outside! We did it.

Eat more bread! We did it.

What haven't we done?

We did everything we were told.

We didn't question anything!

The boy and his deputy meet with guests for dinner.

One of the guests asks: "My dear host, what are you talking about all day?"

"We are planning World War III right now."

"And what does it look like?"

To which the deputy replies: "We kill 4 million Muslims and a dentist ..."

The guest looks confused: "Why a dentist?"

The boy pats the deputy on the shoulder and says: "What did I tell you. Nobody will ask about the Muslims..."

And we didn't ask! Without having any scientific evidence, we obeyed.

All these vegetables that were prescribed to us had their impact on public health. Our heads went soft as pudding. And not only that! We no longer knew our relatives, we broke away from our friends? Some left their families! It's hard to imagine what a powerful and strange effect such a vegetable can have.

Society has split into those who devoured this vegetable with great pleasure - not just eating it - and those who preferred to eat a juicy schnitzel. This split continues to this day.

The politicians have not earned a golden trophy, that is slowly but surely emerging.

Diapers and politicians need to be changed regularly. And for the same reason.

Our chancellor really did claim that soon everyone would know someone who had died.

On top of that statement we ate more veggies, we couldn't get enough! We ate so much that the supply could not be guaranteed. And we ate and ate until we got thin shit.

Our politicians have fooled us. Everyone should admit that.

Politicians drew attention to themselves with the demand for "women behind the stove". That's really nonsense when the switches are in front.

They did the same to us.

The little son asks his father what politics is. The father says: "Let's take our family for example. I bring the money home, so let's call me capitalism. Your mother manages the money, so we call her the government. We both care almost exclusively for your well-being, so you are you the people. Our maid is the working class and your little brother still in diapers is the future. Do you get that?"

For now, the son is happy. He wakes up in the night because his little brother has wet his diapers and is now screaming. He gets up and knocks on his parents' bedroom, but his mother is fast asleep and won't wake up. So he goes to the maid and there he finds his father in bed with her. But even when he knocks several times, the two don't let themselves be disturbed. So he goes back to his bed and goes back to sleep.

In the morning his father asks him if he now knows what politics is. The son replies: "Yes, now I know. Capitalism abuses the working class while the government sleeps. The people are totally ignored and the future is full of shit!"

After this very long period of total mental confusion of - almost the entire - people, which was possibly caused by the diet of overripe red tomatoes, according to some scientists, the disillusionment that we have already mentioned followed, because nothing remains the way it is!

In every philosophy there is a point where the philosopher's "conviction" comes on the scene: or, to put it in the language of an ancient mystery: adventavit asinus, pulcher et fortissimus. (came a donkey, beautiful and strong).

It's the same thing with philosophy. Let's say we've turned on. Not a nice thought, but realistic. The philosopher would ask, "What is the point?" However, that is the wrong question, the correct one would be: "What is the reason?" Would certainly be a more useful question. Bad food? Restaurant? A lot is possible there.

The boy, a political prodigy who became head of state at just 31, rose to power by cultivating a youthful do-gooder image that endeared him to young and old alike.

And then he became a villain.

One thing has to be given to him, he is a master of manipulation! As soon as nobody can hold a candle to him.

A cache of private text messages between his vice and deputies and other correspondence, uncovered by authorities as part of a wide-ranging investigation into political corruption, does not portray the boy as the well-mannered "nation's favorite son-in-law" who loves the heart of his countrymen and one conquered much of the EU, but as a shrewd behind-the-scenes actor, ready to do whatever it takes to push its agenda through, whether that be dealing with the Catholic Church, handing out political favors, or taking on rivals.

The boy's transformation may sound like a familiar political coming-of-age tale, but at a time when much of Central Europe has slipped into a form of gentle authoritarianism, his transformation and the larger corruption scandal engulfing politics...

This would be a major setback for the European Union, which is already struggling to deal with unruly governments over their moves to undermine both the independent judiciary and the media. Like the leaders of these countries, the boy has not shied away from attacking the EU to distract attention from his domestic problems. First, he led an unsuccessful attempt, along with the Czech Republic and Slovenia, to win a larger allocation of vaccines from the EU, an unworldly effort widely dismissed as a political ploy.

It wasn't long ago that many in Brussels saw the boy not as a threat but as the future of conservative Europe. Europe's centre-right party, the dominant political bloc in the European Parliament, was delighted with the brash boy whose tough stance on migration was seen by many as a role model for conservative parties across the continent. He was particularly popular where he courted the media, particularly the influential tabloids. Some even saw the boy as the flag bearer of the post-Merkel era.

No longer.

 

While the exchange offers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into how politicians work behind the scenes, they also reveal (apart from the boy's penchant for heart emojis and exclamation points) what one veteran political commentator Peter Filzmaier called the "incredible banality of the people who lead our republic.”

"Don't worry! They're family," the finance minister, one of the boy's closest deputies, texted a confidante to assure him he was covered with a 'plum job.'

Such tactics, even if they conjure up a bad mafia movie, hardly come as a surprise in political circles. But the boy who redesigned our staid Conservative Party from the ground up after taking it over in 2017, changing everything from the name to the color (from black to teal), should be different. He not only promised to revolutionize the country's politics: he also convinced most citizens that he meant business.

He, who heads the party, is not a direct object of the corruption investigations, which range from allegations of bribery to breaches of official secrecy, but they have touched his inner circle. Perhaps even more damaging to him in the long run, however, is that the text exchange all but destroyed the public persona he built as a newly minted millennial politician who would put an end to the clubby machine politics that dominated Austria's post-war era has.

Far from drawing a line under that era, the boy has established what critics are calling the "House of Shorty," a tight-knit network of the Chancellor's cronies in government, the private sector, and the media, working together tacitly for mutual benefit.

Instead of the "new style" he promised, we learn that "anything goes".

We also ate a lot of overripe tomatoes, so "everything has to go well!"

The corruption probes that uncovered the private text traffic were sparked by the so-called Ibiza affair, a scandal that exploded in 2019 after the release of a video showing the far-right leader becoming the boy's coalition partner and offering political favors in exchange for cash bartering for a boozy session with a woman he mistook for the niece of a Russian oligarch. The boy emerged unscathed from the immediate scandal, although he toppled his coalition partner and forced snap elections that led to his current coalition with the Greens. Meanwhile, the authorities' original Ibiza investigation has led them into the Chancellor's inner circle.

At the heart of the investigation into corruption is the relationship between casino operators and officials. The former Vice-Chancellor, the man featured in the infamous Ibiza footage, claimed on the tape that one of the companies, Novomatic, "paid everyone". In other words, he claimed that the company gave money to all political parties in the country in exchange for favors, an accusation the company and political parties strenuously deny.

However, while investigating this claim, investigators came across a text that the former Novomatic boss had sent to his ally, the finance minister, in 2017. Novomatic board member said he needed a meeting with the boy, then foreign minister, to discuss "a donation on the one hand and a problem we have in Italy on the other".

The finance minister and the chancellor say the meeting never took place and it was never donated. (The reference to Italy was related to a Novomatic tax dispute there.)

The chancellor portrayed the investigations, led by the financial crimes prosecutor, as deeply flawed.

"So many mistakes have been made that I think something needs to change there," he said in im, drawing the wrath of judges and prosecutors who accused him of an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary.

If the chancellor had hoped that the prosecutors would roll back his interventions, he was disappointed. If anything, they increased the pressure, investigating allegations - which have been denied by those involved - that a senior law official loyal to the boy secretly planted information about the investigation into his camp.

Prosecutors have named the finance minister as a suspect in their bribery investigation, prompting calls for opposition to his resignation, which he dismissed. He denies any wrongdoing.

As is often the case with broad-based investigations into politicians' dealings, the probe has taken authorities in unexpected directions.

One is a man who heads a state-owned holding company that manages shares in former state-owned companies, including Telekom and the oil and gas company. Along with the Minister of Finance, this gentleman belongs to a small circle of committed lieutenants from the chancellor who have accompanied him since his beginnings in politics.

Analyzing the SMS on this gentleman's phone, the authorities found out how the manager got his top position at the state holding company, where he earns up to 600,000 euros a year, depending on the development of the portfolio.

This gentleman – a senior Treasury official until 2018 – not only wrote the job description for the position, but also selected the board who would hire him. This gentleman had never worked as an executive and had no international experience, factors which in other circumstances would have ended his chances of heading a holding company overseeing €26 billion in corporate investments. But he had something else: a powerful ally, namely the Chancellor.

After months of planning his move, this honorable gentleman asked Kurz for assurances that his new job would be one of real power and not just ceremonial.

"You get everything you want 😘😘😘", the Chancellor reassured these gentlemen in March 2019 via SMS.

"🙂🙂🙂 I'm so happy...I love my chancellor," he replied.

After the public outcry about the affair, the gentleman said that he would leave the state holding company when his contract expired next year and would not exercise an option to extend it by two years.

The opposition is calling for an investigation into whether this gentleman broke any laws in securing the post. Both he and the Chancellor, who declined to comment on the article, deny any wrongdoing.

"What we see is that the 'system of the chancellor' was designed from the start to take control of state institutions and create a state within a state," said the leader of the opposition Social Democrats.

 

It is more likely that the Chancellor was simply rewarding an ally for his loyalty. The gentleman has taken on countless unusual assignments for the chancellor over the years, according to people who have worked with the two men. Just a few weeks before this gentleman got the big job in the prosecutor's office, he was helping the chancellor in a sensitive matter involving the Catholic Church.

After a local official was stabbed to death by a Turkish refugee in western Austria in early 2019, the chancellor approved a tough new law allowing authorities to place asylum seekers deemed "dangerous" in preventive detention.

But Catholic leaders rejected the idea, publicly comparing it to the tactics of repressive regimes. "Every dictatorship in the world imprisons people out of sheer distrust," wrote one churchman in a newspaper column. "Tomorrow it might be you or me."

The chancellor encouraged this gentleman to "step on the gas" to put pressure on the church. "We will leave them a sizeable package," this gentleman wrote to him ahead of a meeting with a senior church official.

The gentleman went on to say he would report to his church counterpart that "as part of the review of all tax privileges throughout the republic, the Treasury Department will be taking a very close look at the church." Both men knew that the threat to the church was that without preferential tax treatment would struggle, would be tantamount to the nuclear option

Answer from the Chancellor: "Yes, great."

A few hours later, the gentleman reported to the chancellor about the meeting, writing that the church official was "repelled" after receiving the threat. The man "blushed, then paled, and then started shaking," he wrote to his boss.

"Great, thank you!!!!", the boy replied.

Despite the Chancellor's obvious enthusiasm, the tactic did not work. The cardinal continued to criticize the proposed asylum policy, calling it "inhuman".

Just weeks after the Lord's church visit, the Chancellor's government collapsed amid the Ibiza affair. The asylum policy never came into force, although the Chancellor's party still pursues it.

Aside from the scandals eroding the chancellor's credibility, the bigger question is whether he can survive as a political bad boy. Although his approval rating has fallen in recent days, given the weakness of the opposition, most observers are betting he will again.

"Since he took over the party in 2017, the question has been whether this is just clever marketing or whether something is really changing."

At least we now have the answer.

There came a time when one rubbed one's forehead: one still rubs it today.

The only thing that can come to mind is this quatrain: What is the difference between a phone booth and politics?

In the phone booth you have to pay first and then dial.

In politics you can vote first and then you have to pay.

We can feel like we are in a capsule theater. The chancellor, the boy, introduces us voters.

Chancellor: "Voters, are you all there?"

And we voters cheer: "Jaaaaa!"

The chancellor has turned politics into what it really is: a theatre! Therefore, no one should be surprised if some make fun of it.

Austria's former chancellor has refused to rule out options for forming a new government, including courting the far-right Freedom Party, which has suffered heavy casualties amid corruption allegations.

That was after his second term. We citizens of this country are not learning anything, or we are just learning too slowly, or we don't want to learn.

We voters stumbled and fell on our backs. The chancellor happens to drop by, helps the poorest of us to our feet and jokes: "You have to vote for my party in the next election!" "But Mr. Chancellor," says the voter, "I'm on my back and not upside down please!"

We do!

what was given

Among the many shocking statements made by his then-deputy, right-wing party, during his stay at the finca was the claim that a company, an international casino operator based in the country, "pays everyone".

The deputy's allegation, which this company denies, is the focus of investigations by the authorities in the Chancellor's inner circle.

Prosecutors are investigating whether senior government officials from both the Right Party and the Chancellor's Party conspired with executives at the company to trade casino licenses for jobs and other favours.

The main allegation concerns a local FP official who was installed as casino finance director just weeks before the Ibiza video appeared, despite a headhunter finding he lacked the experience and qualifications required for the position.

At that time, this company was a major shareholder of the casinos alongside the state. Prosecutors are investigating whether the then-vice-chancellor agreed to help this company win additional gaming licenses in exchange for agreeing to appoint the FP official.

Both the then deputy and the FP official say they did nothing illegal.

Authorities are investigating a number of other high-ranking current and former government officials and business leaders in connection with the affair, including current and former finance ministers, the chief executive officer of one of the largest banks and the current head of the state-owned holding company, which owns a portfolio of company interests worth more than 26 billion euros managed. All deny wrongdoing.

The conservative People's Party came first in Sunday's snap election with 37.1% of the vote, and he said he plans to keep his promise to talk to all rivals about the possibility of a coalition.

"Of course we will seek dialogue with all parties and try to find out which parties overlap and with which parties a stable government can be formed," he told the public broadcaster.

The former chancellor, who has dominated his centre-right party and his country's political life for the past five years, has surprisingly announced his retirement from politics.

Skillful, suave and long regarded as a political prodigy, he became one of the youngest democratically elected leaders in the world in 2017 at 31, but resigned as chancellor in October 2021 after being and still being investigated on suspicion of corruption.

He resigned from his remaining posts as boss and group leader, saying he had decided to step out of politics to focus on his family life. He recently became a father.

He vigorously defended himself against public and media criticism and allegations of corruption. "As Federal Chancellor you have to make so many decisions every day that you know early on that you will also make wrong decisions," he said.

Describing himself as "neither a saint nor a criminal," he added in an unusually long statement: "You're always under surveillance. Also, you have the constant feeling of being hunted.”

The chancellor, his ex-vice and his deputy fly over the country. Suddenly the chancellor gets a fit of charity that is totally out of the ordinary for him and he throws a 1,000 euro note out the window. "Oh, it's good to make a German citizen happy down there!" His ex-vice wants to do the same, thinks for a moment and then resolutely throws ten 100 euro bills out of the window. "Oh, it's good to have ten German citizens there a little happier down below!” Of course, his deputy cannot stand aside very well. He takes 1,000 euro pieces and throws them out the window. "Oh, it's good to make a thousand Germans a little happier down there!" The pilot in the cockpit wonders what's going on in the passenger compartment because his machine is listing. He hands over to the co-pilot, goes to the back, sees the three politicians fidgeting at the open window and throws them out without further ado. Then he returns to the cockpit and says to his colleague: "Oh, it feels good to make eight million Germans really happy down there!"

(We should have, though!)

The Chancellor resigned as Chancellor under strong pressure from his coalition partner, the Greens, after anti-corruption investigators raided offices in the Chancellery, the Treasury Ministry, his party headquarters and a powerful publishing house.

Prosecutors suspect that a network of conservative politicians around him used funds from the Treasury Department to buy favorable newspaper reports and "financed partly manipulated opinion polls" in order to polish his image and that of the party.

A tabloid has denied her guaranteed favorable coverage of him and his party in exchange for taxpayers' money, but she has reportedly been paid €1.33 million for ads run by the Treasury in the last two years alone.

Prosecutors say he is under investigation on suspicion of making false statements and breach of trust, and has denied any wrongdoing. Nine other people close to the former chancellor and three organizations suspected of varying degrees of corruption and bribery are also under investigation.

The fall from him was as rapid as his rise. With 24 State Secretary for Integration, with 27 Foreign Ministers, he became party leader in May 2017 and half a year later Chancellor and rebuilt the party around himself.

In his first term, he forged a power-sharing agreement with the xenophobic far-right Freedom Party, a coalition that collapsed in 2019 when the populist party became embroiled in another corruption scandal.

The former chancellor said in his resignation statement that the allegations had affected his ability to work, forcing him to spend his final months in office "defending himself against allegations and trials and no longer competing for the best ideas."

His successor as chancellor, a career diplomat, was widely regarded as a placeholder until the chancellor could clear his name and return to office. He will be succeeded as party chairman by the Minister of the Interior.

As certainly our young Federal Chancellor has stated, one can certainly caricature him a little better.

George W. Bush, Barack Obama and our dear Chancellor are dead and standing before God. God asks Bush, "What do you believe in?" Bush replies, "I believe in free trade, in a strong America, and in the nation." God says, "Fine, come to my right!" Then he asks Obama, "In what do you believe?” Obama replies, “I believe in democracy, in helping the poor, and in world peace.” God says happily, “Wonderful! Come to my left!” Finally he asks our Chancellor: “And what do you believe in?” The Chancellor replies: “I think you are sitting on my chair!”

Does this course of action by the Chancellor have any impact on life after the boy's departure?

As Chancellor, he was said to have an affinity for the start-up world. In startup politics, while less than a year and a half after stepping down as chancellor in October 2021 and just over a year after his final retirement from politics in December 2021, the youngster is active in several roles in the startup world: as an advisor , as a founder and as an investor.

Only weeks after announcing his retirement from politics, his first step into the startup world became public. He started as a "Global Strategist" at Thiel Capital in Los Angeles. What exactly he does in this position in the investment company of the polarizing Paypall founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel is still not publicly known a year later. It should be but it is an advisory activity.

The former chancellor should also contribute his network. It's quite possible that he got the connection to Jared Kushner in return from Peter Thiel. The entrepreneur, investor and - as Donald Trump's son-in-law - former US presidential adviser brought the ex-chancellor some time ago as an honorary advisor to his "Abraham Accords Peace Institute", which aims to promote relations between Israel and the Arab states. It is currently not known whether Sebastian Kurz will also do (startup) business with Jared Kushner.

In addition, a few months ago there was a report in the tabloid magazine Exxpress, according to which the former chancellor runs "a consulting firm for technology companies with offices in Dubai and Tel Aviv". According to the ex-chancellor's spokesman, this is not entirely correct SK Management GmbH, which is registered in Austria, is building a second office in Abu Dhabi – not Dubai – in addition to Vienna.The office in Tel Aviv is that of the start-up Dream Security Wife of ex-Chancellor AS²K co-founder Alexander Schütz.

The former chancellor has founded two companies in Austria so far. The consulting and investment company SK Management GmbH, which he owns alone and whose managing director he is. This is based in the Waldviertel town of Zogelsdorf, which, however, is only a postal address. The office is located at Schubertring in Vienna. The total rent is probably at least 13,000 euros, as a well-known real estate expert said. Secondly, AS²K Beteiligungs GmbH, which the former chancellor founded together with C-Quadrat founder and 2 minutes 2 million investor Alexander Schütz. The former chancellor holds 50 percent of the shares through SK Management. AS²K Managing Director is Vera Regensburger, formerly Deputy Head of Cabinet in the Federal Chancellery. Schütz used to be a major donor to the ÖVP.

Both Austrian companies, as consulting firms or investment companies, are by definition not start-ups. In addition to the above-mentioned consulting company, the former chancellor also co-founded a start-up abroad: Dream Security. The cyber security company is based in Tel Aviv, Israel. One of the ex-Chancellor's two co-founders is Shalev Hulio, co-founder and ex-CEO of the NSO Group, which caused an international scandal a few years ago with its Pegasus spy software. The secret services used the “state trojan” to spy on numerous top politicians.

As a start-up investor, the ex-Chancellor has only been active in Austria so far. He made his first investment in May 2022 as a private individual – it was made public in August. The former chancellor holds two percent of Graz-based medaia GmbH, which has dedicated itself to the fight against skin cancer with the SkinScreener app. The investment amount should therefore not have been too high. The same applies to the Viennese care platform startup HeldYn. The above-mentioned AS²K holds 5.09 percent of this.

There are consequences of his work in politics.

The former chancellor is currently residing in his new office on Vienna's Schubertring. Vis-à-vis behind a glass wall, ex-finance minister and his ex-chancellor Intimus, who only recently left his job at Superfund, move into his workplace. Other former cabinet employees are also based in the office in downtown Vienna.

According to the party sector in the government district, the crowd at Schubertring has not gone unnoticed. Because the former chancellor should also be dissatisfied with the performance of his successors. Including about the Federal Chancellor and the club chairman. The ex-chancellor's opinion of the now no longer so good party is said to have "finally tipped over" in the second half of the year. The trigger may have been the confession of the former boss to the public prosecutor's office, which heavily incriminated the former chancellor.

"After this behavior from the boss, which he saw as a betrayal, the former chancellor takes everything he hears from the party and government even more personally than before," reports a party insider.

The current chancellor is also likely to have gotten his fat from the ex-chancellor.

The former chancellor's companions, who also gradually started to flee from politics after his withdrawal, are also said to attract attention with cross-shots against the party. "Without us you wouldn't be where you are now," the tenor should be towards Ballhausplatz.

In a dictatorship you are oppressed. In a democracy you can choose who oppresses you.

It may all be theory, but the fact that it can be disproved is not the least appeal of a theory: that is precisely what attracts finer minds, because someone always comes along and feels strong enough to refute it. Only in this case are they facts and it should be difficult to refute them.

M23 The Conflict In The Congo 2022

 

M23

The conflict in Congo 2022

from

Karl Shine

These guys are looking good with the truth and the firstborn in the company of God. And you will win whenever you fight for your truth... When the truth is revealed, the lie will avoid it... Courage Les Lions de Sarambwe... (Dr. Ally Rugaravu)

introduction

After the change of power in January 2019, former President Kabila continues to pull the strings. The new President Tshisekedi, who only came to power by manipulating the election results, is trying to emancipate himself from Kabila and work towards political reforms. 

In January 2019, the new Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi was sworn in. This represented the first peaceful takeover of power since Congo gained independence. However, there are doubts about the integrity of the process and the outcome of the elections. The December 30, 2018 election was preceded by two years of uncertainty, protests and instability. Former President Joseph Kabila should have officially resigned at the end of his term on December 19, 2016. However, he had made repeated attempts to change the constitution in his favor in order to be able to run for another term. These attempts repeatedly led to massive protests by the opposition in Kinshasa and other larger cities.

Kabila finally gave in to popular pressure, as well as regional organizations and international donors, and appointed Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as his successor. Shadary ran for the party alliance "Front commun pour le Congo" (FCC), in which Kabila's "Parti du People pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie" (PPRD) is also represented. The most important opponents were Félix Tshisekedi from the coalition party "Cap pour le Changement" (CACH) and the popular Martin Fayulu from the opposition party "Engagement pour la citoyenneté et le développement" (ECiDé).

Election observers from home and abroad see the election as rigged. The Council of Churches of Congo (Conférence Episcopale Nationale du Congo - CENCO) and election results leaked to the media confirmed Fayulu as the winner. But the National Electoral Commission (Commission electorale national et independante - CENI) announced Tshisekedi as the victor.

Nevertheless, the population accepted the result with a mixture of resignation and hope. After years of conflict over Kabila's retention of power, the fact that it was not Kabila himself or his chosen successor, but another candidate who took over the presidency, was probably the decisive factor.

Congo is now run by a coalition between Kabila's FCC and Tshisekedi's CACH. By all appearances, Tshisekedi's appointment was a coup by Kabila, who wanted to secure control of the legislature, the security sector and revenues from the country's economic resources by participating in the coalition even after his departure. He now seems to have succeeded: Kabila's party alliance FCC controls 340 of the 500 seats in the national parliament as well as large parts of the governing coalition. The Republican Guard also remains under Kabila's control.

But as it turns out, Tshisekedi is anything but a puppet of Kabila. Within the limits of his office, he works towards reforms and the liberalization of the country. He allowed the political parties to resume their work without restriction. Political prisoners were released, and the powers of the feared security service, the Agence Nationale de Renseignements (ANR), were restricted. Tshisekedi also pledged to introduce free primary education and improve the healthcare system. The new President has also managed to strengthen relations with international donors such as the International Monetary Fund and the governments in Brussels, Paris and Washington.

This policy is met with resistance in the governing coalition, which is still dominated by Kabila's FCC. According to the constitution, the president is forced to come to terms with the majority in parliament and the prime minister appointed by it. Between President Tshisekedi and Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga there are repeated disputes about the direction of the policy.

More than five million people are said to have fallen victim to the nearly 30-year civil war in eastern Congo.

This situation is made more difficult by the consequences of the corona pandemic. In addition to the health risks for the population, the pandemic also poses a threat to the resource extraction on which Congo is so dependent. For example, copper prices fell 25% early in the pandemic, costing the country $5 billion in lost revenue.

One of Tshisekedi's campaign promises was to improve security in eastern Congo as well. In particular, he has worked to improve relations with political neighbors Rwanda and Angola, which is key to regional stability in the Great Lakes region. To this end, the three states signed a peace and security agreement.

Ex-President Kabila, who is protected from possible prosecution as a "senator for life," has no interest in these measures being successful. On the one hand, he, his family and political allies benefit from illegal economic activities in eastern Congo, which are made possible by the instability. On the other hand, with a view to the next elections, he and his supporters want to prevent Tshisekedis from gaining further popularity.

Meanwhile, especially in the east and south of the country, non-state groups are still active

Violent groups, such as the Mai-Mai militias in the east, militias in Ituri or Kamuina Nsapu in Karzai, are fighting for control of valuable resources in the region.

Bertrand Bisimwa said of this conflict: "The historical causes of our struggle have been the same for several decades. The country's poor governance, in which the ruling political elite has installed a system of plunder and robbery and impoverishes ordinary citizens. The general insecurity, causes by armed groups fabricated by the leaders to illegally exploit the resources The genocidal ideology promoted by those responsible for the1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwandahas also been spread among the Congolese population. The government's refusal to take appropriate measures to ensure the safe return of our refugees to the country, which it denies them citizenship on the pretext of being foreigners.

The Rwandophone compatriots suffer from discrimination, hate speech and xenophobia. This has gotten so much worse that in the meantime, for example, in the province of Maniema, the Rwandophones are no longer just killed, but their meat is also served as food. Congolese officials, politicians, army and police officials and civil society actors are openly calling on people to take up arms to kill Rwandophones. Their addresses are published on TV channels and social networks, and the population is encouraged to attack them in their homes.

"The ongoing human rights abuses in eastern DRC, including attacks on civilians because of their ethnicity or their perceived affiliation with warring factions, must stop. Our collective obligation not to forget past atrocities is an obligation to prevent their repetition," stressed Ms. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide.

The statement notes that there are indicators of the content of the dissemination of hate speech and the lack of institutional mechanisms.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current violence is mainly due to the refugee crisis, which led to the flight of many people involved in the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.

They formed armed groups, including the FDLR, which is still very active in eastern DRC.

The statement further called for DR Congo to address the root causes of the violence and learn from the past.

The human rights abuses currently taking place in DR Congo, including attacks on civilians because of their ethnicity or affiliation with warring factions, must stop.

The collective obligation not to forget the atrocities of the past is an obligation to prevent their repetition.

The Special Adviser reiterated her joint statement of June 17, 2022, with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michèle Bachelet.

They expressed particular concern at the increasing escalation of hate speech and discriminatory hostilities, particularly against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese.

She notes with horror that this hate speech is being emanated from political figures, community leaders, civil society actors and members of the diaspora.

The beginning

Kenya's President William Ruto announced the deployment of troops to eastern DRC in a joint regional operation against a rebel offensive. Kenya deployed more than 900 military personnel to the DRC to join a new regional force tasked with calming deadly tensions fueled by armed groups. The Kenyan armed forces will be based in Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC. The East African Community regional force, agreed by heads of state in June and led by a Kenyan commander, also has two battalions from Uganda, two from Burundi and one from South Sudan.

Armed groups in eastern DRC have stepped up attacks, reviving old hostilities and sparking a surge in tensions with neighboring Rwanda.

Since the end of October, violence between the army and the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has escalated again. The grouping emerged as a successor organization to the so-called National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP).

The CNDP, which consists mostly of members of the Tutsi minority, had already fought against government troops and militias from the rival Hutu ethnic group around 15 years ago. The Congolese army had actually defeated the rebels of the M23 movement in 2013.

The M23 Rebellion was an armed conflict in North Kivu, DR Congo between the March 23 Movement and government forces. The rebellion was part of ongoing fighting in the region following the formal end of the Second Congo War in 2003. It erupted in 2012 and lasted until 2013, when a peace deal was struck between 11 African nations and M23 troops in Uganda surrendered.

Who are these rebels?

It's a rebel group called the M23. The name derives from the date. The March 23 Movement, abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a rebel military group based in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), mainly operating in the North Kivu province. The rebels were active in North Kivu province, fighting government forces in Rutshuru and Masisi areas.

M23 is a revolutionary movement in Congo that fights:

1. For the survival of Tutsis killed by FDLR,

2. Against injustice, insecurity and bad governance of the Tshisekedi regime

3. For the repatriation of refugees

"What happens to every Tutsi in DR Congo. Hatred, tribalism and xenophobia are flaws that need to be eradicated in this country. The devil has taken over our country.

We need courageous men to make a difference." (Bertrand Bisimwa)

The Congolese must realize that they have been bewitched by a genocidal ideology instilled by the fdlr and other extremists. They need a father of the nation who sees things differently if not an anti-Tutsi genocide and is not carried out.

The 2012-13 M23 rebellion against the DRC government resulted in large numbers of people being displaced. On November 20, 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of one million people, but was ordered by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region to evacuate it, as the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo finally agreed to negotiate with them. In late 2012, Congolese forces along with UN forces retook control of Goma and M23 announced a ceasefire and said it wanted to resume peace talks.

In 2017, the M23 commander and around 100-200 of his supporters fled Uganda to continue their insurgency and set up camp at Mount Mikeno in the border area between Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. The operations of this splinter group remained marginal and unsupported by the rest of M23. In March 2022, the group launched an offensive from its outlying bases; these first attacks accomplished little. However, after failed peace talks in April 2022, Bisimwa's M23 faction joined the offensive. In May 2022, M23 fighters launched their most sustained attack since the start of their new offensive, overrunning a Congolese army base in Rumangabo. On June 13, the rebels captured the important frontier town of Bunagana.

The M23 leadership argued that parts of their movement had restarted the insurgency because the terms of the 2013 peace agreement were not being honored by the DRC government. The rebels also argued that they were trying to protect Kivu's Tutsi minority from attacks by Hutu militants such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

he was accused of treason for “financial embezzlement, division, ethnic hatred, fraud and political immaturity”. A faction of M23 loyal to him, including M23 founder Bosco Ntaganda, has clashed with Sultani Makenga supporters) and Bertrand Bisimwa's "Revolutionary Army of the Congo" (Bertrand Bisimwa is a Congolese rebel and human rights activist. He is the president of the M23 movement, also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army. Bisimwa is a lawyer by training). In addition, Makengas (Colonel Sultani Makenga , born in in Rutshuru, Zaire, is the military chief of the M23 movement. Makenga is an ethnic Tutsi and grew up in South Kivu] He fought during the Rwandan Civil War for the Rwanda Patriotic Front group de facto separate from the other M23 forces which were still mainly based in Uganda. Subsequent investigations organized by the United Nations Security Council indicated that Makenga's return to an insurgency had initiated the gradual rearmament and recovery of M23s, with Bisimwa's "Revolutionary Army of the Congo" joining these efforts in late 2021 by reorganizing their remaining fighters and new recruited collaboration with Makenga. The headquarters of the restored M23 are believed to be at Mount Sabyinyo. Subsequent investigations organized by the United Nations Security Council indicated that Makenga's return to an insurgency had initiated the gradual rearmament and recovery of M23s, with Bisimwa's "Revolutionary Army of the Congo" joining these efforts in late 2021 by reorganizing their remaining fighters and new recruited collaboration with Makenga. The headquarters of the restored M23 are believed to be at Mount Sabyinyo. Subsequent investigations organized by the United Nations Security Council indicated that Makenga's return to an insurgency had initiated the gradual rearmament and recovery of M23s, with Bisimwa's "Revolutionary Army of the Congo" joining these efforts in late 2021 by reorganizing their remaining fighters and new recruited collaboration with Makenga. The headquarters of the restored M23 are believed to be at Mount Sabyinyo. by reorganizing their remaining fighters and recruiting new ones working with Makenga. The headquarters of the restored M23 are believed to be at Mount Sabyinyo. by reorganizing their remaining fighters and recruiting new ones working with Makenga. The headquarters of the restored M23 are believed to be at Mount Sabyinyo.

As of 2022, M23 was just one of 120 armed groups operating in eastern DRC. Before March 2022, the Congolese government made attempts to strengthen its position against the resurgent M23 by sending more troops. However, such measures weakened its presence in other areas, such as those affected by the Allied Democratic Forces insurgency.

The DRC government has said it will not negotiate with the M23 rebel group after the group said it was ready to negotiate. DRC spokesman Patrick Muyaya said it was clear the government would not negotiate with the M23 group. M23 is a terrorist group and the Kinshasa government cannot cooperate with such a group. The DRC's position comes as the East African Community prepares to deploy a joint army into parts of North and South Kivu Kivu, east of the DRC, in the war against rebel groups in that area, including the Group M23. The group's spokesman, Major Willy Ngoma, said they will not lay down their arms. We like the dialogue. But if the Congolese government does not want dialogue and we are ready to fight now, then we will fight totally to defend ourselves and we will fight very well. We will follow them wherever they go, lest they destroy our peace. We will take away their weapons," said M23 rebel spokesman Major Willy Ngoma. M23 have said they will not leave Bunagana earlier this year, the M23 group, which controls the town of Bunagana, which lies on the border with Uganda, has said it is protecting the Tutsi community from attacks by the FDLR group of protects Hutu militants accused of 1994 Rwandan genocide Forces to be led by Kenyan soldiers Major Ngoma told Sauti ya America,

The rebels have seized two major cities in eastern Congo after fierce fighting, doubling their territory, which they now control, civil society leaders and residents have said. Clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels intensified near the Rutshuru and Kiwanja districts, with gunfire erupting in the early hours. Shells hit residential areas. When the militia arrived, the Congolese soldiers fled and the UN blue helmets stayed in their barracks. John Banyene, the country's civil society president, told the Associated Press news agency that the rebels now control central Rutshuru and Kiwanja, areas 70 kilometers from the state's capital Goma.

There is unrest on the streets of Goma. People are furious over a war they say was started by rebels from the M23 movement, one of more than 120 armed groups operating across the region. Thousands of anti-Rwanda protesters marched through the eastern DRC city of Goma as M23 rebels tightened their grip on the surrounding countryside. In this situation, Kenya is sending troops that are certainly not welcome in Goma. The protesters demanded weapons to fight against Rwanda and slogans against Uganda, which some also accuse of supporting the M23.

Deputy Chief of Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu said if the East African Community (EAC) Regional Forces decided to be stationed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it would take them less than 24 hours to capture the M23 rebels defeat . Lt-Gen Elwelu made the comments during a meeting with a European Union delegation led by EU External Action Service Senior Adviser on Emerging Threats in the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa and Western Indian Ocean, Mr Charles Stuart, at the Department for Defense and Veterans Affairs (MODVA) Headquarters in Mbuya.

The African Union (AU) has called for a ceasefire in the DRC.

A group of Congolese parliamentarians and civil society activists have asked President Felix Tshisekedi to sever diplomatic ties with Uganda, accusing him of supporting the advancing M23 rebels. DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, who is on the offensive at the diplomatic level, has faced the advance of the M23 rebels for months, whom he accuses of Rwandan support. His speech at the UN summit on September 20 was arguably one of the best examples. As in all of his recent speeches, Tshisekedi denounced "Rwanda's aggression" and urged the international community "to no longer rely on [Kigali's] shameless denials." you also want that Kinshasa end the years-long joint military offensive by the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), codenamed Shujaa, which was launched last November to crush the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). . Kampala's prejudicial naming comes months after Congo severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, which it accused of helping M23, expelled its ambassador and stopped RwandAir, the country's national airline, from DRC airspace. Kigali denies allegations of any machinations. Kampala's prejudicial naming comes months after Congo severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, which it accused of helping M23, expelled its ambassador and stopped RwandAir, the country's national airline, from DRC airspace. Kigali denies allegations of any machinations. Kampala's prejudicial naming comes months after Congo severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, which it accused of helping M23, expelled its ambassador and stopped RwandAir, the country's national airline, from DRC airspace. Kigali denies allegations of any machinations.

The M23 movement tightened its grip on several areas, capturing the cities of Kiwanja and Rutshuru and severing Goma, the capital of North Kivu, from the upper half of the province.

M23 rebels have continued to advance into various areas of Bunagana Town and have cut off two borders connecting Uganda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya and Burundi are already stationed in eastern DRC to fight negative forces, including M23 rebels. However, DR Congo refused to allow Rwandan troops to take part in EAC operations, accusing them of supporting the M23 rebels. However, Rwanda has urged the DRC government to hold talks with the M23 rebels to end the fighting. It is also DRC to stop harassing Kinyarwanda speakers in eastern DRC.

The AU statement expressed "extreme concern at the deteriorating security situation" in eastern DRC.

The organization called for an immediate ceasefire and urged all warring factions to "respect international law, the safety of civilians and stability at the borders of all countries in the region."

The M23 rebels were largely dormant for nearly a decade before reemerging in eastern Congo last November. According to the authorities, almost 200,000 people were already displaced before the latest escalation in violence last week.

The Kenyan army will come to seek their own peace. It will be an intervention force to resolve the conflict. The force is not coming to fight the M23. You know the reason why we are fighting," said Willy Ngoma, adding: "We will not leave Bunagana. We are in Bunagana, we will stay there. No power can frighten us and nothing frightens us. Any army that threatens us, we will face it. We have the power and we have that power. We cannot leave Bunagana and no violence will free us. We are ready for negotiations, but force will not do it." The M23 group also wants the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, to allow it to to work as a military special unit in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Tshisekedi has made changes in the DRC army, removing the commanders who have been linked to insecurity and corruption in eastern DRC. The Rwandan government has been accused of supporting the M23 group, a claim President Paul Kagame and his government have denied. Tshisekedi and Kagame met in New York. a claim President Paul Kagame and his administration have denied. Tshisekedi and Kagame met in New York. a claim President Paul Kagame and his administration have denied. Tshisekedi and Kagame met in New York.

At the meeting of heads of state and government of member states of the United Nations in September in New York, US, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, said that Rwanda is funding the M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Rwandan President Paul Kagame responded to Tshisekedi that the DRC's problem was political and needed a political solution. French President Emmanuel Macron has met with the two presidents and agreed to end hostilities.

Paul Kagame himself was in the Tutsi Army, he came to power at the head of a rebellious Tutsi army fighting Hutu extremists who murdered hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. Many of those responsible then fled to DR Congo after Mr Kagame's troops took over Rwanda, taking the conflict with them across the border.

The UN investigation, conducted by a team from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, alleges that Rwanda and its military allies have carried out systematic waves of well-planned, highly organized retaliatory killings of Hutu refugees over the years after they were killed along with remains of the former Rwandan military fled across the border into eastern Zaire, now known as Congo. It also notes that Rwanda's ethnic Tutsi allies in eastern Congo have also been the target of mass killings and persecution. The report documents more than 600 large-scale killings in Congo from March 1993 to June 2003, allegedly constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity. It notes that the "systematic and widespread attacks

It is difficult to say whether the conflict in eastern Congo is a struggle between rival ethnic groups or a struggle over resources. There are so many militant groups in eastern Congo with so many changing alliances and demands. But a tiny ethnic minority in Congo has been at the center of this conflict for the past 20 years.

The M23, in turn, is run by accused war criminals. So to get an idea of ​​why Congolese Tutsi would still support their presence in the country, we have to go back to 1996. This is two years after the Rwandan genocide that killed up to a million Tutsis. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is sending troops into the Congo to organize militias and hunt down Hutu genocidists who have crossed the border and are now attacking Congolese Tutsis.

But the Tutsi militias did not stop at military protection. They actually took over the city of Goma and installed a more Tutsi-friendly administration. The Tutsis felt the difference immediately in the Congo.

So it could well be that the genocide of 1994 is repeated. Tutsis and Hutus face each other again.

The bloody history of the Hutu and Tutsi conflict shaped the 20th century, from the slaughter of some 120,000 Hutu by the Tutsi army in Burundi in 1972 to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, which in just 100 days, in where Hutu militias targeted Tutsi, around 800,000 people died people were killed.

The longstanding conflict between the Hutus and Tutsi has nothing to do with language or religion. Many geneticists have struggled to find clear ethnic differences between the two. The Tutsi are commonly known to be taller. Many believe that German and Belgian colonizers tried to find differences between the Hutu and Tutsi to better categorize the indigenous people in their censuses.

In general, the Hutu-Tutsi strife stems from class struggles, with the Tutsi seen as wealthier and more social. These class distinctions began in the 19th century, were exacerbated by colonization, and exploded in the late 20th century.

It is believed that the Tutsi originally came from Ethiopia and arrived from Chad after the arrival of the Hutu. The Tutsis had a monarchy dating back to the 15th century; This was overthrown at the urging of the Belgian colonizers in the early 1960s and the Hutu violently seized power in Rwanda. In Burundi, however, a Hutu rebellion failed and the Tutsi controlled the country. The Tutsi and Hutu people interacted long before European colonization in the 19th century. According to some sources, the Hutu originally lived in the area, while the Tutsi migrated from the Nile region.

The M23, in turn, is run by accused war criminals. So to get an idea of ​​why Congolese Tutsi would still support their presence in the country, we have to go back to 1996. This is two years after the Rwandan genocide that killed up to a million Tutsis. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is sending troops into the Congo to organize militias and hunt down Hutu genocidists who have crossed the border and are now attacking Congolese Tutsis.

Leading the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) en route to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where fierce fighting between the army and the M23 militia continues. The DRC army is also involved with other parties fighting the Islamic State group - the Allied Democratic Forces ADF and several other armed groups. The Kenyan Armed Forces will join a regional force that will help fight armed groups. The idea of ​​sending a regional force was proposed and approved in June when former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (now Kenya's peace envoy) convened a peace meeting (Nairobi Process) of EAC leaders. Kenya was chosen

Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in the Burundian capital Bujumbura to hold talks on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who chairs the East African Community Summit.

According to the Burundian House of State, Mr Kenyatta will be accompanied by the Secretary-General of the East African Community, Peter Mathuki. At the beginning, the President of Burundi said that after consultation with his counterparts, the regional heads of the defense forces would meet as soon as possible to coordinate their views on how to deal with the security crisis in eastern DRC.

East African Community (EAC) leaders agreed in April to set up a joint force to help restore security in the region. At a ceremony in Nairobi, Ruto said the troops were "on a mission to protect humanity." "As neighbors, the fate of the DRC is intertwined with ours," he added. "We will not allow armed groups, criminals and terrorists to deny us our common prosperity." Kenya will command the force, which will also include soldiers from Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan. A Rwandan contingent is deployed along the border after Kinshasa objected to Kigali's involvement in operations inside the DRC. Military officials in Nairobi declined to reveal the number of Kenyan soldiers involved, citing "obvious security reasons". A UN force, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, is already operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda and Burundi also sent troops to DR Congo at the invitation of the Congolese government. A Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldier stands next to military vehicles as he attends a flag handing over ceremony by Kenyan President William Ruto ahead of its deployment to DR Congo as part of the East Africa Community Regional Force (EARDC) at the Embakasi Garrison in Nairobi on November 2, 2021. The M23 rebels, a predominantly Congolese group, resumed fighting in late 2021, after lying dormant for years, and accused the DRC government of breaching an agreement to integrate their fighters into the army. Recent militia incursions in North Kivu province last month prompted the UN peacekeeping mission there to raise its alert level and step up support for the Congolese army. The resurgence of the M23 had far-reaching implications for relations in Central Africa. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the militia, claims denied by Kigali. Recent militia incursions in North Kivu province last month prompted the UN peacekeeping mission there to raise its alert level and step up support for the Congolese army. The resurgence of the M23 had far-reaching implications for relations in Central Africa. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the militia, claims denied by Kigali. Recent militia incursions in North Kivu province last month prompted the UN peacekeeping mission there to raise its alert level and step up support for the Congolese army. The resurgence of the M23 had far-reaching implications for relations in Central Africa. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the militia, claims denied by Kigali.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has summoned the Rwandan ambassador to his country to ask for explanations. DR Congo claims to have captured two Rwandan soldiers on its land, while Rwanda has accused Congolese of firing on their land while fighting guerrillas. Kinshasa decided to expel Rwanda's ambassador. Rwanda, in turn, accused Kinshasa of being "on the path of continued military escalation." The increase in violence has alarmed the international community and the African Union is calling for a ceasefire.

Doesn't Kenya have other problems to solve? Kenya has many problems. One issue to be addressed here is the terrorist group Al-Shabab.

"It's time for al-Shabaab to give up and become part of the peace process," the Kenyan military spokesman said on Twitter. "Al-Shabaab fully supports Kenya's Muslims and encourages them to wage jihad to confront the oppression and injustice of the Kenyan government," the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab countered a few days later - also via Twitter. Although it was never conclusively proven that the Twitter account was actually created by al-Shabaab, the conversation shows: Kenya and al-Shabaab are at war. Not just online, but across the region.

There is also political turmoil, with a political storm brewing after one of President William Ruto's MPs revealed that the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party plans to seek the abolition of the presidential term limit. Fafi MP Salah Yakub said some politicians within the UDA party are considering a constitutional amendment bill to replace the two-term limit with a person's age - 75.

president dr William Samoei Arap Ruto is barely 100 days in office, but he faces many challenges as he attempts to establish himself in the State House. With the cost of living rising and insecurity rising, the President faces a daunting task of ensuring Kenyans are not starving while keeping the nation's security stable. Nairobi has emerged as a hot spot as thieves ambush innocent Kenyans in broad daylight.

President Ruto has reversed over a dozen policies followed by his predecessor, including restructuring the government, reviewing abandoned multibillion-dollar projects and enshrining populist measures as he shapes his government.

In moves that seem to send a message that former President Uhuru Kenyatta got things wrong during his tenure, President Ruto has targeted several policies, policies and programs that were central to his predecessor's administration.

Just two months after his inauguration on September 13, Dr. Ruto already reversed at least 16 important policies, policies and projects of his predecessor.

For years, Kenya's government avoided any military intervention in neighboring crisis-stricken Somalia. But from 2006 onwards, al-Shabaab in Somalia grew stronger. Terror and hunger drove thousands of Somalis to Kenya. Today, more than half a million Somali refugees live in the country. It was only when al-Shabaab was blamed for kidnapping foreigners in Kenya that the government reacted and declared war on the group in October 2011.

Between 2006 and 2007, al-Shabaab carried out a number of attacks outside of Somalia. There was only one terrorist attack in Ethiopia; in Kenya there were none. In contrast, between 2008 and 2015, the group carried out a total of 272 attacks in Kenya and only five in Ethiopia.

Some scholars have focused on al-Shabaab's retaliation for Nairobi's armed intervention in Somalia from late 2011 as the cause of Kenya's suffering. Nonetheless, Ethiopian forces have been in Somalia for more than a decade, and both Burundi and Uganda contribute heavily to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

So what explains al-Shabaab's focus on Kenya? Our research shows that Al-Shabaab attacks critical Kenyan targets for both logical and opportunistic reasons. They are based on geographic proximity to al-Shabaab's bases in southern Somalia and are reinforced by other variables that go into the general modus operandi of terrorist groups.

For example, attacks such as that carried out by Al-Shabaab in Kenya exploit existing spaces of opportunity and can be described as "propaganda by deed". In doing so, they attempt to draw attention to the existence and viability of the group, thereby attracting recruits to their ranks and spreading fear.

In fact, the attacks by Al-Shabaab in Kenya were characterized by their gruesome impact and attracted critical reporting internationally. This gives al-Shabaab a level of prominence, notoriety and international relevance that often belies its increasing isolation in Somalia.

Kenya is also one of the most important countries in sub-Saharan Africa and a hub for East Africa. Its international visibility and status prompt al-Shabaab to make conscious decisions and make efforts to attack it. Attacks on targets in Kenya, particularly in Nairobi or on the coast, guarantee al-Shabaab a level of international coverage that a similar attack in Ethiopia, for example, would not have.

To date, the Kenyan government and military have not been able or willing to do enough to stop the terror. Now Ruto sends troops to the DRC to ensure peace there. The question may be asked here, what is the real reason? They failed against al-Shabaab, why should they do better against M23? They don't come as "peacekeepers" because Kenya has taken a clear position and supports the DRK military against M23. It remains to be seen what the possible consequences of this will be.

Perhaps al-Shabaab is taking this as a unique opportunity to attack Kenya from the north, since part of the Kenyan military is to the east.

On 11/3/2022, President Ruto preached to the troops being sent to the DRC. Apparently he has a bad feeling too. In any case, a prayer will not help.

President Ruto has problems at home. The presidential election has only just ended. It wasn't entirely without problems either. The problems are having an impact. NARC party leader Martha Karua, who was also Raila Odinga's running mate in the presidential race through the Umoja One Kenya Alliance ticket, has stressed her position that she cannot recognize William Ruto as President of Kenya. In one of the exclusive talks with a radio station in that country, Karua said that he cannot be forced to accept Ruto as president if his mind tells him that legally the president did not win. The announcer asked him a question as to why he referred to Ruto as a retired vice president and not the president several times in the interview, and then he replied, that he cannot be forced to change his mind and thoughts about what he believes happened in the August 9 election. “The law recognizes him as President, but I don't recognize that. I still stand by my position that he is legally the President, but I don't need to garner credit for that position. I said I respect the court's decision, but I don't agree with it at all. I still stand here to say that the results of the presidency have been rigged," Karua said. In addition, the longtime leader, known for his strong positions, defended himself by saying that this was his personal decision and no one will change his mind. "It's my personal choice and no one can force me to to believe something else. I speak from my personal faith and my faith has nothing to do with the law but with my thoughts. I'll keep saying that Ruto didn't win the presidency, that's all!” Karua insisted. He indicated that his plan to keep pushing for truth and justice in courts in the East African region would continue even if they respected the court's decision to reject their request to annul President Ruto's election victory.

The problems are already on the way. A group of Congolese parliamentarians and civil society activists have asked President Felix Tshisekedi to sever diplomatic ties with Uganda, accusing him of supporting the advancing M23 rebels. They also want Kinshasa to end the years-long joint military offensive by the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), codenamed Shujaa, which was launched last November to defeat the Allied Democratic Forces ( ADF) to destroy ) rebels.

In Kampala, the Minister of State for International Relations, Mr Henry Oryem Okello, dismissed claims that Uganda had been involved in subversion against Tshisekedi's government as "bullshit, bullshit" and without any evidence.

The son of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, 48, has posted a warning via his Twitter page that it will take him and his army just two weeks to seize Nairobi and overthrow the Ruto government. The action by Muhoozi, who serves as the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) commander, to publish the text removes the diplomatic situation for neighboring country Muhoozi, which has published a series of controversial tweets about Kenya. First, he blamed retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, whom he calls his "big brother," for not running for a third term in the August 2022 election, adding that the retired president won the election easily would.

He said: “My only issue with my older brother is that he didn't run for a third term, we would have won easily, Kenyatta, who handed power to President William Ruto on September 13, 2022, should have changed the constitution on remain in power." "Haha! I love my Kenyan relatives. Constitution? rule of law? You must be joking! For us (Uganda) there is only one revolution and you will soon hear about it, it takes me two weeks to overthrow President Ruto's government, it would not take us, my army and I, two weeks to conquer Nairobi." , Muhoozi tweeted. He also wrote: "I am pleased that the members of our district in Kenya responded enthusiastically to my tweet. There are still 2 weeks until Nairobi! where should i live after our army takes Nairobi? west country? Riverside?"

Muhoozi must be a loudmouth. But don't joke. It can get pretty serious. Muhoozi, who is said to be Museveni's favorite and is rumored to be the successor to the country's presidency.

The conflict

The current crisis in the Congo cannot be fully understood without knowledge of its post-colonial past and the commodity sell-off that began even then.

The current conflict does not come out of nowhere. The history of the Congo is shaped by the rule of various colonial powers that enslaved millions of Congolese.

Before colonization, several kingdoms and chiefdoms existed in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Soon, in the second half of the 19th century, the interests of the major European powers were awakened, because the Europeans recognized the rich deposits of precious metals, diamonds and other lucrative raw materials that lay dormant under the Congo's soil. Hundreds of treaties that the Belgian King Leopold II concluded with the tribal chiefs secured Belgium access to the raw material deposits in Central Africa. At the Berlin Congo Conference in 1884, the major European powers agreed on free trade and free shipping in the Congo Basin. These two essential points were the prerequisite for international recognition of the Congo Free State.

The territory of the Congo was granted to Belgium, and Leopold II became the ruler of the Congo Free State. In 1908 it became the Belgian Congo. During the misanthropic Belgian rule, the country's natural resources were brutally exploited and many Congolese were enslaved. Millions of people lost their lives in the process. Only after the end of the Second World War in 1945 did the colonial powers' control over the occupied countries begin to falter.

After independence in June 1960, five troubled years followed. The first years of independence went down in history as the "Congo turmoil". The Congo confusion needs to be looked at more closely.

On the morning of July 5, 1960, in response to the mounting excitement in the Congolese ranks, General Émile Janssens, commander of Force Publique, called all troops on duty to Camp Léopold II. He urged the army to maintain discipline, writing for emphasis " before independence = after independence" on a plaque. That evening, the Congolese plundered the canteen in protest against Janssens. He alerted the reserve garrison at Camp Hardy, 95 miles away in Thysville. The officers tried to organize a convoy to send to Camp Léopold II to restore order, but the men mutinied and seized the armory. The ensuing crisis dominated the tenure of the Lumumba government. The next day, Lumumba sacked Janssens and promoted all the Congolese soldiers up a notch, but mutinies spread throughout the lower Congo. Although the riots were very localized, the country seemed to have been overrun by bands of soldiers and looters. The media reported that Europeans were fleeing the country. In response, Lumumba announced on the radio: "Thorough reforms are planned in all areas. My government will do everything in our power to give our country a different face in a few months, a few weeks." Despite government efforts, the mutinies continued. Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville surrendered only after personal intervention by Lumumba and President Kasa-Vubu. Although the riots were very localized, the country seemed to have been overrun by bands of soldiers and looters. The media reported that Europeans were fleeing the country. In response, Lumumba announced on the radio: "Thorough reforms are planned in all areas. My government will do everything in our power to give our country a different face in a few months, a few weeks." Despite government efforts, the mutinies continued. Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville surrendered only after personal intervention by Lumumba and President Kasa-Vubu. Although the riots were very localized, the country seemed to have been overrun by bands of soldiers and looters. The media reported that Europeans were fleeing the country. In response, Lumumba announced on the radio: "Thorough reforms are planned in all areas. My government will do everything in our power to give our country a different face in a few months, a few weeks." Despite government efforts, the mutinies continued. Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville surrendered only after personal intervention by Lumumba and President Kasa-Vubu. Thorough reforms are planned in all areas. My government will do everything to change the face of our country in a few months, a few weeks." Despite the government's efforts, the mutinies continued. Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville only surrendered after the personal intervention of Lumumba and President Kasa- Vubu. Thorough reforms are planned in all areas. My government will do everything to change the face of our country in a few months, a few weeks." Despite the government's efforts, the mutinies continued. Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville only surrendered after the personal intervention of Lumumba and President Kasa- Vubu.

On July 8, Lumumba renamed the Force Publique the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). He Africanized the armed forces by making Sergeant Major Victor Lundula general and commander-in-chief, and elected junior minister and ex-soldier Joseph Mobutu as army colonel and chief of staff. These promotions came despite Lundula's inexperience and rumors of Mobutu's ties to Belgian and US intelligence agencies. All European officers in the army were replaced by Africans, with a few remaining as advisers. By the next day, mutinies had spread across the country. Five Europeans, including the Italian vice-consul, were ambushed and killed by machine gun fire in Élisabethville, and almost the entire European population of Luluabourg barricaded themselves in an office building for security reasons. An estimated two dozen Europeans were murdered in the mutiny. Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu embarked on a journey across the country to promote peace and appoint new army commanders. Belgium intervened on July 10, sending 6,000 troops to Congo, ostensibly to protect its citizens from the violence. Most Europeans went to the Katanga Province, which held much of the Congo's natural resources. Although personally angered, Lumumba condoned the July 11 action on condition that the Belgian armed forces acted only to protect their citizens, followed the instructions of the Congolese armed forces and ceased their activities,

On the same day, the Belgian Navy bombarded Matadi after evacuating its citizens, killing 19 Congolese civilians. This greatly inflamed tensions and led to renewed Congolese attacks on Europeans. Shortly thereafter, Belgian forces moved out to seize cities across the country, including the capital, where they clashed with Congolese soldiers. Overall, the Belgian intervention worsened the situation for the armed forces. The state of Katanga declared its independence on July 11 under regional premier Moïse Tshombe with the support of the Belgian government and mining companies such as Union Minière. Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu were denied use of the Elisabethville airstrip the following day and returned to the capital, only to be accosted by fleeing Belgians. They sent a protest to the United Nations against the Belgian operation, demanding that they withdraw and be replaced by an international peacekeeping force. The UN Security Council passed UN Security Council Resolution 143, which called for the immediate withdrawal of Belgian forces and the establishment of the United Nations Operation in Congo (ONUC). Despite the arrival of UN troops, unrest continued. Lumumba called on UN forces to quell the rebellion in Katanga, but UN forces were not empowered to do so within their mandate. On July 14, Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu severed diplomatic relations with Belgium.

Lumumba was then assassinated by a firing squad from Katanga province in the presence of Belgian officers and civil servants.) was crushed in the dispute between the Belgian royal family, the UN and a variety of Congolese interest groups. In the end, the Congolese army emerged victorious from the violent turmoil. After the collapse of the Lumumba government in 1960, Mobutu Sese Seko (Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za ​​Banga [born on October 14, 1930 in Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, died on7 September 1997]. He was also Chairman of the Organization of African Unity from 1967 to 1968. During the Congo crisis, Mobutu, as army chief of staff and with the support of Belgium and the United States, deposed the democratically elected left-wing nationalist government Patrice Lumumba in 1960. Mobutu installed a government that prompted Lumumba's execution in 1961 and continued to lead the country's armed forces until taking power directly in a second coup in 1965. By 1990, economic deterioration and unrest forced Mobutu Sese Seko into a coalition with his opponents in power. Although he used his troops to thwart change, his escapades did not last long. In May 1997, rebel forces led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila overran the country and forced him into exile. He was already suffering from advanced prostate cancer and died three months later in Morocco. Mobutu was notorious for corruption, nepotism, and embezzling between $4 billion and $15 billion during his rule. He was known for extravagances such as shopping trips to Paris on the Concorde supersonic plane. Lumumba and several of his followers were killed.

Mobutu managed to establish himself permanently as the ruler of the Congo. But his style of government was based on violence, corruption and repression. In 1971 he arranged for Congo to be renamed Zaire, which kept that name until the end of the Mobutu government in 1997.

Mobutu's power was unlimited and the opposition fragmented. Individual coup attempts and student unrest were put down with the help of the armed forces. Instead of a functioning constitution, there were up to four different drafts.

Even Mobutu did not succeed in allowing the country and its people to benefit from the fundamental wealth of mineral resources.

All structural adjustment programs and restructuring policies failed. Instead, social tensions in the population increased as a result of land reforms and the migration of millions of people. This primarily affected the east of the country in the area around the Great Lakes on the borders with Uganda and Rwanda.

Within a few years, the region around the Great Lakes developed into Central Africa's main problem region. The arbitrary drawing of borders during colonial times, millions of cross-border migration movements and targeted agitation from outside were the main reasons for the mass murder between Tutsi and Hutu in the early summer of 1994. The Mobutu government had lost control of eastern Congo and the confusingly fragmented military and political forces. At least 800,000 people lost their lives in just a few months. At the instigation of Rwanda and Uganda, the Mobutu government was brought to an end and Laurent Desire Kabila was sworn in as the new president in May 1997.

Under Kabila, the conflict over raw materials between the rebels, neighboring countries and the Congolese government came to light. For the people of Congo, the eternal civil war developed into a tragedy. The Congolese state had finally given up looking after its citizens. Up to 3 million people lost their lives in just a few years, millions fled, 16 million Congolese went hungry.

In January 2001, Kabila was assassinated. Shortly thereafter, his son Joseph Kabila took over as President of the Congo. He did succeed in giving new impetus to the peace process and initiating a new inner-Congolese dialogue. Independent militias and rebel groups still rule in the cities and provinces. The Congolese government is not master of its own territory.

How will DR Congo defeat the rebels in the east?

Tensions between the Congolese government and Rwanda are increasing. The Congolese government has expelled the Rwandan ambassador, accusing Kigali of supporting the rebel group.

The tensions are multifaceted.Vincent Karega, Rwanda's former ambassador to Kinshasa, has questioned the UN Mission in DRC (MONUSCO)'s commitment to ending insecurity in the east of the country.

Rwanda believes insecurity will not end as long as the FDLR, a militia accused of carrying out the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, remains in eastern Congo. Bintou Keita, head of MONUSCO, spoke about the situation in eastern DRC where government forces are fighting the M23 rebel group. According to Karega, Rwanda's envoy in Kinshasa until his October expulsion, Keita's briefing on M23 "failed to give the right picture and address the root cause of the problem" in eastern DRC. 

While Keita said the M23 is trying to negotiate with the Congolese government - to secure the implementation of previous disarmament and reintegration agreements - Karega added that she has not "clarified that it is the DRC government that is not implementing the agreements." complied with". 

"Also not mentioned by Keita is that the FARDC, along with the FDLR, continue to launch military offensives against M23s in violation of the Nairobi, Bujumbura and Luanda processes," Karega said.

The Rwandan government says the FARDC and FDLR cooperated in rocket fire into Rwandan territory in May.

Karega said Keita "had not mentioned the threat posed by the FDLR, the main cause of the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda, for over 25 years".

“Hasn't the silence on FARDC and FDLR cooperation in the fight against M23 cast doubt on MONUSCO's commitment to a lasting solution and support to regional initiatives?

"Is Rwanda expected to wait for the FDLR, which is being rearmed by the FARDC, to cross the border and attack Rwanda in front of MONUSCO?" Karega said, adding, "I will await the answers from Bintou Keita." 

Since April this year, various regional peaceful mechanisms have been put in place to end insecurity in eastern Congo. 

Relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have hit a new low.

DR Congo has long accused Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel group in North Kivu province in the east.

A recent United Nations report found evidence to support the allegation, but Rwanda has reiterated this.

As a result, nearly 40,000 people were displaced from their homes.

When the first group of Kenyan Defense Forces left for the DRC, it signaled both the fulfillment of a promise Kenya had made to the region and a chance for President William Ruto to polish his image in Kinshasa's eyes. The KDF troops are expected to join others from South Sudan, Uganda and Burundi and form the East African Regional Force (EARF).

For President Ruto, however, this could be as much his personal project as Kenya's. On the campaign stage, his main rival, Raila Odinga, posed as a closer friend of the DRC than he was.

When he won the elections, DRC was the last member of the East African Community to congratulate him. . In February, he had drawn the ire of Congolese people after he was caught on camera commenting on their "inability" to raise cows and their penchant for wearing high-waisted pants (in music videos). It forced Kenya's ambassador to Kinshasa, Dr. George Masafu to issue an apology not identifying Ruto as Deputy President at the time. Mr Odinga taunted him for saying he was a "pathetic failure to see where opportunity for Kenya abounds". It turned out that dr. Ruto had been misunderstood according to his superiors. His speech in Nyeri, they claimed, was intended to get locals excited about dairy farming, as they saw the then imminent entry of the DRC into the East African community as a market to be exploited. Now as President, Ruto's speeches on DR Congo were more measured. As he handed the flag to the troops, he was categorical that Kenya's mission was in jeopardy. 

With 90 million people, Ruto had argued in the election campaign that it would be a rich market for Kenya's products. With its immense wealth, a sure tap will be useful for Kenya. At least 70 percent of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and half of the copper we use today comes from the mineral-rich country. The proposed Grand Inga Dam, a complex extension of seven dams on the Congo, could produce enough energy to power the entire African mainland if fully implemented as part of the African Union's Agenda 2063. DR Congo is also linked to 11 trade corridors in Africa, including within the framework of the East African Community, 

The M23 armed group in eastern DRC has welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto's decision to deploy troops to the war-torn region. At the same time, the rebel group denied attacking civilians in North Kivu province, as claimed by human rights groups. In a statement on November 3, 2022, M23 movement political spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said they applaud Kenya's role in seeking peace in eastern Congo but blame the Kinshasa government for the violence in the region.

"M23 once again expresses its gratitude to the Republic of Kenya and its people for the recent DRC peace process held in Nairobi, supported by the African Union, the United Nations and the East African Community," Kanyuka said in the statement. A Rwandan contingent is deployed along the border after Kinshasa objected to Kigali's participation in operations inside the DRC.

The M23 believes that the DRC government's war against them has overshadowed the ongoing horrific slaughter our people endure daily in Beni, Ituri Butembo, Masisi and Minembwe by the well-known terrorist group ADF, Cedeco and Mai-Mai.

There are also a growing number of conventional armies operating in the region. Here is a fact file on their operations.

EAC Regional Force In June, leaders of the seven-nation East African Community announced the creation of a regional military force to restore peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The force will be under Kenyan command - but details of its size and scope remain unclear. A headquarters in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo, is already in place, but troops have yet to arrive. The EAC includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and the DRC itself.

Kenya

Kenyan President William Ruto announced that he would send troops to DR Congo as part of the EAC force. The Kenyan military said nearly 1,000 soldiers had received training but did not specify how many soldiers would be deployed and when.

Rwanda

A contingent of Rwandan troops will be stationed along the border with its neighbor DRC as part of the EAC force. Kinshasa has denied Kigali's involvement in operations on its territory over allegations that the country supports M23 rebels.

Uganda

Ugandan troops have been present in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri since November 2021. Uganda will send 1,000 troops to the DRC. They were deployed as part of a joint operation with the Congolese army against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group, which the groupIslamic State as such designates its Central African subsidiary. In September, the operation was extended by two months pending the deployment of East African forces. Ugandan troops are expected to operate under the regional force once it is launched.

Uganda will be the third country to send troops after contingents run outKenya and Burundiarrived in the region, launched as part of EAC efforts toTroops deployed to eastern DRC to end more than two decades of insecurity in the region.

burundi

Burundi deployed troops in August to the Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, with which it shares a border. The size of the bet is unclear. Burundian rebel groups have bases in South Kivu.

South Sudan

A South Sudanese contingent is expected to be deployed to northern Congo's Haut-Uele province, with which it shares a border, according to a DRC army officer, who declined to give his name.

United Nations

Several other states have also deployed troops to eastern DRC as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the region, known as MONUSCO. The force currently has a strength of around 16,000 uniformed employees and has more than 200 fatalities according to the UN. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are the three largest military contributors to the peacekeeping mission.

So why was it difficult to end this conflict?

There are tensions between the DRC and Rwanda that may be a problem, but they can be resolved.

Foreign ministers from DRC and Rwanda met to hold a fresh round of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions in eastern DRC. Angolan President João Lourenço has been appointed by the African Union to mediate talks between Christophe Lutundula of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vincent Biruta of Rwanda. Tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali have been particularly high since the resurgence of the M23 movement late last year. The former Tutsi rebel group took up arms, accusing Kinshasa of failing to honor agreements to demobilize its fighters. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting this rebellion; a claim that Kigali systematically denies. But the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plagued by violence from armed groups for nearly three decades, many of which arose from the wars that took place there after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The origins of the Hutu and Tutsi are a major controversial issue in the history of Rwanda and Burundi and the Great Lakes region of Africa. The relationship between the two modern populations is thus inferred in many ways from perceived origins and claims of "Rwandanness". The major conflicts related to this issue were the Rwanda genocide, the Burundi (Hutu and Tutsi) genocide and the First and Second Congo Wars. Already in July an attempt had been made in Luanda to normalize relations between the two neighbors. According to the United Nations, fighting between the FARDC and the M23 since October 20 has displaced around 50,000 people, of whom 12,000 have fled to Uganda.

Apparently promises were not kept. The M23 rose to prominence more than a decade ago when its fighters captured Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo that borders Rwanda. After a peace agreement, many M23 fighters were integrated into the national military.

Then the group resurfaced last November, saying the government had failed to deliver on its decades-old promises. What would have happened if the Congolese government had kept its promise?

Demonstrators set fire to a UN vehicle in Goma to protest the presence of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

Rumors had spread among displaced people and residents of the city that the UN was allegedly transporting rebels from the M23 group.

Previously, MONUSCO had announced a "strategic and tactical withdrawal" from embattled Rumangabo, where the M23 is attempting to advance.

The mission said on Twitter that the decision "was made in consultation with our partners to better prepare the next steps together."

It added that "MONUSCO remains mobilized alongside FARDC (DRC forces)".

The DRC president called on "the youth" of his country to "organize into groups of vigilance" in the face of the M23 rebellion, which he reiterated "benefits from them". Rwanda's support". Rwanda has "expansionist ambitions, with the main interest being to appropriate our minerals," he accused in a message to the nation to satisfy their criminal appetites," the President continued, regretting that the various diplomatic initiatives taken to defuse tensions had not produced "a tangible result".

It's no accident, as DR Congo holds over 70 percent of the world's supply of this key ingredient in rechargeable batteries, electric cars and cell phones.

At least 20 people have been killed in an attack in western DRC, local officials said, where ethnic violence has raged for months. The massacre took place in the village of Boku in Kwamouth, a region of Mai-Ndombe province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting between the Yaka and Teke people has been raging since June. They attacked the village of Teke by unidentified gunmen armed with guns, according to Nkete Mboma Butu, a civil society representative in Kwamouth.

The war

Earlier this year, the countries of the East African Community (EAC) - the seven-strong economic bloc - agreed to create what is known as the East African Regional Force (EARF), an ambitious program aimed at bringing the troubled east back to sanity DR Congo and requires regional countries, excluding Rwanda, to contribute a certain number of fighters.

In early November, Kenya took the lead when its parliament approved the deployment of more than 1,000 troops now stationed in Goma, DR Congo, to protect key facilities such as the airport.

While Kenya, along with Burundi, has been quick to deploy troops, Uganda has tiptoed as if unsure of what it is doing.

Uganda has troops in the DRC that appear to be hunting down the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the rebel force that accuses Kampala of masterminding the terror attacks that rocked the capital last year, but its promises to use against M23 , have so far remained in words.

In November, UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye was unequivocal about the timeframe for deploying the Ugandan soldiers.

The city of Goma in eastern Congo is once again hotly contested. "Storm on Goma!" proclaim the M23 rebels on Twitter. Then they actually strike again.

In June, fighters led by ex-Army General Sultani Makenga seized the commercially important border town of Bunagana, high up in the mountains about 100 kilometers north of Goma. Since then, they have taken over more and more towns in the border triangle between Rwanda and Uganda, including parts of the Virunga National Park with its mountain gorillas, which are threatened with extinction. 

Young people from the Democratic Republic of Congo received the first steps of basic military training on November 7, 2022, in Goma in eastern Congo. More than 3,000 new Congolese military recruits began training as the army ramped up its fight against M23 rebels in the east, which the government claimed was backed by neighboring Rwanda.

Kenyan soldiers landed in the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a regional military operation against rebels in the conflict area.

The Kenyan commander, Lt. Col. Obiero, told reporters

that its mission is to "carry out offensive operations" to assist Congolese forces in disarming militias. .

Congolese fighter planes, Sukhoi-25 jets and Mi-24 helicopters deployed against the M23, which is a mainly Tutsi-Congolese militia, began bombing rebel targets in the embattled east of the country and escalated their fight against the M23 group, from which the government claims it advanced with the help of neighboring Rwanda.

Jean Claude Bambaze, President of Rutshuru Civil Society, said airstrikes were reported in the villages of Chanzu and Musungati, about 35 kilometers from Rutshuru.

There was no immediate confirmation or comment from the Congolese military on the reported airstrikes. However, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka accused the army of attacking densely populated areas and "trampling the call for dialogue".

A few days later, M23 rebels and DR Congo troops clashed heavily in North Kivu province.

Angola's President continued his diplomatic efforts to bring peace between neighbors Kinshasa and Kigali. Tensions between DR Congo and Rwanda are at their highest in recent years.

In eastern DRC, locals reported hearing heavy artillery fire, believed to have been in Rugari, Rutshuru territory, as the army attacked M23 fighters early that morning.

It is November 12, 2ß22, iFighting in the DRC between the army and M23 rebels has shifted to near the main eastern city of Goma.

Clashes picked up again in North Kivu province, ending after about a week of relative calm since the group launched its latest offensive on October 20. Fighting erupted around the villages of Kibumba, Rugari and Tongo. Kibumba is about 20 km north of Goma. A resident of Tongo reported that the army had withdrawn and people were fleeing en masse. A Witness in Kibumba painted a similar picture. Tens of thousands of people have fled new fighting. This conflict has created a diplomatic rift between Congo and Rwanda. Regional efforts are underway to ease tensions between the two countries and end the conflict. Kenya's ex-president Uhuru Kenyatta, who was in Congo this week ahead of peace talks with armed groups, said the Nairobi talks would take place before the end of the month. Angolan President Joao Lourenco brokered earlier talks between Congolese and Rwandan officials in Luanda and visited both nations last weekend.The chairman of West Africa's most important regional block ECOWAS, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, also traveled to Kinshasa and Kigali. One M23 leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, accused the Congolese army of starting a war against the group.

Chaos began in Kanyaruchinya when false information spread that the M23 rebels would soon reach a camp for displaced people.At the same time broughtFormer Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta conveyed his diplomatic message to the embattled region.

Uhuru Kenyatta, a facilitator for the East of the Seven Nations of the African Community (EAC), arrived in Goma where he spoke to journalists after a previous stay in Kinshasa.To the journalists he said: "There is nothing that can be gained by a multitude of arms".

CNDD–FDD) during the Burundian Civil War and rose through the ranks of his militia. At the end of the conflict he enlisted in the Burundian army and held a number of political posts under the auspices of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Nkurunziza endorsed Ndayishimiye as his successor ahead of the 2020 elections, which he won by a large majority (appointed him security minister) was sworn in before parliament as the Central African nation's new prime minister. He succeeds Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni (born 23 April 1972, is a Burundian politician who was Prime Minister of Burundi from 23 June 2020 to 7 September 2022. Before that he was Minister of Internal Security from 2015 to 2020 in the Burundi cabinet) who, together with General Gabriel Nizigama, 

What happened? Local political experts have observed that there has been an internal power struggle between Prime Minister Bunyoni and the President. Earlier, President Ndayishimiye warned of a coup attempt against him: "Do you think an army general can be threatened by saying he's going to stage a coup? Who is this person? Whoever it is should come and in the name of God I will defeat him," President Ndayishimiye warned at a meeting of government officials. The President later fired his Prime Minister, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, and his Chief of Cabinet, General Gabriel Nizigama. The fate of Bunyoni, a senior figure in the CNDD-FDD party, the former rebel group that has ruled the country for years, is unknown.

Nizigama was replaced by Colonel Aloys Sindayihebura, who until now has been in charge of domestic intelligence within the National Intelligence Service.

When Gervais Ndirakobuca emerged from the bush in 2003, his nickname "Ndakugarika" (meaning "I will kill you" in Kirundi) indicated a propensity for violence when he was rebel commander. But it's his actions since the end of the Civil War that cement all the ferocity behind his moniker.

Police chief Ndirakobuca is more like a deputy prime minister in President Evariste Ndayishimiye's newly formed cabinet. His portfolio amalgamated three huge ministries from President Pierre Nkurunziza's era. General Ndirakobuca is in charge of the interior, security and community development. Some have speculated that departments of the former Ministry of Decentralization will also fall under his hands. He's a super minister.

Ndirakobuca holds another notorious distinction - he is the most internationally sanctioned member of the Ndayishimiye government. The European Union, United States, United Kingdom, France and Switzerland sanctioned Ndirakobuca for gross human rights abuses during the bloody crackdown on the popular movement protesting Nkurunziza's bid for a controversial third term as president.

Other senior police and intelligence officials have been sanctioned for similarly serious violations.

The sanctions against Ndirakobuca were also more detailed and specific regarding his abuses. For example, the EU accused him of “acts of violence, acts of repression and violations of international human rights law against demonstrators … on April 26, 27 and 28 in Nyakabiga and Musaga districts of Bujumbura”. US sanctions cited witnesses who described how "Ndirakobuca shot and killed a civilian in the Musaga neighborhood of Bujumbura in early June 2015."

The repression lasted for months and at least 1,700 lives were lost. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into serious crimes allegedly committed by state agents such as Ndirakobuca.

Perhaps it's the audacity with which Ndirakobuca acted in 2015 that explains why his criminal record is specific in its details. On May 20, 2015, French journalist Gérard Grizbec, reporting from Burundi, tweeted Ndirakobuca's stern warning to AFP and France2 reporters: "Leave or we will shoot you with protesters."

Former Vice-President of Burundi's Constitutional Court, Sylvère Nimpagaritse, understood the seriousness of Ndirakobuca's threats. On April 30, 2015, just before midnight, he received an abusive threatening phone call from Ndirakobuca. The court had previously debated the constitutionality of Nkurunziza's third term. The majority of judges, including Nimpagaritse, had argued that a third term would violate both the 2015 constitution and the 2000 Arusha Peace Accords, from which the constitution emerged.

Nkurunziza lost in court and the streets rejected him. Ndirakobuca took it upon himself to overturn the court's verdict. When Nimpagaritse recognized the voice on the other side of the phone from Ndirakobuca's, he knew he had to choose between life and death. Days later, he and his family fled Burundi so dramatically that his diary is like a thriller.

On the morning of April 9, 2009, the tortured and bleeding body of Ernest Manirumva was found outside his home.

The national and international uproar following the Manirumva murder prompted Nkurunziza to accept the assistance of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Both the FBI and a national commission of inquiry concluded that senior security officials needed to be questioned about the murder.

Ndirakobuca was never interrogated and the Nkurunziza regime refused to release his DNA samples. Instead, Ndirakobuca's personal driver and police agent, Sylvestre Niyoyankunze, who was suspected of driving the vehicle that returned Manirumva's body to his home, was shot several times in the chest at a bar months later and left for dead, subsequently disappearing from his hospital bed.

The murder of Manirumwa was not the only serious crime in which Ndirakobuca was a prime suspect. A few others were to follow.

In its oral briefing on July 14 this year, the UN Commission of Inquiry into Burundi stated that whatwhatever goodwill might be expected from Burundi's new President Ndayishimiye, his policies will be implemented by Nkurunziza's loyalists, some of whom are under international sanctions for serious human rights violations. Ndirakobuca is the leader among these loyalists.

The International Criminal Court may be the only hope to follow Ndirakobuca's long, bloody trail.

At the same time, the European Union announced it would lift targeted sanctions against two Burundian figures, including new Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca and General Godefroid Bizimana, one of President Ndayishimiye's advisers. The third person for whom the European Union has lifted sanctions is former General Léonard Ngendakumana, a former senior Burundian intelligence official who has been in exile since 2015.Activists and members of human rights organizations consider this a monumental mistake. ”The decision to lift sanctions on the two most senior officials on the EU list gives the impression that the EU is no longer concerned about the crimes being committed in Burundi. This decision undermines the entire EU sanctions system, as other governments with poor human rights records will now know that if they wait long enough, the EU will simply give up and move on,” says Carina Tertsakian of the Burundi Human Rights Initiative.

For Anstuhle Nikoyagize, the President of the Iteka League, this is a heavy blow to the victimsThe EU, which is one of the partners of the ICC (International Criminal Court), should not sacrifice the judiciary in favor of diplomatic relations,” said Anstuhle Nikoyagize, President of the Iteka League.

The Burundian authorities are also happy. The minister in charge of external relations took to Twitter to express this.“I welcome the EU's lifting of targeted sanctions against two Burundian figures. This action is the culmination of an open and frank political dialogue based on mutual trust and a shared desire to strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation with the EU,” wrote Albert Shingiro, Burundi's foreign minister. 

Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta called for urgent action in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting between the army and M23 rebels has flared up again in the past week.

The M23, described by a United Nations special envoy as increasingly acting as a conventional army, has been on a major offensive this year, capturing territory.

Minutes before Kenyatta's visit to Kanyaruchinya camp outside Goma, unidentified people in Congolese army uniforms shot in the air, sparking panic and thousands of people fleeing, a Reuters journalist said. The army and rebels blamed each other for the incident.

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta, the East African Community (EAC) facilitator in the DR Congo peace process, have agreed that foreign armed groups must lay down their arms or be removed.

According to an EAC statement released after the Nov. 13-14 meeting of Tshisekedi and Kenyatta, the two leaders called on all foreign armed groups to disarm or be "evicted."

Tshisekedi and Kenyatta "reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that foreign armed groups that do not surrender voluntarily and return to their countries of origin are forcibly removed from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the statement said, in part.

Some of the most notable foreign armed groups are Rwanda's FDLR, Burundi's RED-Tabara, and Uganda's ADF.

Formed by remnants of the Interahamwe militia, FAR and other groups linked to the 1994 Tutsi genocide, the FDLR has been accused of carrying out cross-border attacks and shelling into Rwandan territory.

Over the years the militia has split into factions including the CNRD, FLN, RUD-Urunana and FPPH-Abajyarugamba.

However, it remains unclear what the impact of Tshisekedi and Kenyatta's call will be, as the DRC army has been accused of operating alongside the FDLR from time to time.

Jeff Nyagah, the Kenyan commander of the new EAC force, said the diplomatic process is the priority alongside disarmament and demobilization of armed groups.

Kenyan soldiers have vowed to protect the strategic Goma airport from possible attacks as M23 rebels advanced on the city in a battle with Congolese forces.

At a joint press conference, the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) and Congolese Armed Forces said East African Regional Force troops stand ready to protect strategic installations and civilian areas from war, although they said finding peace through diplomacy was a priority .

Locals have rejected proposals for dialogue with the rebel group. They say they want M23 wiped out militarily. This is also the attitude of the country's political authorities.

Major General Nyagah has called on armed groups in eastern DRC to cease hostilities against the local population.

A recent UN expert report indicates that the FDLR also controls large parts of the DRC's Virunga National Park - part of a regional mountain range shared by Rwanda, Uganda and Congo - and that it has recently been involved in mass recruitment .

Two senior FDLR political leaders were found guilty and sentenced by a German court in 2015 for their role in the group's abuses in Congo. One of them, Ignatius Murwanashyaka, has since died, while the other, Straton Musoni, was recently deported to Rwanda after completing his sentence.

Previous calls for the expulsion of negative foreign groups operating in Congo have gone unheeded, which has helped to sour relations between the huge country and several of its neighbors to the east, including Rwanda.

Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a researcher and political scientist, recently told The New Times that insecurity in eastern DRC can only be ended if the country works with Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda to decisively end the threat posed by militia groups in the country east of the DR Congo.

Lt. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who has said that the M23 rebel group, which is at war with the Kinshasa government army, has the right to do so, Muhoozi wrote in a tweet, saying: "This is very dangerous for everyone to fight against our brothers. They're not terrorists, they're fighting for the rights of Tutsis living in the Democratic Republic of Congo."

General Muhoozi's position differs from that of

the government of Uganda. Then came reports that Uganda was supporting the M23 fighters.

Opondo said "Uganda does not support that".

rebel group M23" and that "Uganda has good relations with the government in Kinshasa and they are fighting against the

rebels, working together with the allied democratic movement ADF."

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said that the rebel group M23 will not be renegotiated.

DRC spokesman Patrick Muyaya has said that the M23 group is a terrorist group and that the government of

Kinshasa cannot work with such a group.

Fighting between the DRC army has begun.

In recent days, the M23 rebel group has advanced to within 12 miles of the city of Goma, driving UN-backed Congolese government forces out of several surrounding towns. More than two million people are suffering from food and fuel shortages as a result of the fighting.The M23 group, which numbers an estimated 2,000 men at arms, is seeking greater influence in a country home to the world's largest deposits of tantalum, which is used in smartphones and personal computers.

The advance raises the prospect that M23 and its foreign allies could dominate a region that also produces tin, gold and coltan, exacerbating the humanitarian situation in a country that already hosts more displaced people than any other country in Africa.

The United States, France, Britain and Belgium condemned "in the strongest terms" the advances made by the M23 rebel group in eastern DRC and called on them to withdraw immediately and cease hostilities. They called on all parties to take part in a new round of peace talks planned in Nairobi.

Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame have agreed that the M23 rebels must cease fire and withdraw from captured areas in eastern Congo, the East African Community (EAC) bloc said.

The President of Kenya, William Ruto, is expected to bid farewell to the Kenya Defense Force (KDF) as it heads to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an area where there is heavy fighting between the armed forces and the M23 group. William Ruto said soch that East African troops were "enforcing peace" in contested eastern DRC, where armed group M23 has launched an offensive. The regional force will "impose peace on those who are bent on creating instability," he said in Kinshasa. These Kenyan forces will join a regional force that will help fight armed groups,

People suffer from this conflict, it gets cold in the camps at night. Some die of exhaustion, women give birth on the side of the road without any help.

Even the Belgian colonial rulers exploited land and people, later the neighbors Uganda and Rwanda invaded. Distrust of strangers runs deep in Congolese society. And it also affects aid organizations and the UN peacekeeping force Monusco.

Security experts in Goma are divided on whether the M23 wants to take the city or seal off Goma. Aid organizations are already evacuating their foreign employees. European embassies advise their compatriots not to leave their homes in Goma.

It's not just the militias who are at risk: Anyone who expresses even the slightest criticism of the government or the army is suspect. Secret service, police and military systematically search apartments for weapons or alleged spies of the M23. The Congolese Press Union is threatening to withdraw the press card of journalists who report "unpatriotically".

There are other problems.Four months after the last known Ebola outbreak in the Democratic RepublicCongothe country has recorded another case of infection. The patient showed the first symptoms on April 5, 2022, but received treatment more than a week later and died on April 21, the World Health Organization said.

According to the National Institute for Biomedical Research and the Ministry of Health, it was a 31-year-old man from the city of Mbandaka in the north-west of the country. Doctors now see themselves in a race to contain the virus.

It is the 14th outbreak in the Central African country since the virus was first detected near the Ebola River in 1976. Almost 2,300 people died in an outbreak from 2018 to 2020 alone. In the most recent outbreak, six of a total of eleven infected people died from October to December last year. 

At least 17 suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels were killed and 13 others captured on Tuesday after raiding villages in western Uganda's Ntoroko district, the army said.

The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) said the suspected rebels crossed the Semuliki River to Kyanja and other villages on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The ADF - which the Islamic State group describes as its Central African offshoot - is among the most violent armed groups active in eastern, volatile DRC.

She is accused of murdering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bombings in neighboring Uganda.

DR Congo and Uganda launched a joint offensive against the ADF in November 2021, but the militia continues to wreak havoc across much of the territory.

Both armies are currently conducting joint operations in the area around the town of Beni, where the village of Vido is located. Rebel attacks in the area recently resumed after several weeks of silence.

Hundreds of locals had fled their homes in the Kibuuku, Butungama and Bweramule sub-districts of Ntoroko District and were camped at Karungutu Elementary School.

The Peace Negotiation

An end to the civil war would not have been reached in this way. According to Kenyatta's ideas, this should now be negotiated at peace talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. However, M23 was not invited to do so. Not a promising attempt. 

Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta have started talks in Angola. Tshisekedi and Biruta were received at a hotel in the capital, Luanda, by Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who is acting as a mediator between the two neighbors. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was not present. 

EAC Chairman Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were also in Luanda. 

Angola's foreign minister announced that an "immediate ceasefire" agreement had been reached at the end of a mini-summit in Luanda. 

Felix Tshisekedi met with Rwanda's Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta to try to end tensions in eastern DRC after the collapse of a ceasefire deal reached in July. The parties also agreed to demand "the immediate withdrawal of the M23 rebels from the occupied territories," Minister Tete Antonio said at the end of the meeting. 

This statement was released by the leaders of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to find solutions to the East Congo crisis. 

DR Congo's army once recruited rebels to end the conflict, but as the country grapples with an offensive by M23 militia in the east, experts warn against reviving the policy. 

The tactic never brought stability and weakened the army, security specialist Jacques Djoli told AFP.

The idea of ​​integrating rebel groups into the army was known in Congo by the French term "brassage" - or "mixture" - spawned from a 2003 agreement at the end of the five-year Second Congo War.

Congolese leaders ended the policy in 2013, dismissing it as ineffective, but Djoli went further, saying its "ailing" implementation had resulted in the army being "infiltrated".

Another critic is Juvenal Munubo, a member of the National Assembly's Defense Committee.

Mixing rebels with soldiers has failed to create a "republican army," he said, which means a force loyal to the DRC and its constitution.

The only solution is for the rebels to surrender, disarm and return to civilian life, he said.

And the UN is also getting in touch. Members of the United Nations National Security Council (UNSC) have called on armed groups, including M23 rebels, in eastern DRC to withdraw from captured territory and disarm.

In a November 22, 2022 statement, the UN Security Council said foreign armed groups should disarm and return to their countries of origin.

Not inviting M23 to the talks was a mistake. The latter said the next day that the announced ceasefire "does not really concern us" and called for a "direct dialogue" with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"M23 saw the document on social media... There was nobody at the summit (of M23) so it doesn't really concern us," Lawrence Kanyuka, political spokesman for the M23 movement, told AFP. "Usually when there's a truce, it's between the two warring factions," he added.

At a press conference in Kinshasa, Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula said: "Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. the M23 must stop all their attacks."

If the rebels refuse, the East Africa Regional Force based in Goma will "use force" to evict them, the deal said.

The government in Kinshasa has refused to cooperate with the M23 group, which it describes as a "terrorist movement", as long as it occupies territory in the DRC.

French President Emmanuel Macron is behind the scenes asking for financial support from the EU. 

Veteran politician and five-time presidential candidate Raila Odinga claims that newly elected President William Ruto is a Western puppet working for the interests of foreign powers, not Kenya.

Raila's comments came a day after the Ruto government announced it would import genetically modified maize to deal with the country's growing food shortages.

He further accused Ruto of taking the decision to lift the ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) without consulting the public, calling the move a betrayal of Kenyans.

In the chaotic displacement camps near the eastern DRC city of Goma, war victims tell brutal tales of rape and death as they flee advancing rebels. (This has not been officially confirmed).

This has led to the predominantly Congolese Tutsi group conquering parts of the territory, just 20 kilometers from the capital Goma in eastern DRC.

Despite the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in eastern DRCM23 were still fighting and advancing on one front of their offensive to the eastBefore.

The M23 said the ceasefire "does not really concern us" and called for "direct dialogue" with the DRC government.

Kinshasa has refused to cooperate with the M23, which it describes as a "terrorist movement" as long as it occupies territory in the DRC.

"Usually when there is a truce it is between the two warring factions," added an M23 spokesman.

Bertrand Bisimwa, M23 President, said in a statement: "Once again, the M23 accepts the ceasefire as recommended by the Luanda Summit."

But he urged Kinshasa to "respect said ceasefire, otherwise the M23 reserves the full right to defend itself".

The M23 rebels want to agree to a ceasefire with government forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo only under certain conditions. This was announced in a statement by the President of Bertrand Bisimwa's M23 rebel group: A direct dialogue with the government in Kinshasa is a key prerequisite for a ceasefire. In addition, the rebels would continue to reserve the right to self-defense and would take up arms in the face of government "entrenchments" in defense of civilians.

M23 said they would honor the ceasefire - but pointed out that the last ceasefire in April was broken by Congo's army, not them. They want to be involved in negotiations themselves, otherwise they will remain in their positions.

There was no sign of a military retreat. Things remained calm on the previously hard-fought front line north of the provincial capital Goma, but north-west of the city of over a million inhabitants, behind the Nyiragongo volcano, M23 fighters advanced further into the mountains of Masisi.

In any case, the long-term conflict in eastern Congo is not lacking in failed agreements. Rwanda and the DR Congo had already negotiated a de-escalation plan in July. The armistice that came with it didn't last for 24 hours. Sustainable success of peace efforts also seems difficult because eastern Congo has huge deposits of rare earths and other raw materials. Much of the mined minerals are smuggled through neighboring countries where militia-affiliated traders make money. Your interest in a settlement of the conflict is likely to be low. 

The crucial question now is how serious Kagame is about his announcement. Without the support of Rwanda, the »M23« would hardly be able to keep up the fight. On the other hand, it would be easy for Kigali to retreat back to the original position of alleged non-participation in the conflict on the basis of the vague promise to merely "push" them accordingly.

The clashes continued after the 1700 GMT deadline to cease fire near Bwiza, some 40 kilometers north of the provincial capital Goma, locals told AFP by phone.

"M23 is in Bwiza," an administrative source said, adding that rebels have taken over several villages in the area.

Fighting was also reported during the morning near Bwiza, the former stronghold of former Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, who operated there in the 2000s.

Fighting also took place during the day between the M23 and a Hutu militia in Bambo, 70 kilometers from Goma.

A security source confirmed the fire between the M23 and fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu faction that has had a presence in the DRC since the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsis.

While the M23 rebel group continued to send mixed signals on a ceasefire call, the ultimatum of which ended Friday night, business losses at the Ishasha border crossing continued to pile up.

The checkpoint - in Nyanga sub-district in Kanungu district - was the only access point for trucks en route to Goma City in DR Congo. This followed the capture of Bunagana and Busanza in June and Kitagoma in October by the M23 rebels.

The standstill has left almost 70 trucks bound for Goma stranded at the Ishasha border checkpoint. Mr Gad Ahimbisibwe Rugaaju, Kanungu District Deputy Commissioner, said the UPDF was deployed at the checkpoint "to ensure that the abandoned trucks were safe from any form of vandalism".

A report by the Ugandan government revealed that 40 rebels from an armed militia from neighboring Burundi who were patrolling the region had been killed.This was announced by the armed forces of both countries on Sunday.

Following President William Ruto's reports, he claimed that this was done to reduce the growing number of rebels who have been robbing and killing people in the DRC. 

The Kenyan government's actions have raised concerns from Kenyans, who have called on the government to disclose why Kenyan forces are being sent to DRC.

Most Kenyans urged the Kenyan government that the government should deploy the Defense Forces in Turkana to deal with the growing number of bandits.

Kenya's government insists that the task of its soldiers is purely defensive. Congo's government had hoped the Kenyans would help fight the M23. 

M23 chief Bisimwa said last week the M23 would not provoke any fighting with Kenya's troops. He also accuses the Congo army of collaborating with the FDLR. M23 military leaders tweeted: "If Kenyans decide to join the FDLR extremists who have occupied our villages since 1994, we will have no choice but to fight back." 

A ceasefire between government forces and M23 rebels initially appeared to be holding a third day in DR Congo despite clashes between rival militias, residents told AFP.

There were sporadic clashes between the mainly Congolese Tutsi M23 fighters and Hutu factions such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

There may still be hope for peace in Congo after all as EAC leaders back talks. The meeting comes just days after regional leaders agreed on a ceasefire after talks in Angola.Leaders have expressed their hope of finding a lasting solution to the conflict in eastern DRC through peaceful means, but have signaled that they will not hesitate to use military action to achieve that goal.

The heads of state (William Ruto (Kenya), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), Felix Tshisekedi (DRC), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Samia Suluhu (Tanzania) and the moderator of the Nairobi Process, the former-PresidentUhuru Kenyatta) spoke at the opening of the EAC-led Third Peace Process in Nairobi, which brought together armed groups from eastern DRC, local community representatives, civil society groups and government officials. Other actors at the forum included the African Union and the Special Envoy of the United Nations.

There's not much to hope for, as President Museveni, the UPDF's supreme commander, has said that armed groups destabilizing eastern DRC can be defeated with a combined regional military attack.

Via video link, General Museveni told the Third Inter-Congolese Consultations of the Peace Process in Nairobi, Kenya's political track, that the problem of insecurity in the DRC was due to the accumulation of illegal weapons in private hands after independence due to reduced state authority and control in the country East of the country is due.

Heavy fighting has resumed between national forces and the M23 rebel group in DR Congo. Civil society sources, Congolese army officials and an M23 leader said shelling has hit M23 strongholds as the government hopes to liberate towns the group recently captured. The areas where heavy fighting is said to take place are Rutshuru district and other areas near the park.

The ceasefire in North Kivu province came into effect after a summit between DR Congo and its neighbor Rwanda.

This was to be followed by a rebel retreat from conquered territory, a retreat that has not yet occurred.

The sources said fighting has resumed in Kirima, some 10 kilometers from the town of Kibirizi.

The DRC army accused M23 insurgents of killing 50 civilians and breaking a five-day-old ceasefire in the country's troubled east. Brigadier General Sylvain Ekenge accused M23 rebels and their Rwandan supporters of targeting Congolese civilians.Speaking at a press conference in Kinshasa, Ekenge said the Rwandan Defense Forces and their M23 accomplices are killing innocent civilians in the Rutshuru area, including the recent killing of 50 Congolese citizens. Ekenge said DR Congo's armed forces have an obligation to respond to any attacks and will do everything possible to protect the Congolese people.

Days later, the army accused M23 insurgents of killing at least 50 civilians in the village of Kishishe in eastern North Kivu province, before the government put the death toll at more than 100. The number of those killed was increased again, it is said to be around 300 people.

The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo has called for an investigation after the government said 50 villagers were massacred by a notorious armed group in the country's troubled east. The governmentaccused the M23 militia of slaughtering 50 people in Kisheshe, a village about 70 kilometers north of the city of Goma. The M23 hit back, saying the allegations were "baseless" and denying they were targeting civilians.

It is said to have confronted the Mai-Mai militia in a village where the M23 has taken over large parts of Rutshuru territory north of the provincial capital Goma.

At the time, a truce existed between the M23s and Congolese forces, which had been embroiled in a months-long conflict.

But Mai-Mai militias, backed by FDLR Hutu rebels, continued to fight to block the M23's advance into neighboring Masisi territory.

Peace marches organized by the Catholic Church in DR Congo drew thousands of people angry at violence in the country's troubled east. Demonstrators in the capital, Kinshasa, carried banners reading “No to the hypocrisy of the international community. Congo is not for sale.” Rallies were planned across the country, but a march in the key eastern city of Goma was canceled to prevent “possible infiltration,” organizers said. The marches came after the Congolese government said the death toll from an alleged "massacre" of civilians in the east had left more than 100 dead. The government accused the M23 rebel group of killings in Kishishe, a village some 70 kilometers north of Goma. A truce was recently agreed with the M23, but is reportedly not fully respected. The M23 rebel group has since denied breaking the ceasefire.

The rebel group released a statement denying the alleged massacre of civilians. "Thousands of Congolese are currently fleeing Kitchanga to seek refuge in the M23-controlled space following the selective massacres carried out there by the FARDC/FDLR/APCLS/PARECO/NYATURA coalition. Urgent action must be taken to stop these massacres.” 

Many of the rallies saw criticism from neighboring Rwanda, which has long accused Kinshasa of supporting rebels in troubled eastern Congo. The protesters also expressed anti-Western sentiments. "It is the small country that fights us," said Father Theophile Landu, referring to Rwanda. “Behind that are the United States and the European Union. We tell them to stop the hypocrisy.” Congo has accused the West of failing to hold Rwanda accountable. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in August that UN reports of Rwanda's support for the M23 group were "credible".

President Paul Kagame has stressed the need for collective efforts, which he described as associated components, to end security challenges in DR Congo, particularly in the troubled eastern part of the country.

Kagame claimed that many components such as DR Congo, FDLR remnants of the 1994 Tutsi genocide harboring a long-term sinister plan to stabilize Rwanda, M23, a Congolese rebel group, Monusco - the UN mission to stabilize DR Congo, among other things. "First of all, it should be a shame for all these people that we cannot solve this problem," he said, adding that solving the security challenges in DR Congo is very simple, but all these people responsible for solving the Problems are responsible can not do it. Paul Kagame claimed it was very shameful. 

The European Parliament recently asked Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebels. Still, Congo has criticized the European Commission for a €20 million fund to help Rwandan forces fight Islamist insurgents in Mozambique.

Fifty-seven former hostages of a rebel group in eastern DRC, some young women used as sex slaves, were reunited with their families on Saturday. They were released last weekend after a large-scale Congolese-Uganda military operation enabled them to flee the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of dozens of armed groups in the troubled region. The Ugandan and Congolese armies have been waging an offensive against the ADF in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri for more than a year. The former hostages, mostly women, were reunited with their families during a ceremony in Beni territory in North Kivu.

The ADF, presented by the Islamic State group as its Central African offshoot, has been accused of massacring civilians in eastern Congo and carrying out attacks in neighboring Uganda. 

Rwanda's tolerance of gold smuggling is undermining the free trade potential of the East African Community (EAC), says Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) finance minister Nicolas Kazadi. The DRC's gold and coltan resources mean that Rwanda "preferred to moonlight" and "allowed criminal enterprises" to operate these businesses, says Kazadi on the sidelines of the Africa Financial Industry Summit in Lomé, Togo , on November 29th. In Rwanda's view, "there is more to gain for blacks and criminals" than through transparent free trade.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Rwandan President Paul Kagame to end alleged support for rebels in DR Congo and voiced alarm at increasing bloodshed, the State Department said.

In a phone call, Blinken "made it clear that all external support for non-state armed groups in the DRC must end, including Rwandan support for M23, an armed group designated by the United States and the United Nations," he said Narrator Ned Price.

Blinken "shared deep concern at the impact of the fighting on Congolese civilians, who were killed, injured and displaced from their homes," Price said in a statement.

The discussions

The Congolese president has upped the ante on belligerent rhetoric with Kigali, telling his citizens to treat Rwandans as "our brothers and sisters" but in reference to "the regime under President Paul Kagame...an enemy".

Speaking to 250 youth delegates from across DR Congo at the Presidential Palace in Kinshasa, President Felix Tshisekedi said: "It is pointless to consider Rwandans as enemies. It is the Rwandan regime under Paul Kagame that is an enemy of the DRC. Rwandans are our brothers and sisters. In fact, they need our help to free themselves. It has nothing to do with what their leader forced upon them."

The verbal attack, the harshest from Kinshasa, follows President Kagame's stern warning last week that Rwanda would invade DR Congo if Congo shelled its territory again.

Rwanda's foreign minister has accused the international community of deepening the crisis in eastern DRC after Washington urged Kigali to end its alleged support for rebels in the troubled region.

In a phone call with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said foreign support to armed groups in DRC must end, "including Rwanda's aid to M23".

Blinken also condemned the resurgence of hate speech and public hate speech against Rwandaphone communities in the DRC, recalling "the real and terrible consequences of such rhetoric in the past".

Responding to the call, Rwanda's Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta tweeted that "differences in understanding of the problem remain and a wrong and misguided approach by the international community is further exacerbating the problem".

After the "productive" conversation with Kagame, Blinken indicated that there was a need for "peace and security in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo".

Rwanda has denied repeated US-backed reports of support for the M23 rebel group, a claim also made by independent experts for the United Nations, who noted that Kigali supported the group.

At the event at the Safari Park Hotel, he thanked the Congolese state and representatives of 53 rebel groups for opening up to the process.

When the talks began, none of them said they were not ready to lay down their arms... It is clear that a 20-year war cannot be resolved in a matter of days.

The facilitator of the East African Community (EAC)-led Nairobi peace process, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, has officially closed the Nairobi talks on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peace process.-

The DRC government will hold its next round of peace talks with rebels under the auspices of the East African Community in eastern DRC in January 2023, the seven-nation bloc announced.

The governments of DR Congo and Rwanda, brokered by the AU, have agreed on a roadmap to ease tensions in eastern DR Congo. The document stipulates the withdrawal and disarmament of the various armed groups. The international armed forces should occupy these positions to enable the implementation of the ceasefire.

The M23 rebel group, which is leading an offensive in the region and which Kinshasa describes as a "terrorist" movement, did not take part in the talks.

Meanwhile, in eastern DRC, violent clashes erupted between Congolese soldiers and the M23 rebel movement, local sources said, as the rebels said they were ready to withdraw.

Congolese troops attacked the rebel group outside of Bwiza, some 40 kilometers north of the provincial capital Goma, as violence forced local people to flee and brought the neighboring town of Kitchanga to a standstill.

Clashes broke out between the DRC army and the M23 group immediately after many people fled the rebel-held areas and were attacked by army planes

According to the AFP news agency, local residents told the agency that they heard more sounds of fighting in the evening after a whole day of silence.

Officials said the DRC army used planes to attack M23 areas in the east of the country while some residents fled across the border.

M23 spokesman Mr Lawrence Kanyuka said they were ready to disengage and withdraw but called for a meeting with the East African Community regional force

and an ad hoc review mechanism to agree on the process.

"Regarding the implementation of the said recommendations, the M23 is ready to start disengaging and to withdraw, although it was not represented at the said summit. The M23 supports regional efforts for lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Mr. Kanyuka said.

Communiqué of the Congolese rebel movement M23:

They reaffirm their willingness to abide by the ceasefire. ▪️They assure that they are ready to withdraw from the territories they have occupied. ▪️They request a meeting with the EAC regional peacekeeping force to discuss the next steps to implement the peace proposal.

Implementation of the peace proposal could end an intra-Congolese conflict in the North Kivu region and ease tensions between the DRC and Rwanda.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has dismissed the death toll in eastern DRC, shielding his nation from mounting bloodshed on Rwanda's doorstep.

The M23 group has fought with the Congolese army, FARDC. They announced that they shot down 4 tanks after the distribution of ibitero by government troops. At the end of this week fighting continued in Amajyaruguru Kivu, where the M23 group has held various areas for five months, after fighters accused Congolese of violating the accord. This morning this group released an announcement that the Congolese Armed Forces and other groups have aligned with the FLDR and will continue to work with the people. This group says that four women and two children died in Kanyandonyi, five people in Kanombe and four in Kazuba, and both live in Kivu and Amajyaruguru. these fights, behind which the FARDC will end the fighter jets called Sukhoi-25 and heavy weapons will try to take control of the M23 area. The M23 is surprised that it could fight, and it looks like it has two tanks in the tank of the Leta army T-55. In that announcement, the group released that “M23 will fight for the unity of FARDC, FDLR, ACP1.5, NYATURA and MAI-MAI so that we will be able to keep these important things alive in the field of combat and the To protect people." It is surprising that the talks with the Congolese government will solve the country's security problem in Burasirazuba. At this point, Leta Congo has already announced that it will not be able to negotiate with M23 if it condemned the negative government,

Warlord Janvier Karairi overlooks the hills in eastern DR Congo and commands his forces in the fight against the feared M23 rebel group.

The self-proclaimed lieutenant general leads a militia called the Patriotic Alliance for a Free and Independent Congo (APCLS), made up mostly of fighters from the "Dog" ethnic group, in a coalition aimed at thwarting the M23 advance .

The APCLS and other armed groups joined forces "to fight the attacker," said Karairi, 60, at his headquarters, a thatched hut in the Kitshanga region of North Kivu province.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in October alleging that the Congolese army was working with armed groups, some of whom have been accused of human rights abuses, in the campaign against the M23.

Among them are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mainly Hutu group that includes some actors involved in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

HRW also said leaders of several Congolese armed groups, including Kariri's APCLS, met in May to forge a "patriotic" coalition.

The Army and APCLS say they are not fighting alongside these militias.

With a myriad of armed men patrolling the streets of Kitshanga, some in military uniform and others in civilian clothes, that the difference between them can no longer be discerned.

People live in total fear.

Two young "dog" villagers returning from the fields said they felt safe in their settlement since the APCLS arrived.

On the other hand, a Tutsi woman in Goma said she had to flee Kitshanga when "General Janvier" and his young fighters invaded the city.

This shows very clearly that total chaos reigns in the DR Congo. It can be assumed that some of these armed groups have their own objectives. It shouldn't be about peace for them, they want to appropriate something that doesn't belong to them. And to achieve that, the time is right. Foreign troops are in the Congo, supporting the Congolese military, allegedly in the fight against M23. M23 shouldn't be the only problem. The M23 rebels are just one of more than 120 armed groups.

Uganda has paid DR Congo $65 million as part of the $325 million it was ordered to pay Congo for losses Congo suffered when Ugandan soldiers invaded the country in the 1990s.

Despite the billions of dollars spent on the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

"The Kinshasa government continues its warmongering campaign, defying the region's efforts. This morning, his coalition launched heavy weapon attacks against our Rusekera positions and fighting continues." Message from M23.

Residents of the small town of Kibumba, which is more than twenty kilometers from the city of Goma, continue to flee their homes with children, cargo and livestock, fearing for their lives due to ongoing fierce fighting between the Congolese government army and the M23 rebels who currently fighting for Kibumba on the edge of Virunga Game Park. Some of the fleeing residents are pregnant and unable to walk and flee to Nyiragogo and Goma to save their lives.

The Congolese government has rejected negotiations with the M23 group, believing it to be a terrorist group. When asked about it at a news conference on Thursday, Secretary of State Christopher Lutundula said it could not happen. "I can assure you on behalf of the government and the President of the Republic of the Congo"

However, M23 said it had announced a unilateral ceasefire back in April and that it was the Congolese army that was launching attacks. The fighting has continued ever since.

M23 rebels have cut key supply routes to Goma in eastern DRC, raising prices in the city and raising fears a future offensive will cripple the economy.

How is the way out of the crisis?

The M-23 will conquer any area in the Kivu region threatened by genocide. The best way to stop the M-23 offensive is to stop incitement to genocide and put an end to such killings.

And it really seems that the agreed ceasefire agreed in Luanda has no effect, because the positions around Rusekera are under fire from the ruling coalition. This act of sustained offensive proves the determination of the Kinshasa government to fight against the M23.

At almost the same time, some leaders were meeting in Washington for a mini-summit. African leaders met at a US-Africa summit. Presidents Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, William Ruto of Kenya and Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania gathered for a mini-summit in the Great Lakes region to discuss the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Great Lakes peace bid is being led by Angolan leader João Lourenço but has since been merged with efforts by the East African Community, now led by President Ndayishimiye.

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Alfred Mutua said the region wants the agreements reached in Luanda and Nairobi to be implemented as a formative phase in peace-building.

The heads of state and government agreed that it is necessary to speak to and involve all parties to the conflict in the solution for DR Congo.

The meeting developed four strategies to advance the peace process and assigned responsibilities to various leaders. This includes a monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the agreements and interventions of certain leaders in order for the peace process to be successful.

Luanda's deal was a pledge between Rwanda and DR Congo, who accuse each other of fueling rebel movements against their territories, to choose dialogue. While the Nairobi Accord was a collective call by armed groups to start talks with the DRC government for peace.

The DRC government uses M23's ceasefire to arm and deploy Maimai FDL NYATURA rebel groups, after which they will immediately attack M23 with a large force from all corners. This was not agreed in the Luanda Agreement.

The current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is like a dead ear that does not hear medicine. The fear stems from the constant war, despite national and international efforts to bring peace and harmony to the country.

Last week ended with fierce fighting that began Friday in eastern DRC between M23 rebels and rival armed groups after 10 days of calm, civilians and security sources say.

The clashes are reported near Bwiza, 40 kilometers north of the regional capital Goma of the M23 fort west of the town of Masisi.

Similar fighting was reported in the area on December 6, when M23 agreed to cease fighting with the DRC army and announced they were ready to withdraw from the recently captured areas.

No effort has been made to stop and halt the fighting, and even if there has been, it is a small effort, but it does not include other armed groups in the region, some of whom are attempting to stop the movement of M23 to stop.

The ruling coalition is attacking M23 positions, which has made it difficult for M23 to meet its commitment to withdraw and let out to allow peace talks under the Luanda peace mechanisms.

Through UN Security Council Resolution 2666, the Tshisekedi government:

- being stripped of his pretext to cover up the reasons for his military setbacks by serving as a scapegoat to the international community,

- will finally decide on the dialogue.

The UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention was immediately alarmed by the escalating violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After her second visit to the DRC in four months, Ms Alice Wairimu Nderitu criticized the "attacks on civilians because of their ethnicity".

She recalled that the DRC government's responsibility is to prevent atrocities and seek a political solution to the ongoing crisis in the east as soon as possible.

Methods of stigmatizing, instrumentalizing identities and ostracizing Congolese Tutsi have been trending for several months.

Which discourse is constitutive of a call to murder and a transition to action and the crystallization of excess.

The selective violence against Congolese Tutsi is characterized by insults, physical threats, regular attacks on people and property, stabbings, burning alive and cannibalism.

In Kinshasa, the overheated militants of the UDPS, President Tshisekedi's party, armed with machetes, usurped the right to search car occupants in search of Tutsis, while the local police were indifferent.

These militants urged the population to attack the Tutsi, and the government advocated the resurgence of self-defense groups.

Hate speech in the DRC calling for the elimination of people for what they are is an excuse for the genocide of Tutsis who are already suffering persecution.

This impunity strongly questions the will of the authorities to put an end to these actions.

A collective of lawyers has just brought the case before the Belgian courts.

The collective of lawyers intends to challenge the criminal responsibility of the Congolese authorities by encouraging and guaranteeing impunity for the perpetrators of the crimes at the highest level. The abuses were documented alongside the compilation of the United Nations Group of Experts.

Me Maingain, a lawyer with the Brussels Bar Association and a member of this group, said: "There is evidence of calls for murder, money transfers for the militias. Sending money to a militia is tantamount to supporting terrorism."

While President Tshisekedi has condemned these calls, it is still insufficient. He has to suppress her. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however, there is impunity, which amounts to government encouragement.

The political, institutional and intellectual downfall of the Congolese political class is now established and public knowledge.

The United Nations Group of Experts report accuses the Congolese authorities of collaborating with the FDLR, an armed terrorist group made up of Rwandan Hutus with genocidal ideologies. The Congolese authorities are therefore being targeted for "complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity".

This lawsuit is being brought in Belgium on behalf of universal jurisdiction.

This legitimacy is dissolved by the concept of humanity itself.

In fact, it is a crime against humanity.

It will be about learning lessons from the involvement of the authorities in these events, but also from the difficulty of agreeing on the reality of the facts and getting the truth recognized.

The examination of the factual and legal elements submitted to the Belgian courts will make it possible to assess the relevance of the allegations and the reasons, as well as the level of gravity of the crimes mentioned and their imputability.

The case brought before the Belgian courts paves the way for a thorough judicial investigation into the campaign of killings, arson and other atrocities perpetrated against Congolese Tutsi.

The initiated proceedings offer the Congolese Tutsis a glimmer of hope in the face of a possible legal conviction by the Congolese authorities.

The latter have never prosecuted or sanctioned the perpetrators of serious attacks on Congolese Tutsi. This case could encourage them to end this cycle of violence and fulfill their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Crime of Genocide.

The UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention was immediately alarmed by the escalating violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After her second visit to the DRC in four months, Ms Alice Wairimu Nderitu criticized the "attacks on civilians because of their ethnicity".

She recalled that the DRC government's responsibility is to prevent atrocities and seek a political solution to the ongoing crisis in the east as soon as possible.

Methods of stigmatizing, instrumentalizing identities and ostracizing Congolese Tutsi have been trending for several months.

Which discourse is constitutive of a call to murder and a transition to action and the crystallization of excess.

The selective violence against Congolese Tutsi is characterized by insults, physical threats, regular attacks on people and property, stabbings, burning alive and cannibalism.

In Kinshasa, the overheated militants of the UDPS, President Tshisekedi's party, armed with machetes, usurped the right to search car occupants in search of Tutsis, while the local police were indifferent.

These militants urged the population to attack the Tutsi, and the government advocated the resurgence of self-defense groups.

DR Congo: Complaint in Belgium against threatened genocide against Congolese Tutsis.

Hate speech in the DRC calling for the elimination of people for what they are is an excuse for the genocide of Tutsis who are already suffering persecution.

This impunity strongly questions the will of the authorities to put an end to these actions.

A collective of lawyers has just brought the case before the Belgian courts.

The collective of lawyers intends to challenge the criminal responsibility of the Congolese authorities by encouraging and guaranteeing impunity for the perpetrators of the crimes at the highest level. The abuses were documented alongside the compilation of the United Nations Group of Experts.

Me Maingain, a lawyer with the Brussels Bar Association and a member of this group, said: "There is evidence of calls for murder, money transfers for the militias. Sending money to a militia is tantamount to supporting terrorism."

While President Tshisekedi has condemned these calls, it is still insufficient. He has to suppress her. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however, there is impunity, which amounts to government encouragement.

The political, institutional and intellectual downfall of the Congolese political class is now established and public knowledge.

The United Nations Group of Experts report accuses the Congolese authorities of collaborating with the FDLR, an armed terrorist group made up of Rwandan Hutus with genocidal ideologies. The Congolese authorities are therefore being targeted for "complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity".

This lawsuit is being brought in Belgium on behalf of universal jurisdiction.

This legitimacy is dissolved by the concept of humanity itself.

In fact, it is a crime against humanity.

It will be about learning lessons from the involvement of the authorities in these events, but also from the difficulty of agreeing on the reality of the facts and getting the truth recognized.

The examination of the factual and legal elements submitted to the Belgian courts will make it possible to assess the relevance of the allegations and the reasons, as well as the level of gravity of the crimes mentioned and their imputability.

The case brought before the Belgian courts paves the way for a thorough judicial investigation into the campaign of killings, arson and other atrocities perpetrated against Congolese Tutsi.

The initiated proceedings offer the Congolese Tutsis a glimmer of hope in the face of a possible legal conviction by the Congolese authorities.

The latter have never prosecuted or sanctioned the perpetrators of serious attacks on Congolese Tutsi. This case could encourage them to end this cycle of violence and fulfill their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Crime of Genocide.

The government has been called on to help around 8,000 people displaced after attacks by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels on Ntoroko district.

The district chairman, Mr. William Kasoro, said about 7,000 people were displaced in the Bweramule sub-district, which was attacked by the rebels, while another 1,000 were from neighboring Butungama sub-district and the Kibuuku City Council.

Mr Kasoro said most of the displaced people are housed at Karugutu Health Center IV, Kisenge Trading Centre, Rwamable Trading Centre, Kabibiri Trading Centre, Rwebisengo Town Council Headquarters and Bweramule Health Centre.

Bweramule Subdistrict Homeland Security Officer Mr Kahwa Onesmo said 935 children under the age of five were among those displaced.

He said the villages with the most displaced people are Kayaja 1, Kiringa, Kyobe, Kyapa, Bweramule, Kaitampara, Kyagabukama, Karugaju and Rukora A, B and C.

Rwanda accused the DRC government of "fabricating" a massacre that a UN investigation says was committed by M23 rebels, killing 131 civilians.

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, a claim denied by Rwanda but supported by the United States, France, Belgium and UN experts.

The militia have seized areas in the volatile and mineral-rich east of the DRC in recent months, ratcheting up tensions with Rwanda.

According to a report by a group of independent United Nations experts, Rwanda's army was "embroiled in military operations" against the DRC's military in the troubled east of the country.

The experts said there was "substantial evidence" that the Rwandan army intervened directly in Congo's fight against M23 rebels, supporting the group with weapons, ammunition and uniforms.

A government spokesman in Kigali denied that Rwanda supported the rebels and declined to comment on specific allegations until the findings were officially released.

"Accusing Rwanda of supporting the Congolese armed group M23 is wrong and distracts from the real cause of the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC", excerpted from the press release of the Rwandan government in response to the allegations that the armed group M23 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to the press release, the finger pointing at Rwanda reflects the international community's unwillingness to address the root causes of the conflict in eastern DRC and to demand real accountability from state and non-state actors responsible for the resulting failure. Attempting to deal with complex situations simply by repeating and reinforcing false accusations made by the DRC government cannot lead to solutions.

Calls for murder, fundraisers for genocidal militias are particularly targeted.

"It's the same music and the same songs that were heard in the early '90s," explains lawyer Bernard Maingain, one of the lawyers of this group, which was formed to defend the rights of Tutsi in DR Congo and, above all, " trying to avoid a new genocide” in this region of Kivu bordering Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Intercommunal tensions in eastern DRC have perhaps never been more intense since the mid-1990s and the genocide of the Rwandan Tutsis. For the past year, the M23, a composite rebel movement but largely led by Congolese Tutsi, has taken up arms again. In 2013, after occupying Goma, the capital of North Kivu, for a few days, the fighters of this rebel movement agreed to withdraw to Rwanda and Uganda at the request of the region's heads of state in order to make their demands heard by the Kinshasa authorities. Negotiations that neither Kabila nor Tshisekedi started. In December 2021, the factions took up arms again in the face of the looming stalemate,

The M23 accuses the Congolese regular army of allying with Mai-Mai self-defense militias and troops from the mainly Hutu Democratic Liberation Front of Rwanda (FDLR). For its part, Kinshasa sees this M23 as just an offshoot of Rwandan President Paul Kagame's Tutsi power and denies it any Congolese legitimacy.

An approach that prevents any dialogue and crystallizes all excesses, especially on social networks, where several clearly identified activists are calling for the "massacre" of all Tutsi, who are systematically equated with Rwandans, "who must be sent home at all costs". A civil suit was filed in Belgium in December 2021. The lawyers are hired by three survivors of a pogrom in Kalima, not far from Uvira in South Kivu. Foreclosures also duly documented by United Nations experts.

The M23 rebels still hope for lasting peace and a peaceful resolution to the current conflict.

The M23 hopes Kinshasa will spark a genuine peace process that will allow displaced people from Kanyarucinya to return to their homes and Goma residents to stock up on food by reopening the Goma-Rutshuru road later in the year for festivities.

The independent experts' report says: Rwanda's army "conducted military operations" against the DRC's military in the troubled east of the country, according to a report by a United Nations group.

According to the UN experts' report, the Rwandan military intervened to "bolster" the M23 and fight the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - a descendant of Rwandan Hutu extremist groups that carried out the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.

In the Kivu News it is written: "The regional force will not go to the confrontation?

We don't need conflict. In addition, we are told that the M23 fighters are also tired of this war and that they want to integrate the peace process."

M23 rebels met with EAC Regional Force commanders at Kibumba in eastern DRC to withdraw from this strategic position.

Commanders and dozens of armed M23 fighters attended a "handover ceremony" attended by Kenyan, Congolese, Rwandan, Ugandan and South Sudanese army officers gathered under the EACRF banner.

M23 has shown the world that it needs peace more than anything. We wait for the President to show the same and for Kibumba not to be a sign of weakness but to seek lasting peace for the Tutsi of East DRC.

Tshisekedi will not have a second term even if you mobilize Heaven for your cause. We will oust this regime of corruption and embezzlement. People who enrich themselves at the expense of the Congolese people.

There is no glory or victory in hate, xenophobia, stigma. All forms of discrimination and extremism cannot lead to the development and prosperity of a people. On the other hand, they lead to war and the annihilation of mankind.

The Kibumba withdrawal act on December 23, 2022 is neither a decoy nor a publicity campaign, as the Kinshasa government wants to justify the continued actions of its coalition FARDC, FDLR and Mai-Mai against Congolese civilians for their appearances.

The M23 is a politico-military movement that proclaims peace and unity for all Congolese communities. The fact that Kibumba was ceded marks a good time to resolve the conflict peacefully and with less human and financial cost.

"GeneralNeva is the best mediator of Great Lakes conflicts. Unlike Kenyans, those dishonest opportunists, he is the only neutral person with no interest behind the scenes. He just wants peace for all. I have always been by his side," someone writes on twitter.

"France, who trained and militarily supported the FDLR, which committed and continues to do so in RDK, the FDLR who committed the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, should be ashamed of the false accusations that the Rwanda are militarily supporting the M23. " That's what Emmanuel Macron said.

Military action may not go as well as many had hoped. A United Nations (UN) report has cast doubt on the effectiveness of Uganda's Operation Shujaa - the offensive against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) stationed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In November 2021, President Museveni authorized the deployment of troops to DR Congo in a joint offensive with the Congolese Army (FARDC).

The Congolese army has described the withdrawal of M23 rebels from a strategic town near the regional capital, Goma, as "decoy".

According to the army, the rebels strengthened their positions in other areas.

M23 rebels met with representatives of a regional military unit from the East African Community Regional Force to hand over control of a strategic city.

According to the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the rebels now want to occupy the area west of Goma.

The army also cited clashes that broke out in Virunga National Park between the armed forces and the rebels.

Three prominent Congolese figures, including Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege, on Monday accused President Felix Tshisekedi of pushing the country toward disintegration by bringing in foreign nations to help deal with its security crisis.

In a sign of mounting pressure on Tshisekedi over DRC's deeply troubled east, the trio said sub-Saharan Africa's largest country was facing "fragmentation" and "Balkanization".

This was "the result of a glaring lack of leadership and governance by an irresponsible and repressive regime," they said in a communiqué.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said the DRC government should negotiate with the M23 rebel group, which launched a renewed offensive in May this year.

Cable from East DRC. After the multiple attacks of the FARD-FDLR-NYATURA-MAI-May coalition, the M23 launched a defensive defense which is currently taking it to SAKÉ after capturing several hills including KARALE, KARULI, KISIMBA and is 8 km from KIROLIRWE.

The United Nations report on the rebel war in eastern DRC accuses group M23 of killing children and mothers, kidnapping people, desecrating civilians and otherwise torturing them.

The report also notes that the M23 group has coerced children into becoming their fighters.

It was released after its experts visited Rutshuru in North Kivu province, where M23 rebels are based.

More than 120 rebel groups are fighting with government troops in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The M23 group was also mentioned in the previous United Nations report as having support from the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame.

The Rwandan government has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The United States, France, Germany and Belgium have called on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebel group.

Rwanda said a fighter jet from the DRC entered its airspace as tensions between the two neighbors escalated over rebels advancing into the disputed region of eastern DRC.

DR Congo has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, which in recent months has seized some areas from the Congolese army and its militant allies.

Kigali dismissed the allegations, which were confirmed by experts from the United Nations, as well as the United States, France and Belgium.

Rwanda accuses the DRC of collaborating with the FDLR rebels, a former Rwandan Hutu rebel group based in the DRC.

M23 rebels in eastern DRC have been locked in heavy clashes with rival militias, local sources said, in the latest violence to hit the troubled region.

The Rwandan government has warned the DRC that the DRC's ongoing aggression with warplanes in the air and on land from Kigali must be halted.

The Office of the Government Spokesman of Rwanda has confirmed that a DRC Sukhoi-25 fighter jet flew in violation of Rwanda's air traffic regulations along Lake Kivu in western Rwanda.

Uganda faces a threat from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terror group, more than a year after it launched an operation against the group in eastern DRC.

Recently, ADF fighters attempted to cross into Uganda from DR Congo, a move that helped security organizations admit the country now faces threats from three sides.

This shows that the fighters in Uganda are gathering and planning attacks.

In addition, members of the group previously attacked villages and police stations, causing the deaths of several civilians and officers.

The attackers also stole 16 guns from these police stations.

The disclosure comes in a report prepared by an expert group monitoring the security situation in DR Congo and submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on December 16.

The report shows that the joint operation by the Ugandan military and their DRC counterparts "was unsuccessful in achieving the goals of completely disabling or weakening the ADF."

The report adds that the benefits of "Operation Shujaa" as an operation by the Uganda Defense Force (UPDF) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have diminished after the soldiers faced transportation problems due to poor roads in the regions of Ituri and North Kivu, in the DR Congo.

The joint operation was launched on November 30, 2021. Experts claim that despite the destruction of some of its camps and the arrest of some of its fighters, the ADF's leadership "remains strong and stable".

The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) have deployed their troops along the Uganda-Congo border in Kanungu district as the M23 rebels' relentless advance towards the Ishasha border continues.

Lt. Col. Robert Nahamya, commander of the 307th Brigade, confirmed the deployment and said it is to protect Ugandans, who are part of the border communities, from the spillover effects of the armed conflict. The 307 Brigade is based in the western districts of Kanungu and Rukungiri.

The government of the DR Congo accuses Rwanda of taking revenge with the refugee issue.

This comes after Rwanda's President Paul Kagame announced that the country would not shoulder the burden of taking in refugees from DR Congo.

President Kagame said his country remains unable to grant asylum to refugees, stressing that the refugee crisis from Congo is not Rwanda's problem and the country will not shoulder the burden.

The lack of stability and security in eastern DRC has forced many to cross the border and enter Rwanda.

M23 rebels have agreed to continue their "orderly withdrawal" from captured areas in eastern DRC, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Uhuru Kenyatta, who plays a mediating role in this conflict and represents the group of five East African countries, spoke to M23 officials, according to a press release by the former president released after the meeting in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

These withdrawals of the M23 follow the decisions of a summit in Luanda on November 23 that called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the rebels from the conquered areas for a year.

More than 60 people have been killed during a bloody week in eastern DRC's Ituri province, local sources said, as militia attacks plagued the turbulent region.

Armed groups roam DR Congo's mineral-rich east, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared up around the turn of the century.

A wave of violence erupted in Ituri after a teacher from the Lendu community was killed, prompting retaliatory attacks by CODECO militia, which claim to represent the ethnic group.

The Lendu and Hema communities have a longstanding feud that resulted in thousands of deaths between 1999 and 2003 before a European peacekeeping force intervened.

Violence resumed in 2017, which has been attributed to the emergence of the CODECO. The Zaire militia say they represent the Hema community.

After the teacher's killing, CODECO militants killed at least 24 civilians in attacks on several villages in Ituri's Djugu territory, according to local civil society officials and humanitarian workers.

CODECO's military leader, Desire Londroma, said the attacks were "to avenge the death" of the teacher, who was killed by Zairean militants.

A civil society representative in South Ituri, Dieudonne Lossa, said eight civilians had been killed in an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

The Islamic State group claims the ADF as its subsidiary in Central Africa.

Diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and DR Congo will hit a new low after Kigali accused Kinshasa of undermining ongoing regional efforts for stability in the eastern part of the country.

In an apparent escalation of tensions, Kigali claimed Congo was preparing for war by hiring foreign mercenaries.

Rwanda claims that Kinshasa continues to supply arms and its forces are fighting alongside illegal armed groups in eastern DRC, including the genocidal militia FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda).

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DR Congo has hired foreign mercenaries, Rwanda says

Friday, January 20, 2023

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his DRC counterpart Felix Tshisekedi.

From The East African

What you need to know:

Kigali claims the staged demonstrations against EAC regional forces in Goma and other parts of DRC are part of a plan by the DRC military and government to withdraw from the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes.

Diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and the DRC are set to hit a new low after Kigali accused Kinshasa of undermining ongoing regional efforts for stability in the eastern part of the country.

In an apparent escalation of tensions, Kigali on Thursday claimed Congo was preparing for war by hiring foreign mercenaries.

Rwanda claims that Kinshasa continues to supply arms and its forces are fighting alongside illegal armed groups in eastern DRC, including the genocidal militia FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda).

TIED TOGETHER

PRIME

Rwanda denies plans to shoot down Tshisekedi's plane

National 02.01

The EU calls on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebels in DR Congo

News 01.01

"This also represents a clear violation of the Nairobi Process aimed at the disarmament and demobilization of these armed groups and a threat to the security of Rwanda," the statement released Thursday said.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi told business leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland that Rwanda "is blocking development in the region" and that the M23 rebels have not retreated from recently seized positions.

"They pretend to move, they pretend to move, but they don't. They just move around, resettle elsewhere and stay in the cities they conquered," he said Tshisekedi in a panel discussion at the WEF.

Kigali claims the staged demonstrations against EAC regional forces in Goma and other parts of the DRC are part of a plan by the DRC military and government to withdraw from the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes.

He added that the aim of the demonstrations seems to be to force the withdrawal of the force, while the Luanda communiqué calls for "continued full deployment of the EAC regional force".

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reported that at least seven people were killed in an overnight armed attack by the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia on a refugee camp in Savo, Ituri province.

For their part, local authorities have detailed that five children are among the dead, while at least four wounded are being treated in health centers in the area.

The UN deputy spokesman said the peacekeeping forces "were deployed immediately to secure the camp and prevent further violence."

Tensions between Rwanda and DR Congo have escalated after Rwandan defense forces fired on a Congolese fighter jet last night, causing serious damage.

Kigali confirmed the shooting in a terse statement, saying the Congolese Sukhoi-25 had violated its airspace for the third time in as many months.

The latest incident came at the time fighting resumed between M23 rebels and Congolese forces after the two parties honored a ceasefire in accordance with processes in Nairobi, Kenya, and Luanda, Angola, which aimed to bring it about to resolve the violence in eastern DR Congo.

The deadline for the Nairobi and Luanda trials for the rebel withdrawal from the captured territory was January 15, 2022. The M23 rebels had agreed to withdraw from the captured area and in fact surrendered several towns to the Kenya-led East African Community regional force.

Last week, Mr Tshisekedi said the M23 rebels had not retreated but had repositioned their troops.

#

The Genocide

The genocide of the Tutsis plays a central role, so here is a short report.

The only thing you might know about the country of Rwanda is that there are two major ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. That's really what the country comes down to, isn't it? The Tutsis were the victims of the genocide and the Hutus were the perpetrators.

The bloody history of the Hutu and Tutsi conflict shaped the 20th century, from the slaughter of some 120,000 Hutu by the Tutsi army in Burundi in 1972 to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

The Rwandan Genocide occurred between April 7 and July 15, 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of about 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and some moderate Hutu and Twa were killed by armed Hutu militias.

The genocide was conceived by extremist elements of Rwanda's Hutu majority who planned to kill the minority Tutsi population and anyone who did so, opposed these genocidal intentions. It is estimated that around 200,000 Hutu took part in the genocide, spurred on by propaganda from various media.

The most widely accepted scholarly estimates put the Tutsi dead at between 500,000 and 662,000. Other sources write that up to 800,000, mostly Tutsis, were killed. The genocide started by Hutu nationalists in the capital, Kigali, spread across the country with shocking speed and brutality, as local officials and the Hutu Power government incited ordinary citizens to take up arms against their neighbors.

In the 1980s, Tutsi exiled from Rwanda to surrounding countries began campaigning for the right to return to their homeland. In 1990, a Tutsi rebel group called the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda. The military responded with violence and the conflict escalated into a civil war. Anti-Tutsi sentiment grew in intensity as Hutu-dominated media portrayed the Tutsi minority as a threat to Rwanda.

In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from its base in Uganda, sparking Rwanda's civil war. Over the next three years, neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage. In an effort to bring the war to a peaceful end, the Rwandan government, led by Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana, signed the Arusha Accords with the RPF on August 4, 1993. After three years of civil war in Rwanda, Hutu President Habyarimana and the RPF signed a peace agreement ending hostilities. Many Hutu extremists were critical of the agreement and continued to stir up anti-Tutsi hatred.

United Nations peacekeepers, including Roméo Dallaire, the Canadian commander of the peacekeeping force, warned that a massacre of Tutsi could be imminent.

Triggered by Habyarimana's assassination on April 6, 1994, creating a power vacuum and an end to the peace accord.

Lieutenant-General Dallaire recalls how Hutu extremists, whom he called "hardliners," manipulated young people into believing that the path to a good future lay with them. After luring them with food, music and sports, these extremists indoctrinated young people to hate the Tutsi and prepared them to take an active part in countering Tutsi when the genocide began.

When the Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front seized control of the country through a military offensive in early July, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were dead and 2 million refugees (mainly Hutus) fled Rwanda.

What is the difference between Hutus and Tutsis? In fact, they speak the same language, Kinyarwanda, eat the same food, go to the same schools, cheer on the same soccer teams, and in many cases marry and raise children together.

During the colonial period, Germany and later Belgium assumed that ethnicity could be clearly distinguished by physical characteristics and then used the ethnic differences in their own countries as models to create a system in which the categories of Hutu and Tutsi were no longer were fluent. The German colonial government, which began in 1898 and lasted until 1916, pursued a policy of indirect rule that strengthened the hegemony of the Tutsi ruling class and the absolutism of their monarchy. This approach was continued under Belgium, which took control of the colony after World War I and administered it indirectly under the guidance of the League of Nations.

It is so difficult to tell them apart that even the Tutsis and Hutus have trouble. The main ethnic groups in Rwanda are the Hutu and the Tutsi, who make up more than four-fifths and about one-seventh of the total population, respectively. A third group, the Twa, make up less than 1 percent of the population. All three groups speak Rwanda (more specifically, Kinyarwanda), suggesting these groups have lived together for centuries. There is a famous story that Hutu militiamen attacked a group of school children and ordered them to sort themselves by ethnicity. Many believe that German and Belgian colonizers tried to find differences between the Hutu and Tutsi to better categorize the indigenous people in their censuses.

dividing allegiance – Hutus on one side, Tutsi on the other. The children refused. So the militia killed them all.

So what led to this genocide?

Tensions had simmered between the Hutu and Tutsi populations in Rwanda for decades. The region was under Belgian colonial rule from after World War I until 1962. During this period, colonial policies fostered divisions between the Hutu, who formed the country's largest ethnic group, and the Tutsi, who formed the second largest ethnic group. The Belgians viewed the Tutsi minority as superior and preferred Tutsi for leadership positions. This favoritism led to ongoing and deeper tensions between Hutu and Tutsi.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, struggles for independence from Belgian rule in Rwanda intensified. These fighting included violence between Hutu and Tutsi as the two groups strove for power. A 1959–62 revolution led to national independence, with Hutu leaders taking control of the government. Many Tutsi were massacred or forced to flee the country because the ruling government portrayed them as a threat to Rwanda. The anti-Tutsi sentiment behind these attacks...

By the mid-1960s, more than 400,000 Tutsi had fled to neighboring countries such as Burundi and Uganda. Although concerted violent attacks against Tutsi eased over the decade, prejudice and distrust of the minority remained.

In 1973, a Hutu general named Juvénal Habyarimana took control of the government. The Habyarimana government intensified anti-Tutsi and pro-Hutu sentiment. This led to another wave of violence against the Tutsi.

The genocide had a lasting and profound impact. In 1996, the RPF-led Rwandan government launched an offensive against Zaire (now DR Congo), home to exiled leaders of the former Rwandan government and many Hutu refugees, starting the First Congo War and killing an estimated 200,000 people. Today Rwanda has two public holidays to mourn the genocide, and "genocidal ideology" and "divisionism" are criminal offenses. Although Rwanda's constitution states that more than 1 million people died in the genocide, the actual number killed is likely lower.

Conclusion

Conclusion

A group of journalists and a human rights lawyer traveled to Kishishe to find out first hand what really happened. In this report they share their findings.

The story of the alleged massacres perpetrated by the M23 rebels in Kishishe in eastern DRC is of particular interest to the Pan African Review. Indeed, as a publication, we are committed to giving African stories a conscientious perspective—a perspective that humanizes Africans. Accordingly, we could not remain indifferent when UN investigators accused the M23 rebels of massacring more than a hundred Congolese civilians. We know all too well how indifference reduces African lives and deaths to faceless numbers, which are then used by unscrupulous individuals and organizations to advance political and economic interests. Indifference to African life has also shaped the approaches of African institutions to conflict resolution. This was the case recently during the conflict in northern Ethiopia in the Tigray region, where allegations of genocide have not been adequately investigated by the African Union and relevant regional organizations. A similar indifference on the part of African institutions was observed in the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide, which most likely would never have been recognized had it not been for the decisive military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). We believe that if Africa is to find peace within itself, we must first restore the value of African life. It is therefore of the utmost importance to examine the allegations made by UN investigators against the M23 rebels. The report published here attempts to question these allegations. We welcome those with a different perspective on the issues at hand to question this work.

However, these efforts must be complemented by the work of our institutions. In this context, we call for a proper investigation by the African Union and the East African Community into the events in Kishishe. Any person involved in acts that constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide should be held accountable.

The Kishishe Report

On November 30, 2022, in her recent address to the United Nations Security Council, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for DR Congo and Head of MONUSCO, Ms. Bintou Keita, called for "the Council to condemn these crimes" and "the immediate release of the survivors who are prevented from leaving the area held by the M23. She also called for those responsible to be prosecuted nationally and internationally.” She did not call for an on-site investigation.

On November 30, 2022, one day before the allegations of the Kishishe massacres emerged, the UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention, Ms. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, after a four-day visit (November 10-13, 2022) to the DRC issued a statement, sounding the alarm that “indicators and triggers contained within the United Nations atrocities analysis framework were present in the DRC, including; Spread of hate speech, widespread and systematic attacks, including sexual violence, against the Banyamulenge community in particular, due to their ethnicity and their perceived ties to neighboring countries.”

With this in mind, a group of journalists and a human rights lawyer contacted M23 to travel to Kishishe so they could experience on the ground what really happened in order to shed more light on the events. The investigation focused on reconstructing the timeline, establishing facts and sequence of events, locating potential mass graves, identifying the number, identity and category of victims and the manner of their deaths, and finally identifying the alleged perpetrators.

The fact-finding mission began on December 9, 2022 and lasted five days. It included the villages of Kishishe and Bambo. The team conducted filmed individual and group interviews with residents of their two villages.

Field research was conducted in the presence of security elements from M23. A representative of M23 signed an agreement with the research team not to interfere with research methodology or influence respondents. With an M23 liaison officer, Lt. Col. Julien Mahano, separate interviews were conducted. However, other junior elements of M23 were secretly questioned to provide an unscripted version of the facts. The interviews were conducted in French, Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda. Except for M23 soldiers, no other interviewee admitted to being a member of other militias allegedly operating in Kishishe, namely Mai-Mai, Nyatura and FDLR.

As videos show, the presence of M23 soldiers during group interviews did not prevent residents from voicing their opinions, as they were not afraid to directly blame M23 for the killings that have taken place in the area over the past few days.

A questionnaire was sent to other protagonists who commented on Kishishe's alleged massacres, namely: Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, GoR and MONUSCO for a right to comment.

M23 rebels advance on the Ishasha border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The border is the last remaining untaken supply route connecting Uganda to the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Congolese nationals fleeing fighting in the DRC told the Monitor on Wednesday that M23 rebels have captured the township of Nyamilima and four other villages, 19 kilometers from the Ishasha border.

On the other hand, there are reports to the contrary. Congolese M23 rebels say they will withdraw from Rumangabo, a military camp they hold in Rutshuru, North Kivu, to meet calls for a ceasefire under the regional agreement.

This will be the second occupied territory the group hands over to the East African Regional Force created under the East African Community in two weeks.

The Congo problem should be called by its name, as this is the only way to achieve lasting peace for the Congolese people and the region.

Rwanda should not be held responsible for problems that should be solved by those responsible, otherwise the problems will remain forever. They cannot intentionally highlight symptoms of a problem while hiding the root cause of the problem, we cannot expect to remain credible for long.

If the international community can remember, then it can remember very clearly that those who committed the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda were admitted to Congo by the Congolese authorities through the deliberate mediation of powerful members of the same international community. When these genocides arrived in eastern DRC, they were allowed to sow the genocidal ideology, disrupting the relative inter-ethnic coexistence that existed in DRC.

Life has never been the same since then. The Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, especially the Congolese Tutsi, have been hit hard ever since. They have faced endless persecution and dispossession by the national army and allied militias who have told them they are foreigners. This prompted them to take up arms to protect them from attacks and constant harassment. It is this persecution that led the Rwandophone communities to seek help to bring about the downfall of Mobutu, who chose to support the genocidal fugitives who had fled Rwanda in their genocidal ventures in Zaire. Unfortunately, subsequent governments have proved worse when it comes to persecuting Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese.

Tshisekedi has taken it a step further by mesmerizing the international community to put Congolese problems on Rwanda's doorstep. Unfortunately, the lethargic international community has followed sleepily, adding to an already worsening problem.

As guilt and accusations sweep left and right, the world has overlooked a silent genocide against Tutsi, which has sparked another exodus of Congolese Tutsi refugees fleeing a killing spree at the hands of the FARDC and FDLR (genocide group ) flee, under sanctions from the international community, and other allied militias. Knowing what the international community is doing, this too is being ignored until it is too late.

The War Crimes

The legal investigation of war crimes in the Congo began with the The Hague tribunals against the rebel leaders Thomas Lubanga, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Bosco Ntaganda. Jean-Pierre Bemba has since been sentenced to 18 years in prison by the International Criminal Court and Thomas Lubanga to 14 years.

Convicted Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda has been transferred to Belgium by the International Criminal Court to begin a 30-year sentence for war crimes, the tribunal said on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old Ntaganda, also known as "Terminator", was convicted by the ICC in 2019 of leading a reign of terror in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s.

"Mr Bosco Ntaganda was transferred to ... the Kingdom of Belgium to serve his sentence in Leuze-en-Hainaut prison," the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.

Rwandan-born Ntaganda was convicted of five counts of crimes against humanity and 13 counts of war crimes, including murder, sexual slavery, rape and the use of child soldiers.

Ntaganda was the first person to be convicted of sexual slavery by a court. Many of the other charges related to massacres of villagers in the mineral-rich Ituri region of DR Congo.

Prosecutors portrayed him as a ruthless leader of ethnic Tutsi revolts amid the civil wars that ravaged DR Congo following the 1994 genocide of Tutsi in neighboring Rwanda.

Formerly a general in the Congolese army, Ntaganda became a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces in 2013.

He is the first suspect to surrender to the ICC after entering the US embassy in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Ntaganda - known for his pencil mustache and love of good food - insisted the 'Terminator' nickname, which referred to the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the relentless killer robot, didn't apply to him.

A specialized court (appointed and controlled by the Houthis) last week sentenced 16 people to death by firing squad and 13 others to prison for alleged espionage and collaboration with "aggressor" countries, human rights lawyer Abdulmajeed Sabra recently reported.

Violence against Congolese Tutsis extensively documented by the collective. There is talk of insults, physical threats, attacks on these people's property (often their livestock), but also stabbings, people have been burned alive and even a case of cannibalism has been filmed in Maniema province.

The violence of these attacks, the virulence of these writings, the words of these "activists" who openly flaunt themselves, testify to the lack of fear of sanctions from the authorities. "Congo is entering an election year and we have the feeling that this hatred is being exploited," said a Congolese from South Kivu, who was questioned on Tuesday about this repeated violence against a community "that existed long before the founding of this state was based in the Congo by the Belgians".

In 2022, the "hunt for Tutsis" even reached the capital Kinshasa. When the M23 advanced in the east of the country last spring, members of the presidential party UDPS launched surveillance patrols on the streets of the capital. Armed with machetes, these “civic movements” born with the blessing of power took the right to control vehicle occupants in search of Tutsis. A “race hunt” that the authorities quickly brought to an end without the perpetrators being prosecuted, reinforcing once again this sense of impunity that questioned the real will of the authorities to put an end to “these harbingers of a return to genocide”. prepare. as one of the lawyers working with these Congolese Tutsis puts it.

This is not the first time the public has become concerned about immorality and the press has denounced the cynicism and greed of educators.

This dissident elite is now the focus of attention for corruption and conspiracies by criminals described as dangerous.

Renowned names sit in the dock, led by Dr. Denis Mukwege, is a Congolese gynecologist and Pentecostal pastor. He founded and works at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where he specializes in the treatment of women raped by armed rebels, Nobel Peace Prize winner.

He is honorary president of the criminal organization in question.

The Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili and her companion Francesco Giorgi, all friends of Dr. Mukwge and members of said organization are in the hands of the Belgian judiciary.

They are accused of corruption, money laundering and involvement in a criminal organization in order to put pressure on MPs.

They formed a structure called Fight Impunity and its honorary president, Dr. Mukwege is. An Italian NGO based in Brussels.

The two senior officials were accused of planning an attack on a convoy carrying gold, $6,000 in cash and Chinese workers through the Irumu area of ​​Ituri state.

Eight soldiers and one civilian in the war-torn northeastern region of the DRC have been sentenced to death for murder and embezzlement, court documents showed on Tuesday.

All were found guilty of murder and involvement in crimes, including Colonel Mukalenga Tendeko and Kayumba Sumahili

Three other soldiers, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case, were released.

Mass graves containing the bodies of 49 civilians were discovered in northeastern Congo after a series of weekend attacks blamed on a local militia, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The United Nations deputy spokesman told reporters in New York that the graves had been uncovered in two villages in Ituri province, about 30 kilometers east of the city of Bunia.

A total of 42 victims, including six children, were discovered in a mass grave in Nyamamba village, while the bodies of seven other men were found in another village, Mbogi.

"Peacekeepers immediately launched a patrol in the area after receiving reports of attacks by CODECO militias on civilians over the weekend. That's when they made the gruesome discoveries."

Local authorities have said that militants from CODECO - Cooperative for the Development of Congo - have also kidnapped a number of women during attacks on the villages.

Last June, seven CODECO factions announced an end to violence against civilians in Ituri, mainly in Djugu territory, where they have been very active. However, they have gradually resumed attacks in the area.

At least 195 people have been killed since December in a series of attacks blamed on the CODECO militia and other armed groups, the United Nations said. More than 1.5 million people in Ituri province have been displaced by fighting.

The children

DR Congo is a country where 3.2 million children are out of school and only 1 in 10 can read. The DR Congo is the world's most important supplier of cobalt, which is needed for batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones, for example. Some mines illegally mine by hand. Critics complain about child labor and corruption. A whole generation of Congolese children whose dreams are shaped by cycles of violence, displacement, poverty, hunger and hopelessness.

A temporary study room was set up in the Kikumbe camp. Displaced girls and boys received school supplies, access to education and other holistic support to give them back the security, hope and opportunity that only a quality education can provide.

To address the ongoing education crisis and expand program outcomes to more provinces, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is calling on donors to urgently mobilize $45 million in additional funding.

In this way, 32,000 girls and boys in Tanganyika province have already been reached.

The forgotten crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is just one of many around the world that have impacted the futures and learning outcomes of more than 222 million children and youth whose lives have been shattered by climate change, COVID-19, conflict and other protracted crises.

A group of youths were looking for birds in a field near Ndunda in the Ruzizi plain in South Kivu province on Monday when they stumbled upon the grenade.

These children picked up the grenade, mistaking it for a toy, not knowing it was a grenade, and it exploded.

He added that a three-year-old girl died in the blast Monday afternoon, while an 11-year-old boy succumbed to his wounds the next morning.

Another six people, including three children, were injured in the accident.

Lieutenant Marc Elongo, a spokesman for the Congolese military, said an army team had traveled to Ndunda to investigate the incident.

Chance, 16, is distinguished from the other children at her school in eastern DRC by her fair skin.

She is one of dozens of descendants of United Nations peacekeepers who have been deployed to the troubled region for over 20 years and often face stigma in their communities.

Chance's mother, Faida, said she met a Uruguayan peacekeeper in 2006 while working as a cleaner at a UN base in Kavumu, a settlement in militia-plagued South Kivu province.

She was two months pregnant when he left DR Congo without saying goodbye. This is a theme of scorned love that is common among Congolese women who have developed relationships with peacekeepers.

The situation is common enough that the peacekeeping mission known as Monusco is introducing measures such as paying school fees for the abandoned children of UN soldiers.

None of the women said they had been abused. But some were between the ages of 14 and 15 when they formed relationships with peacekeepers and described exchanging sex for money or other small gifts.

Monusco's Code of Conduct strictly prohibits sexual relations with children or paying for sex.

The force has a current strength of approximately 16,000 uniformed personnel.

Women officially recognized by Monusco who have given birth to children to peacekeepers receive child support in the form of school fees, as well as training in trades such as sewing for themselves.

A spokesman for Monusco said all allegations of sex abuse by UN peacekeepers were "being dealt with quickly" but acknowledged that many paternity cases remained unresolved.

Children born of sexual abuse cases also often face stigma, the spokesman said.

No cases of sexual abuse have been registered in Kavumu or the surrounding villages since 2013, the spokesman said.

The total number of peacekeeper babies conceived in eastern DRC is unclear. But 63 children are receiving school assistance, according to Monusco, while 158 women have benefited from UN-funded projects since 2018.

Chance's mother, who had six children before giving birth to Chance, said she hopes the UN will support her daughter through college and help her find a job. Life is harder for Chance in many ways, her mother explained.

DR Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, with around 70 percent of the population of over 90 million people living on less than US$2 a day.

The mining company Glencore settles a corruption scandal in the DR Congo with a payment of 180 million dollars.This also covers possible future claims by the state.

The agreement covers all current and future claims by DRC that may arise from "alleged" acts of corruption by the group in the country between 2007 and 2018, the Zug-based group said on Monday.

Glencore had been targeted by various regulators for its activities in DR Congo. For example, by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and in Switzerland by the Federal Prosecutor's Office.

  

Appendix

William Kipchirchir Samoei ARAP RutoCGH (born December 21, 1966) is a Kenyan politician who has served as the fifth and current President of Kenya since September 13, 2022. Prior to President, he served as the President 11th Deputy President of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. He previously served in several cabinet positions such as Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Higher Education.

Laurent Desire Kabila (born November 27, 1939 inmoba,Katanga; died January 16, 2001 inKinshasa) was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 to 2001. 

Joseph Kabila Kabange (born June 4, 1971 in Hewa Bora,Sud-Kivu) was the 4th President of the from January 26, 2001 to January 24, 2019Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hundreds of opponents were imprisoned, tortured and killed under his presidency.

Members of his family and those close to them diverted at least $138 million in public funds during Kabila's presidency (including from thecentral bank of the country, from state mining companies, road building funds, from the country's electoral commission) for personal purposes.

According to official information, Kabila was born to Laurent Kabila and his wife Mahanya Sifa Kabila as the second of nine children in the rebel headquarters Hewa Bora II and comes from the Bantu ethnic group of theluba. However, doubts and reports keep popping up that Kabila is not Laurent's biological son, but the son of another father or completely different parents who were adopted by Kabila. A version widely used for political propaganda is that his parents were Tutsi from Rwanda and that Kabila was therefore an instrument of Rwandan influence in the countryDemocratic Republic of the Congo. The former intelligence chief ofZaire,Honoré Ngbanda Zambo ko Atumba, claims that Joseph Kabila is the son of Rwandan opposition members Christopher Kanambe and Marcelline Mukambukuje.

Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (born June 13, 1963 in Léopoldville, today Kinshasa, has been his country's fifth president since 2019. In this office he succeeds Joseph Kabila, who had been the country's leader for almost 18 years.

Tshisekedi was proclaimed the candidate of the Cap pour le changement alliance – including his Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) – as the winner of the 2018 presidential election. Numerous political observers consider the election result to be grossly falsified and see Martin Fayulu as the victor.

theThe candidate of the ruling party (People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy; PPRD) would be Emmanuel Ramazani ShadaryMulanda (born November 29, 1960 in Kasongo, in what is now Maniema Province), former government minister and provincial governor. Shadary was one of 21 approved presidential candidates. Notable opposition figures Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moïse Katumbi did not belong to this group, as Bemba had been disqualified by the electoral commission on charges against the International Criminal Court and Katumbi had been prevented from returning to the country after some time and was therefore unable was Register as a candidate before the deadline. Although youe opposition groups initially banded together to support Martin Fayulu as their candidate, protests by supporters of Félix Tshisekedi – son of veteran opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi who died in 2017 – prompted him to withdraw his support for Fayulu and take part in the election himself. Another widely supported opposition leader, Vital Kamerhe, did the same.

Elections were held in the rest of the country on December 30th. Although election day was generally peaceful, there were complaints about the process, including polling stations not opening on time or lack of necessary supplies, incidents of voter intimidation and observers being denied access to polling stations and later to vote. counting centers. When the results were released on January 10, Tshisekedi was declared the winner with more than 38 percent of the vote; It was followed by Fayulu with almost 35 percent and Shadary with almost 24 percent. However, the results contradicted a pre-election poll and observations by the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) election observation group, both of which had Fayulu firmly at the helm. Fayulu and others claimed that Tshisekedi and Kabila made a deal: an election victory for Tshisekedi in exchange for Kabila and his associates protecting their interests. Representatives of Kabila and Tshisekedi rejected the allegation. 

Martin Madidi Fayulu Madidi(born 21 November 1956 inLeopoldville, Belgian Congo) is a politician in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. He was a candidate for the opposition alliancelamuka (Lingala; "Get up") at thePresidential Election 2018. According to the electoral commission, he was defeatedFelix Tshisekedi, while leaked figures from this commission and information from election observers indicated a victory for Fayulus. 

Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkambawas Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2019 to 2021. He previously held positions in teaching, politics and business.

Bertrand Bisimva, born in 1972, has been President of the M23 since 2013. Born in Bukavu, Congo, he studied law in Goma and fought in the Congo wars in the AFDL and RCD rebel armies. He now lives in Bunagana. 

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