INFO-CONGO/KINSHASA #141

information document produced by the
 TABLE DE CONCERTATION SUR LES DROITS HUMAINS AU CONGO/KINSHASA
     entraide missionaire, 15 De Castelnau Ouest, Montreal, Quebec H2R 2W3. Tel. (514) 270-6156

31 August 1998

Timetable

June
 29 June: the third summit of the East and West African Common Market (COMESA) is held in Kinshasa; the chiefs of state from the RDC, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya take part.  The organization brings together 20 countries, this year including Egypt.  All insist on the importance of keeping peace and security in the region if they are to achieve the goal set by the summit, that is the creation of a free exchange zone by the year 2000.  Zambia calls for the cancellation of the foreign debt of member countries which has reached $US 120,000m. Burundi calls for the raising of economic sanctions from which it still suffers.

On another issue, humanitarian agencies number more than 20,000 Angolan refugees in Katanga, fleeing the recommencement of fighting between UNITA and Luandan government forces.
 30 June: at ceremonies marking the anniversary of the country's independence , the new currency, the Congolese franc (FC) is officially put into circulation; the new franc is pegged at 100,000 NZ, and, at Kasaï, at 14 million old zaïres. According to them, the dollar is worth 1.4 FC.

The Secretary General's Task Force on Serious Violations of Human Rights and International Civil Rights in the RDC  submits its report to the Security Council of the United Nations

July
 1 July: the authorities end the banishment of Etienne Tshisekedi.  He returns to Kinshasa from his village of Kasaï, where he had been held since February 12. The next day he affirms that he will continue to ignore the ban on political activity decreed by the regime.
 4 July: the Chief of Staff of the Ugandan army announces that he has shifted one of his bases of operations against the rebels of the Forces Democratiques Alliées (ADF) , which was formerly at Kiraro in Uganda, to Ntabi, 15 km inside RDC territory.  This decision was taken after the Ugandan army, the week before, destroyed about a dozen ADF positions in RDC territory.
 6 July: at Kinshasa, the AFDL organizes a protest march to denounce the pact with the ONU; some 2,000 women take part.
 The arrest of Bernard Mizele is announced.  He is the, self-styled king of the Bas-Congo, which is seeking independence from the Bas-Congo, Bandundu and Kinshasa.  Fighting between the forces of law and order and his militia left 8 dead the previous week.
 7 July: Tshisekedi declares at a press conference that it is his duty "to work together with the AFDL," and "within a constitutional framework which we must work out together." In the same breath he calls on the people to resist the setting up of a new dictatorship in the country.
 9 July: Tshisekedi's residence is surrounded and 12 of his colleagues are arrested. For the most part they are members of the transition government named by Tshisekedi when he was briefly prime minister in 1993.
 11 July: Kabila signs two decrees reassigning responsibility for the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC): Célestin Kifwa is named interim chief of staff; an ex-general of FAZ, he is originally from Katanga and is the president's brother in law.  Before this he was entrusted with the task of reforming the national police.  James Kabare, the former chief of staff whom many believed had been sent to Uganda, will become, according to his report, special military consultant. Responsibility for the police force will be returned to Katsuva wa Katsuvira, a former FAZ general.
 13 July: the United Nations Security Council issues a communique condemning the massacres and other atrocities committed in the RDC described in the report of the task force and calls on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to conduct their own investigation into the allegations contained in the aforesaid report.
 14 July: 32 militants of the UDPS are arrested at Tshisekedi's residence.  11 of them are released 5 days later.
 The same day, the presidents of Namibia, Angola, and the RDC meet to discuss problems of security in the sub-region.
 19 July: the Minister of Justice, Mwenze Kongolo warns that all those who try to sabotage monetary reform, particularly by violating directives pertaining to the new Congolese franc, will be taken before a military tribunal and may be executed.
 22 July: the Minister of the Interior, Kakudi, announces that the constituent assembly will be inaugurated on the coming 15 August. He repeates that no party political actitivity will be allowed except in the 6 months before elections.
 President Musevani proposes the holding of a referendum on the creation of a regional government including Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. This regional government would have as its mandate the establishment of a common market, a foreign policy, and a common defence policy.
 23 July: Kabila meets Fidel Castro in Havana.  He is accompanied on this surprise visit by the Minister of Agriculture, Mawapanga, and a member of the presidential cabinet, Tshanlesso.  In Kinshasa the newspapers are full of rumours of a coup d'état. Kabila returns to the country on the 26 of July.

 27 July: Kabila "brings to an end ... the presence of Rwandan military who have helped us during the period of liberation (...) this marks the end of the presence of any foreign military forces in the Congo."
 28 July: in a broadcast interview, the spokesman for the Rwandan army reacts to the Congolese decision, indicating that this withdrawal was fully planned and that only a hundred or so Rwandan soldiers remain on Congolese soil at the express desire of Kabila.
 29 July: in an address on the state radio, Kabila explains that the departure of the Rwandan military was necessary to restore relations between the two countries.  Henceforth, any foreign military presence must be in accordance with military agreements "legally" negotiated. He affirms that the FAC is made up of 140,000 soldiers who will be part of his plan to form "committes of self-defence" in the heart of the population.
 Several hundred Rwandan soldiers, of whom James Kabare was one, leave Kinshasa for Kigali aboard 4 planes.
 The Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo warns the population and the Congolese press against any zenophobia towards Congolese Tutsis or foreigners.
 30 July: The Minister of State Bugera is reported to have disappeared. The same day, and two days later as well, 413 detainees in Makala prison are freed after the charges against them have been reviewed.  This amnesty was ordered by Kabila himself.

August
 2 August: after 10.00 pm, fighting breaks out near the camps of Tshashi and Kokolo at Kinshasa between the Banyamulenge and Rwandan militias and the regular troops of the FAC. Forced to flee, the Banyamulange and Rwandans head towards the Bas-Congo.  In the morning, a curfew is imposed for the next 3 days.
 3 August: at Goma, a commander of the 10th battalion, Sylvain Mbuchi, broadcasts that the Congolese army "had decided to overthrow President Kabila" because he was guilty of nepotism and corruption. Nine members of the AFDL at North-Kivu are said to support the "rebellion."
 At Bukavu, the arrival of Rwandan troops come to reinforce the Banyamulenge militia is reported. Banyamulenge prisoners are freed; among them are the mutineers of the previous February.  Commander Mbuchi's communique is read over the city radio by  Commander Bilunga Kabanda. A certain Ilunga Kazadi announces the suspension of all institutions and the creation of an autonomous state for the Kivu.
 A heavy concentration of Rwandan soldiers is reported at Minova, between Bukavu and Goma.
 Fighting takes place between the Banyamulenge and regular troops at Kindu.
 Several government officials, among whom is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bizima Karaha, leave Kinshasa to join the "rebellion" in the east.
 After an emergency session, the cabinet attributes the current disorder to "armed elements who are displeased by the departure of Rwandan military" and announces a military response.  The government spokesman, Mumenge, explicitly accuses Rwanda of aggression against the RDC.
 4 August: fighting continues at Uvira and at Kisangani airport.
 The Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anastase Gasana, denies any involvement of his country in the internal affairs of the Congo.
 At Kinshasa, hundreds of Tutsis are arrested.
 According to Kinshasa, a commercial plane of the Congo Air Line, based at Goma, with more than 400 soldiers aboard, is diverted by the rebels to the military base at Kitona in the Bas-Congo.  According to the Nigerian pilot of the plane, however, it was 3 planes that were diverted, under the command of James Kabare.  Kitona served as a re-education camp for some 30,000 ex-Faz.
 5 August: Bukavu passed into the hands of the rebels, while fighting continued at Uvira. Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, of the Forces for the Future, named as leader of the uprising, declared that it was a struggle of all Congolese for their rights, not a battle of Banyamulenge and Rwandans.
 The UDPS, with the authority of its Secretary General Adrien Phongo-Kunda, reasserts its attachment to the lgoic of non-violence in its struggle for liberation and opts for political and diplomatic solutions to the crisis.  It calls on the population to avoid any descent into hatred or vengeance against foreigners.
 American soldiers are seen at Gisenyi, in Rwanda.  The Pentagon explains the presence of these soldiers in Rwanda as a follow-up to the visit of President Clinton the previous April.  Twenty military, forming a "multi-disciplinary team of evaluation in Rwanda" have been in Rwanda for 10 days to help Kigali "prevent a repeat of the genocide." The Pentagon would have asked them to leave Rwanda.
 6 August: in the east, Uvira passes into rebel control, but the FAC force back the mutineers at Kisangani. 
 In a press conference, Kabila accuses Rwanda and Uganda of waging a war of aggression against the RDC and calls on the population to prepare for a long war.  He announces the formation of people's defence committees and the distribution of arms. He threatens to take the war into Rwanda.
 Ten thousand Kabila partisans demonstrate at Kinshasa.  In New York, the Congolese ambassador to the United Nations demands that the Security Council intervene to stop "Rwandan aggression."
 At Bukavu, a meeting is held between the political and military leaders of the movement.  Bizima Karaha is named deputy-leader of the rebellion. He declares that the only negotiations possible are those dealing with  the terms of Kabila's departure. M. Madumbi, introduced as spokesman for the uprising, explains that the rebellion wants to correct Kabila's mistakes and unify all Congolese.
 The spokesman for the Rwandan army, Emmanuel Ndahiro, claims to have proofs that Kabila has enlisted ex-Far and Interahamwe from the regions of Masisi and Rutshuru, to form them into units and train them in Kamina camp in Katanga.
 The spokesman for the Ugandan goverment denies that his country has  any involvement in the conflict.
 The US State Department and the Secretary General of the UN both say how worried they are by the situation.  They assert the territorial integrity of the RDC and demand that neighbouring countries respect it and abstain from any intervention.
 
 7 August: Kinshasa loses control ofthe towns of Banana and Moanda. Commander Sylvain Bikelenge, chief of the "rebel" 10th battalion, confirms that his objective is the capture of Kinshasa and the overthrow of Kabila.  He has no belief in a political solution which involves the retention of the present president.  "We believe the Congo needs new leadership supervised by an enlarged government."
 Three South African ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Police, meet with Kabila at Lubumbashi. This approach was suggested by Mandela to restore peace to the RDC. The ministers would have reminded him of the South African president's previous suggestions that he enlarge  his government to include all political persuasions in order to keep the country together. 
 The Burundian Minister of Defence denies any involvement of the Burundian army in the capture of Uvira.
 The former FAZ general, Eluki Monga Aundu, calls for a general mobilization against foreign occupation.
 8 August: at the request of the Ugandan president Museveni, President Mugaba of Zimbabwe calls the 7 premiers in the region to Victoria Falls to try to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.  Participating in this summit are the presidents of the RDC, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Tanzania. Kabila accuses Rwanda and Uganda of aggression against his country; Pasteur Bizimungu countercharges Kabila with arming and training 10,000 ex-Faz and Interahamwe at Kamina.  The only result: the creation of a committee charged with obtaining a cease-fire and investigating the allegations of aggression on the part of Rwanda and Uganda.  The committee is made up of ministers from Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
 The principal human aid agencies evacuate their foreign nationals from Kivu. Their stations at Bukuvu are ransacked. The transfer of pro-Kabila military prisoners to Rwanda and the execution of 40 Katangan soldiers is reported.
 The Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erik Derycke, declares that "we can show some sympathy for the frustrations endured by Rwanda, Uganda, and even Angola, in matters concerning their own security."
 9 August: Beni, near the Ugandan frontier, falls into the hands of the rebels, helped, according to Kinshasa, by Ugandan troops and armoury. Uganda denies these accusations.
 At Uvira, a counter-attack by governemnt forces come from Kalemie is driven back.
 A delegation from the OUA, led by Mamadou Ba, the special representative of the OUA in Burundi, arrives at Kinshasa to try to mediate.  It will visit Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania in turn.
 10 August: Kinshasa claims to have launched a counter-offensive and to have driven back the rebels. From Goma this news is repudiated.
 Human Rights associations, the Voice of the Voiceless in Kinshasa, the Friends of Nelson Mandela in Kisangani, and the Cultural Structure of Popular Education and the Rights of Man in Boma sign a joint communique in which they condemn the taking of power by force; they denounce "the aggression perpetrated against the RDC by a member state of the OUA and the UN."
 The African Association for the Defence of the Rights of Man (ASADHO) in turn calls on the Security Council to recognize and condemn this second act of aggression against the RDC, on the Congolese government to put an end to the manipulation of public opinion and its incitement to ethnic violence, and on Rwanda to withdraw its troops from the RDC and to indict those responsible for the massacre of refugees.
 The authorities at Kinshasa tell the OUA delegation that they reject any political settlement of the crisis until foreign troops are withdrawn.
 11 August: the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, deplores the incursions over RDC frontiers and the ethnic persecution that both warring parties are guilty of.  The European Union also declares itself very disturbed by the unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of the RDC.
 The RDC representative at the UN, André Kapangwa, demands that the Security Council initiate an inquiry into Rwandan/Ugandan aggression.
 In an open letter signed by Amela Bahati, 40 generals of the ex-Faz, unemployed in Kinshasa, offer their services to Kabila.
 Commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane estimates 50,000 soldiers have joined the rebellion.
 12 August: the town of Bunia falls into the hands of the rebels.
 Its leaders meet at Goma to work out the political structure of the movement.  The frontier posts of Goma and Kamanyola are reopened to Rwanda. An air link between Goma and Kitona is reported to be bringing in troops and supplies daily.
 Bill Clinton, without waiting for Senate confirmation, appoints William Swing to the post of US ambassador to the RDC.
 The ministerial mission formed at the time of the Victoria Falls meeting meets with Museveni.
 The Defence chiefs of the member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) meet in Zambia to study security problems in Angola and the RDC.
 13 August: the Inga dam falls into the hands of the rebels. Kinshasa is deprived of electricity.  Fighting  takes place for control of Matadi which falls to the rebels some days later.
 In Kinshasa, government troops chase down rebels, in actual fact Rwandan and Congolese Tutsis without differentiation. The Minister of Human Rights, Léonard She O'kitundu , maintains that human rights will be respected and announces the creation of an intergovernmental commission on the matter.  Rwanda protests the persecution of Rwandans and other Congolese citizens. The US also condemns this persecution.
 The Security Council of the UN calls for an end to hostilities, condemning "outside interference," without specifying the countries meant, and demands an immediate end to ethnic persecution.
 The Civic Society of Katanga puts out a communique which denounces aggression against the RDC while it is in the middle of national reconstruction and the process towards democratization. It asks the western media to show a minimum of objectivity in styling foreign aggression just the conflict that might be expected. 
 Washington dispatches two ships carrying 1,200 marines to the RDC for the possible evacuation of American nationals.  The ships turn back several days later.
 14 August: when electricity is restored to Kinshasa from the central generator at Zongo, Kabila  replaces Célestin Kifwa at the head of the FAC and entrusts the position to his son, Joseph Kabila.
 The rebels accuse Zimbabwe and Cuba of supporting Kabila.
 The principal western capitals advise their nationals to leave the country.
 The ONG National Council of Development (CNONGD) denounces and condemns Rwandan/Ugandan aggression, and demands that the international community do everything it can to put a stop to this war which is being imposed on the RDC;  it assures President Kabila and the FAC of its solidarity.
 15 August: evacuation of foreign nationals begins at Kinshasa. The US evacuates its embassy.
 16 August: Kabila visits Luanda, in Angola, where he has discussions with President Dos Santos and President Sam Nujoma of Namibia.
 In Goma, the rebellion gives itself a name, the Congolese Democratic Assembly (RCD), a leader, Wamba dia Wamba, and a political structure: an executive council with 9 members and 7 departments.
 17 August: it is announced that Lubutu and Tingi-Tingi in the east are under rebel control.  Kabila leaves Kinshasa which is once again without electricity.  The Defence Ministers of Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia meet at Harare to prepare a meeting of the Committe of Defence and Security of the SADC.
 18 August: Aru, north of Bunia, falls into rebel hands.  Kinshasa announces the aerial bombardment of rebel positions at Kitona.
 While the Commission of Enquiry set up at Victoria Falls is still at Goma, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe asserts that the 5 Defence Ministers of the SADC (Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia) have resolved to respond favourably to Kabila's calls for help.  Five other nations in the organization, which is made up of 14, were represented by delegates of lower status.  Mugabe asserts that he has proof of Rwandan aggession.
 South Africa, distancing itself from any military intervention, sends its Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence to Uganda and Rwanda to find a political solution to the crisis.
 The OUA puts out a communique calling on the rebels to lay down their arms and denouncing any outside interference in the current conflict.
 19 August: several humanitarian and human rights organizations are anxious about the fate of Tutsis in Kinshasa and in territory controlled by government forces.  They condemn the present cutting off of electricity which has led to a shortage of drinking water in the capital. The authorities allow members of the International Red Cross Committee access tothe camp at Kokolo where Tutsi civilians and soldiers have been interned, "for their own protection," the authorities say.
 From Goma, the political leaders of the rebellion declare they are ready to negotiate with Kabila to get to "a political solution to Congolese problems."  They meet with a South African delegation sent, it is believed, by Kinshasa.
 In an interview for the newspaper Le Soir of Brussels, Paul Kagame, the Vice-President of Rwanda, explains that his country, like other neighbouring countries, was deceived by Kabila. In helping him to take power, Rwanda was looking for the establishment of mutual policies.  However, Kabila listened to no advice. In addition, the Congolese leadership permitted  the strengthening of UNITA in Angola and the enlisting of ex-Far and Interahamwe.  Rwanda was not seeking the creation of a buffer zone at Kivu, but the establishment of a power in Kinshasa "strong, representative, and capable enough to take care of the security of the border regions itself."
 In Ottawa, in Canada, an informal meeting brings together representatives from 13 countries, members of the Friends of the Congo, the PNUD, and special envoys from the RDC.  Their final communique calls for the cessation of hositilities, a political resolution to the conflict, respect for borders, and the non-interference of third parties.
 20 August: the rebels affirm their control over the town of Mbanza-Ngungu in the west.
 Nelson Mandela, after meeting with Kabila and Museveni, calls for a cease-fire and convokes a plenary session of the SADC to try to mediate.  He also meets with the president of Namibia who has come to take part in the decisions made at Harare.
 Mugabe, in turn, attacks the South African leader for obstructing his own efforts to mount a military operation in support of Kabila. Kenya gives its support to Zimbabwe's initiative.
 France, in turn, again proposes an Internation Peace Conference for the Great Lakes region.
 21 August: while rebels troops are reported to be at Kisantu about 100km from the capital, a first contingent of 600 Zimbabwean soldiers arrive in Kinshasa to ensure the protection of the city.  The Namibian Defence Minister confirms that his country will give logistical support to Kabila's troops.  Electricity is temporarily restored to the capital.
 A delegation from the rebel movement is sent to Uganda to solicit support from Museveni.
 Rwanda calls for a cease-fire but "reserves the right to intervene and to support the Congolese people in their search for a lasting solution in any way whatsoever."
 22 August: Angolan troops, accompanied by armoury, cross the Cabinda strip and penetrate in the RDC.
 The presidents of Rwanda and Uganda accept South Africa's invitation and go to Pretoria.  Kabila sends his Justice Minister to represent him, and Mugabe declines the invitation. The mediation session still has not taken place.
 Museveni makes it known that "if unilateral intervention intensifies, Uganda might be compelled (...) to undertake its own independent action to safeguard its interests and its security."
 Two French diplomats are expelled by the authorities at Kinshasa as "persons under suspicion."

 23 August: Angolan soldiers recapture the town of Kitona. The rebels, in turn, take Kisangani. Reinforcements of troops, materiel, and fighter planes arrive in Kinshasa.
 In Pretoria, the SADC summit, with Mugabe and Dos Santos absent, but with Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya participating, proposes a 10 point plan to resolve the conflict.  While giving support to Kabila, the plan proposes among other things an immediate cease-fire, but not necessarily with the withdrawal of foreign troops, followed by the calling of a national conference with the aim of producing a transition government and elections after a reasonable length of time.  Mandela is charged with obtaining an end to hostilities in consultation with the Secretary General of the OUA.
 In his turn, Tshisekedi, who is in contact with both parties, calls for an end to the fighting and offers to play the role of mediator.
 A column of 500 Ugandan soldiers is reported to be 170km inside the RDC, heading towards Isiro.
 24 August: Angola officially confirms sending troops into the RDC "so that we can find a political solution to the crisis." Dos Santos gives assurance that his troops will not go further than Kitona.
 The Congolese Minister of Agriculture refuses Pretoria's proposal for a cease-fire, as long as foreign troops are not withdrawn.
 The UN Security Council declares its total support for Pretoria's efforts.
 25 August: after a week's absence, Kabila returns to Kinshasa.  He calls on all Congolese to take up arms "to crush the enemy, or else we shall be slaves of the Tutsi."
 Namibian troops head for the RDC.
 For the first time, through the voice of its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uganda acknowledges the presence of its military in the RDC, to ensure security.
 South Africa opens its peace mission, by sending its minister, Alfred Nzo, to the OUA at Addis Abeba, at the head of a delegation made up of the Foreign Ministers of Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia.
 26 August: rebel troops penetrate the eastern parts of Kinshasa, Masina, Ndjili and Kimbasake.  Violent fighting takes place; some positions of the "infiltrators" are bombarded from the air. A curfew is instigated.
 The town of Kalemie, on the edge of Lake Tanganyika, falls into rebel hands.
 At Kigali, the minister at the presidency, Patrick Mazimpaka, warns that Rwanda could intervene if Kabila continues to kill foreign or Congolese civilians on the pretext that they are Tutsis or Rwandans.
Zimbabwe rejects the demand made by the American special envoy, Howard Wolpe, who is visiting Harare to negotiate a cease-fire.  Mugabe calls instead for the invading forces to be chased from the RDC.  The Zimbabwean contingent in the RDC is estimated to have grown from 600 to 2,800 soldiers.
 From Bukavu, the president of the Congolese Democratic Asssembly, Wamba dia Wamba, accuses Kabila of wishing to globalize the conflict.  In his view, the conflict can only be resolves politically and peacefully.
 27 August: fighting continues at Kinshasa and the peace mission led by South Africa postpones its visit to the RDC until later.
 28 August: the government army raids neighbourhoods in Kinshasa. The "rebels" or so-called rebels are lynched by the soldiers and the populace. Joseph Kabila, the new Chief of Staff, calls on those Congolese soldiers "implicated in this Rwandan escapade" to lay down their arms.  He exhorts the people not to attack these repentant soldiers.  Kabila, for his part, leaves Kinshasa, while the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jena-Charles Okoto, meets the diplomats to demand that they condemn Rwanda and Uganda for their aggression.
 Angolan soldiers are at the doors of Matadi and Inga, waiting until the "rebels" leave before they enter.  Matadi is looted.
 In Uganda, the Defence Minister, Major General Salim Saleh, declares that the two battalions presently in the RDC  to fight Ugandan rebels have been attacked by government troops supported by soldiers from Zimbabwe and Angola. As far as he is concerned there is no question of leaving RDC.  Without ruling out a subsequent intervention, he asserts that the present conflict will continue as long as Kabila refuses the settlement negotiated at Pretoria.
 Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the president of Congo-Brazzaville, says he is ready to take part in the search for a solution to the present tragedy.  He will call on the summit of the non-aligned nations, due to begin August 31 at Durban, to broach the subject.
 At Bukavu, tension mounts after a group of soldiers defect in protest against the massacre in the Kasika district. Commander Ondekane goes there.
 30 August: Kabila goes to Zimbabwe to meet with Mugabe; there he announces another counter-attack in the east of the country.  President Mugabe calls Rwanda, Uganda, and South Africa hypocrites who "talk about the need for peace while in reality they are waging war."
 The Chief of Staff of the Angolan forces, General Joe de Matos, asserts at Matadi that his troops have intervened in the RDC "to protect a legitimate government and to guarantee Angola's vital interests."
 The rebels confirm that they have taken Moba in Katanga.
 When he arrives at Durban in South Africa to take part in the summit of non-aligned nations, the Rwandan  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anastase Gasana, repeats that Kabila is training 10,000 ex-FAR and Interahamwe at Katanga. If no solution is found to the conflict, Kigali "will have no choice but military intervention to come to the aid of Rwandans living in the RDC, and those Congolese opposed to the slaughter and to every form of segregation."  He intends to submit a resolution to the summit calling on the 113 member states to condemn Kabila's government and to intervene to stop the genocide which the Tutsi are facing in the RDC.  In reply, the RDC, represented at the summit by its Foreign Minister, Okoto Lalakombe, will also submit a resolution calling for the condemnation of Rwandan and Ugandan aggression.
 31 August: Angolan and Zimbabwean troops are coming to Isiro.  Kinshasa, still without electricity, returns to calm.
 Kabila, visiting Namibia, accuses South Africa of supporting the rebels by selling arms and munitions to Rwanda.
 The rebel chief, Wamba dia Wamba, claims that he is ready to meet Kabila at any time to discuss a cease fire.
 The Angolan president Dos Santos meets the Ugandan president Museveni at Maputo in Mozambique.
 The UN Security Council calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the RDC and for political dialogue to resolve the crisis.
 On the brink of the summit of nonaligned nations whose plenary session will start on September 2, a meeting of the SADC will be held, presided over by Kofi Annan of the UN and Selim Ahmed Salim of the OUA.

Rebellion or aggression?  
 Officially launched by the "Banyamulenge" soldiers opposed to the withdrawal of Rwandan militias ordered by President Kabila, the military rebellion which has shaken the country since the 2 August last is in fact an act of aggression led by Rwanda and Uganda with the connivance of national interests.  Among these are numbered not only the Banyamulenge, but also some "Mobutistes" in exile who have won over some FAC soldiers formerly from Mobutu's army.  As in 1996, the active participants in the war and their backers have exploited the Banyamulenge's frustration with regard to Kabila's power to launch and spread conflict.  A frustration arising without doubt from their lack of respect for the pledges made on their behalf by the signing of the accord at Lemera in 1996.
 But today, there is reason to question the absence at the heart of the leadership of the rebellion of Banyamulenge leaders, who are already denouncing the injustices committed by Mobutu's regime with regard to their community and who have been forgotten by the AFDL ever since it took over at Kinshasa. Men can still be found in the leadership of the RCD who previously governed with Kabila, either as ministers (Karaha and Bugera) or in very responsible positions (Nyanugabo, Mudumbi. . .)
 One can ask why the war was launched at the moment Kabila asked for the withdrawal of Rwandan militias and not at the beginning of the year when the Banyamulenge mutinied, complaining that they were being marginalised by the leadership of the AFDL.  In the absence of a denial on their part, their participation in the conflict must be accepted.  But it is an exaggeration to maintain that they were the ones who launched the rebellion and who now direct it. The so-called rebellion is not a rebellion; rather it is a military operation mounted by Rwanda and Uganda to replace President Kabila, who, without doubt, has not fulfilled the promises made to them, and to replace him with someone much more malleable, even a Mobutiste!
 Though from the start they denied their implication in the conflict, Uganda and Rwandahave eventually declared their firm intentions to protect their interests on Congolese territory by sending troops there.  Uganda has already admitted doing this. And since the arrival of support for the government side from Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, there is good reason to be pessimistic about the outcome of the war unlessl the countries involved urge their dependents to negotiate to find a political solution to the war.
 While the francophone countries in the area have so far kept out of the conflict, the anglophone countries now seem clearly divided. On the one side are Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola, militarily involved, supported by Kenya and Zambia, to denounce Rwandan/Ugandan aggression.  On the other side is South Africa, supported by Mozambique, Malawi, and Botswana, who are advocating a cease-fire and a diplomatic course. However, South Africa is suspected by the RDC and Zimbabwe of indirectly supporting the rebellion by selling arms to Rwanda.
 Calls for a cease-fire and for negotiations have not yet found willing ears among the warring parties. And in spite of the claims of the belligerents, there can be no military solution to the conflict.  They must find a political solution. But the conditions for obtaining it seem out of reach today. On the one hand, they are waiting for the countries in the region and the international community to recognize and condemn the outside aggression of which the RDC is victim; on the other for the dismissal of Kabila and a new power-sharing.  All call for the withdrawal of foreign troops to allow the Congolese to resolve their country's problems among themselves.
 The point of view of the West seems to have been clearly stated by the Belgian Foreign Minister and the French Minister of Co-operation: it is understood that Rwanda is intervening militarily in Congo/Kinshasa to ensure her own security.  The idea of creating a buffer zone at Kivu, as Israel has in South Lebanon, has not been dismissed. This solution, which approaches the regional context from the single perspective of Rwanda's security, is a grave mistake. It encourages Kigali to control its security problems even if the cost is the Congo's stability.  Everything will be permitted to Rwanda, as long as it keeps reminding the international community, feeling guilty for its inaction, of the genocide of 1994 and the murderous incursions across its frontiers. But as a result of these politics, there is a growing conviction in the Congo and particularly in the East, that it is Rwanda that is the source of their insecurity. That does not augur well for the future.

The leaders of the "rebellion"
 From the start, the name of Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, just recently freed from the gaols of Kabila, was given to the media as the political leader of the rebellion.  Formerly holding a high position in UNESCO, Arthur Ngoma was involved in the opposition to Mobuto's regime, leading the Forces du futur, a political group allied to the Usoras.  A native of Maniema, he was one of the Congolese leaders who had criticized Kabila's power and denounced the presence in the RDC of Rwandan and Ugandan troops, whom he accused of being a force of occupation.  Arrested, he was freed after pressure from the international community. His fellow sufferer, Olenga Nkoy, arrested for the same reasons, was condemned to 15 years in prison.
 Probably because he failed to arouse the support of the population of Kivu for the rebellion, Arthur Ngoma was recently replaced as the head of the RCD by Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba. Little known in the Congo, Wamba dia Wamba is a native of the Bas-Congo, from the region of Matadi. Trained in the United States, where he taught history, from the end of 1976 he was a professor at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam (Tanzania) where Jacques Depeichin, the Executive Secretary of the RCD, also taught.  Trained as a historian in the United States, just like President Wamba, until 1996 Jacques Depeichin was a professor in a Protestant university at Kinshasa.

 The Vice-President's position in the movement is held by a member of the AFDL, Moïse Nyarugabo. A former political advisor of President Kabila's, Nyarugabo ran the Office of Illgotten Gains (Office des biens mal acquis). Other deserters from the AFDL can be found in the leadership of the movement, particularly Bizima Karaha, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Deogratias Bugera, a former Secretary General of the AFDL before he entered the government as Minister of State to the presidency (ministre d"Etat a la présidence); another is Kalala Shambuyi, from Kasaï-east, who came from the Secretariat General of the AFDL.  Joseph Mudumbi is a native of South-Kivu; he was President of the League of Human rights in the Grand-Lacs region and as a result became responsible for the National Immigration Service...

 Other political leaders of the rebellion are former Mobutistes like Alexis Tambwe Mwamba, a native of Maniema; he was PDG of the Office of Customs and Excise and a minister several times under Kengo.  Lunda Bululu, a native of Katanga, is a former legal advisor who ran the General Secretariat of the Economic Community of Central African Countries (CEAC) before Mobutu in May 1990 appointed him Prime Minister of the goverment which was to run the country during the period of transition to democracy.
 There is also a former political leader from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC),Emile Ilunga, reorganizing the notorious Katangan police who joined the AFDL soldiers in the battle of Kenge.  Ilunga, a native of Katanga, was until recently based in Brussels.
 But in view of the latest events, have these people really any power at all in the direction of the movement?  If they have, how do we explain their total absence from the different initiatives to obtain agreement on a cease-fire, conducted by South Africa or the OUA?

War and crimes against humanity
 If there were a humanitarian law to prevent pointless massacres in war time, and if those responsible could be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, it is likely that both sides in the war in the RDC could already be condemned for this kind of crime. 
From the first days of the rebellion, several hundred arbitrary and illegal arrests were made in Kinshasa, particularly against ethnic Tutsis. They were herded into Kokolo camp and other unknown detention centres.  At first, they had access neither to their families nor to any legal assistance.  According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI), certain people were summarily executed.  A Catholic organization, CAFOD) reported that soldiers carried out a house to house search and arrested certain Tutsis.  Cardinal Etsou of Kinshasa has also complained of military raids on his parishes and religious communities in search of Rwandans. The Minister of Personal Rights' promise to allow Red Cross representatives to visit the prisoners has not been kept since August 19. In addition, according to ASADHO, soldiers from the former Zairean Armed Forces (FAZ) were arrested and taken off to an unknown destination.  A commander of these ex-FAZ reported that since the start of the war he had witnessed the summary execution of more than 30 ex-FAZ soldiers.  This rounding up intensified with rumours of the presence of infiltrators in the Congolese capital.
 Worse still, serious incitements to ethnic hatred have been propagated by people with high positions in the Congolese government, who have called on the people to take up arms and put an end to "the crazy game of the Rwandans." According to Amnesty International, at Bunia, on the 8 August, the Congolese National Radio exhorted its listeners to "hurl themselves against the tall, thin people with big noses who wanted to dominate them (a reference to the Tutsi)".On August 12, a local commander invited the residents of Bunia to "avenge themselves on the Rwandans and to massacre them without mercy"(HRW).
 The same kind of crimes are reported in the zone controlled by rebel soldiers. Many civilians must have been killed at Bukavu and and Uvira, and government soldiers executed at Kavumu in the region of Bukavu. The release of information is strictly controlled here; the rebels prevent the population from having access to foreign journalists and have confiscated communication materials from the locals and the humanitarian organizations, so that the international community will not learn about the atrocities that are committed. In spite of this control of information, we learned that a massacre of civilians was perpetrated on August 24 in the village of Kasika, in South-Kivu; word was first of 37 people killed, among them a priest, three nuns, and seminarians; later the information agency of the Italian Missionary Congregations, MISNA, reported that there were at least 207 dead. The rebels acknowledged 47.
 On August 24, the World Food Programme (PAM) complained that 800 metric tonnes of food, vehicles, and communication equipment had been seized, thus preventing thousands of Congolese impoverished by the hoslities from receiving the aid they needed. In the West, while they controlled the Inga dam, the rebels at will cut off electricity to the 6 million inhabitants of Kinshasa, depriving them of drinkable water and paralyzing the hospitals.
 The enlisting , by both sides, of hundreds of minors for war purposes, must also be deplored.  On August 7, an official communique on the national radio called on young people from 12 to 20 to enlist to swell the ranks of the FAC.
 If the international community does not react very strongly against these war crimes, we can look for an explosion of hatred and violence throughout Central Africa.  The shameful resignation of the Security Council of the UN in the face of the massacres of Hutu refugees does not leave much hope in this area..

The UN Investigatory Commission
 The report of the UN Mission of Investigation into allegations of massacres of Hutu refugees was finally submitted on July 1 to the Security Council.  The Commission, which had been prevented by the authorities in the RDC from pursuing all the necessary investigations, was not able "to confirm or refute most of the allegations which have been made concerning serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. . ." However, it could "confirm that certain kinds of violations had taken place. . . In most cases it is possible to draw general conclusions about the forces which took a direct part in the incidents in question." In several places, the massacres were committed by the forces of the AFDL, sometimes with the support of Rwanda and the Rwandan army (APR).  The AFDL also forced many civilians to flee in extremely dangerous conditions and stopped anyone from helping them; this "denial of humanitarian assistance to the homeless, the sick, and the wounded was systematic and might well constitute a crime against humanity." The circumstances in which the attacks on the camps in the interior of the country were conducted in 1997, "show clearly that the intention was to eliminate the Rwandan Hutus living in Zaïre.  One possible interpretation of this phase of operations carried out by the AFDL with the support of Rwanda is that it had been decided to eliminate the ethnic group of the Hutus for being Hutus. If this is confirmed, it would be an act of genocide." The Commission charges there should be an end to this cycle of impunity and that to achieve this those responsible for atrocities should be sought out and punished; that accordingly investigations should be "followed up by an appropriate body" and that an internation tribunal should be set up to judge the "serious violations of the rights of man."
 As was to be expected, the authorities of the RDC and Rwanda, the principal accused, firmly rejected the report's conclusions.  According to Kinshasa, it is a "dangerous document which (...) exacerbates ethnic hatred between the Hutus and the Tutsis, over-simplifying the very numerous and complex problems existing in the Great Lakes region."  For Kigali, it is "emotional and devoid of credible evidence."
 What is more surprising is the reaction of the UN Security Council on July 13.  It "condemns massacres, atrocities and violations of the law of international human rights into which categories fall the crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and especially in the eastern provinces...".  It "recognizes the need for an additional investigation (...) and to pursue those responsible."  Then it "calls on the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of Rwanda without delay to investigate the allegations contained in the report of the Investigation Task Force in their own countries, and to bring to justice anyone implicated in these massacres, atrocities, and violations of the law of international human rights, or other similar offences."
 Those organizations concerned with civil rights  are furious at such a feeble response from the UN Security Council. According to Human Rights Watch, "it is an insult to the victims.  The two governments have already refused to co-operate with the previous investigation into these crimes." For Amnesty International, the Security Council "is asking those accused of perpetrating the crimes to conduct the investigation." Once again, the Council has missed "the opportunity to stop the impunity which is so tragically prevalent in the Great Lakes region." Once again, it has "shamefully" abnegated its responsibilities.
 How can we explain this refusal of the Security Council?  Could it be that some of its members prefer that the whole truth about the massacre of the Hutus is not known?  We know, for example, that the Americans trained the soldiers who perpetrated the atrocities and that American soldiers were present at the hostilities.

Translated from the French by M.Dowler
mdowler@sympatico.ca 

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