Nkunda trial

The Geneva-based Council had taken a long time in getting around to highlighting the human rights violations in the administrative provinces of North and South Kivu. Their mission is to protect civilians, some , of which have been driven from their homes since the fighting intensified in late August Despite the MONUC troops, there have been large-scale occurrences of wilful violations of human rights and humanitarian law by all parties in the conflict, with massive displacement of populations, plundering of villages, systematic rape of women, summary executions and the use of child soldiers.

The eastern area of Congo is the scene of fighting at least since — in part as a result of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in Efforts at reconciliation, reform and reconstruction have not been carried out in the eastern provinces. The illicit exploitation of natural resources, the inability to deal with land tenure and land use issues, the lack of social services and of socio-economic development have created the conditions which led to the current violence.

Rape is a violation of international humanitarian law. Child soldiers who attempt to escape have been killed or tortured, at times in front of other child soldiers to discourage further escapes. Child soldiers are forced to commit crimes, including murder and rape. Such crimes are a major barrier to community reconciliation and to successful reintegration of demobilized children as communities and even families fear the return of such brutalized children, who are consequently shunned.

The use of child soldiers is contrary to international conditions to which the Democratic Republic of Congo is a party.

The November 28 session of the Human Rights Council sent indirect signals to the Rwandan government that its support for Nkunda might be more costly than it was worth.

Although the African governments, members of the Council, did everything they could to avoid criticizing anyone and even the European Union governments kept things very general, the talks in the hallways and over cups of coffee left no doubt that the situation could not continue. We called Nkunda on his cell phone. Nkunda at Jomba Photo: G. Nkunda said that Ntaganda had as many as 36 troops with him, but had not staged a successful coup.

This was not the first time that lies formed the basis of statecraft in the case of Laurent Nkunda. Was he a renegade rebel, freedom fighter, dissident, murderer, saint, or savior? Truth, quote unquote, was whatever the international media and factional interests decreed.

This template of "truth" was forged in international strategic and military interests in the Great Lakes region, not to mention gold, coltan, tin, diamonds and oil. China was also silently waiting in the wings for the spoils and Nkunda viewed the Chinese as a threat to his country's heritage and wealth -- a robber baron of the future of Congolese children.

The Economist and the British press commented: "The sale of mining licenses at below-market value to firms associated with friends of the president has raised eyebrows. In three years, no one has heard from Nkunda after his betrayal by Rwanda's Paul Kagame in a mutually beneficial alliance with Congo's Joseph Kabila. Paul Kagame's press office has not responded to repeated requests for an interview. Against the advice of advisors, Nkunda went willingly to a meeting called in Rwanda to consider peace talks.

Associates suspected a trap, and they were correct. But a "renegade" general "on the run" is a compelling story. Today, Nkunda is being held under house arrest in Rwanda with no criminal charges pending against him. Laurent Nkunda was arrested while attending a formal meeting to which he had been invited to participate This document has been recently scrubbed from the ICC website.

In May Nkunda, together with General Amisi, was among the RCD-Goma officers responsible for the brutal repression of an attempted mutiny in Kisangani where more than persons were summarily executed. In one incident, forces under Nkunda's command bound, gagged, and executed twenty-eight persons and then put their bodies in bags weighted with stones and threw them off a Kisangani bridge.

After the U. At a Security Council briefing on July 16, , U. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson called on Congolese authorities to arrest those who ordered or were involved in the massacre, and warned of further bloodshed if they were not brought to justice. Despite the supposed end to the war and the establishment of a transitional government in , dissident soldiers loyal to RCD-Goma clashed with other Congolese army forces in South Kivu in May Nkunda and troops loyal to him took control of the South Kivu town of Bukavu on June 2, claiming his action was necessary to stop a genocide of Congolese Tutsi, known locally as Banyamulenge.

During the fighting, Nkunda's troops carried out war crimes, killing and raping civilians and looting their property. In one case on June 3, Nkunda's soldiers gang-raped a mother in front of her husband and children while another soldier raped her three-year-old daughter. After U. Jules Mutebusi, found safety in Rwanda. The Congolese government has issued an international warrant for the arrest of Mutebutsi, charged like Nkunda with insurrection, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Congolese Foreign Minister also wrote to Rwanda, requesting Mutebusi's return to Congo, but Rwandan authorities have not handed him over. In August Nkunda declared the current government corrupt and incompetent and said it must be overthrown. In September a large number of Rwandaphone soldiers belonging to the former RCD-Goma deserted the national army in North Kivu and some of them went to join Nkunda in the forests of Masisi.