Letter dated 23 November 2009 from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the DRC

Summary

Final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The present report concludes that military operations against the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) have failed to dismantle the organization’s political and military structures on the ground in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The increasing rate of FDLR combatant defections and FDLR temporary removal from many of its bases are only a partial success, considering that the armed group has regrouped in a number of locations in the Kivus, and continues to recruit new fighters. The report shows that FDLR continues to benefit from residual but significant support from top commanders of the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC), particularly officers in the 10th military region (South Kivu), and has sealed strategic alliances with other armed groups in both North and South Kivu. External support networks, both regional and international, have been used by FDLR in the field to counteract the effects of “Kimia II” (FARDC-led military operations against FDLR), for instance networks in Burundi and the United Republic of Tanzania. The Group has also documented that FDLR has a far-reaching international diaspora network involved in the day-to-day running of the movement, the coordination of military and arms trafficking activities and the management of financial activities. This report presents two case studies on the involvement of individuals linked to faith-based organizations.

The Group investigated FDLR’s ongoing exploitation of natural resources in the Kivus, notably gold and cassiterite reserves, which the Group calculates continues to deliver millions of dollars in direct financing into the FDLR coffers. The present report illustrates how FDLR gold networks are tightly intertwined with trading networks operating within Uganda and Burundi as well as in the United Arab Emirates. The Group also documents that a number of mineral exporting companies, some of which were named in a previous report of the Group in 2008 (S/2008/773), continue to trade with FDLR. This report shows that end buyers for this cassiterite include the Malaysia Smelting Corporation, and the Thailand Smelting and Refining Company, which is held by Amalgamated Metals Corporation, based in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The report analyses the integration of non-State armed groups into FARDC through the rapid integration process in January 2009, as well as prior to and during the FARDC/Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) joint operations “Umoja Wetu” and “Kimia II”. In this context, the officer class of the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP), in particular General Bosco Ntaganda, has continued to retain heavy weapons acquired during its period of rebellion in spite of its official integration into FARDC and still controls revenue-generating activities and parallel local administrations. The Group also presents documentary evidence showing that General Ntaganda continues to act as the deputy operational commander of Kimia II.

CNDP military officers deployed as part of FARDC Kimia II operations have profited from their deployment in mineral-rich areas, notably at the Bisie mine in Walikale, North Kivu, and in the territory of Kalehe, in South Kivu. In both these areas, the FARDC commanding officers on the ground are former CNDP officers.

The Group includes evidence in the report showing direct involvement of CNDP military officials in the supply of minerals to a number of exporting houses in North and South Kivu, some of which also supply the international companies mentioned above.

The Group has monitored compliance with paragraph 5 of resolution 1807 (2008), by which the Security Council decided that all States are to notify the sanctions committee in advance regarding the shipment of arms and related material for the Democratic Republic of the Congo or any provision of assistance, advice or training related to military activities, especially given the Group’s findings on the continued diversion of FARDC military equipment to non-governmental armed groups, notably FDLR. The Group has conclusively documented irregular deliveries of arms to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Sudan, as well as deliveries of trucks and aircraft that have been used by FARDC. The present report also documents the failure of a number of States to notify the sanctions committee of training they provided to FARDC.

The Group also reports on violations of human rights committed in contravention of subparagraphs 4 (d), (e) and (f) of resolution 1857 (2008) and concludes that FARDC and non-governmental armed groups continue to perpetrate human rights abuses, in the context of Kimia II operations in contravention of international humanitarian law. FARDC and FDLR have been involved in significant killings of civilians and other abuses from March to October 2009, causing additional waves of displacement of several hundred thousand civilians. The findings of the report underline the need for the urgent establishment of a vetting mechanism and the strengthening of accountability and the justice system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A list of FARDC commanders currently deployed in the Kimia II operation with an established record of human rights abuses is annexed to the present report (annex 124).
The Federal Police of Germany arrested Mr. Ignace Murwanashyaka and Mr. Straton Musoni, the president and vice-president of FDLR respectively, on 17 November 2009, following the submission of the present report on 9 November 2009 by the Group of Experts to the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004). Mr. Murwanashyaka and Mr. Musoni were arrested on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as on the basis of other charges related to the forming and membership of a foreign terrorist organization.

Al Jazeera Follow-Up on UN DR Congo Debacle

UN mission 'failing' in DR Congo
About 1,2000 FDLR fighters have surrendered since an army offensive was launched in March [AFP]

The United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo has failed to disarm Rwandan Hutu fighters, UN experts say.


According to a 93-page report for the UN Security Council, leaked on Wednesday, this has exacerbated conflict in the north of the country.

The report said that despite the mission in North and South Kivu provinces the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) was continuing to recruit and arm fighters.

"This report concludes that military operations against the FDLR have failed to dismantle the organisation's political and military structures on the ground in eastern DRC," it said.

The 25,000-strong UN force has been supporting a Congolese military offensive, launched in March as part of a deal to improve ties with neighbouring Rwanda, its enemy during a 1998-2003 war.

The five-member panel of experts sent to DRC to compile the report found that the Congolese offensive had had a devastating effect on the local population.

"Scores of villages have been raided and pillaged, thousands of houses have been burnt and several hundred thousand people have been displaced in order to escape from the violence generated by these military operations," the report said.

Mineral trading

Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, the spokesman for the UN force, said that the peacekeepers were "quite happy" with the results of the military operation, but acknowledged that "the humanitarian situation does not look as good".

"We were able to neutralise between 35 and 50 per cent of the FDLR combatants and as well we can say that the they are pushed out of the majority of their economic sites," he told Al Jazeera from Kinshasa.

However, the report concluded that although more than 1,200 of the FDLR's estimated 6,000-to-8,000 fighters have surrendered since the offensive began, it had been able replenish its ranks from both Congolese and Rwandan Hutus.

The group also continues to benefit from the riches generated by the areas vast mineral resources.

Companies continue to purchase minerals from jungle mines controlled and operated by FDLR supporters, while middlemen smuggle millions of dollars in gold to Dubai every year.

Official Congolese records show only a few kilos of gold are exported legally every year, but the country's own senate estimates that in reality 40 tonnes a year, worth about $1.24bn - leaves the country.

"The [UN] group calculates that the FDLR could earn at least several hundred thousand dollars and up to a few million dollars a year from this trade," the report said.

The FDLR was formed in refugee camps in eastern DRC housing mainly ethnic Hutus who had fled during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

But support networks in Africa, Europe and North America, now finance and command the fighters.

The experts tracked 240 calls between Ignance Murwanashyaka, an FDLR leader based in Germany, and DR Congo fighters, who in turn were in touch with contacts in 25 countries in Europe and America.

Unstable region

Guy Momat, a Congolese journalist and founder of Stop the Congo War UK, said there had been some improvements in North and South Kivu provinces since last year.

"In November 2008 the situation was worse than now: the town of Goma was close to falling to the forces of Laurent Nkunda and you can imagine what could have been the consequences, but now people have regained their place," he said.

About 25,000 UN peacekeepers have been deployed to eastern DR Congo [EPA]
"For the last 12 years that part of the Congo was not stable, so as an observer I think it will take time to bring a proper peace."

In return for Congo's pledges to tackle the Hutu rebels, some of whom helped orchestrate Rwanda's 1994 genocide, Rwanda arrested Nkunda, whose National Congress for the Defence of the People [CNDP] forces were then integrated into the army.



The most aggressive operations against the FDLR have been spearheaded by predominantly Tutsi former CNDP units, some of which are apparently under the command of General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

"General Bosco Ntaganda was enforced by both Kinshasa and Kigali as the de facto military head of the CNDP, with specific instructions to manage and control former CNDP elements integrated in the [army]," the report said.

Under Ntaganda's leadership, integrated CNDP units are accused by the group of experts of widespread abuses including killings, rape, torture, forced labour, looting and extortion.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Al Jazeera Reports

Many dead in DR Congo boat accident

Travel is often limited to aircraft and boats that ply Congo's huge network of rivers [EPA]

At least 73 people have been killed after a boat sank on a lake in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has emerged.

DR Congo's branch of the Red Cross said on Saturday that a logging boat that was not authorized to take passengers sank during bad weather on Wednesday.

"We are at 272 survivors and 73 dead. These are bodies that we have found along the shores of the lake," Dominic Lutula, president of the Congolese Red Cross told the Reuters news agency.

"There are still some people missing. But we don't know how many because there was no ship's manifest," he said.

Bodies had been found on the shores of Lake Mai Ndombe.

'People missing'

The boat had been transporting logs on Lake Mai Ndombe in Bandundu province, the United Nations-sponsored Radio Okapi said.

Radio Okapi said the boat, owned by a logging company called Sodefor, sank at around 8:00pm (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Despite its vast mineral wealth, roads are almost non-existent outside Congo's main towns.

Travel is often limited to aircraft and the boats that ply its huge network of rivers.

Accidents are frequent due to overloading, lack of maintenance, and lax enforcement of safety standards.

At least 14 people died in September after their boat sank on an isolated stretch of the Lualaba river in the southern province of Katanga.

Courtesy of

The UN Continues it Irresponsibility

UN News Service (New York)
Congo-Kinshasa: Security Council Renews Arms Embargo And Sanctions

30 November 2009

The Security Council today extended and expanded the arms embargo and related sanctions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have been in place since 2003, for another year.

Council members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution continuing the regime of sanctions, which consists of an arms embargo against all armed groups that are not part of either the Government's integrated army (known as the FARDC) or police units, through 30 November next year.

The 15-member panel also extended the mandate of the Group of Experts dealing with the DRC for the same period, and expanded its remit to include the creation of recommendations on due diligence guidelines for the buying and processing of lucrative mineral products in the troubled African country.

The Group of Experts has been asked to focus its activities on North and South Kivu, Ituri and Orientale provinces in the east of the country, which remains plagued by fighting and unrest since the end of the DRC's brutal civil war earlier this decade.

The mandate of the Council subcommittee dealing with the DRC has also been expanded to take account of changing notification requirements for UN Member States complying with the embargo and sanctions.

EXPOSED! The UN Security Council is a farce

Africa Confidential (London)
Congo-Kinshasa: Diplomatic Double-Standards and an International Resource Grab are Stoking One of the Worst Wars in the World

25 November 2009

The United Nations Security Council's tenuous authority in Africa has been further threatened by an explosive new report from a UN Group of Experts* showing wide-ranging violations of the arms embargo on Congo-Kinshasa by both Western and African states.

The expert panel reports that killer militias in Eastern Congo have been receiving military orders from leaders based in Germany and France and getting finance from two Spanish-based charities linked to the Roman Catholic church in clear breach of the UN sanctions regime. The report also accuses the governments of Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa of allowing serious breaches of sanctions and the illegal export of mineral wealth.

After heated discussions at UN headquarters in New York on 20 November, several Council members want to dilute the report's recommendations – if not bury them, Africa Confidential has learned. The Council is due to meet again on 25 November to discuss the report, but China has been pushing for a substantive delay on any actions while the report is translated into another five languages.

This latest crisis for the UN's operations in Congo-Kinshasa follows growing concerns about relations between the Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo (Monuc) and the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) after the latter was found to have been involved in mass killings and rapes of civilians in Eastern Congo. The new report reinforces concerns voiced by some UN officials about the management of Monuc, the UN's most expensive peacekeeping operations costing over US$1 billion a year, under Alan Doss, the British diplomat who is currently UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative in Congo. Continuing criticism of the ineffectiveness of Monuc and its high cost are undermining diplomatic support for the mission.

Analysing internal Monuc reports and its information from its own sources the Expert Group concludes that military operations by the FARDC, first in conjunction first with the the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) and then with Monuc, against the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia have had much less impact than the Kinshasa government and the UN have claimed.

It adds that the joint FARDC-RDF operation in North Kivu earlier this year, known as Umoja Wetu, was weakened by the embezzlement of several million US dollars of funds by senior FARDC and RDF commanders. Umoja Wetu was followed in March 2009 by Kimia II, an FARDC operation backed by Monuc, which the FARDC says has contained and greatly weakened the FDLR. Yet the Group's report states that since forming a tactical alliance with a predominantly Hunde militia in North Kivu as well as with its splinter faction RUD-URUNANA, the FDLR has been able to return in strength to the Masisi, Lubero and Walikale regions of the province. The report concludes that the FARDC's military operations have not succeeded in neutralising the FDLR, despite the intense humanitarian crisis they have provoked.

The previous UN panel report on Congo-Kinshasa, released last December, reported at length on secret collaboration between the FARDC and FDLR. This was followed in January, however, by a groundbreaking deal between Congo-Kinshasa's President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, which was widely assumed to mean, not least by the Security Council, that FARDC support for the FDLR would cease. Yet this latest report shows that the senior commanders of the FARDC's 10th military region, which roughly comprises South Kivu, continue to provide logistical support to the FDLR.

The commanders of the FARDC 10th military region, who the report claims are responsible for the provision of this logistical support, are General Pacifique Masunzu, a Banyamulenge (South Kivu Banyamulenge Tutsi) who broke with the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) back in 2003 and who clearly remains implacably opposed to the Rwandan government, and his deputy Colonel Baudouin Nakabaka, a former Mai-Mai fighter with close links to the FDLR.

Another interesting link to the FDLR and to a related and equally brutal Rwandan militia in eastern DRC called RUD-URUNANA, reveals the report, is Mbusa Nyamwisi, Congo-Kinshasa's Minister of Decentralisation. Mbusa Nyamwisi, who was previously Foreign Minister, has been linked by the report to Kasereka Maghulu, otherwise known as Kavatsi, who has apparently been helping RUD-URUNANA obtain food supplies, arms, ammunition and cash in return for minerals and timber.

One of the report's strongest findings is the extent of the FDLR's support network in Europe, and particularly in Germany and France. It shows that German-based Ignace Murwanashyaka is not only the FDLR President but also its supreme military commander, and that Straton Musoni, its German-based Vice-President, is also President of the militia's high command. The Deputy President of this high command is apparently Callixte Mbarushimana, the FDLR's France-based Executive Secretary. All three men have previously been sanctioned by the UN, which is supposed to mean that they are banned from international travel and that their bank accounts are frozen. But Etablissement Muyeye, one of the biggest mineral trading houses in Bukavu, organised the transfer of funds through Western Union to Murwanashyaka's associates in Germany on behalf of FDLR, the report shows.

The arrest of Murwanashyaka and Musoni by the German authorities last week on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity raises questions about timing. The German government had not previously acted against Murwanashyaka and Musoni despite evidence of their continued leadership role in the FDLR and appeals from the Rwandan government to take action. Some UN sources suggest Germany acted because it had heard about the UN report with details about the FDLR networks in Europe.

Germany's arrest of the two FDLR men puts pressure on France, which has not arrested Calixte Mbarushimana, and is criticised in the report for being reluctant to share information about the FDLR with the panel. The experts identified 21 telephone numbers in France that have been in contact with FDLR military satellite phones between September 2008 and August 2009. They asked the French government to collaborate and identify these numbers but the French authorities are yet to respond. Similarly, the French authorities have failed to respond to questions about FDLR leadership resident in France.

The networks are wider: the UN experts also identified money transfers from Belgium to the FDLR. They also complain about the lack of cooperation from Britain and the United States on enquires into phone numbers in contact with FDLR military satellite phones.

Also under scrutiny are those Roman Catholic networks which have provided continuing support to Hutu extremists before, during and after the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. The panel names two Spanish charities linked with the Roman Catholic church, the Fundació S'Olivar and Inshuti, which are funded by the government of the Islas Baleares Province and have been providing financial support to the FDLR, which groups around youth recruited in refugee camps and young Congolese Hutus, the last quarter of the former militiamen and Forces Armées Rwandaiseselements. Fundació S'Olivar is run by Juan Carrero, a prominent figure in Spain who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. Inshuti used to be run by Joan Casoliva. Both men are cited in the report as being FDLR sympathisers and for being involved in pushing forward the prosecution of RPF officials in the Spanish courts. The authors of the report also gathered testimonies claiming that a Belgian brother of a charity called Constant Goetschalckxhas given money to the FDLR.

Another important revelation by the Group is that the FDLR and RUD-URUNANA have since early this year been recruiting hundreds of combatants from Rwandan refugee camps in Uganda, in particular from the camps of Nyakivale and Cyaka, under the noses of the Ugandan military which is supposed to have been preventing this. A key organiser is said to be the FDLR's 'Colonel' Wenceslas Nizeyimana, who is accused of facilitating a visit in 2006 by FDLR President Ignace Murwanyashyaka to Uganda in violation of a UN travel ban.

These findings embarrass Uganda, which is a temporary member of the UN Security Council, as do revelations in the report about Uganda's deep involvement in a thriving trade in gold mined from eastern Congolese sites controlled and taxed by the FDLR. The report says that Rajendra Vaya and J.V. Lodhia (also known as Chuni), who headed two Ugandan gold trading companies called UCI and Machanga which were previously sanctioned by the UN Security Council for buying gold from mines taxed by an assortment of Ituri militia, are the most active and are trading with the protection and connivance of the Ugandan authorities.

The report criticised the Ugandan government for supplying the Group with only 'incomplete and partial' customs declarations for the country's gold exports, and claims to have documentation showing that far more is going out then the official figures reveal. Almost all the Congolese gold being exported via Uganda, it seems, goes to Dubai, which has so far declined to respond to any of the Group's requests for further information.

The report also says that the FDLR is receiving 'significant deliveries' of weapons and ammunition from Tanzania via Lake Tanganyika and strongly suggests the Tanzanian government knows all about it. The Tanzanian government's motivation, moots the panel, is to retain influence over illegal trade with Congo, including fuel smuggling from Tanzania to Congo and minerals smuggling in the other direction. The panel has email correspondence from Bande Ndagundi, a Congolese arms trafficker active in Tanzania and Burundi, talking about his high level contacts with Tanzanian officials. The panel shows Ndagundi has been in regular phone contact with the Tanzanian Ambassador to Burundi, who the panel's sources allege facilitates Ndagundi's activities.

The Group's report claims the Burundian government is allowing the FDLR to use its territory as a rear base and to recruit from there, and further finds that it may be facilitating a supply of arms to the militia from international dealers. It has long been known that Burundi was the main conduit for gold mined in South Kivu, since the country exports gold without producing it. Most, if not all, South Kivu's gold mines are controlled by one armed group or another, with the FDLR controlling a number of the best deposits.

Several FDLR ex-combatants interviewed by the experts stated that several hundred of fighters were recruited in Rwanda and infiltrated through Burundi into Congo-Kinshasa. There is little doubt that Burundi will dislike this report, in particular the mention that according to several testimonies and backed by phone records,'the FDLR maintain a relationship with Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana, Burundi's head of intelligence'. Moreover, the experts found suspicious the attempted purchase in Malaysia by Burundian officials of 40,000 Steyer AUG assault rifles, which exceeded the needs of the Burundian police.

Several foreign mining houses continue to trade with the FDLR. End buyers for this cassiterite include the Malaysia Smelting Corporation and the Thailand Smelting and Refining Company (Thaisarco), held by the British-registered Amalgamated Metals Corporation. Furthermore, the fact that Thaisarco is supplied by African Ventures Ltd, a Samoan-registered company with a Hong Kong address, which is being used as a front company for the Swiss businessman Chris Huber, is also embarrassing; Huber was involved in the conflict coltan business during the 1998-2003 war in Eastern Congo and today he is also sourcing material from companies with close ties to FARDC officers from the former Congrés National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP, the ex-Congolese Tutsi guerilla force headed by Gen. Laurent Nkunda), who are in control of mines in the Walikale and Kalehe territories as well as companies buying from FDLR zones.

The report published a document showing how gold from these mines makes it into Burundi, focusing in particular on the role played by Bujumbura-based Mutoka Ruganyira. Ruganyira, it seems, is a good friend of Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana, the director general of the Burundian intelligence services, and a business associate of Antwerp-based gold dealer Alain Goetz.Goetz, says the report, is linked not only to Ruganyira but also to a North Kivu-based company improbably called Glory Minerals, which also sources its gold from FDLR-controlled mines. Goetz has, however, denied the story, telling the panel he had not purchased gold from the DRC 'for several years'.

Among the Group's less surprising revelations are that North Korea and Sudan have violated UN Security Council resolution 1807 which imposes all states to notify the Sanctions Committee in advance regarding the shipment of arms for Congo.

China also supplied ammunition and equipment. The An Xin Jiang A vessel docked at Matadi in May 2009. China informed the Committee about the delivery but did not provide details about the cargo. China has been leading the charges against the expert report in the UN Security Council. South Africa, Angola and the USA, which train FARDC units, failed to notify the UN Sanctions Committee in advance on this provision of military assistance, advice or training. US authorities also failed to provide information on the bank account of a CNDP activist in Gisenyi.

Russia will face questions about the purchase of cassiterite by the Novosibirsk Integrated Tin Works company from ex-CNDP Congolese army officers and an attempted sale of military equipment including helicopter parts to the Congolese government in August 2009 by a Russian national named Dmitry Popov.

Of all governments in the region, Rwanda's seems to have earned the least criticism in this report – although it will also be embarrassed by revelations that Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the founder and former leader of the predominantly Congolese Tutsi CNDP who is supposed to be under detention in Rwanda, has been allowed to remain in contact with former associates and to exert a degree of control over the CNDP. The link with Chris Huber is also embarrassing. Huber used to ship minerals out of Rwanda during 1998-2003 via the state run Rwanda Metals, a company owned by the Rwandan Patriotic Forces (RPF).

The report says that the man who toppled Nkunda from the CNDP leadership, Jean Bosco Ntaganda, is the deputy commander of Kimia II despite being wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The new US envoy to the Great Lakes region, Howard Wolpe, recently called on the Congolese government to hand Ntaganda over to the ICC, but Information Minister Lambert Mende retorted that the government was 'not yet ready' to do so. Ntaganda appears, meanwhile, to be building a military/business empire for himself in the Kivus, collecting taxes from mines now controlled by the FARDC's ex-CNDP units, illegal checkpoints, charcoal markets, the timber trade and border controls, and also centralising under his control a growing number of the CNDP's disparate arms caches.

The Group's report recommended that the UN Security Council request member states, like Germany, to prosecute violations of the sanctions regime by their nationals and leaders of armed groups residing in their territories, but we hear the recommendation is set to be rejected by the Council.

The Council also reacted with hostility to the panel's recommendation that it adopt a coordinated strategy for the full implementation of its previous anti-FDLR resolutions, and that it direct member states to share evidence they may have against the FDLR with each other and with the panel, apparently on the recommendation of France.

It will become clear on 25 November, when the Security Council is due to vote on a new resolution, how the Council has reacted to other recommendations from the panel. It recommends that member states clarify the due diligence obligation of companies under their jurisdiction operating in Congo's mineral trading sector, and that an eastern Congo cassiterite monitoring mechanism recently proposed by the International Tin Research Institute (ITRI) be widened to allow for the establishment of an independent monitoring team. The team should have a mandate to conduct spot checks on mineral shipments, acting on the basis of a 'clear definition' of what constitutes an illegal trading activity.

Given the hostility to the report from several members of the Security Council, the Group's future will depend heavily on the energy with which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon defends the panel, which he appointed and whose mandate he agreed. Yet the Group's report is so hard-hitting and wide-ranging in its targets that it is likely to provoke the same closing of ranks and quiet panic on the Security Council as previous reports on the illegal exploitation of minerals in Congo-Kinshasa

Criticisms of the USA's and China's military assistance to the Congo as 'inadequate', and of Russia's trying to secure new arms deals is likely to elicit hostility from three of the five permanent members. Yet the Council will not want to be seen to be blocking actions against governments and individuals breaking UN sanctions on support for the militias wreaking havoc in Eastern Congo. The Group of Experts appointed by Ban Ki-moon has delivered on its mandate by producing a report that is unusually well-researched, detailed and precise in its allegations.The Council will be risking its already waning credibility in eastern Congo if it rejects the report and the recommendations that flow from it.

*The UN Group of Experts consists of Raymond Debelle (Belgium), Kokouma Diallo (Guinea), Christian Dietrich (United States), Claudio Gramizzi (Italy) and Dinesh Mahtani (Britain).

Minerals Trading at High Rate

HONG KONG, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Gold surged to an all-time high above $1,200 an ounce on Wednesday, hitting a record for a second straight day, and Asian stocks advanced as investors chased riskier assets offering higher returns.

Spot gold rose 1 percent to $1,208.70 amid a broad rally in commodities on expectations of rising global demand, fueled by upbeat U.S. home sales and analysts' forecasts that China's economy could grow by 10 percent or more this quarter.

Copper touched its highest level in 15 months.

Gold was also supported by weakness in the U.S. dollar, which was again on the defensive while the euro and high-yielding currencies extended gains as investor risk appetite showed little sign of waning as it usually does heading into the year end.

The dollar was flat against a basket of major currencies, while the yen came off earlier lows amid disappointment that emergency steps announced the Bank of Japan on Tuesday, primarily short-term funding for banks, did not go further to tackle deflation or help alleviate upward pressure on the yen.

The yen was trading at 86.91 to the dollar, up from Tuesday's low of 87.54. It has gained more than 4 percent this year, raising worries that exports are growing less competitive, threatening to tip Japan back into recession.

Some analysts had expected the BOJ to signal a return to a narrow form of quantative easing seen in 2001-06, when it slashed interest rates to zero and flooded markets with cash in a bid to spur growth.

"The BOJ squandered any possible 'announcement effect' that would have bolstered the attempts to weaken the yen," said Glenn Maguire, chief economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "The entire episode seems to have the notion of 'rushed' all over it."

OpEd: Conflict Minerals

Conflict Minerals: A Cover For US Allies and Western Mining Interests?

By Kambale Musavuli and Bodia Macharia (Friends of the Congo)

As global awareness grows around the Congo and the silence is finally
being broken on the current and historic exploitation of Black people
in the heart of Africa, a myriad of Western based prescriptions are
being proffered. Most of these prescriptions are devoid of social,
political, economic and historical context and are marked by
remarkable omissions. The conflict mineral approach or efforts
emanating from the United States and Europe are no exception to this
symptomatic approach which serves more to perpetuate the root causes
of Congos challenges than to resolve them.

The conflict mineral approach has an obsessive focus on the FDLR and
other rebel groups while scant attention is paid to Uganda (which has
an International Court of Justice ruling against it for looting and
crimes against humanity in the Congo) and Rwanda (whose role in the
perpetuation of the conflict and looting of Congo is well documented
by UN reports and international arrest warrants for its top
officials). Rwanda is the main transit point for illicit minerals
coming from the Congo irrespective of the rebel group (FDLR, CNDP or
others) transporting the minerals. According to Dow Jones, Rwanda's
mining sector output grew 20% in 2008 from the year earlier due to
increased export volumes of tungsten, cassiterite and coltan, the
country's three leading minerals with which Rwanda is not well
endowed. In fact, should Rwanda continue to pilfer Congos minerals,
its annual mineral export revenues are expected to reach $200 million
by 2010. Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Herman Cohen says it best when he notes having controlled the Kivu
provinces for 12 years, Rwanda will not relinquish access to resources
that constitute a significant percentage of its gross national
product. As long as the West continues to give the Kagame regime
carte blanche, the conflict and instability will endure.

According to Global Witnesss 2009 report, Faced With A Gun What Can
you Do, Congolese government statistics and reports by the Group of
Experts and NGOs, Rwanda is one of the main conduits for illicit
minerals leaving the Congo. It is amazing that the conflict mineral
approach shout loudly about making sure that the trade in minerals
does not benefit armed groups but the biggest armed beneficiary of
Congos minerals is the Rwandan regime headed by Paul Kagame.
Nonetheless, the conflict mineral approach is remarkably silent about
Rwandas complicity in the fueling of the conflict in the Congo and
the fleecing of Congos riches.

Advocates of the conflict mineral approach would be far more credible
if they had ever called for any kind of pressure whatsoever on mining
companies that are directly involved in either fueling the conflict or
exploiting the Congolese people. The United Nations, The Congolese
Parliament, Carter Center, Southern Africa Resource Watch and several
other NGOs have documented corporations that have pilfered Congos
wealth and contributed to the perpetuation of the conflict. Some of
these companies include but are not limited to: Traxys, OM Group,
Blattner Elwyn Group, Freeport McMoran, Eagle Wings/Trinitech, Lundin,
Kemet, Banro, AngloGold Ashanti, Anvil Mining, and First Quantum.

The conflict mineral approach, like the Blood Diamond campaign from
which it draws its inspiration, is silent on the question of resource
sovereignty which has been a central question in the geo-strategic
battle for Congos mineral wealth. It was over this question of
resource sovereignty that the West assassinated Congos first
democratically elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba and stifled the
democratic aspirations of the Congolese people for over three decades
by installing and backing the dictator Joseph Mobutu. In addition, the
United States also backed the 1996 and 1998 invasions of Congo by
Rwanda and Uganda instead of supporting the non-violent, pro-democracy
forces inside the Congo. Unfortunately and to the chagrin of the
Congolese people, some of the strongest advocates of the conflict
mineral approach are former Clinton administration officials who
supported the invasions of Congo by Rwanda and Uganda. This may in
part explains the militaristic underbelly of the conflict mineral
approach, which has as its so-called second step a comprehensive
counterinsurgency.

The focus on the east of Congo falls in line with the long-held
obsession by some advocates in Washington who incessantly push for the
balkanization of the Congo. Their focus on Eastern Congo is
inadequate and does not fully take into account the nature and scope
of the dynamics in the entire country. Political decisions in
Kinshasa, the capital in the West, have a direct impact on the events
that unfold in the East of Congo and are central to any durable
solutions.

The central claim of the conflict mineral approach is to bring an end
to the conflict; however, the conflict can plausibly be brought to an
end much quicker through diplomatic and political means. The so-called
blood mineral route is not the quickest way to end the conflict. We
have already seen how quickly world pressure can work with the
sidelining of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and the demobilization
and/or rearranging of his CNDP rebel group in January 2009, as a
result of global pressure placed on the CNDPs sponsor Paul Kagame of
Rwanda. More pressure needs to be placed on leaders such as Kagame and
Museveni who have been at the root of the conflict since 1996. The
FDLR can readily be pressured as well, especially with most of their
political leadership residing in the West, however this should be done
within a political framework, which brings all the players to the
table as opposed to the current militaristic, dichotomous, good-guy
bad-guy approach where the West sees Kagame and Museveni as the
good-guys and everyone else as bad. The picture is far grayer than
Black and White.

A robust political approach by the global community would entail the
following prescriptions:

1. Join Sweden and Netherlands in pressuring Rwanda to be a partner
for peace and a stabilizing presence in the region. The United States
and Great Britain in particular should apply more pressure on their
allies Rwanda and Uganda to the point of withholding aid if necessary.

2. Hold to account companies and individuals through sanctions
trafficking in minerals whether with rebel groups or neighboring
countries, particularly Rwanda and Uganda. Canada has chimed in as
well but has been deadly silent on the exploitative practices of its
mining companies in the Congo. Canada must do more to hold its mining
companies accountable as is called for in Bill C-300.

3. Encourage world leaders to be more engaged diplomatically and place
a higher priority on what is the deadliest conflict in the World since
World War Two.


4. Reject the militarization of the Great Lakes region represented by
AFRICOM, which has already resulted in the suffering of civilian
population; the strengthening of authoritarian figures such as
Ugandas Museveni (in power since 1986) and Rwandas Kagame (won the
2003 elections with 95 percent of the vote); and the restriction of
political space in their countries.



5. Demand of the Obama administration to be engaged differently from
its current military-laden approach and to take the lead in pursuing
an aggressive diplomatic path with an emphasis on pursuing a regional
political framework that can lead to lasting peace and stability.



To learn more about the current crisis in the Congo, visit
www.friendsofthecongo.org and join the global movement in support of
the people of the Congo at www.congoweek.org



Kambale Musavuli is spokesperson and student coordinator for Friends
of the Congo. He can be reached at kambale@friendsofthecongo.org



Bodia Macharia is the President of Friends of the Congo/ Canada. She
can be reached at bodia@friendsofthecongo.org