Lubanga Trial Website (The Hague)
Congo-Kinshasa: First Defense Witness In Court Tomorrow
Wairagala Wakabi
26 January 2010
The first witness to appear for the Thomas Lubanga defense is expected to give evidence tomorrow (Wednesday). The witness will presented after lead counsel Catherine Mabille has explained how the case will unfold and highlighted certain themes of the accused's case.
But Mabille has today said that they were experiencing some problems related to their first witness, which they wanted the court to resolve.
"I wanted to say we were not able to resolve the issue associated with our discussion with our witness number two linked with problems of translation," Mabille told court. "So we are going to be meeting this evening in order to discuss this with him. He will be testifying tomorrow. I want to draw the chamber's attention to that matter."
The defense counsel continued: "We also came up against the same concern with reference to the second witness due to testify who were going to request his consent so that he meets with the Office of The Prosecutor and this was not possible either. I believe the problem is associated with the availability or non-availability of translators."
Judge Adrian Fulford said it was critical that all concerned departments liaise to address the difficulties the defense was facing. "Time is now extremely precious given that we are having to share two courtrooms between three trials and the chamber will be very reluctant indeed to lose time for administrative problems… applications to adjourn under the present arrangements will be treated very sceptically."
The International Criminal Court (ICC) charges that Lubanga enlisted and conscripted children under the age of 15 years and used them "to participate actively" in armed conflict. The alleged crimes were committed between September 2002 and August 2003 in Ituri province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Meanwhile earlier today judges barred the prosecution from questioning a witness about some events which the witness had referred to earlier in the day. The prosecution's Manoj Sachdeva had sought to ask the witness about his statement that on December 23, 2003 armed groups had gone to the town of Mahagi in eastern Congo in order to recruit volunteers.
Lubanga's lawyer Jean-Marie Biju-Duval protested, reasoning that the trial would be caught up in an interminable spiral if the prosecution were allowed to examine the witness on the events of December 23, 2002. It was not clear what the events were, as the witness had explained them in closed session. This witness is one of two participating victims who had concluded giving their evidence but were on Monday called back to the witness box for more questioning at the bidding of the defense team.
"I believe that the prosecution evidence has been concluded and I don't believe that it will be appropriate that through this questioning the prosecution should try to tender new evidence today," Biju-Duval said.
Judge Fulford said the chamber was of the view that allowing the prosecution to question the witness on the events of December 2002 would be to introduce a wholly new and hitherto un-investigated element into the case. That element had emerged because of the way in which the witness answered at least one of the questions Biju-Duval put to him, he said.
"There has to be finality in relation to the evidence given by witnesses and in our view to allow this area now to be opened up in what should be the closing moments of this witness's testimony would be undesirable and against the interests of justice," Judge Fulford concluded.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Poor DR Congo offers aid to Haiti
from BBC NEWS
The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced it is sending $2.5m (£1.5m) in emergency aid to Haiti, to help it cope with last week's earthquake.
Some Congolese have criticised the offer. After years of conflict, which is still raging in the east, millions of people live in poverty.
The country depends on foreign aid and civil servants frequently go unpaid.
But Information Minister Lambert Mende told the BBC that DR Congo would contribute within its means.
"Congo isn't bankrupt, our own problems shouldn't prevent us from helping a brother country," he said.
But political scientist Ntanda Nkere from the University of Kinshasa told the BBC:
"It's a contradiction to see a country which is facing serious financial problems giving away $2.5m but at the same time, it's a purely diplomatic reaction, the Congolese government wants to appear like any other government."
On Sunday, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said he was offering free land to any Haitians who wanted to "return" to Africa.
Most of Haiti's population are descended from slaves.
"The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin," said Mr Wade's spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye.
Responding to the Senegalese offer, Mr Mende said the government would certainly not reject any Haitians if they wanted to move to DR Congo.
The earthquake killed tens of thousands in Haiti, with many bodies still stuck in the remains of buildings.
Aid is slowly arriving but aid workers are struggling to distribute it to all those who need it.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8466275.stm
Published: 2010/01/18 17:39:27 GMT
© BBC MMX
The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced it is sending $2.5m (£1.5m) in emergency aid to Haiti, to help it cope with last week's earthquake.
Some Congolese have criticised the offer. After years of conflict, which is still raging in the east, millions of people live in poverty.
The country depends on foreign aid and civil servants frequently go unpaid.
But Information Minister Lambert Mende told the BBC that DR Congo would contribute within its means.
"Congo isn't bankrupt, our own problems shouldn't prevent us from helping a brother country," he said.
But political scientist Ntanda Nkere from the University of Kinshasa told the BBC:
"It's a contradiction to see a country which is facing serious financial problems giving away $2.5m but at the same time, it's a purely diplomatic reaction, the Congolese government wants to appear like any other government."
On Sunday, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said he was offering free land to any Haitians who wanted to "return" to Africa.
Most of Haiti's population are descended from slaves.
"The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin," said Mr Wade's spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye.
Responding to the Senegalese offer, Mr Mende said the government would certainly not reject any Haitians if they wanted to move to DR Congo.
The earthquake killed tens of thousands in Haiti, with many bodies still stuck in the remains of buildings.
Aid is slowly arriving but aid workers are struggling to distribute it to all those who need it.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8466275.stm
Published: 2010/01/18 17:39:27 GMT
© BBC MMX
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
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
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
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