Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – Congolese rebel General Laurent Nkunda was arrested yesterday (January 22) evening in Rwanda in a joint operation carried out by Rwandan and Congolese armed forces. Nkunda, who is accused of war crimes by the International Crime Court, was the leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), the guerrilla movement that has been tearing apart North Kivu, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo bordering Rwanda.
The arrest of Nkunda enters into the collaboration accords between Rwanda and the DRC in trying to end the instability of North Kivu. Several thousand Rwandan soldiers entered North Kivu to participate in the offensive attack on the former Rwandan hutu militants, who since 1994 have taken refuge in Congolese territory (see Fides 21/1/2009).
“Nkunda's arrest and the Rwandan operations in Congo remain a mystery,” Agenzia Fides was told by Fr. Silvio Turazzi, Xaverian Missionary familiar with the situation in Congo. “The missionaries working with the people are concerned that Rwanda and Congo are operating without international supervision. The United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) affirmed that it does not intend to participate in or supervise the operations of the two armies against the Rwandan hutu soldiers. The Non-Governmental Organizations also question the motives of their operation. There are no independent testimonies of what is occurring in Kivu. We are also not pleased that they have chosen a military solution instead of talks in resolving the problem of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). They say that the FDLR's men participated in the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. However, we know that 60% of their members are around the age of 24. In 1994, they would have been mere children. How could they possibly be the ones responsible for those terrible crimes?”
“The problem in Kivu should be resolved with dialogue, working in broad daylight, with the full participation of the UN, which in 1994 asked the government of Zaire (as it was called Congo at the time) to receive the hutus. Among them were certainly those responsible for the genocide, but most of them were women and children,” the missionary said.
Nkunda affirms that he took up arms to defend the Congolese tutsi population against the threat of the FDLR. In reality, the movement led an offensive attack to take control of North Kivu and the capital, Goma. The CNDP later divided: Nkunda was ousted by his number two, Bosco Ntaganda. These, on January 16 declared the end of the war and joined the coalition formed by the Congolese and Rwandan armies. “Bosco Ntaganda is also wanted by the International Crime Court for war crimes. He and Nkunda are among the pawns being used in a game that reaches farther than just them, to be discarded when they are no longer useful,” the missionary concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 23/01/2009)
