AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Tension in Democratic Congo for possible postponement of elections. Situation in the east still critical. Catholic Bishop of Butembo-Beni says “150,000 people without humanitarian assistance. European Union must intervene”

Tuesday, 11 January 2005

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Kinshasa (Fides Service)- Tension is high in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Congo where yesterday 10 January at least four people were killed in clashes during a protest against possible postponement of political elections scheduled to take place before June this year.
Protests followed a statement from the vice president of the independent electoral commission who said the date was “unrealistic”: “Elections 2005 are unrealistic, the Constitution is not ready and neither is the electoral law”.
The elections should mark the end of the interim period set by a peace agreement which included an interim government formed of representatives of all political parties and the guerrilla movements operating in the eastern part of the country.
The situation in Congo was one of the items on agenda of the African Union Peace and Security Council summit in Gabon, Libreville (see Fides 10 January). The Council discussed the situation in eastern Congo where the army is righting rebels which Kinshasa says are supported by Rwanda. Kigali threatened to intervene in eastern Congo accusing Kinshasa of failing to prevent the presence on its territory of former Interahamwe militia and former members of the Rwandan army responsible for the genocide in 1994. The Council said the presence of these groups “is a serious problem for security and calls for courageous action on the part of the African Union” and that is has decided to “help Congo disarm these troops Congo”, and hopes “for support from the international community”, particularly at the level of logistics.
The situation is still critical in eastern regions of Congo. In a message for the new year Bishop Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku of Butembo Beni in Kivu described the condition of his diocese. “The situation is still concerning with regard 150,000 people living in the south of the diocese where humanitarian has not been taken for 4 weeks because of the lack of security” the Bishop writes. Caritas Congo is one of the few humanitarian agencies in Congo, “the Caritas team arrived in Butembo and set to work immediately” Bishop Sikuli Paluku writes.
The Bishop of Butembo Beni, says that rebel troops are still present in various parts of his diocese and that government troops are about 30 km away and, with regard to the situation of the people who have suffered so much violence in the past months he said: “people here are visibly traumatised and weakened after unspeakable suffering. By day they timidly return to their homes to see what is left after the looting and sacking. When night falls they return to forest because the UN mission MONUC, if not in league with the rebels, is notorious for failing to protect civilians”.
The Bishop concludes calling on the international community to send another European Union mission to Congo, like the ARTEMIS mission in Ituri (north-east Congo) in 2003. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/1/2005 righe 45 parole 562)