September, 25 2008, 08:05am EDT
DR Congo: Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as Peace Process Falters
Renewed Fighting Displaces 100,000 More Civilians in Eastern Congo
GOMA
Renewed combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation and immense suffering for civilians, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups, said today. The coalition called for urgent action to improve protection of civilians and an immediate increase in assistance to vulnerable populations.
Since August 28, 2008, fighting has resumed between the Congolese army and the forces of a renegade general, Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), as well as other armed groups, breaking a fragile ceasefire that had been in place since the Goma peace agreement was signed on January 23. An estimated 100,000 civilians were forced to flee in the most recent violence, including many who had been displaced by earlier waves of fighting. According to witnesses, some civilians were trapped in combat zones and were killed, wounded, raped or illegally detained by soldiers of the Congolese army and combatants of other armed groups.
"The situation for civilians is desperate, and it threatens to deteriorate further if fighting continues," said Rebecca Feeley of the ENOUGH Project. "All the parties who signed the Goma peace agreement should adhere strictly to their obligations, including to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian and human rights law."
The heavy fighting, the worst since the ceasefire was signed, started in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province before spreading to Masisi territory and then to Kalehe territory in South Kivu. Since January 23, the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, has recorded more than 250 ceasefire violations in both North and South Kivu. Each round of fighting resulted in fresh displacement of civilians. The exact numbers are difficult to estimate as those returning home are frequently forced to flee again, but the UN believes that more than 1.2 million people are now displaced in North and South Kivu.
During the recent fighting, many civilians were wounded or killed in the crossfire while there are reports that others, including children, were abducted and forcibly recruited into armed service. In Kirotshe, a female worker at the local health center was shot in the stomach on September 11 while the CNDP and soldiers from the Congolese army fought for control of the town. Another woman who fled from Nyamubingwa village said she left behind three women who had been raped by armed combatants. Much of her village was looted.
"Again and again, we are attacked, we flee, our houses are pillaged, and then we are displaced with nothing," said one man, whose house was looted by two different militia groups after he fled from Nyamubingwa on September 10.
Roadblocks erected by the Congolese army and militia groups prevented many civilians from escaping to safety. In some cases, civilians fleeing combat were only permitted to pass if they paid fines or handed over their electoral cards (which serve as identification in Congo) and other goods which they managed to carry from their homes.
Even outside of combat zones, Congolese army soldiers, sent to the region in increasing numbers, killed or injured civilians, often in the process of pillaging their property. In Minova and neighboring villages of South Kivu, for example, four civilians were killed by indiscriminate fire from soldiers who were looting the area. In some areas, Congolese army soldiers, as well as members of armed groups, are also involved in illicit mining activities in the rich gold and tin mines across the Kivu provinces, systematically extorting from civilians, in particular through the imposition of illegal "taxes."
"Congolese army officers and leaders of armed groups must take urgent steps to control and discipline their troops," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. "They are responsible for keeping their soldiers and combatants from killing, harassing and abusing the population."
Aid workers have suffered attacks that have forced them to suspend activities in North Kivu and parts of South Kivu, leaving many displaced persons without assistance. Soldiers and combatants from armed groups have looted health centers and hijacked trucks delivering humanitarian assistance, diverting them for military purposes. Crowds have stoned aid workers and refused to allow them to pass roadblocks, confusing their role with that of the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC. The crowds said they were angry about what they saw as MONUC's failure to end the conflict and protect the population.
"The signatories to the Goma peace agreement agreed to protect civilians, remove roadblocks and allow humanitarian access to populations in need, yet communities have witnessed them doing precisely the opposite," said Juliette Prodhan, country director for Oxfam GB in DRC. "All parties must live up to their commitments and cease such attacks immediately."
Ten years ago this month, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were first presented to the Human Rights Commission, officially recognizing the basic rights of all internally displaced persons, including protection against arbitrary displacement, the right to protection and assistance while displaced, and guarantees for safe return.
"In eastern Congo many of the basic rights of displaced people have been flagrantly violated," said Ulrika Blom Mondlane from the Norwegian Refugee Council. "The UN's Guiding Principles should be more than just lofty aspirations. The people of eastern Congo desperately need the protection and basic standards of assistance detailed in this groundbreaking document to become a reality."
The Congo Advocacy Coalition calls on the parties to the Goma peace agreement, international donors, and international facilitators to the peace process (United States, European Union, African Union, and the UN) to redouble efforts to implement the Goma peace agreement and to ensure that the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are respected in one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
Specifically, the coalition calls on these actors to:
* Uphold the commitments to civilian protection and respect for human rights set out in the Goma peace agreement and the Nairobi communique. Appoint a special adviser on human rights for eastern Congo to help ensure that human rights concerns are central to peace discussions.
* Significantly and urgently increase and improve assistance for those displaced from their homes and for the families and communities who host them.
* Sanction those who incite violence against humanitarian and UN workers. Inform the population about the different roles and mandates of MONUC and humanitarian agencies.
* Ensure that MONUC's protection mandate is given priority in the resourcing and management of operations.
* Ensure that the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the economic interests of the parties to the conflict are addressed explicitly in bilateral and international dialogues.
Background
On January 23, the Congolese government and 22 armed groups signed the Goma peace agreement, committing to an immediate ceasefire and observance of international human rights law. The Goma Agreement followed the November 2007 agreement between the governments of Congo and Rwanda, known as the Nairobi Communique, which sought to address the presence of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan armed group, in eastern Congo. In April 2008, the Congolese government set up the Amani Program to coordinate peace efforts in eastern Congo.
The UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement set out the basic rights of all displaced people, though their implementation has been weak in eastern Congo. A majority of displaced people in North and South Kivu do not have access to adequate health services, food, or education. In some areas, malnutrition rates have reached alarming levels and several diseases are endemic. A worrying increase in cholera cases, for example, has been registered in six health zones in North Kivu since the beginning of September.
Local food prices have increased dramatically, exacerbating poverty and malnutrition, but the World Food Programme has been obliged to reduce rations in eastern Congo because of food shortages. Displaced people and other vulnerable groups have resorted to high-risk strategies to feed their families. Despite the risk of abuses by army soldiers or combatants of armed groups, some have no alternative but to return home to cultivate their fields. Women and girls are the most affected: many have been raped while attempting to return home or to seek firewood or water. Others have been arbitrarily arrested or forced to pay illegal taxes. Those who do manage to reach home often find their houses looted or occupied by armed groups or bandits.
Children of displaced families have little or no access to education, either because the family has no money to pay school fees or because there are no schools operating in or near displacement camps. In the struggle to stay alive, children are forced to work. As one young boy said to a humanitarian worker, "if you don't work, you don't eat". Like women, children are vulnerable and easy prey to attacks by combatants. In areas around Masisi, for example, children go out to collect firewood at 3 a.m. to avoid abuse by militias, being captured for recruitment, or rape.
The vast majority of those forced to flee their homes live with host families, many of whom are as poor as those they support. To date, these host families, many of whom have sheltered large numbers of displaced persons for months or years, have received little attention and assistance. With village populations sometimes doubling in size, scarce local resources are so strained that displaced people are often forced to move again to other locations.
The Congo Advocacy Coalition, made up of local and international nongovernmental organizations, was established in July 2008 to focus attention on the protection of civilians and respect for human rights in eastern Congo's peace process. The coalition advocates that the parties to the Goma Agreement, the Nairobi Communique and the Congolese government's national Amani Program live up to their commitments to respect international human rights law and ensure protection of civilians. The following organizations are members of the coalition's steering committee: ActionAid, ENOUGH Project, Human Rights Watch, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Conseil Regional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Developpement (CRONGD) - North Kivu, Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Feminines (PAIF) - North Kivu, Initiative Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP) - South Kivu, and Association des Femmes Juristes du Congo (AFEJUCO) - South Kivu.
Other signatories:
International NGOs: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED),
Beati i Costruttori di Pace (Blessed are the Peacemakers), CAFOD, CARE International, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Global Witness, International Alert, La Benovolencija, Merlin, Refugees International, Save the Children UK, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), War Child Holland, Women for Women International, World Vision.
Congolese NGOs: ACP/Sud-Kivu, Action de Promotion et d'Assistance pour l'Amelioration du Niveau des Vies des Populations (APANIVIP), Action Paysanne pour la Reconstruction et le Developpement Communautaire (APREDECI), Action pour la Promotion de la Participation Citoyenne (APPC), Action pour la promotion et la defense des droits des personnes defavorisees (APRODEPED), Action Sociale pour la Paix et le Developpement (ASPD), ADEF, Aide et Action pour la Paix (AAP), Association Africaine de Defense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO)/Sud-Kivu, Association des jeunes pour la defense des droits de l'enfant et la lutte contre la racisme et la haine (AJERH), Association des Voluntaires du Congo (ASVOCO), BEDEWA, Blessed Aid, Caritas Goma, Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Democratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CREDDH0), Centre pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme - Peace and Human Rights Center (CPDH-PHRC), CEPROSSAN (Le Centre de promotion socio-sanitaire), CEREBA, Change Agents Peace Program (CAPP), Children's Voice, Coalition pour mettre fin a l'utilisation d'enfants soldats en RDC, Collectif des Associations des Femmes Pour le Developpement (CAFED), Collectif des ONGs de Droits de l'Homme (CODHO),Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo, (COJESKI) /Nord et Sud Kivu. Construisons la Paix et le Developpement (COPADI), CPP (Campagne Pour la Paix), Dynamique des femmes juristes (DFJ), Federation des Organisations des Producteurs Agricoles du Congo (FOPAC), Femmes Plus/ Sud Kivu, GAM, Goma Pax Christi, Groupe de Voix de Sans Voix (GVSV), Heritiers de la Justice, Human Dignity in the World (HDW), IGEE, La Ligue Adili, LDGL, LUNACOP, Ministere de l'Eglise du Christ au Congo pour les Refugies et les Urgences (ECC MERU)/ Sud Kivu, Mouvement International des Droits de l'Enfant, de la femme, de l'homme veuf et de leur promotion sociale (MIDEFEHOPS), PAMI, PFPA, PRODES, Promotion de la Democratie et Protection des Droits Humains (PDH), PROPREAD, Reseau d'initiative Local pour le developpement durable (REID), Reseau Femme et Developpement (REFED)/Nord-Kivu, Reseau Provincial des ONGs de Droits de l'Homme (REPRODHOC)/Nord-Kivu, Solidarite Feminine pour la Paix et le Developpement Integral (SOFEPADI)/ Nord-Kivu, Solidarite pour la Promotion sociale et la Paix (SOPROP), SOS/Grands-Lacs, Syndicat des Associations Feminines pour un Developpement Integral (SAFEDI), Synergie des femmes pour les victimes des violences sexuelles (SFVS), Uwaki, VAS, Villages Cobaye (VICO), VOVOLIB.
For more information, please contact:
In Washington, DC, for the Enough Project, Colin Thomas-Jensen (English): +1-202-682-6136
In London, for Human Rights Watch, Anneke Van Woudenberg (English, French): +44-77-1166-4960 (mobile)
In Goma, for Norwegian Refugee Council, Ulrika Blom Mondlane (English): + 243-81-086-9030
In Kinshasa, for Oxfam, Juliette Prodhan (English): +243-81-348-9309
In Goma, for CRONGD, Kubuya Muhangi (French, Swahili): +243-99-861-0651
Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
LATEST NEWS
Israeli Settlers, Soldiers 'Wiping Palestinian Communities Off the Map' in the West Bank
"While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fueled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel's allies, are soaring."
Apr 17, 2024
Israeli soldiers have either passively watched or participated in the uprooting of at least seven communities in the West Bank since October of last year, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in a new report documenting surging settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The rights group interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses and examined video footage showing harassment and other abuse of Palestinians in the West Bank "by men in Israeli military uniforms carrying M16 assault rifles."
Following the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel, the Israeli military drafted more than 5,000 settlers into "regional defense" units in the West Bank, Haaretzreported earlier this year. The Israeli newspaper noted that "alongside this large-scale mobilization, the [Israel Defense Forces] has distributed some 7,000 weapons to the battalions as well as to settlers who were not recruited into the army but received them as civilians whom the army considers eligible to carry military arms."
HRW's investigation found that "armed settlers, with the active participation of army units, repeatedly cut off road access and raided Palestinian communities, detained, assaulted, and tortured residents, chased them out of their homes and off their lands at gunpoint or coerced them to leave with death threats, and blocked them from taking their belongings."
"Israeli settlers and soldiers are literally wiping Palestinian communities off the map," said Omar Shakir, HRW's Israel and Palestine director.
"While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fueled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel’s allies, are soaring."
The new report comes days after Israeli settlers—escorted by IDF soldiers—went on their latest destructive and deadly rampage in the West Bank, killing at least two Palestinians, injuring dozens, and setting homes and vehicles ablaze. At least 20 households were displaced after Israeli settlers burned down their homes.
The wave of settler violence came after a missing 14-year-old Israeli boy was found dead in the area around the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Israeli military said the boy was killed in a "terrorist attack."
Since October 7, according to the United Nations, Israeli settlers have launched more than 720 attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, displacing at least 206 households comprised of 1,244 people—including 603 children. Israeli soldiers in uniform have been present at many of the attacks.
"Settlers and soldiers have displaced entire Palestinian communities, destroying every home, with the apparent backing of higher Israeli authorities," Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at HRW, said in a statement Wednesday. "While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fueled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel's allies, are soaring."
HRW's new report examines five West Bank communities that have come under attack by Israeli settlers, including one in which uniformed Israeli men armed with assault rifles entered tents and destroyed or stole people's belongings, abused residents, and threatened to kill them if they didn't leave the area.
"One man in uniform kicked me in the back of my neck," a Palestinian mother told HRW. "They said, 'Go to the valley, and if you come back, we will kill you.'"
None of the families forcibly evicted from the five communities examined in the HRW report have been allowed to return home.
"Palestinian children have seen their families brutalized, and their homes and schools destroyed, and the Israeli authorities are ultimately to blame," Van Esveld said Wednesday. "Senior state officials are fueling or failing to prevent these attacks, and Israel's allies are not doing enough to stop that."
Following the latest wave of settler violence in the West Bank this past weekend, a coalition of human rights organizations said in a joint statement Wednesday that "the international community must swiftly and decisively pressure the government of Israel to halt these attacks and urgently de-escalate the situation."
"With international attention centered on Gaza, the government of Israel has not only allowed settler violence to spiral but also persisted in the expansion of Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land and unlawfully seized Palestinian territory by designating it as 'state land,' blatantly violating international law," the groups noted. "Concerted efforts are needed to tackle the root cause of settler violence by permanently dismantling settlement outposts and ensuring the safe return of displaced Palestinians to their lands."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Wyden Says Spying Bill Would Force Americans to Become an 'Agent for Big Brother'
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Apr 17, 2024
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to speak out against a chilling mass surveillance bill that lawmakers are working to rush through the upper chamber and send to President Joe Biden's desk by the end of the week.
The measure in question would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years and massively expand the federal government's warrantless surveillance power by requiring a wide range of businesses and individuals to cooperate with spying efforts.
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Wyden (Ore.), referring to an amendment that was tacked on to the legislation by the U.S. House last week with bipartisan support. "That means anyone with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a Wi-Fi router, a phone, or a computer. So think for a moment about the millions of Americans who work in buildings and offices in which communications are stored or pass through."
"After all, every office building in America has data cables running through it," the senator continued. "The people are not just the engineers who install, maintain, and repair our communications infrastructure; there are countless others who could be forced to help the government spy, including those who clean offices and guard buildings. If this provision is enacted, the government can deputize any of these people against their will, and force them in effect to become what amounts to an agent for Big Brother—for example, by forcing an employee to insert a USB thumb drive into a server at an office they clean or guard at night."
Wyden said the process "can all happen without any oversight whatsoever: The FISA Court won't know about it, Congress won't know about it. Americans who are handed these directives will be forbidden from talking about it. Unless they can afford high-priced lawyers with security clearances who know their way around the FISA Court, they will have no recourse at all."
Wyden's remarks came after the Senate narrowly approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the FISA reauthorization bill ahead of Section 702's expiration at the end of the week. The Oregon senator, an outspoken privacy advocate, was among the seven members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the procedural motion.
Despite its grave implications for civil liberties, the bill has drawn relatively little vocal opposition in the Senate. A final vote could come as soon as Thursday.
Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant.
Privacy advocates warn RISAA would dramatically expand the scope of Section 702 by broadening the kinds of individuals and businesses required to participate in government spying. A key provision of the bill would mandate cooperation from "electronic communications service providers" such as Google, Verizon, and AT&T as well as "any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used" to transmit or store electronic communications.
That would mean U.S. intelligence agencies could, without a warrant, compel gyms, grocery stores, barber shops, and other businesses to hand over communications data.
"In the face of the pervasive past misuse of Section 702, the last thing Americans need is a large expansion of government surveillance," Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian on Tuesday. "The Senate should reject the House bill and refuse to reauthorize Section 702 without a warrant requirement. Lawmakers must demand reforms to put a stop to unjustified government spying on Americans."
Wyden said during his floor speech Tuesday that some of his colleagues "say they aren't worried about President Biden abusing these authorities."
"In that case, how about [former President Donald] Trump? Imagine these authorities in his hands," said Wyden. "If you're worried about having a president who lives to target vulnerable Americans, to pit Americans against each other, to find every conceivable way to punish perceived enemies, you ought to find this bill terrifying."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Dems Voice 'Deep Concern' Over Biden Claim That Israel Is Legally Using US Arms
A letter from 26 lawmakers notes the "stark differences and gaps" between what Biden administration officials say and the opinions of "prominent experts and global institutions" accusing Israel of genocide.
Apr 16, 2024
More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
Citing "mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations" of human rights crimes committed by Israeli troops in Gaza and soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, 26 congressional Democrats led by Texas Reps. Veronica Escobar—who co-chairs President Joe Biden's reelection campaign—and Joaquin Castro asked U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines "whether and how" their agencies determined Israel is lawfully using arms provided by Washington.
"We write to express our deep concern regarding the U.S. Department of State's recent comments regarding assurances from the Israeli government, under National Security Memorandum (NSM) 20, that the Israeli government is using U.S.-origin weapons in full compliance with relevant U.S. and international law and is not restricting the delivery of humanitarian assistance," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Cabinet members.
The letter acknowledges the "grave concerns" of institutions and experts around the world regarding Israel's "conduct throughout the war in Gaza, its policies regarding civilian harm and military targeting, unauthorized expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank, and potential use of U.S. arms by settlers, in additional to limitations on humanitarian aid supported by the U.S."
The legislators noted Israeli attacks on aid convoys, workers, and recipients—like the February 29 "
Flour Massacre" in which nearly 900 starving Palestinians were killed or wounded at a food distribution site—and "the closure of vital border crossings" as Gazan children starve to death as causes for serious concern.
While the lawmakers didn't mention the International Court of Justice's January 26
preliminary finding that Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza, their letter highlights the "stark differences and gaps in the statements" made by Biden administration officials and "those made by prominent experts and global institutions"—many of whom accuse Israel of genocide.
The lawmakers' letter came amid reports of fresh Israeli atrocities, including a drone strike on a playground in the Maghazi refugee camp in northern Gaza that killed at least 11 children. Eyewitnesses described a "horrific scene of children torn apart."
While Biden has called out Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza—much of it carried out using U.S.-supplied warplanes and munitions including 2,000-pound bombs that can level whole city blocks—his administration has approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel, has repeatedly sidestepped Congress to fast-track emergency armed aid, and is seeking to provide the key ally with billions of dollars in addition weaponry atop the nearly $4 billion it gets annually from Washington.
This, despite multiple federal laws—and the administration's own rules— prohibiting U.S. arms transfers to human rights violators.
According to Palestinian and international officials, more than 110,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since October 7. Most of the dead are women and children. At least 7,000 Palestinians are also missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out homes and other buildings.
Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced in what many Palestinians are calling a second Nakba, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
A growing number of not only progressive lawmakers but also mainstream Democrats are calling for a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel.
On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who was criticized earlier in the war for not calling for a cease-fire—stood beside a photo of a starving Gazan girl while declaring "no more money for" the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "war machine."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular