



RDC: Declaration de la Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo sur la Situation Socio-Politique Actuelle en RD Congo (20.04.2017)









The brutal conflict in Congo’s previously peaceful Kasai region has already displaced more than one million civilians within the country since it began in mid-2016.
GENEVA, Switzerland, April 21, 2017 – A spike of violence in the Kasai Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has now forced over 11,000 refugees to seek safety in Angola. Border points and villages inside the Southern African nation have seen a sharp increase in refugee arrivals with over 9,000 arriving so far in April. The brutal conflict in Congo’s previously peaceful Kasai region has already displaced more than one million civilians within the country since it began in mid-2016.
Those fleeing into Angola continue to arrive mainly in Dundo, the capital of north-eastern Luanda Norte Province.
Refugees reported fleeing attacks from militia groups, who are targeting police, military officials, and civilians who they believe are supporting or representing the Government. After running away from fighting rebel and Government forces, some refugees had to hide in the forest for several days before fleeing to Angola. Refugees are arriving in desperate conditions, without access to clean water, food or shelter.
The situation among children is dire, as many arriving malnourished and sick – suffering from diarrhea, fever and malaria. Two children are reported to have already died from severe malnutrition. UNHCR is concerned for the fate of others suffering from worrying levels of food insecurity and illnesses.
The new arrivals are terrified and still fear for their lives and mentioned they do not have any immediate plans to return home. Some parents have reportedly sent their children across the border, worrying they would be forcibly recruited by the militias if they had stayed in the DRC.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is currently coordinating refugee response with the Government, local authorities and partners on the ground. We are also negotiating with the Government for proper hosting sites as the current border locations are overcrowded and not suitable. UNHCR is sending an additional emergency team to Dundo this Saturday to support relief efforts.
UNHCR is in the process of shipping family tents, kitchens sets, blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats and other essential relief items to the area.
Further aid is urgently needed, as refugees are forced to stay in makeshift buildings in the border villages. Angola’s wet season peaks in April, and UNHCR is especially worried about the ongoing rains –– which could further complicate living conditions and the health of refugees, especially the most vulnerable such as women, children, the elderly and the disabled.
UNHCR welcomes the response of the Government of Angola in keeping its borders open for continued refugee arrivals. We hope that this gesture of goodwill will continue as the situation remains dire in DRC’s Kasai region. UNHCR is also underlining the importance of not returning people in need of international protection to the DRC.

This brings to 40 the number of mass graves documented by the UN in Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental Provinces since August 2016.
GENEVA, Switzerland, April 19, 2017 – UN investigators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have confirmed the existence of at least 17 further mass graves in Kasai Central Province, which has been the scene of clashes between soldiers and members of a local militia known as Kamuina Nsapu. This brings to 40 the number of mass graves documented by the UN in Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental Provinces since August 2016.
The presence of the additional graves was confirmed during an investigation mission to Kasai Central between 5 and 7 April by staff from the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) and UN Police (UNPOL).
Fifteen of the mass graves were in a cemetery in the town of Tshimbulu and two in the locality of Tshienke. The UN team gathered information that soldiers from the Forces armées de la Republique démocratique du Congo (FARDC) had reportedly dug the graves, after clashing with presumed elements of the Kamuina Nsapu militia between 26 and 28 March. At least 74 people, including 30 children, were reported to have been killed by soldiers as a result of these clashes.
The UN team also visited Kananga to gather information about alleged abuses and violations there. Between 28 and 30 March, FARDC soldiers were reported to have shot dead at least 40 people, including 11 children and 12 women, in the Nganza commune of Kananga, and injured at least 21 others. The majority of the victims were said to have been killed in their homes as soldiers went door to door looking for militia members.
Two of the victims died in hospital, while the remaining 38 were reportedly buried by the local population in three mass graves. FARDC soldiers were also reported to have buried an unknown number of bodies in a fourth mass grave in Nganza cemetery.
UNJHRO also received reports that at least two women and three girls had been raped by FARDC soldiers during the same operation in Nganza. Defence and security forces were alleged to have arrested and detained 27 people, including 10 boys and a 15-year-old girl.
The UN investigators, who also visited the Katoka commune of Kananga, heard reports that during search operations by officers from the Police nationale congolaise (PNC) on 28 March, a 23-year-old man, a 17-year-old boy and a one-month-old baby had been killed. The UN team was told that the baby had been fatally injured after being trampled on by police officers searching their house.
The Kamuina Nsapu militia, which is loyal to a local customary chief killed by the army on 12 August last year, has been accused of recruiting hundreds of children into its ranks, and targeting state agents and symbols, including government premises, schools, hospitals, police stations, as well as churches. An example of such violence happened on 30 March when about 30 alleged Kamuina Nsapu militiamen attacked the parish church of Saint-Jean de Masuika in Luiza territory, where they ill-treated at least three nuns and a priest, threatening to kill them. In addition, the priest and one of the nuns were reportedly abducted and then released the next day after money was paid. The militiamen also vandalized the church, breaking doors and windows, and burning the priest’s chasubles.
“The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
“It is absolutely vital that the Government of the DRC takes meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking, to ensure that there is a prompt, transparent, and independent investigation to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by all parties, and other abuses of justice. My Office has offered its assistance in conducting such a credible investigation. We reiterate our request for access to all sites of mass graves, as well as to all witnesses, including those in detention, and other relevant information necessary to determine responsibility at all levels,” Zeid said.
“The scale and nature of the violence increasingly underscore the need to monitor the situation closely. Should there be no effective national investigation, I will not hesitate to urge the international community to support an investigation by an international mechanism, including the International Criminal Court, which recently reminded the DRC authorities of their primary responsibility under the Rome Statute to investigate and prosecute the alleged acts of violence in the Kasais,” the High Commissioner said.

In the Republic of Uganda and Zimbabwe there are two issues that should not occur or need to happen, as the societies under Zimbabwean African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and National Resistance Movement (NRM), that President Robert Mugabe and President Yoweri Museveni has been the Executives for decades.
These two republics has both their issues concerning these gentleman, though not the same. Still, the republics has some dire needs. You know so, when President Museveni has to spread this message in the year of 2017:
“I continue to encourage farmers to use drip irrigation. Even as we wait for government to roll out mass irrigation, farmers can irrigate their crops with basic tools like bottles. No one should let seedlings go to waste on claims of drought yet we are surrounded by water” (Yoweri Museveni, 16.04.2017).
The Jerrycan and bottle irrigation mantra in the land of steady progress, you can wonder and pound about the agriculture reforms that was about to happen when the NRM came into power. Where the wealth creation and the cash crops we’re supposed to change the economic landscape. Still, since the Movement ceased power in 1986, the same President as back-then has to spread the message of a drip-drop irrigation system based on bottles and jerrycans. Instead of modern agriculture, because of how he misused the state reserves and the donated aid. Therefore, the lacking facilitation of agriculture. So it is sad to know that the President Museveni has to propagandize the jerrycan irrigation system, like it is a fantastic invention and something that would really be a paradigm shift.
Than you have in Zimbabwe, the county of the Lancaster House Agreement, the ZANU-PF elite and the Bond-Notes, with a massive movement behind the voices of opposition, as well as the financial troubles under President Mugabe. Who has turned the Southern African breadbasket unto a food-import heaven as his land-reforms has destroyed the agricultural production as well as the economic climate. Therefore this news shouldn’t be a thing of 2017!
“Parents who cannot raise tuition fees for children can offer livestock in lieu of payment or do chores for learning institutions, a Cabinet minister has said. The Sunday Mail understands that several State-run primary schools in Glen View, Harare have already adopted the arrangement. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora told this paper last week, “Our schools have to be flexible and ensure those who do not have money to pay fees can work. For example, if there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of tuition fees” (…) “On the issue of livestock, the community has to arrange a market where everyone participates; from the school authorities, local leadership and parents themselves to avoid parents being duped” (Gwete, 2017).

So in the proud republic of Zimbabwe the Cabinet Minister Dr. Lazarus Dokora, says parents who doesn’t have enough cash to pay tuition fees can now pay in livestock or goats. We know by now that the faith in the Bond-Notes is abysmal, still that the Republic has such little cash flow; that can take animals as payments. Shows the neglect of the state, the little money circulation and the financial vows right now. If the financial market and the currency we’re in a better condition, than such massive amount of parents wouldn’t have to trade their goats and livestock so their kids can go to school.
That under President Mugabe, the citizens have to use their livestock and goats as trading tools, or even as currency because of the lack of stable financial policies. This shows the draconian state and what sort of government that is in charge. When they are more concerned about their Mercedes Benz’s than the population!
That the Zimbabwean people and citizens of the Republic run by Zanu-PF should feel betrayed by the lack of governance and care of the taxpayers funds. The Zimbabwean people should be in sorrow as even as their state is insufficient, it now has a plan not to only eat their monies, but also take their animals. So that the future of Zimbabwe can learn how to read and write, even type and some hopefully understanding better what it means to be a Statesmen. A Statesmen that cares about its constituent and their struggles, not just eat of it and leave them to rot. That is what the Zanu-PF elite does right now.
What we have have seen with these two stories is clear lack of policies and wish to intervene in the struggles of the citizens. We can see two governments, that is Zanu-PF and NRM, who clearly are both out-of-time and out-of-pocket as they scrap their best ideas to salvage some hope. The hope is that some can be duped by the idea and support the so-called progress. That it is progressive to take goats as currency to pay for tuition and the other revolutionary idea of using bottles and jerrycans to irrigate the dirt. That President Museveni and President Mugabe is over-due is proof with this. The milk is thick and nasty. The milk is not drinkable and if so you will vomit. The reality is that these men doesn’t see or doesn’t want to see.
They are eating of the plate and sells their propaganda, the own mindset of lies and deception, and it has been said so many times that the old-men believes. Even if it isn’t so. The manufactured reality and the destruction of the society, is the reasons for these tales, many factors involved, but the Presidents has been there through the stages. They have seen it all and created policies that has changed to this level of underdevelopment. If they really did care, than the countries would have looked different. If they would have created parliaments for serving cadres for the people and not their own bellies like right now. That is why many of them think these sort of policies are acceptable and even profess to them. Therefore, the republic’s are living in a state they doesn’t deserve and the citizens are used as pawns. Peace.
Reference:
Gwete, Wendy – ‘‘Pay school fees with goats, labour’ (15.02.2017) link:
http://www.sundaymail.co.zw/pay-school-fees-with-goats-labour/



This is a game-changer as the conflict of South Sudan escalates, it has become less clear of all the actors, as there isn’t only SPLM/A and SPLM-IO, there are more rebels and even more armed deserters who works against the Juba Regime. Therefore, the picture be more distorted, but the similarities between the rebels are that they all work to end the Presidency of Salva Mayardiit Kiir. They are not interested in keeping his regime alive.
So this news are breathtaking:
“South Sudanese government has dropped containers of toxic gas on rebel-held areas in Bieh State, a senior rebel military source told the South Sudan News Agency on Saturday. The official who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak said the government used at least three military helicopters to drop the poison gas. “After days of failed attempt to capture our areas in Waat, the genocidal regime in Juba decided to use poisonous gas on our gallant forces and civilians. The gas is suffocating people. People affected by this gas attack are experiencing severe coughing,” the officer told the South Sudan News Agency” (SSNA, 2017).
That the SPLA, the Government forces has now taken it further, there has been earlier reports of sexual assaults, burning of villages and harassment of aid workers. So the situation in the different states is various condition, as the SPLM-IO and the other rebels are continuing to fight the government forces. This makes it harder for the SPLA, as they don’t have one enemy and one rebel outfit, but they have many. Therefore, even as the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) or the Juba Regime tries to kick-off the National Dialogue in the states of Lou Nuer, it is a bit disrespectful that they are delivering church services to the people of Bieh State and Akobo State. THis with the knowledge of the poison gas drops done by the TGoNU army SPLA.
“One senior rebel official in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, told the South Sudan News Agency today that the armed opposition intelligence branches have evidence showing Ugandan government is secretly assisting South Sudanese government in the gas campaign” (SSNA, 2017).
That the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) are helping SPLA/M isn’t new, what is new that the UPDF are helping again the TGoNU, like they did before the newest peace agreement between SPLM/A and SPLM-IO. Certainly, this also shows why Gen. Taban Deng Gai, the Vice President spoke of peace with the President Yoweri Museveni recently. This seems to be fitting together in a glove. As the VP of South Sudan wasn’t travelling to Uganda with peace in mind, but with the intelligence of the help of Ugandan army inside South Sudan, wouldn’t be the first or the last time they are involved.
President Museveni likes to get his army hired for the foreign exchange and the wealth it creates for him, as the loyalty to UPDF is still strong. As the possibility for career inside the army is stil there. But the news that the UPDF are helping SPLA with doing crimes against humanity.
That the reports that the SPLA are together with the UPDF dropping chemical weapons in Bieh State. And certainly the fighting is monitored, but the UNMISS mission is clearly using a scripted language to make sure it doesn’t make headlines:
“Fresh fighting has broken out between government SPLA and opposition forces in a number of locations including Raga in the west of South Sudan, Waat in Jonglei to the east and in the area of Wunkur and Tonga in the northern Upper Nile region” (…) “UNMISS continues to push for access to areas affected by the conflict. Despite the challenges in reaching some parts of the country, the Mission has successfully deployed a number of peacekeeping patrols to deter violence and protect civilians. UNMISS is also monitoring any human rights abuses as a part of its mandate” (UNMISS – ‘Restraint urged on warring parties in South Sudan as violence escalates’ 15.04.2017).
That UNMISS has a mission, but the intelligence of chemical warfare in Bieh State is proving that the SPLA are keeping vital information hidden from the UNMISS. This is happening as the SPLA are fighting on multiple fronts. So the use of stronger force to silence the rebels seem needed and the knowledge of the use of chemical warfare should be put on display for the whole world to see. So that all the lives lost and the innocent dying for the greed of power get their justice proven. Since the SPLA and SPLA/M doesn’t care about now, they use all sorts of methods to stay in power. They even use the vile force of poison to kill civilians and rebels.
That SPLM-IO and other rebels should worry, as the unforgiven SPLA have now started to drop poisons gas on their own civilians as well as the possible rebels. This is proof of the extent that the SPLM/A or the TGoNU do now. That the innocent dies, that the refugees continue to come to the neighbouring countries like Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia. So, the international community should be extra worried, as the new settlement are opened in Uganda and that the vicious attacks in Bieh State.
That chemical warfare are now happening together with the stalemate between the SPLA and all the other rebel factions in the Republic. This is not making a true statement of wishing peace or national dialogue as innocent civilians die in acts against humanity. Peace.
Reference:
SSNA – ‘South Sudan drops poisonous gas on rebel-held territories’ (15.04.2017) link: http://www.southsudannewsagency.com/index.php/2017/04/15/south-sudan-drops-poisonous-gas-rebel-held-territories/



Juba, 15 April 2017: The Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, has expressed shock and outrage after being informed of the killing of three workers involved in the delivery of vital food aid in Wau, less than one week after he called for an end to all attacks against aid workers in South Sudan. “Just last week, I appealed for an end to the targeting of innocent people in this conflict,” said Mr. Owusu. “And yet yesterday I learned that three porters were heinously killed while making their way to a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in the midst of security operations in Wau town on 10 April. I am appalled by this abhorrent act and demand an urgent investigation to identify those who are responsible and bring them to account.”
The deaths bring the number of aid workers killed in South Sudan to 82. Fourteen aid
workers have already been killed in 2017, compared to 24 in all of 2016. “There are no words left to explain the level of frustration and outrage I feel regarding the continued attacks against humanitarians in South Sudan who are simply trying to help the civilians who are suffering as a result of this conflict,” said Mr. Owusu. “I join WFP in sending my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the three brave men who lost their lives this week in the service of the vulnerable people in this country.”
Separately, 60 humanitarian workers have had to relocate from multiple locations in Jonglei yesterday and today – including Waat and Walgak – due to intensified conflict in the area. Early indications are that the civilian population is also fleeing, though the number of people displaced has been unable to be verified due to the highly fluid situation.
“I call on the parties to the conflict to uphold their responsibilities under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and ensure the proportionality of their actions,” said Mr. Owusu. “I am deeply disappointed that, despite the assurances that we have received and the commitments that have been made, humanitarians are again having to relocate, and civilians again being uprooted, in an area where needs were already high.”
Across South Sudan, humanitarian needs continue to rise, while the operating environment is becoming increasingly dangerous and difficult. In March alone, 79 humanitarian access incidents were reported.






The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been informed that a number of government SPLA soldiers were killed in an ambush on Sunday to the south of the town of Wau in the north-west of the country.
JUBA, South Sudan, April 10, 2017 – The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been informed that a number of government SPLA soldiers were killed in an ambush on Sunday to the south of the town of Wau in the north-west of the country.
Fighting then spread to Wau. The Mission mounted two patrols into Wau on Monday and said it had observed the bodies of 16 civilians in a hospital. There were ten people who had been injured. Additional patrols are planned for Tuesday. Eighty-four people have arrived at the UNMISS POC site, while an influx of at least 3,000 people at a Catholic church in the town, mostly women and children, has been reported.
The fighting follows the movement of SPLA troops, tanks and equipment towards the south-western part of Wau late last week