Congo news updates 9/18-23 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Wed, 24 Sep 1997 02:41:44 -0500 source: congo-news@thor.cmp.ilstu.edu UN rights chief calls for Congo deaths reckoning 07:53 p.m Sep 19, 1997 Eastern GENEVA, Sept 19 (Reuter) - New U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said on Friday a ``day of reckoning'' over deaths of Rwandan Hutu refugees in the former Zaire was vital to end a decades-old cycle of violence in central Africa. In a statement issued from her Geneva office, the former Irish president said she was dismayed at the stance of the authorities in Kinshasa in blocking a U.N. investigation into the alleged massacres. ``We are attempting to inject accountability into a region which has been wracked for decades by cycles of inter-ethnic violence, massacres and forced displacement,'' said Robinson, a lawyer by training. ``It is essential that there be a thorough investigation which goes at least some way to ascertaining the facts and responsibility for the deaths of a large number of refugees and others over the past year.'' Robinson, who took up her post this week pledging a firm stand in rights issues, added: ``If there is no day of reckoning, then we will send the wrong message and invite further suffering in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere.'' A U.N. mission sent to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan after an earlier team was rejected by President Laurent Kabila has been unable to pursue an inquiry. Kabila's foreign minister, Bizima Karaha, visiting the Swiss capital Berne, said the investigation could move ahead if it did not interfere in his country's internal affairs. ``The U.N. commission may do its work in our country but we do not wish any political interference,'' Karaha told reporters. Kabila himself said in a letter to Annan two weeks ago that the inquiry could go ahead and the European Union warned that Congo's relations with Brussels would be damaged unless the promise was kept. ``A failure of this inquiry mission could risk compromising the new prospects for cooperation between the European Union and the Democratic Republic of Congo,'' said a statement from Luxembourg, current holder of the rotating EU presidency. Robinson, who says she intends to ``stand up to bullies,'' said the U.N. inquiry ``has at its core the fundamental human rights imperative to combat impunity -- to dispel the idea that atrocities can be committed without fear of the consequences.'' The 23-member U.N. mission has been stuck for a month in Kinshasa and blocked from going to the east, where aid officials say Kabila's troops backed by Rwandan Tutsi soldiers systematically massacred tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees. Annan named the new team after accepting a demand from Kabila, whose Rwandan-backed forces ousted long-time dictator Mobutu Sese Seko earlier this year, to drop respected investigator Roberto Garreton of Chile. Garreton wanted to visit more than 100 sites in the east of Congo where Rwandan Hutu refugees are believed to have died in massacres blamed by aid groups on Kabila's troops and their Rwandan Tutsi allies. Since the fresh group was named, Kabila's government has continued to set conditions on how an investigation can be carried out and some aid officials believe it is trying to prevent any detailed inquiry. EU says UN massacre probe must go ahead unhindered 03:54 p.m Sep 19, 1997 Eastern LUXEMBOURG, Sept 19 (Reuter) - The European Union said on Friday a United Nations mission investigating alleged massacres of Rwandan refugees in the former Zaire must go ahead unhindered, or the bloc's future cooperation with the Congo could be damaged. ``A failure of this inquiry mission could risk compromising the new prospects for cooperation between the European Union and the Democratic Republic of Congo,'' Luxembourg, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said in a brief statement. The United Nations mission has been restricted to the capital Kinshasa since arriving nearly four weeks ago while the Democratic Republic of the Congo's government and the U.N. wrangle over its mandate and composition. The EU presidency said it had sent a letter to the Congo's Foreign Minister Bizima Karaha, asking the Congolese authorities to remove as quickly as possible the obstacles which were stopping the U.N. mission getting on with its work. Speaking to reporters in Switzerland on Friday, Karaha said the stalled probe could move ahead as long as the panel did not interfere in the country's politics. The Kinshasa government has sent mixed signals about the investigation, but Karaha has said in the past that the probe could proceed. The U.N. is probing allegations by human rights groups that thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees were massacred by forces loyal to Laurent Kabila, who swept across the former Zaire from the Rwandan border before ousting President Mobutu Sese Seko from power in May. Several countries, including the United States and European Union members, have continued to link support to the new Congolese government to its cooperation with the investigation. U.N. massacre probe should stay in Congo-diplomats 12:35 p.m. Sep 19, 1997 Eastern By William Wallis KINSHASA, Sept 19 (Reuter) - Western diplomats said on Friday the blocked U.N. mission due to investigate alleged massacres in the former Zaire was unlikely to pull out for now. They expect further efforts to be made to persuade President Laurent Kabila to allow the probe to go ahead. The mission has been restricted to the capital Kinshasa since arriving nearly four weeks ago while the government and the United Nations wrangle over its composition and mandate. Dutch ambassador Fred Racke, who also represents the European Union in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, indicated that pulling out the team could have a dangerous effect on the government's ability to maintain its control of the vast Central African country. ``We should avoid weakening this government in terms of the enormous task ahead of them and also in terms of stability in the region,'' Racke told Reuters. ``I think the mission should fulfil its mandate, everyone wants that. Withdrawing it would exclude all further options. The U.N. should try to resolve the issue so the mission can begin its work,'' he added. Another Western diplomat described the U.N. as being caught in a typical no-win situation, with the mission neither able to begin its work nor carry out threats to withdraw. Both EU governments and the United States have linked support to Kabila on his cooperation with the mission sent after allegations of mass killings of Rwandan Hutu refugees. Aid workers allege Kabila's forces carried out the killings as they advanced on Kinshasa last May to topple dictator Mobutu Sese Seko at the climax of a seven-month rebellion. The refugees were remnants of more than a million Hutus who fled into eastern Zaire fearing reprisals for the 1994 genocide of minority Tutsis by hardline Hutu soldiers and militia. The Kinshasa government this week denied permission for investigators to visit the northwestern town of Mbandaka to look for widely publicised evidence of alleged mass killings. In reaction, the U.N. hinted the mission might be called off altogether. If the United Nations were to pull the team out before it had fulfilled its mandate, diplomats say it could result in the continued freezing of all aid to the government. Jose Diaz, spokesman for the mission in Kinshasa, said on Friday, the now 24-strong team was waiting for instructions from U.N. headquarters and hoped consultations between Kabila and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan would remove the latest obstacles. ``We are waiting for further instructions in the hope we can begin our work soon,'' he said. Among the latest demands made by the government was a request the U.N. pay $1.7 million for a government liaison committee Kinshasa says should work with the investigation. The deputy chief of the mission, U.S. human rights activist, Reed Brody, said there was no question the U.N. would pay this. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said on Thursday he had spoken to Kabila by phone on the stalled probe and that there was ``slight progress'' on beginning the investigation. U.N. officials said Annan had also spoken to Kabila on Thursday but they gave no details. In Berne, Kabila's foreign minister, Bizima Karaha, said the investigation could move ahead as long as the panel did not interfere in his country's politics. ``The U.N. commission may do its work in our country but we do not wish any political interference,'' Karaha told reporters during a working visit to Switzerland. Robinson wants ``day of reckoning'' for Zaire deaths 06:04 p.m Sep 19, 1997 Eastern GENEVA, Sept 19 (Reuter) - The new U.N. human rights chief, former Irish President Mary Robinson, lashed out at Laurent Kabila's Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday for continuing to block a probe into alleged massacres of Rwandan Hutu refugees. ``If there is no day of reckoning then we will send the wrong message and invite further suffering in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere,'' she said in a statement. Kabila's foreign minister, Bizima Karaha, who was visiting the Swiss capital Berne, said on Friday the probe could move ahead as long as it did not interfere in his country's politics. ``The U.N. commission may do its work in our country but we do not wish any political interference,'' Karaha told reporters. But the minister has previously said the probe could go ahead and the European Union warned on Friday that Congo's relations with the EC would be damaged unless the promise was kept. ``A failure of this inquiry mission could risk compromising the new prospects for cooperation between the European Union and the Democratic Republic of Congo,'' Luxembourg, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said in a statement. U.N. officials in Congo reported that security was improving in the east of the vast country and aid agency staff were able to use roads around Goma, which had been unsafe for weeks because of fighting which pitted local Mai Mai and Rwandan Hutu against Kabila's army and his Rwandan Tutsi allies. Military police had also been sent into Goma to curb a spate of looting and shooting blamed on government and Rwandan Tutsi soldiers, U.N. sources said. Robinson said she was dismayed by the obstruction of the U.N. probe which had ``at its core the fundamental human rights imperative to combat impunity -- to dispel the idea that atrocities can be committed without fear of the consequences.'' The 23-member U.N. team has been stuck for a month in Kinshasa and blocked from going to the east, where aid officials say Kabila's troops backed by Rwandan Tutsi soldiers systematically massacred tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees. Describing Kinshasa's obstruction as a ``political crisis,'' Robinson demanded a detailed investigation to account for the deaths of large numbers of refugees in former Zaire. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who ordered the mission, is keeping the issue in front of the Security Council and maintaining the international pressure, Robinson said. ``This is a powerful precedent -- aimed directly at those who would abuse human rights believing they can deflect international outrage,'' she declared. ``It is essential that there be a thorough investigation which goes at least some way to ascertaining the facts and responsibility for the deaths of a large number of refugees and others over the past year.'' Annan named the new team after giving in to Kabila's demand to drop investigator Roberto Garreton of Chile who wanted to visit more than 100 sites in the east at which massacre of Rwandan Hutu refugees have taken place and been blamed on Kabila's troops and their Rwandan Tutsi allies. Since then, Kabila's government has come up with demand after demand. Washington, which has been supportive of Kabila and also has close military and political ties with Rwanda, was instrumental in getting Annan to organise his own probe, sparing Kabila from international isolation. First group of ex-Zaire refugees leave Bangui 07:06 a.m. Sep 21, 1997 Eastern BANGUI, Sept 21 (Reuter) - A boat carrying a group of 267 refugees from the former Zaire has left the Central African Republic capital Bangui at the start of voluntary repatriation, state television said. It said on Saturday night that the group, from some 2,000 refugees, travelled on the Bangui river forming a natural boundary with the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their precise destination was not clear but the Congolese town of Zongo is almost on the opposite side of Bangui. The presence of the Congolese, though not in substantial numbers, has been a source of concern for the Kinshasa government of President Laurent Kabila who toppled Zaire's veteran dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May. Kabila's government says the refugees include close associates of Mobutu likely to plot against Kinshasa from exile. Mobutu himself died in exile in Morocco this month. Mobutu's home province of Equateur borders Central African Republic and is much closer to Bangui than it is to Kinshasa. The same ethnic group straddles the border. The repatriations followed two successive visits to Bangui by Kabila's ministers for interior and foreign affairs to negotiate for their return. The television said the boat was provided by the Kinshasa government but did not say when the remaining refugees would be repatriated. Arrest of journalist in Kabila's Congo denounced 11:02 p.m. Sep 22, 1997 Eastern PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuter) - Paris-based journalists' rights group Reporters Sans Frontieres denounced on Monday the detention of an opposition newspaper publisher in the former Zaire and called for his immediate release. Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) condemned the September 8 arrest of Polydor Muboyayi Mubanga of Le Phare as the latest in series of incidents of press harassment since President Laurent Kabila's administration took power in May. ``The organisation urges the new government... to show a sign of openness by announcing the immediate and unconditional release of Polydor Muboyayi Mubanga,'' it said in a statement. Polydor was arrested and charged with publishing false information and inciting ethnic hatred after a September 5 report suggested that Kabila planned to set up a presidential guard, a unit feared under ousted dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Colleagues say soldiers beat and injured Polydor. The first charge carries a jail term of up to two years. There is no sentence recommended on the statute book for the second in the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. Reporters Sans Frontieres recalled the detention for several days of the head of the Congolese News Agency and of the head of the daily Reference Plus, one after a report alleging the house arrest of a minister, the other after a report suggesting that Kabila's Rwandan allies planned to replace him. It also recalled a government ban on advertising on private radio and television stations and planned nationalisation of a private TV station. Belgian mission cautiously positive on new Congo 08:26 p.m Sep 23, 1997 Eastern KINSHASA, Sept 23 (Reuter) - A Belgian government and business mission ended an exploratory visit to Congo on Tuesday, expressing cautious optimism for expanding economic ties. ``I think we should continue working with this government but I hope that conditions to accelerate Belgian investment in Congo, such as security and stability, will improve soon,'' Marc Servotte, director-general of the Belgian Office for Foreign Trade, told Reuters. The 22-member mission had meetings with eight ministers as well as President Laurent Kabila who toppled the former Belgian colony's veteran dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, in May. ``The president told us that he hoped that Belgium would help his country to accelerate development,'' said Servotte. He said issues threatening aid from most donors, such as human rights and Kabila's blocking of a U.N. mission due to investigate alleged massacres in the former Zaire, were not discussed. The delegation included representatives of the Belgian Investment Company, the Belgian Business Federation and the foreign trade ministry. Belgium still has about 3,000 of its nationals living in the Central African country. Many have plantations and agro-industrial companies or are involved in transport, banking and mining. Relations with the government of Mobutu, who died in exile in Morocco earlier this month, were rocky in the last five years of Mobutu's 32-year rule. EU tells Congo's Kabila aid is linked to UN probe 08:06 p.m Sep 23, 1997 Eastern By William Wallis KINSHASA, Sept 23 (Reuter) - The European Union has reminded the authorities in Kinshasa that they risk losing vital aid if they do not cooperate with a U.N. probe into alleged massacres in the former Zaire, diplomats said on Tuesday. They said an official letter reiterating European policy towards the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo was handed to President Laurent Kabila earlier on Tuesday. The letter was signed by Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jacques Poos, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, they said. It follows international concern over the blocking of a United Nations mission in Kinshasa for more than a month. ``The letter urges Kabila to allow the investigation to go ahead so efforts can be concentrated on cooperation and the reconstruction of Congo,'' a Western diplomat told Reuters. He said the tone was similar to a public statement released by the EU on September 19 saying the failure of the mission risked ``compromising the perspective of cooperation between the EU and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.'' The 24-strong U.N. team has been restricted to the capital, while Kabila's government has set new conditions for their work in the country's vast interior to begin. The diplomat said around 170 million ECUs ($185 million) of project money were immediately at stake and an EU ministerial meeting on September 15 had re-affirmed the freezing of projects until progress was made on un-blocking the investigation. Sponsorship for EU projects was frozen for security reasons during Kabila's successful seven-month armed campaign that overthrew the late veteran dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko. Some diplomats fear EU and U.S. policy tying aid to the U.N. mission risks dangerously weakening the government when the country desperately needs outside help to restore stability. They point out aid that was unconditional under the regime of Mobutu, also accused of gross human rights violations, has now become conditional for his successor. ``The projects which have been frozen were interrupted under Mobutu but for security reasons. Now the EU is making the un-freezing of these projects conditional for Kabila. This is difficult to defend,'' one Western diplomat said. Kabila himself on Tuesday called for African self-reliance, a favoured theme, during a regional meeting in Kinshasa for post and telecommunications ministers. He said Africa should learn to be independent and should ignore dictates from foreign powers. His minister of National Reconstruction, Etienne Mbaya, who is charged with liaising with the troubled U.N. mission, confirmed on Tuesday investigators would not be able to travel to Mbandaka in the west of the country. The team requested permission last week to travel to the riverside city where witnesses say Kabila's troops massacred hundreds of Rwandan Hutu refugees on May 13. Mbaya on Tuesday stuck to the government position, which would enable the team to investigate massacres only in the east of the country and prior to the seizure of power from Mobutu on May 17. Mobutu died in exile in Morocco earlier this month. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-09.24.97-18:04:28-25578