coupures 28-29 mai 07 (eng)

Congo-Kinshasa: Dangers Increase for Displaced in East, UN Says

UN News Service (New York)
25 May 2007Posted to the web 25 May 2007
Murder, torture, arbitrary detention and looting are devastating civilians in growing numbers in the northeast region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations humanitarian branch said today.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the last six months continuing clashes between militias and Government forces have displaced 260,000 people, with the humanitarian situation in the North Kivu province, in particular, deteriorating badly.
The northeast has long been the most unstable region in the vast DRC, and about 85 per cent of the more than 17,000 peacekeepers and military observers in the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) are deployed in that part of the country.
UN agencies and their partners are preparing contingency plans to cover the needs of the displaced, OCHA said, but the UN has received only about a fifth of the funds it is seeking for the relief effort.
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Congo-Kinshasa: Probe Into Monuc Gold, Arms Trafficking Allegations 'Well Advanced'

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
25 May 2007Posted to the web 25 May 2007
Kinshasa
A special United Nations body has opened an investigation into allegations of gold and arms trafficking by personnel in the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in Ituri region, a spokesman said.
"A complete investigation has been launched, independently of MONUC," said Kemal Saiki. "As soon as these allegations appeared, MONUC immediately asked for an investigation to be carried by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS)."
The BBC reported this week that Pakistani soldiers in MONUC had been involved in trafficking with local DRC militia groups in 2004 and 2005. The Pakistanis were deployed around Mongbwalu mining town to restore peace between Lendu and Hema communities.
Saiki said similar allegations were brought to the attention of MONUC in 2006, adding that their policy was not to comment on investigations until a report had been sent to the appropriate authorities.
He said MONUC had a zero tolerance policy on bad conduct and was keen to prevent unacceptable behaviour. MONUC was determined to discipline anyone whose conduct was found to be inappropriate for a peacekeeper.
The DRC government said it was awaiting official notification. "We [are] waiting to be officially told before reacting," government spokesman and National Communication Minister Toussaint Tshilombo said.
"Aspersions have been cast on us"
The Pakistan government described the allegations as preposterous, malicious and baseless. "Aspersions have been cast on us without evidence. This is trying to tarnish our image and undermine our very strong contributions to UN peacekeeping worldwide," military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told reporters in the capital of Islamabad.
In New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged to act quickly on the findings, urging member states to follow suit.
A spokesperson said the top UN envoy to the country, William Lacy Swing, requested an immediate OIOS investigation after an internal inquiry by MONUC brought the allegations to light in 2006.
"OIOS says the investigation is well advanced and expected to be completed in about three weeks," spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters. "The Secretary-General looks forward to the early completion of the investigation."
The UN has recently increased the number of blue helmets to over 17,500 and redeployed a contingent of 800 from the west to the east of the country.
Since deployment in Ituri, the peacekeepers have disarmed and demobilised more than 15,000 militia members.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations
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Congo-Kinshasa: UNDP- the Biggest Challenge to This Country is Unemployment

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
INTERVIEW25 May 2007Posted to the web 25 May 2007
Eoin Young
This Friday May 25 2007, we spoke to Babacar Cisse, UNDP country director in the DRC, to get his views on the participation of UNDP within the Country Assistance Framework, as well as ongoing UNDP support to projects such as the training of DRC National Assembly deputies, the fight against unemployment and the forthcoming local, urban and municipal elections.
Could you explain UNDP's participation in the DRC, in terms of the Country Assistance Framework?
The theme of UNDP's cooperation with the authorities is essentially on the programme that UNDP is preparing for the next five years, which will commence in January 2008. This document will be presented to UNDP's advisory council in September, so that it will be operational by next January.
This new programme will be prepared on the basis of the poverty reduction strategy paper of the government, with a series of consultations that will take place with the government, but also with other development partners and countries under the Country Assistance Framework.
We have two main focuses. The first is on governance, and politics, both local and administrative, as well as on the reform of the security sector, that we work on with MONUC and other partners.
The other focus is the fight against poverty. We will consolidate all that we are working on over the last few years in the framework of development activities. In this regard we need resources, and we will put in place the necessary micro financing. With the Central Bank, we will help to create a strategy for micro finance in the country.
There are also other activities related to the preservation of biodiversity that we will continue to assist with the UNDP World Funds programme. Overall we will out in place programmes over the next five years, amounting to approximately 60 million US dollars.
How do you evaluate the UNDP supported training of the National Assembly deputies?
The training will end today. Overall, the deputies are very satisfied to be able to have the means necessary to improve their work. This is the start of the process because the training demands a lot of time, and we will follow this with a training programme for deputies at national as well as local level.
What is the next step on the fight against unemployment after the presentation of the UNDP's project to the Labour minister?
I'm delighted that the Labour minister presented this strategy which will be the object of a June forum, which will work on the problems.
Employment will not be increased until a productive job creation cycle is initiated, and through other different mechanisms, such as the stabilisation of the country which is ongoing, and when a favourable legal environment is created for private investment.
It is also necessary within the framework of the programme, that we have a focus on employment which could be created within the framework of the programme for reintegration across all projects, and not just those for ex combatants, but also for the community.
It is also necessary to have a very big approach in the matter of the creation of employment. There is the agricultural sector, for example, that could equally create a lot of employment. With our colleagues from the World Food and Agriculture programme we can deepen our thinking in terms of the possible ways in which we can intervene to create mass employment in the country.
Is UNDP going to support the forthcoming urban, municipal and local elections?
We were implicated at the start of the electoral process in the country, and we will continue our assistance in this domain. In this regard, we are very well advanced with our development partners and with the Independent Electoral Commission, and its president Malu Malu.
We just started a project focused on the electoral cycle. But we will not only aid the preparation of the local elections with technical support like in the past, but we will support the creation of the new CENI-the National Independent Electoral Commission. This is because it is important to put in place the instruments necessary in a manner that will permit the Congo to hold the next elections in five years time.
We have put in place a group of donors, a technical group, and we have estimated the support costs that are necessary. Overall we have a cohesion between the partners, and we hope that the necessary resources will be mobilised to get the project off the ground in the coming days.
Most of the partners that have participated in the financing of the first elections are open and interested in financing this project.
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Chinese ambassador in DRC calls for mutually beneficial cooperation
Wu Zexian, Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Friday promised to mobilize Chinese companies in order to establish enhanced cooperation with the DRC for the mutual benefit of the two sides.
Speaking at the end of a meeting with DRC's interior minister Denis Kalume, the ambassador reaffirmed his willingness to encourage Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in the country not only for their own good but also in taking consideration of the interests of the DRC.
Almost 30 years ago, China implemented economic reforms successfully and the DRC, which has both major and unique strengths, can develop its own economy owing to its enormous potential, the ambassador said.
The accomplishment of the cooperation between the DRC and China can notably be seen in the construction of the people's palace, the stadium of the Martyrs, industrial and agricultural projects spread across the country and the Ndiji General Hospital, DRC's biggest and most modern hospital.
Source: Xinhua
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Congo-Kinshasa: DRC Broadcaster Closed After Drawing Governor's Ire

Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
PRESS RELEASE25 May 2007Posted to the web 26 May 2007
New York
Authorities in the central diamond mining town of Mbuji-Mayi closed down a private broadcaster on Sunday in connection with comments critical of the provincial governor that aired on two programs last week, according to local journalists and press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED).
Police sealed the studios of Radiotélévision Debout Kasaï (RTDK), based in the Eastern Kasaï province, 585 miles (940 kilometers) southeast of the capital Kinshasa, on orders of Gov. Ngoyi Kasanji and DRC's High Authority on Media (HAM), according to the same sources. In its ruling, HAM suspended the station for seven days on charges of "contempt, threats, and bullying toward the authorities," according to a press release obtained by CPJ. The station denied the allegations, and CPJ research did not find any basis to support them.
HAM's own status is uncertain. Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send last week declared HAM, a public agency created under the former transitional government, "currently inexistent" and its rulings since the election of a new parliament this year "null and without effect," according to an official statement reprinted in the local press. DRC conducted historic presidential and general elections earlier this year, concluding a transition period begun in 2002 after four years of civil war. HAM officials have refused to recognize Send's statement, according to local media reports.
"The suspension of RTDK further undermines official assertions that press freedom is respected in the DRC, and it apparently challenges the authority of DRC's newly-elected government," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "We call on authorities to immediately rescind this suspension."
The suspension was linked to a May 15 radio program and a May 16 television news show, RTDK reporter Boniface Beya told CPJ. In the radio program, RTDK owner and influential diamond trader Auguy Ilunga complained that he had been the target of personal insults by Kasanji, a rival diamond trader and owner of local broadcaster Radiotélévision Océan Pacifique, according to JED and local journalists. Ilunga lost to Kasanji in last January's gubernatorial election, journalists said. In the television program, an anonymous caller criticized unspecified officials for not delivering on a campaign promise of providing drinking water, according to Beya.
HAM also accused the station of refusing to provide tape recordings of the programs. HAM had requested the tapes in an undated letter obtained by CPJ, but the correspondence did not reach the station until nearly three hours after its stated deadline on Saturday, according to Beya.
Authorities have harassed RTDK before. In May 2005, the then-governor shuttered the station for two days during antigovernment protests. In June 2003, intelligence agents detained a RTDK reporter for 13 hours in connection with the broadcast of a local rebel leader's statement. In 2002, the station was banned from covering news about an opposition leader.
RTDK is the fifth Congolese broadcaster this year to be censored for its coverage, following the Goma and Butembo affiliates of public broadcaster RTNC and the private stations Radio Liberté and Radio ODL, according to CPJ research.
This month, CPJ named the DRC one of the world's worst backsliders on press freedom.
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Russia`s Putin urges more aid for Africa
Kinshasa, DR Congo 05/26 – Russian president Vladimir Putin has called for increased international aid to Africa, especially to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Putin`s message is contained in a note he sent to the DR Congo president, Joseph Kabila, on the occasion of the Africa Day, Friday."The 25 May symbolises the aspiration of the African countries for unity in order to favour independent evolution, peace and prosperity," Putin wrote, stressing the "increasing role of the African countries in the processes to tackle key issues of the world and to establish a fair and multi-polar global order".The Russian president expressed his support to the efforts by African Union (AU) member countries to lay foundation for collective security, in order to make the continent a place of security, stability and sustainable development.
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Rwandan rebels kill 17 in Congo
May 28, 2007
At least 17 people have been clubbed or hacked to death by suspected Rwandan rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern province of South Kivu, a UN-backed radio station said on Sunday.
The attack took place late on Saturday on two villages in Kanyola, an area some 50 km west of the provincial capital Bukavu, according to Radio Okapi, which broadcasts across the vast central African country.
A local civil society coordinator, Constantin Chahrondagwa, told Reuters many more people had been injured or kidnapped.
"Twenty-eight people were seriously injured and are at hospitals. Twelve were kidnapped and taken off into the forest, and of those three escaped," Chahrondagwa said by telephone after returning from the villages.
"They've just begun burying the dead. Everyone is traumatised. Everyone is afraid," he said.
The Congolese army and UN peacekeepers carried out joint operations several weeks ago in the area against fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Hutu-dominated Rwandan rebel movement based in eastern Congo.
Despite the official end of a 1998-2003 war, Congo's eastern provinces regularly witness violence at the hands of local militia, foreign rebel groups, and its own armed forces.
Reuters
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