Amidst impending FDLR operations, insecurity is on the rise in North Kivu
It has been over two weeks ago, the concrete announcement of anti-FDLR operations by the Congolese army FARDC (with a still unclear role as to MONUSCO support) has raised waves of media comments, fears, and expectations. In the slipstream of this announcement, a number of difficulties seem to delay the actual start of the offensive and … Continue reading
Who is going after FDLR and who not?
It has been roughly four weeks after a six-month ultimatum for Rwandan FDLR rebels to voluntarily disarm expired, until – on Thursday 29th January – military operations against the group were announced. In the slipstream of the visit of DRC’s army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Etumba, concrete announcements were made that FARDC will head … Continue reading
Electoral gamble fuels protests in Kinshasa and elsewhere
(Italic paragraphs added on January 25 and 26) As the Congolese government moves on to finalise changes in the country’s electoral law, a series of demonstrations and concomitant clashes between opposition and police forces have unleashed in Kinshasa (and other towns like Goma and Bukavu) over the past couple of days. Media and human rights … Continue reading
Ayiti. A thought and a retrospective.
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the disastrous earthquake that countless people and hopes in Haiti, a country that has not had an easy stand even before it was struck by such unthinkable catastrophe. It has been almost five years too, that I have not been there myself, so I am not going to give … Continue reading
Multiple surrenders of commanders cast a big blow on Raia Mutomboki
As international media focuses attention on a – finally – looming military offensive against the Rwandan FDLR rebels (Simone Schlindwein has a very recommendable backgrounder on this), the increasing series of surrenders in sequence to FARDC operations against various factions of Raia Mutomboki is remarkable (for two concise backgrounders on what Raia Mutomboki is – … Continue reading
A dead deadline? January 2015 and the FDLR are still around
Roughly a week ago a much debated disarmament deadline passed for the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the infamous rebel outfit that regroups the remnants of certain Rwandan genocide culprits that ventured into eastern Congo as ex-FAR and interahamwe two decades ago. While political rhetoric has been strong and the internet-based propaganda … Continue reading
AMANI ITAKUYA II – Call for Submissions
After 25 diverse and rich contributions last year, the Amani Itakuya essay series embarks on her second edition. Here is to the call for submissions in English and French. Please share widely and participate! NEW DEADLINE – 20 January 2015 (version française ci-dessous) AMANI ITAKUYA II – Call for Submissions With Eyes Wide Open & … Continue reading
Kinois Crystal Balls: Elections, Census, and Constitution
With about two years left until the end of President Kabila’s current mandate, pre-electoral rumblings in Kinshasa, DRC in general, and the outside world have gained extraordinary momentum in the past couple of months. Jason Stearns (on census and on constitution), Manya Riche & Kris Berwouts recently published a couple of very helpful and illuminating … Continue reading
Towards a Genealogy of Armed Actors in eastern Congo
Is it possible to establish a genealogy of the armed actors that have been roving around eastern Congo over the past two decades? The first, immediate answer is – no. The spatio-temporal topography and evolution of myriad militias and other groups already appears confusing and complex when looking just at a simple, fixed point in … Continue reading
Misinformation and Misdirection in Beni’s ADF Attacks
Anonymous guest blog On the morning of November 6, a petrol bomb was thrown in a residential quarter of Beni town, North Kivu. The bomb injured no one, and from a military perspective was a small and ineffective deployment of violence. Senior UN military analysts dismissed it accordingly. However, the bombing, which forms part of … Continue reading
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