Congo’s Army and the Death of (US) Sanctions
Last Friday, Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi ordered the first major army reshuffle since he assumed office in early 2019. Read as part of a four-hours live-televised litany on national TV, the main outcome is a heavy rotation through numerous army branches and command posts. Perhaps most relevant is the dismissal of long-standing Inspector-General John Numbi, … Continue reading
Ebola Healthcare at Gunpoint – the New Normal?
[This piece was originally published on MSF Analysis] Emmanuel Lampaert and Heather Pagano The latest deadly attacks on Ebola response teams in eastern DRC were horrific. Assailants killed four people and injured others in Biakato Mines and Mangina on 28 November. MSF condemns these attacks and extends its condolences to the families and friends of … Continue reading
General Mudacumura – The Death of a Most-Wanted
This morning, around 5am, the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda’s (FDLR) long-standing overall military commander Lt.-Gen. Sylvestre Mudacumura (also known by his noms de guerre Bernard Mupenzi and Pharaon) has been killed in a raid near Bwito-Monument, a small locality in southern Bwito chieftaincy roughly situated between Bukombo and Bambu. Mudacumura has been one … Continue reading
New Suluhu Paper on insecurity in Beni (eastern DRC)
After a long lull – owing to finishing PhDs and a host of other intervening issues – we are glad to publish today Suluhu Working Paper #3. Written by Elie Kwiravusa, if offers a new look at Beni’s insecurity conundrum. Through a political, an economic and a social lenses, Kwiravusa tries to order the multiple … Continue reading
Rumblings galore after surprise results in Congo polls
It has been roughly 36 hours since the DRC’s independent electoral commission CENI has announced provisional results of presidential and provincial legislative elections (the third ballot, national legislative elections, still not published). Coming in at around 3am local time, the announcement had already been delayed a couple of days – as has been the ballot … Continue reading
Guest blog: La CNPSC depuis l’assaut sur Uvira
Décryptage de la situation après la tentative d’assaut sur Uvira : quid de la CNPSC au Sud-Kivu? Oscar Dunia Abedi, chercheur indépendant La Coalition nationale du peuple pour la souveraineté du Congo (CNPSC) est un mouvement initialement fondé en 2013 et resurgi depuis mi-2016 après une existence dormante pendant plusieurs années, sous le commandement de … Continue reading
12 March 2017 – the murder of Zaida and Michael
On 12 March 2017 – one year ago ago – two members of the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) disappeared in the country’s Kasai region while they were investigating an insurrection against the Congolese government known as Kamuina Nsapu. On a mission to investigate potential sanctions violations, which has … Continue reading
Unearthing the flaws in the Board of Inquiry report on the murder of Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan
(For a PDF version of the below text, click here) In sequence to the violent upsurge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Kasai region since late 2016, the UN Security Council-mandated Group of Experts on the DRC (GoE) began investigating violations of International Humanitarian Law in the concerned region. During their field investigations, … Continue reading
Putting the Kamanyola killings into perspective
(screenshot of Kamanyola area, Google Maps with amendments) On 15 September 2017 in the afternoon, the Congolese border town Kamanyola witnessed the deadliest killing spree that has occured in South Kivu’s Ruzizi Plains since 2014’s Mutarule carnage. At least 36 Burundian refugees and two Congolese (a soldier and a policeman) were killed in what seemed … Continue reading
“Tatort Kongo – Prozess in Deutschland”, or a history of the FDLR
Below is a guest feature on the new FDLR book by Johnson, Schlindwein & Schmolze: “Tatort Kongo – Prozess in Deutschland”, or a history of the FDLR Usually, starting with the worst point is not how one would begin a review – but this great book so far only exists in a German version, and it … Continue reading
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