Thoughts on Rwanda… (and genocide)
Exactly 20 years ago this evening, a plane was shot down over the hills of Kigali. At that time I was much too young to do analysis or research, let alone to board a plane to be on spot. So I cannot actually imagine how it must have been that day and the following 100. However, … Continue reading
Reconfiguring the state in eastern DRC: fixing the unfixable?
(first published on openDemocracy on 3 April 2014) Two decades on from the Rwanda bloodletting, conflicts still simmer in neighbouring DRC. While their success remains mixed, international agendas of state- and peace-building heavily impact on everyday life and the ‘governing of the ungovernable’. Among the most visible examples, the UN stabilisation agenda through its peacekeeping mission … Continue reading
Thoughts on MONUSCO’s upcoming mandate renewal
On 28 March 2013, the UN Security Council did something unexpected in many years before. It made clear, in its resolution 2098 that a peacekeeping force could, under given circumstances, actually implement chapter VII of the UN Charter. To this end, the so-called Force Intervention Brigade has been established with separate rules of engagement and … Continue reading
Recent developments around Raia Mutomboki
Amidst military reshufflings and changes in eastern Congo’s security topography, the so-called ‘angered citizens’, Raia Mutomboki, remain one of the most complex and least understood armed configurations across North and South Kivu. Academic literature is almost non-existent and also other analyses are scarce good, leading to the ironically sad fact that an academic journal could permit … Continue reading
Dancing on the razorblades of meaningful DDR in eastern DRC
More and more weeks pass, but Congo’s new DDR efforts do not seem to move ahead. Awhile ago, I have tried to outline the main past failures and current challenges regarding sustainable demobilisation and reintegration efforts and ever since, the situation on the ground has grown more precarious. The Congolese government had finalised its new DDR … Continue reading
A new phase of imponderability for the Congo conundrum
While fake rumours about Kagame’s death made the news in Goma this week, lots of stuff is happening below the surface as the DRC enters the year 2014. As I have written a few days ago for Al Jazeera and on this site, M23’s defeat and subsequent demobilisation waves are likely not to be a panacea … Continue reading
Many hitches ahead for Congo’s new DDR. Time to get over them.
On Boxing Day, the Congolese government has officially unpacked its new Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) approach. A cabinet meeting presided by Prime Minister Matata Ponyo has adopted the “Plan Global de Déarmement, Démobilisation et Réinsertion”, nicknamed DDR III because it is the third nation-wide approach in that regard. It is worth a while to have … Continue reading
Genocide? Religious war? The inflationary use of buzzwords in CAR’s violent imbroglio
For quite some time, I have been refraining from writing about the current conflicts in the Central African Republic. There is good reason for that, given I have never done actual fieldwork in this country. However, the recent escalation of violence has brought along a dangerous escalation of narratives, similar to that we know from … Continue reading
Amani Itakuya #22: Eradicating the FDLR for Sustainable Peace and Security in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Eradicating the FDLR for Sustainable Peace and Security in the Democratic Republic of Congo Olivier Nduhungirehe There is a general consensus that one of the root causes of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The former Government’s army (ex-FAR), the Interahamwe militias … Continue reading
Finally good news? What militia surrenders mean for eastern Congo
A few days ago, I have argued in this piece that M23’s demise has not entrenched automatism in appeasing conflicts across the Kivus. While it can be filed as a first success in lowering armed conflict in the region, key protagonists must maintain their vigilance and – with a more political and diplomatic focus – continue … Continue reading
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