Comments on: Letter to President Kabila: Arrest Bosco Ntaganda http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/letter-to-president-kabila-arrest-bosco-ntaganda/ uganda Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:39:55 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Rizik http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/letter-to-president-kabila-arrest-bosco-ntaganda/#comment-992 Rizik Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:45:46 +0000 http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/?p=1668#comment-992 MJPC blames the Congolese Government for the Deteriorating Situation in East Congo(DRC) "There is no excuse for missing to pay salaries to soldiers in a lawless eastern Congo for six months" Following the deteriorating situation in east Congo, the MJPC called today for the Congolese Government to urgently pay the salaries to thousands of soldiers who have not been paid for over six months in eastern Congo, take swift action to enforce the International Criminal Court's (ICC) warrant against Bosco Ntaganda and to hold accountable perpetrators of sexual violence against women for their acts. "Failing to hold accountable individuals who commit war crimes and crimes against humunity continues to be the leading cause of widespread and systematic sexual violence acts against girls and women in the easten Congo" said Makuba Sekombo, Community Affairs Director of the Mobilization for Justice and Peace in the DR Congo (MJPC). Mr. Sekombo again criticized the government of Congo for not only the continuing failure to protect women and young girls from sexual violence, but also for "encouraging conditions that create opportunities for sexual violence to occur". "There is no excuse for missing to pay salaries to soldiers in a lawless eastern Congo for six months" said Sekombo. The MJPC has also renewed its call for the Congolese government to take urgent needed action to end human rights abuses in east Congo, hold perpetrators accountable and ensure reparation for the victims of sexual violence. The MJPC has been urging the Congolese government to compensate the victims of sexual violence in order to also help combat impunity in eastern part of Congo where sexual violence against women and children has been widely used as weapon of war for more than decade. The MJPC online petition calling for for help to put pressure on Congolese Government to compensate victims of sexual siolence in Eastern DRC can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/26180.html About MJPC MJPC works to add a voice in advocating for justice and peace in the DRC particulary in the east of DRC where thousands innocent civilian including children and women continue to suffer massive human rights violations while armed groups responsible for these crimes go unpunished For more information about the MJPC and its activities, visit http://www.mjpcongo.org. or call Makuba Sekombo @ 1-408-8063-644 or e-mail: info@mjpcongo.org. The online petition calling on the Congolese Government to put urgently in place a comprehensive program of compensation for the victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/26180.html MJPC blames the Congolese Government for the Deteriorating Situation in East Congo(DRC)

“There is no excuse for missing to pay salaries to soldiers in a lawless eastern Congo for six months”

Following the deteriorating situation in east Congo, the MJPC called today for the Congolese Government to urgently pay the salaries to thousands of soldiers who have not been paid for over six months in eastern Congo, take swift action to enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant against Bosco Ntaganda and to hold accountable perpetrators of sexual violence against women for their acts.

“Failing to hold accountable individuals who commit war crimes and crimes against humunity continues to be the leading cause of widespread and systematic sexual violence acts against girls and women in the easten Congo” said Makuba Sekombo, Community Affairs Director of the Mobilization for Justice and Peace in the DR Congo (MJPC).

Mr. Sekombo again criticized the government of Congo for not only the continuing failure to protect women and young girls from sexual violence, but also for “encouraging conditions that create opportunities for sexual violence to occur”. “There is no excuse for missing to pay salaries to soldiers in a lawless eastern Congo for six months” said Sekombo.

The MJPC has also renewed its call for the Congolese government to take urgent needed action to end human rights abuses in east Congo, hold perpetrators accountable and ensure reparation for the victims of sexual violence.

The MJPC has been urging the Congolese government to compensate the victims of sexual violence in order to also help combat impunity in eastern part of Congo where sexual violence against women and children has been widely used as weapon of war for more than decade. The MJPC online petition calling for for help to put pressure on Congolese Government to compensate victims of sexual siolence in Eastern DRC can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/26180.html

About MJPC
MJPC works to add a voice in advocating for justice and peace in the DRC particulary in the east of DRC where thousands innocent civilian including children and women continue to suffer massive human rights violations while armed groups responsible for these crimes go unpunished

For more information about the MJPC and its activities, visit http://www.mjpcongo.org. or call Makuba Sekombo @ 1-408-8063-644 or e-mail: info@mjpcongo.org. The online petition calling on the Congolese Government to put urgently in place a comprehensive program of compensation for the victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/26180.html

]]> By: uganda http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/letter-to-president-kabila-arrest-bosco-ntaganda/#comment-924 uganda Sun, 31 May 2009 17:52:13 +0000 http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/?p=1668#comment-924 <strong>Who is Bosco Ntaganda?</strong> Ntaganda is accused of several war crimes and crimes against humanity including: the massacres of 150 people in the town of Kiwanja in 2008 in his duties as military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), torturing and killing of hundreds of civilians of Lendu and Ngiti ethnicity between August 2002 and March 2003 when he was chief of military operations of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), slaughtering of at least 800 civilians on ethnic grounds at Mongbwalu, including the first priest killed in the Ituri conflict, Abbe Boniface Bwanalonga, killing of a Kenyan UN peacekeeper in January 2004 and kidnapping a Moroccan peacekeeper later that year, and recruiting child soldiers in the eastern region of Ituri. The MJPC is strongly urging the Congolese Government and MONUC to execute the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Ntaganda. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bosco Ntaganda on August 22, 2006 for war crimes allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However,in January 2009, after Bosco ousted Laurent Nkunda as leader of the insurgent National Congress for the Defense of the People (CDNP), Congolese authorities appointed him a deputy commander of military operations conducted by the Rwandan and Congolese armies against Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels. The government has justified its decision not to arrest him by citing the primacy of establishing peace in eastern Congo. But only a tireless effort to combat impunity in the African Great Lakes region will bring a sustainable end to the cycle of violence and mass killings plaguing eastern DRC. <strong>JUSTICE FOR BOSCO NTAGANDA'S CRIMES</strong> Allowing Bosco to remain at large is an affront to his past victims and risks the commission of further war crimes. To break the cycle of impunity: • The Congolese government must respect its obligation to collaborate with the ICC by arresting Bosco and transferring him to The Hague. • Bosco must be held accountable for the totality of crimes he has allegedly committed, and the Congolese justice system should cooperate with the ICC to this end. • The international community—particularly MONUC—should maintain pressure on the Congolese government to ensure that Bosco is arrested and held accountable. Over a decade of conflict with impunity has made clear that lasting peace will not be achieved in Congo until justice is served. Evidence suggests that in his capacity as deputy chief of the general staff of the FPLC Ntaganda was involved in serious human rights abuses, including massacres. In August 2002, for instance, combatants under his command allegedly surrounded the town of Sangolo and slaughtered Lendu and Ngiti civilians with firearms, machetes and spears. In addition, from August 2002 to March 2003, Ntaganda participated in the hunt, arrest and torture of hundreds of Lendu civilians in Bunia. Bosco Ntaganda is renowned for drinking a Cold Beer after a massacre as was witnessed in Kiwanja by the entire world. Who is Bosco Ntaganda?
Ntaganda is accused of several war crimes and crimes against humanity including: the massacres of 150 people in the town of Kiwanja in 2008 in his duties as military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), torturing and killing of hundreds of civilians of Lendu and Ngiti ethnicity between August 2002 and March 2003 when he was chief of military operations of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), slaughtering of at least 800 civilians on ethnic grounds at Mongbwalu, including the first priest killed in the Ituri conflict, Abbe Boniface Bwanalonga, killing of a Kenyan UN peacekeeper in January 2004 and kidnapping a Moroccan peacekeeper later that year, and recruiting child soldiers in the eastern region of Ituri. The MJPC is strongly urging the Congolese Government and MONUC to execute the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Ntaganda.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bosco Ntaganda on August 22, 2006 for war crimes allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However,in January 2009, after Bosco ousted Laurent Nkunda as leader of the insurgent National Congress for the Defense of the People (CDNP), Congolese authorities appointed him a deputy commander of military operations conducted by the Rwandan and Congolese armies against Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels. The government has justified its decision not to arrest him by citing the primacy of establishing peace in eastern Congo.
But only a tireless effort to combat impunity in the African Great Lakes region will bring a sustainable end to the cycle of violence and mass killings plaguing eastern DRC.

JUSTICE FOR BOSCO NTAGANDA’S CRIMES

Allowing Bosco to remain at large is an affront to his past victims
and risks the commission of further war crimes. To break the
cycle of impunity:
• The Congolese government must respect its obligation to collaborate with the ICC by arresting Bosco and transferring him to The Hague.
• Bosco must be held accountable for the totality of crimes he has allegedly committed, and the Congolese justice system should cooperate with the ICC to this end.
• The international community—particularly MONUC—should maintain pressure on the Congolese government to ensure that Bosco is arrested and held accountable.
Over a decade of conflict with impunity has made clear that lasting peace will not be achieved in Congo until justice is served.

Evidence suggests that in his capacity as deputy chief of the general staff of the FPLC Ntaganda was involved in serious human rights abuses, including massacres. In August 2002, for instance, combatants under his command allegedly surrounded the town of Sangolo and slaughtered Lendu and Ngiti civilians with firearms, machetes and spears. In addition, from August 2002 to March 2003, Ntaganda participated in the hunt, arrest and torture of hundreds of Lendu civilians in Bunia.

Bosco Ntaganda is renowned for drinking a Cold Beer after a massacre as was witnessed in Kiwanja by the entire world.

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