DR Congo

Global Witness Press Release:

Campaigners call for immediate demilitarisation of mining sector.

Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafiastyle extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), campaign group Global Witness reported today, following four weeks of research in the region.

The ex-CNDP rebels, who joined the national army in a chaotic integration process during 2009, have taken advantage of UN-backed government offensives aimed at displacing the FDLR militia from profitable mine sites. They have gained far greater control of mining areas than they ever enjoyed as insurgents, and in many cases have retained their old command structures and political agenda.

Global Witness is calling on the Congolese government to immediately remove all army units from mine sites as part of a wholesale demilitarisation of the sector. The country’s international donors have so far let the government off the hook on this issue and should do more to pressure Congolese authorities to take soldiers out of the mines and away from the mineral trade.

“Last year’s high profile offensives against the FDLR paved the way for high-ranking elements of the ex-CNDP to gain and consolidate access to mineral wealth. Control of the mines has effectively been transferred from one group of armed thugs to another – the main difference being that the new ones are wearing the national army’s uniform,” said Global Witness campaigner Annie Dunnebacke, just back from a month in eastern DRC.

“For more than a decade now, the country’s mineral wealth has provided an incentive and a cash base for the conflict to continue. Unless the government and international donors implement a comprehensive strategy which tackles once and for all the economic drivers of this conflict, the local population will continue to suffer and the country’s future will continue to be blighted.”

Global Witness found that ex-CNDP fighters now in charge of the 212th national army brigade are pocketing tens of thousands of dollars per month from illegal taxes imposed on civilians working in and around Bisie, eastern Congo’s largest cassiterite (tin ore) mine. Most of these funds are channelled directly to ex-CNDP senior officers, including brigade commander Colonel Yussuf Mboneza, and to other high-ranking elements of the national army.

In some parts of North Kivu, former CNDP commanders are running a parallel administration – effectively a state within a state – through which they are illegally levying taxes on the mineral trade and other goods. The central government has virtually no authority in these areas.

“The capacity of the former rebels to siphon off revenue from the mines means they could afford to re-arm if they decide peace no longer suits them,” said Global Witness campaigner Emilie Serralta, who travelled with Dunnebacke. “This is particularly dangerous considering the ex-commanders’ history of reverting to rebellion when they don’t get what they want.”

Global Witness found that the brunt of the extortion and abuse is borne by the region’s civilian population. At the Muhinga cassiterite mine in South Kivu, diggers told researchers that they are forced to pay $10 each to the military for permission to spend a night working in the mineshafts. Diggers, many of whom are children, also have to pay the army to use dynamite and are forced to hand over all their production on Thursdays.

“In Muhinga, workers told us they are whipped and robbed by soldiers if they fail to pay up. The army should be protecting civilians, instead they are crippling them with illegal taxes and abuse,” said Serralta.

Companies still sourcing from armed groups, governments failing to act

Global Witness also uncovered evidence that companies in eastern DRC and Rwanda are still buying goods directly from militarised mines, in spite of growing international pressure to end the trade in conflict minerals.

Some in the industry have committed on paper to greater supply chain traceability and more responsible sourcing practices, but so far companies buying minerals from eastern Congo have failed to move beyond the rhetoric and put in place credible due diligence measures.

“It’s not enough for companies to rely on promises made or paperwork filled out by their suppliers. If companies want to avoid being complicit in the conflict and human rights abuses, they have to carry out investigations to find out exactly which mines the goods come from, and who has benefited from the trade,” said Dunnebacke.

“Information about who controls which mine site is common knowledge in the trading towns of eastern Congo. Companies buying minerals from militarised areas have no excuse for claiming ignorance.”

Recent UN Security Council resolutions have called on governments to take measures against those sourcing minerals from armed groups in eastern Congo, but so far member states have shied away from placing any companies or individuals under UN sanctions, despite abundant evidence published by the UN Group of Experts and Global Witness.

Serralta said: “Western donor governments have been very vocal about commitments to bring peace and stability to eastern DRC. But the impressive rhetoric is at odds with their persistent failure to hold to account companies in their jurisdictions that buy conflict minerals. When helping Congo involves tackling a perceived national interest, however marginal, their willingness to act seems to dissolve into thin air.”

MONUC drawdown should be contingent on demilitarisation of mines

Another test of international commitment to tackle the link between the mineral trade and abuses in Congo concerns the objectives and mandate given the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC. Over the coming weeks, UN Security Council members will be deciding on benchmarks that MONUC needs to meet before it can withdraw from DRC without triggering a relapse into instability. In light of its recent findings, Global Witness believes it is critical that these targets include comprehensive demilitarisation of the mineral sector in the east of the country.

Security Council members should also strengthen MONUC’s mandate to tackle the illicit mineral trade when this comes up for renewal in May. Peacekeepers should be given the authorisation and the means, not only to monitor and inspect mineral shipments, but also to actively support government law enforcement efforts to curtail illegal activities involving the military.

/ Ends

African Union Commission (AUC) — The Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government while at their 14th Ordinary Session from 31st January to 2nd February 2010, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted the following Decisions:

On the situation of peace and security in Africa, the Summit expressed satisfaction with the efforts by the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), with support from the international community, for the effective establishment of the continental Peace and Security Architecture, as well as for the prevention and resolution of conflict and the consolidation of peace.

With regard to unconstitutional changes of government, and strengthening the capacity of the African Union to manage such situations, the Assembly reiterated the African Union’s total rejection of unconstitutional changes of Government, and its determination to put a definitive end to this scourge, which undermines the progress achieved in the ongoing democratization processes in the continent and constitutes a threat to peace and security in Africa.

The Assembly decided that, in case of unconstitutional changes of government, in addition to the suspension of the country concerned, the following measures shall apply: non-participation of the perpetrators of the unconstitutional change in the elections held to restore constitutional order; implementation of sanctions against any Member State that is proven to have instigated or supported an unconstitutional change in another State; and implementation by the Assembly of other sanctions including punitive economic sanctions. It further decided that, Member States should, upon the occurrence of an unconstitutional change of Government, refrain from granting any accreditation to the de facto authorities in non-African international bodies, including the United Nations and its General Assembly, thus strengthening the automatic suspension measure taken by the AU against the countries in which unconstitutional changes of Government have taken place.

The Assembly strongly underscored the importance of signing and ratification by Member States which have not already done so, of the AU Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance as well as on good neighbourliness and non-subversion.

Concerning the International Criminal Court (ICC), the recommendation of the Assembly contained therein, and in particular the following:

Proposal for amendment to Article 16 of the Rome Statute;

Proposal for retention of Article 13 as is;

Procedural issues: guidelines for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the ICC Prosecutor;

Immunities of officials whose states are not parties to the Rome Statute: the relationship between articles 27 and 98; and

Proposals regarding the crime of aggression.

On the abuse of the principle of universal jurisdiction, the Assembly reiterated its previous positions adopted in Sharm el Sheikh, Addis Ababa and Sirte in July 2008, February 2009 and July 2009 respectively to the effect that there has been blatant abuse of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction particularly by some non-African States. It called for immediate termination of all pending indictments while urging the Commission to follow-up on this matter with a view to ensuring that a definitive solution to this problem is reached and to report to the Ordinary Session of the Assembly through the Executive Council in July 2010.

For the Hissène Habré case: the Assembly appealed to all Member States to contribute to the budget of the trial and extend the necessary support to the Government of Senegal in the execution of the African Union (AU) mandate to prosecute and try Hissene Habre;

With respect to the terrorist attack against the Togolese national football team, the Assembly recalled the principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the 1999 OAU Convention on Preventing and Combating Terrorism (Algiers Convention) and the 2004 Protocol, the relevant legal instruments of the United Nations and other international conventions relating to the fight against  terrorism, all of which equally condemn the support, sheltering and financing of terrorists groups;

On the Year of Peace and Security in Africa, the Assembly stressed that the Year of Peace and Security will be an opportunity for African people and leaders, as well as African institutions, in partnership with the international community, to review current efforts towards peace on the continent, with a view to strengthening them and, where appropriate, launching new initiatives, in particular by:

giving added momentum to peace and security efforts on the continent;

giving greater visibility to ongoing and past efforts by the African Union on the ground;

speeding up the implementation of commitments made by Member States to various AU instruments relating to peace and security;

making synergy between official efforts to promote peace and security with those  being undertaken on the ground by grassroots communities; and

mobilizing resources to support peace and security efforts on the Continent.

On the African Common position on the review of the implementation of the Beijing+15 platform, the Assembly took note of the Report on the African Common Position on the Fifteen Year Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action, and the recommendations contained therein. It called on the United Nations to consider and incorporate the Common African Position on the Fifteen Years Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, during the global review.

Regarding the establishment of the Fund for African Women, the Assembly decided to  launch the Fund for African Women in accordance with Assembly Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.143 (VIII) adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2007.

On the date and venue of the fifteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, the Assembly accepted the dates proposed by the Republic of Uganda and the Commission for the holding of the Summit meetings in Kampala as follows:

19 to 20 July 2010: 20th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee;

22 to 23 July 2010: 17th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council;

25 to 27 July 2010: 15th Ordinary Session of the Assembly.

Concerning the election of the members of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, the Assembly appointed the following five (5) Members of the Peace and Security Council for a three-year term as of 1 April 2010:

It also appointed the following ten (10) Members of the Peace and Security Council for a two-year term as of 1 April 2010:

Concerning the African Common Position at the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, the Assembly reaffirmed its continued stand to remain united in all future negotiations on climate change while endorsing that the leadership of H.E Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, as Coordinator of CAHOSCC, be extended to lead CAHOSCC for the next two Conferences of Parties (COP16 in Mexico and COP17 in South Africa, in 2010 and 2011 respectively).

Regarding the report of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee on NEPAD, the Assembly approved the adoption of a new strategic approach focusing on partnership dialogue on Africa’s development policy issues and called for the institutionalization of Africa’s engagement within the G20, and the effecting of the desired paradigm shift from management of poverty in the Continent to economic transformation for Africa to emerge as a new growth pole to address existing imbalances and play a significant role in the integrated world economy.

On the integration of the NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union including the establishment of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), the Assembly approved the following:

Facilitate and coordinate the implementation of the continental and regional priority programmes and projects;

Mobilize resources and partners in support of the implementation of Africa’s priority programmes and projects;

Conduct and coordinate research and knowledge management;

Regarding the response to the global financial crisis, the Assembly expressed some concerns on the impact of the global financial and economic crisis on African countries, despite their economies being less integrated into the international financial system. It called upon developed countries as well as international financial institutions to urgently implement the recommendations and commitments made during the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit, while requesting the Commission, in collaboration with the AfDB and the ECA, to continue monitoring the impact of the crisis on African countries, as well as the implementation of the G20 Summit Commitments

On the Reform of the United Nations Security Council, the Assembly reaffirmed the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration on the reform of the United Nations Security Council containing the African Common Position, and called for its intensive promotion to ensure that Africa speaks with one voice on the issue of Security Council Reform.

On the annexes to the statues of the African Investment Bank, the Assembly adopted the Annexes to the Statutes of the African Investment Bank (AIB) including the selection of scenario B, on the distribution of capital and voting rights of the AIB among Member States, and the choice of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of the International Monetary Fund as unit of account of the AIB, until the creation of the African single currency. It called on the Member States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Protocol and the Statutes of the African Investment Bank.

On the African Union budget for the 2010 financial year, the Assembly approved the Budget of the African Union for the Year 2010 amounting to US$250,453,697. They requested the Commission to implement the decision to increase Member States` contribution towards the peace fund from 6% to 12% over a period of 3 years starting from 2011. They also decided to allocate US$3,020,854 to NEPAD as initial budget for its integration into African Union structures and processes pending the approval of its structure by the Policy Organs as well as the continued harmonization of its programs with those of AUC to avoid duplication and ensure coherence.

On Zimbabwe, the Assembly recalled its Decision 252 adopted in Sirte, Libya, in July 2009 on the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. In this regard, the Assembly invited all the Member States of the AU and the international community to give priority to the immediate and permanent lifting of the international sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. Source: (African Press Organization)

IGAD: A communiqué devoid of any legality

The IGAD Council of Ministers has issued a communiqué on Somalia and Eritrea following a meeting convened in Ethiopia this weekend. Apart from its ill-advised content which can only exacerbate the crisis in Somalia and hamper the objectives of peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the IGAD Communique is devoid of any legality for the following procedural and substantive reasons:

i) Four members of IGAD, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Uganda are direct protagonists in the conflict in Somalia in one form or another. Ethiopia is culpable for a flagrant invasion of Somalia in December 2006 under the instigation of the United States and the intermittent incursions thereafter. The other countries have not only endorsed Ethiopia’s invasion of an IGAD Member State but have also sent troops to Mogadishu in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1725(2006) that barred neighboring countries from involvement in any eventual peacekeeping force in Somalia.

ii) Somalia’s seat in IGAD had remained vacant for most of the 19 years since the country was sadly embroiled in the crisis that continues without let up. It appears that the TFG has now been accorded a seat in IGAD. But in view of the political realities in Somalia(the entities in Puntland, Somaliland etc and the situation in Mogadishu), this short-sighted decision does not only provoke issues of legality but does not augur well for a healthy process of nation reconciliation in Somalia.

iii) As communicated to the government of Eritrea by Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Special Advisor to the President, the government of Sudan does not support UN Security Council Resolution 1907 imposing sanction on Eritrea.

iv) Eritrea suspended its membership in IGAD in early 2007 in the wake of Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia and the moral failure of IGAD to condemn the acts of aggression against a fellow Member State.

v) As is well known, Ethiopia continues to occupy sovereign Eritrean territories in violation of international law and its treaty obligations.

vi) In light of these facts, any decision of those States in respect of Somalia does not have validity, as they cannot cast their votes as impartial or neutral parties. In the same breadth, these countries cannot indict Eritrea on account of events in Somalia. These countries, which shoulder primary responsibility for the cause and exacerbation of the crisis in Somalia do not indeed have moral, political or legal authority to indict or punish Eritrea.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Asmara

3 February 2010

Hizbawi Mekete Norway

Statement by Hizbawi Mekete Norway

On 24, January 2010, Eritreans residing in Norway gathered on Plaza Hotel in Oslo to discuss the unjust sanction imposed on Eritrea by UNSC under resolution 1907 (2009).

Delegates from Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Bergen were among the more than 300 participants who deliberated the resolution.

Chairman of Hizbawi mekete Oslo Mr. Yemane Haile gave a brief description about the content of the meeting and later on invited the distinguished and intellect Professor Gideon Abay Asmerom to elaborate the subject matter of the sanction cases.

Professor Gideon Abay Asmerom, elaborated the meaning and intentions of the sanction and urged participants to be vigilant for the evil actions of the perpetrators.

Finally, the audience exposed the misdeeds of USA against Eritrea and determined to take actions by declaring its manifestation on defiance to the UNSC resolutions and standing firmly to support the people and government of Eritrea.

The resolutions passed by the participants read as follows.

1. We condemn, on strong terms, the decision 1907 (2003) issued on behalf of UNSC, sanctioning Eritrea.
2. We request UNSC to annualizing and lift up this irresponsible, unjust decision.
3. To rein peace and security in Horn of Africa UNSC shall first and utmost see to that of the decision of EEBC shall be exercised on ground immediately and bear its responsibility on its implementation. We strongly demand to evacuate the Ethiopian army, at once, from the occupied Eritrean territories.
4. Our country Eritrea has disguisedly been under threat to undermine its developmental programs and continually is blackmailed. To overcome and win this treat we are determined to stand on the side to the people and government of Eritrea. To date, as always, we all patriotic Eritreans are determined to fulfill our responsibilities to stand on parry.

We remember our martyrs!

Victory to the masses

Hizbawi Mekete Norway

Book Cover

Chatham House is scheduled to release a new book titled “Eritrea’s External Relations: Understanding Its Regional Role and Foreign Policy” on January 15.

The press release reads as follows:

Eritrea is increasingly isolated, militarised, and misunderstood on the world stage. It has become vital to the stability of east and northeast Africa, and beyond. A focal point of violent insecurity across the region, Eritrea urgently requires better understanding on the part of policy-makers in the international community.

Eritrea’s External Relations: Understanding Its Regional Role and Foreign Policy, publishing 15th January 2010, is a pioneering assessment of the country’s regional role and foreign relations, representing the first significant analysis of those relations and the internal and regional dynamics which lie behind them, and bringing together the insights of several international analysts and scholars.

Eritrea’s External Relations argues forcefully that the international community must engage with the Eritrean Government as a matter of priority, and urges policy-makers to understand the country’s political culture as a first step toward its rehabilitation. It is argued that Eritrea’s diplomatic culture is rooted in a violent and misunderstood past, and makes the explicit connection between troubled foreign relations and external adventurism on the one hand, and a militaristic, oppressive political culture at home on the other.

The book explores the manner in which the lack of resolution in the conflict with Ethiopia – a failure in which the international community is complicit – continues to destabilise the region in unforeseen ways. Until this is addressed, there is no prospect of peaceful development in the region.

Eritrea’s External Relations makes recommendations for policy-makers as to how best to approach this embittered and aggressive regime, and how it might be made a partner rather than an opponent.

Eritrea’s External Relations makes clear that a failed state in Eritrea would be catastrophic both for the wider region and for international security, and that therefore new paths of engagement are absolutely essential in terms of both the stabilisation of external relations and the encouragement of some degree of liberalisation and demilitarisation inside Eritrea itself.

The Editor:

Richard Reid is Reader in the History of Africa in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He taught for several years at the University of Asmara in Eritrea and has also at Durham University. He is the author of War in Pre-Colonial Eastern Africa and A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present.

He was guest editor of a special volume of the Journal of Eastern African Studies in 2007, dealing with identities in east and northeast Africa. He is also the author of several articles on modern Eritrea and Ethiopia, dealing particularly with the liberation struggle, the 1998–2000 war, and the current political situation.

Released by:

Chatham House has been the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs for over eight decades. Its mission is to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all. www.chathamhouse.org.uk

The Book at Amazon:

Eritrea’s External Relations: Understanding Its Regional Role and Foreign Policy

Oslo

Eritrean hero Hamid Edris Awate triggered the first bullet in the eve of the 1st September, 1961 against successive colonizers and oppressors.

Following this, it took the people of Eritrea a thirty year long bloody war to achieve its independence in the 24th of May, 1991.

However, the war did not end up without its destructive consequences. Eritrean people suffered a lot and experienced tough life; family members were separated and the infrastructures got collapsed, and an unimaginable overall destruction of the nation happened.

Thus, Eritrean people back home and the Diasporas have a special memory in their minds to reflect the second to none history of the past thirty years long revolutionary struggle. Every celebration on behalf of this special occasion has a unique meaning and context to the people of Eritrea. In this context we would like to report how the Eritrean community in Europe’s far north has celebrated the event.

Eritreans living in Oslo (Norway) celebrated this occasion on the 29th of August, 2009 like many other people from Eritrea did world wide.

The celebration was opened by the chair person Mr Yemane Haile. In his opening, Mr Yemane Haile emphasized the importance of the special occasion Bahti Meskerem and addressed the participants of the day concluding his statement through the nation’s popular closing slogan: ‘’Awet Nehafash’’.

Besides, Madam Mislal, the representative of the Eritrean Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, also transmitted her message in a similar fashion.

The invited singer of that special night Mr Isaak Okbay was highly appreciated for his performance and good deeds. He contributed the money for his performance to parents of those who sacrificed their lives during the historical struggle.