Congo Chronicle XXI

March 30 - April 26 1998

sources: ACP, Le Soir, NRC, Reuters

Constitutional Commission

On March 29 the Constitutional Commission has completed its work with the endorsement of a draft-constitution containing 254 articles. According to a spokesman the articles constitute the basics of fundamental civil rights and the state power organisation. It concerns an unitary state with a multi-party system. After acceptance of the draft-constitution by president Kabila there will be formed a 'constituante' to take a decision about the text.

After the presentation of the draft-constitution to President Kabila on Monday March 30, confusing news appears in the (inter) national press: the president of the Constitutional Commission, Anacet Kashamura, should have added a list of 250 persons who should be excluded from political and civil rights. It allegedly concerns AFDL adversaries, like Tshisekedi and others. However the first deputy president of the Commission, Delphin Banza, has denied strongly the existence and of such a list or its addition to the draft-constitution.

Activities of ministers and president Kabila

During the session of the council of ministers on March 30,Kabila has pronounced himself in favor of a revision of the agreements with the financial international institutions, IMF and Worldbank, made by the former (Mobutu) regime. Priority must be given to execution of the government's three year reconstruction plan.The government is not willing to submit to Western arrangements connected with the perverse old regime. The government neither accepts that ngo's are supported financially by foreign institutions or governments around the projects of the government's three year plan.

At the Cabinet meeting of April 3, information minister Rafael Ghenda is mandated to go to Europe, especially to Belgium and France, to clarify the government's policy. This has become necessary because of the continuous stream of desinformation about the policy op the Congolese government. It is also decided to establish a national organisation for the human rights with the name "Solidaires Entre Nous". It will take care of free admission to all prisons and attend to free communication with all prisonners.

On Saturday April 4, a declaration of the government was issued by the Congolese radio about the discovery of weapons in the Belgian consulate in Lubumbashi. A spokesman of the government spoke in harsh terms about Belgium, and suggested a connection of this arms discovery with a possible attack on Kabila. The incident led to irritated statements from the Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs, mr Derijcke. According to him the arms had been transported to the consulate during the AFDL war against Mobutu. The contentions from Kinshasa have disturbed the relations with Belgium in such a manner that Derijcke has suspended the bilateral cooperation with Congo. Minister Ghenda did not receive a visum for Belgium. He did talk in Paris on April 12 with French politicians and businessmen on his journey to Europe.

President Kabila made several journeys abroad. On April 8 he was in Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia, where he talked with the ethiopian president, Negasso Gidada. Both countries will cooperate more closely. The secretary general of the OUA, who has his office in Addis Abeba, confirmed the support of the OUA to Congo. From April 17 to 19 Kabila visited his Libyan colleague, El Khadafi. Both heads of state promised mutual assistance and confirmed that the OUA has to be strengthened in order to be able to tackle conflicts in Africa without foreign interference.

Other international contacts concern among others the visit to Kinshasa of the Defense Minister of Zimbabwe, with which an agreement for military cooperation was signed, and a meeting with the charge d'affaires of Cuba, mr Jose Silva de la Torre, at the ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On April 17 ACP mentions that the Dutch charge, mr Fred Racke, met with Environment Minister Edu Angulu. The Netherlands will help with maintenance of Kinshasa, combat of erosion menacing the nuclear centre, protection of the gorillas and rehabilitation of the nature reserves.

U.N. and Congo

ACP reported (4/1) that the minister of Plan, Etienne Mbaya, made a statement about the desecration of the Wenzi-Secli graveyard on March 19 by the UN investigative team. Wenzi-Secli is a village 20 km from Mbandaka. The UN-investigators have visited that place without contacting the province governor; in this way they proceeded against the protocol. They have digged up the bones of a traditional chief and a child and taken away under the pretext of having found the remainders of Hutu refugees.Then the local people stood up against the UN-team. After the governor had calmed the people, the UN-team left the place secretly and has gone to Kinshasa. Mbaya declared this in reaction to accusations by UN High Commisioner for the Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and by the UN- team leader, Koffi Amega. They had accused the Congolese government of obstructing the investigation.

On April 7 new problems have risen between the UN and Congo: a member of the UN-team,the Canadian Chistopher Harland, has been arrested near Goma (North Kivu). According to the Congolese authorities he had showed a suspect behaviour.Passing the Rwanda frontier he had presented a passport without Congolese visa. The Congolese border police were alarmed supposing an illegal border crossing.The Canadian was arrested and transported to Kinshasa for interrogation. When his membership of the UN-team was cleared he was released. It seems that he did not use his UN-pass when crossing the border.

After this incident the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, decided on April 17 to withdraw the UN-team. The UN press release is reproaching the Congolese government obstruction of the investigation. At a press conference in Kinshasa on April 17 too, minister Mbaya rejected the accusations. (see: Declaration of minister Mbaya on our site: Topical Matters).On behalf of the Congolese government he regrets the departure of the UN-team and speaks out the hope that the UN will be led by objectivity.
(note: The proceedings of the UN in relation to Congo have evoked our doubts about the objectivity of the UN. Just at the same time we read in the Dutch journal NRC about the problems concerning the so called RIOD investigation.( RIOD is the Dutch State Institute for War documentation). RIOD is assigned to investigate the mass murder of Bosnian Moslims by the Serbs in July 1995 at Srebrenica. After 17 months waiting, the UN, France nor the USA, have given permisssion to study documentation necessary to complete the the RIOD research. The French general Janvier, who then was the UNPROFOR chief staff, has no permission of his government to give evidence. The UN- secretariat does not give any cooperation till now. Who is here obstructing?)

During the 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on April 21 a resolution about Congo was adopted, with 28 votes against 7 and 18 abstensions. In the resolution the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Congo, mr Roberto Garreton, is extended for an additional year.

Human Rights

On April 10 ACP reports that minister Mova (former member of the human rights organisation AZADHO) has published a document, titled "Droits de l'Homme et alienation mentale et intellectuelle". He indicates that national human rights organisations are always financially dependent of exterior partners and foreign powers, for which they write their reports. Mova wants that Congolese intellectuals make more efforts to study the proper African values, and make themselves in the human rights field independent of the West.

On April 10, also, 22 Congolese human rights organisations were officially recognized by the Minister of Justice.
(It concerns:Agence pour la diffusion du droits de l'homme humanitaire en Afrique centrale, Avocats sans frontieres, Alliance de protection de droits de l'homme, Ligue de droits de l'homme de Boende,Association congolaise des demographes, Association congolaise d'assistance aux prisonniers et action des chretiens pour l'abolition de la torture, Ligue des electeurs, Espoir des victimes des conflits en Afrique centrale,Fraternite nationale des prisonniers au Congo, Ligue internationale africaine des prisons au Congo, Le triangle des donnees veridiques et de la paix, Fondation pour la democratie au Congo,Ligue congolaise des electeurs, Ligue nationale des droits de l'homme, Liberte, Colleges des ayants droits fonciers pour la defense des interets et droits coutumiers, Humanite nouvelle, Les Amis de Nelson Mandela pour la defense de droits de l'homme, Reseau sante et droits de l'homme, Societe internationale pour les droits de l'homme, la Voix de sans Voix, Organisation congolaise pour le developpement par la democratie et les droits de l'homme)

The total number of those who wanted to be recognized was 132. The organisation AZADHO has been forbidden by the Congolese government. It is allegedly to much involved in politics and does not give objective information on the human rights situation in Congo.

On April 14 reportedly 3 wellknown prisonners have escaped. It concerns two leaders of so-called opposition parties, Joseph Olenghankoy and Z'ahidi Ngoma, and commandant Ningada Masasu. They were kept in the Buluwo prison in Lubumbashi. Rumours were circulating in the media that they had been killed by the Congolese government, but Le Soir reports on April 18 that they have been re-arrested and brought back to Bulowo prison. (On April 27 there is a report that only Olenghankoy is still on the run)

Kivu

The situation in North and South Kivu remains insecure. President Kabila visited Goma on April 6 to be informed. The region should be victim of assaults by armed bandits who according to Kabila are supported by international organisations. UNICEF for example should be utilized by Mai-Mai rebels as mailbox for faxes coming from abroad.

Nevertheless ACP reported (4/24) that UNICEF international director Carol Bellamy visited Kinshasa and talked with some ministers in a pleasant atmosphere. The talks were about the removal of the anti-personal landmines which were put by Mobutu's mercenaries around Kisangani. UNICEF supported also the demobilisation of the child soldiers who must receive a good education.

The deputy minister of Home Affairs, Munene, declared after a visit to Kivu, that there is a coalition of rebels of different nationalities: Ugandan, Rwandan together with Mai-Mai soldiers. Some mobutists should sustain this revolt from Kenya.

According to Le Soir (4/7) there exists an radio-station in Bukavu, named "La voix des patriotes", which is conducted by rebels.It calls regularly on to murder Tutsi people, just as the radio-station "Mille collines" did in Rwanda in 1994.

The Congolese government has organized a top meeting in Kinshasa attended by government representatives from the region of the Great Lakes from April 24 till 26. Kabila has incited the local population to resolve the problems together and to resist agressive propaganda.

Economy The mining investment code is not yet completed. John Williams, a Worldbank investment expert, visited Kinshasa on March 31 to help the Congolese authorities with the formulation of a legal mining regulation.

On April 6 American Mineral Fields declared by means af a press release to have made faults when it tried to acquire the Kolwezi concession. AMF wrote also a letter of excuses to the minister of Economy, Mpoyo. In the last time Congo was often accused in the media of breaking the contract made with AMF, now it is clear that the Congolese government is not to blame. (see our Opinion section at "AMF and Internet-NCN")

Another company, Ashanti Goldfields,now accuses the Congolese government of breach of contract. The Ghanese company says to have bought a partial stake in KIMIN, which has the exploration rights of the Mongwale gold mine in the Kilo Moto region (East Province).The Congolese government has denied the Ghanese rights, which were acquired during the Mobutu period. (On April 27 there are media reports that the Bunia court has put Ashanti Goldfields in the right)

Monetary affairs

ACP reported that president Kabila signed a decree on April 24 for the introduction of the Congolese Franc at the end of June. The notes are already being printed by printer companies in Belgium,Germany and Sweden.