sources: Digital Congo, IRIN, Misna
December 20 2004
-Fighting resumed between ex-RCD-Goma mutineers and loyal forces near Kanyabayonga (North-Kivu).The breakaway soldiers of the 8the military region appear to have advanced as far as 25 km northward, capturing the localities of Kayina and Kirumba. The rebels are trying to block the deployment of troops sent by Kinshasa. The fighting has allegedly displaced more than 200 000 people. MONUC is convinced that foreign troops effectively entered the DRC territory immediately after Rwanda issued its threats on 23 November. MONUC confirmed that the insurgents receive weapons and reinforment from abroad.
December 21 2004
-MONUC troops will set op a temporary buffer zone between the towns of Kanyabayonga and Lubero to keep the two sides apart. The leaders of dissident RCD soldiers have agreed to a ceasefire. They agreed to travel to Goma with Serufuli, the governor of North Kivu, and Gen. Amisi, the new army commander of North Kivu's 8th military region, where they were negotiating an end to the conflict.
December 28 2004
-DRC government troops battled Rwandan militiamen near Walungu (Southern Kivu), where MONUC and Congolese soldiers recently launched a voluntary disarmament program for the Hutu militia.
January 5 2005
-9 ministers have been sacked, as announced in a presidential decree published 3/1 in Kisangani where president Kabila has been visiting. Apart from the 6 ministers who since November had been suspended for corruption, 3 others were also dismissed, including the minister of Defence, Ondekane, and that of economy, Ngoy Kasongo, both being members of the RCD-Goma.
January 7 2005
-A general election planned in June may have to be delayed, the head of the electoral commission, abbé Malu-Malu, has admitted for the first time.
-UN officials say the death toll in Congo is among the worst in the world.
-On 30 and 31 December 2004 a MONUC team conducted investigations into human rights abuses perpetrated in Buramba, a locality in the Rutshuru district. The findings suggest at least 30 civilians were killed by RCD mutious troops of the 123th battalion of the 12th Brigade.
January 13 2005
-African countries should send soldiers to eastern Congo to help forcibly disarm the Rwandan Hutu, the African Union said at the AU summit in Gabon.
January 24 2005
-Ten days after the resolution by the AU Peace and Security Council, the African Union has begun to consult the State members to set up a force whose objective will be to implement the disarmament of the Hutu rebels in eastern Congo.
January 25 2005
-Congo's neighbours, fractious army and powerful warlords continue to break a UN arms embargo on the east of Congo, a new UN-commisioned report says. The report by an independent panel of experts, prepared for a UN-Security Council committee says Uganda and Rwanda are among those violating the embargo and advises it be extended to cover the entire country. The group of experts said Rwanda maintained a covert residual presence in Congo.
January 27 2005
-In Ituri two camps belonging to an unidentified group were demolished by Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in the localities of Suba and Lelo, near the bank of Lake Albert. Two other camps belonging to the UPC were demolished by Moroccan peacekeepers at Kembi and Mandro, about 15 km east of Bunia. It should be remembered that the disarmament in Ituri is part of the broader national disarmament programm for which the DRC has received 200 million dollars from the World Bank. So far, in Ituri, 2400 out of an estimated 15 000 militiamen have accepted to hand over their arms.
January 30 2005
-Rival parties in Congo will meet at the beginning of February to discuss the electoral process. They will going to assess the electoral process, discuss the constitution, in order to reach a common understanding. The three days of talking will bring together representatives of the presidency, the government, the national assembly, the election commission and the CIAT. CIAT includes the five permanent UN Security Council members along with Belgium, South Africa and the MONUC.
February 2 2005
-Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel de Gucht, says that it will be impossible for Congo to hold elections as planned by the end of June. Ties between Belgium and Congo were strained last year after De Gucht criticised the Kinshasa government.
February 7 2005
-The inter-institutuinal meeting on the election ended in Kinshasa with the adoption of a work schedule to ensure that elections are held within the timing set by the constitution. The meeting made several recommandations:
*the head of state should convene the extraordianary session by mid-February
*the senate need to complete the final draft of the future constitution by the end of February
*the national assembly ought to adopt the draft constitution by 30 March
*by the end of February there should be a 10% increase in the funds for the elections
*the Defence Ministry should complete the merging of all units of the Congolese national army in October 2005
*the CEI (independent electoral commission) should heve their own offices provided by the Ministries of Budget, Finance and Public Works by the en of February
*40 000 polling agents should have been recruited and trained at the different registration centres by March 2005, and voter cards distributed by the end of March.
February 10 2005
-Militia attacks have forced more than 50 000 people from their homes in Ituri this year, the UN said, warning of a humanitarian crisis. The ethnic Lendu FNI militia carried out attacks over the past month against members of the ethnic Hema community in and around Tshe in Ituri.
February 16 2005
-The area in Ituri most affected by fighting is the territory of Djugu north of Bunia. Villages have been looted and burned down by armed factions, UNICEF said. We need to bring the same sense of urgency to Congo that we brought to the tsunami, in order to stop the killing of children, UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy declared.
-MONUC is reorganising its forces in eastern Congo and a division headquarter is established in Kisangani. Gen Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands will head it. 9000 men, (3 brigades) will be deployed in the Kivus and Ituri. The UN will also heve armed helicopters capable of night operations.
February 21 2005
-The British government has been accused of failing to take action over the 18 UK companies accused of involvement in the systematic looting of Congo according to a new parliamentary report of 7/2. High level political, military and business networks were pillaging gold, diamonds, timber and coltan from Congo. The amount of the looting was staggering with around $ 5 biliion worth of assets being stolen.
February 22 2005
-The Ugandan police have closed all files opened in response to the recommandations of the Justice David Porter Commission of Inquiry into the plunder of Congo' s mineral resources and other wealth during UPDF operations in the region. The director of Public Prosecution said there was no evidence to prefer criminal charges against Lt. gen Salim Sale, maj. Kazini and other top UPDF officers mentioned in the report.
February 23 2005
-The Interior Minister installed a new brigade of the Congolese integrated police in Ituri.
-Another disarmament transit centre is opened in Bunia, where till now at least 3300 ex-combatants have been disarmed and prepared for reintegration into the national army, according to the UN Development Programm.
-The International Criminal Court is to hold a hearing on March 15 to discuss possible action over massive human rights abuses in Congo.
February 25 2005
-Nine MONUC soldiers from Bangladesh were killed in an armed ambush in Congo, near the town of Kafe.
-The draft constitution was presented to the Senators in Kinshasa. The text foresees a semi-presidential regime and the election of the head of State through universal direct suffrage for a 5-year term.
-The Inga hydropower station, located 300 km upriver from Kinshasa, which must be rehabilitated and modernised, would be at the heart of an immense project to deliver hydroelectric power to Africa. The planning of this project to deliver energy across the continent is promoted by ESKOM, which says that it has received significant political and economic support from NEPAD .
chronicle 9, september 29 -october 12 1997
chronicle 10, october 13 - october 26 1997
chronicle 11, october 27 - november 9, 1997
chronicle 12, november 10 -november 23 1997
chronicle 13, november 24 -december 7 1997
chronicle 14, december 8 1997 - january 4 1998
chronicle 15, january 5 - january 18 1998
chronicle 16, january 19 - february 1 1998
chronicle 17, february 2 - february 15 1998
chronicle 18, february 16 - march 1 1998
chronicle 19, march 2 - march 15 1998
chronicle 20, march 16 - march 29 1998
chronicle 21, march 30 - april 26 1998
chronicle 22, april 27 - mei 10 1998
chronicle 23, mei 11 - mei 31 1998
chronicle 24, juni 1 - august 26 1998
chronicle 25, august 27 - september 28 1998
chronicle 26,september 29- october 31 1998
chronicle 27, november 1- december 5 1998
chronicle 28, december 6 - january 24 1999
chronicle 29, january 25 - march 14 1999
chronicle 30, march 15 - may 9 1999
chronicle 31, may 10 - october 24 1999
chronicle 32, october 25 - january 9 2000
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chronicle 50, 11 august 2003 - 15 december 2003
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chronicle 53, 21 juni 2004 - 3 october 2004
chronicle 54, 4 october 2004 - 19 december 2004