Calls for a ceasfire from Joseph Kony, leader of the rampaging Lord's Resistance Army, are hard to take seriously since they come from the discredited group's spokesman, David Nyekorach Matsanga.
Matsanga claims to have talked with Kony -- a claim he has made in the past and proved to be untrue -- who has asked him to appeal for a ceasefire.
“Kony called me and told me he wants to talk peace. I am calling upon President Museveni to call for a ceasefire. We should re-open the negotiations,” Matsanga said to the New Vision newspaper.
When such a ceasefire is declared, a neutral venue and chief mediator should be found, Matsanga has said.
Kony has apparently decided that the former peace talk mediator Riek Machar, whose forces from South Sudan have joined in the hunt for Kony and his army, is no longer the neutral figure he apparently once was.
Instead, he wants UN envoy Joaquim Chissano to take over.
This also is very difficult to take seriously, especially since the LRA is being pursued now more vigorously than ever by a combined force of Congoleses, Ugandan and South Sudanese forces.
It is curious that Kony now is turning to Chissano, whom he has refused to meet in the past, as a far as most know, has never met.
It seems that the LRA negotiators, led by Matsanga, have tired of the food and accomodations given to them by the international community in Juba, South Sudan, where the talks have been based for two years.
Matsanga and whoever is now part of the ever-changing cast of so-called negotiators, want the talks resumed and moved to what they're saying is a neutral location, such as Kenya, Tanzania or even South Africa.
But what is the point? Why would Kony sign anything now or in the future when he has not done so on three occassions this past year?
The answer is clear and simple: he won't. This call for renewed talks is only an effort by Matsanga and a new set of negotiators to collect a wad of cash and live large on someone else's money.
Uganda isn't buying it.
“If Kony says he is ready to sign, that arrangement can be made but only if he is going to assemble at Ri-kwangba,” said Capt. Chris Magezi, military spokesman.
Magezi was reflecting the thinking of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni who has also said the only safe thing for Kony to do was to assemble his cult at Ri-Kwangba and sign the peace agreement.
“The operation will see the end of Kony, either peacefully by him walking to Ri-Kwangba or by being violently killed or captured,” Museveni said. “As an old fighter, I would not want to be in Kony’s position. The combined arms operations about to begin will decimate him.”
It is tough sounding talk, mostly, and Kony does not seem weakened by the offensive, since he has killed more than 400 civilians since his forces were first attacked on Dec. 14.
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has condemned the atrocities committed by the LRA and demanded that the rebels respect the international humanitarian law.
Ban’s special representative, Leila Zerrougui, on Tuesday met with Congo’s national security council to discuss the government’s needs. “She informed them of UN’s willingness to support them,” MONUC said in a statement.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Defiance from the LRA?
It is increasing difficult to understand why credible news organizations and international news agencies continue to quote the nonsense being spewed by David Matsanga.
For those who don't know this man, he is the so-called spokesman for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has gone on a bloody rampage in the Democratic Republic of Congo since Christmas and killed 400 innocent people.
Senseless killing is standard operating procedure for the LRA. This time it's in response to the Dec. 14 attack on the LRA camps by the Ugandan, Congolese and South Sudanese armies.
Any true military force would combat another military force that attacked it. But not the LRA. This cult of killers responds by killing defenseless villagers, then thumps its chest about how "invicible" it is.
And, there is Matsanga, taking calls from news hacks and claiming that it is not the LRA, but the Uganda army that is killing the civilians. And, pathetically, the news organizations publish that.
The most recent nonsense sent around the world came from the Voice of America. Matsanga told VOA the killings were carried out by a special battalion of the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) called Battalion 105 that is composed of former LRA combatants who have defected.
It's an interesting idea, but like everything Matsanga says, impossible to take seriously.
The many former LRA fighters I have interviewed -- something Matsanga has not done -- would welcome the opportunity to put a bullet into the head of each and every LRA commander for what these abducted children were forced to do by the LRA. This included killing their own parents, or mutilating their friends and relatives.
Matsanga goes on to say that he has talked with the LRA leader Joseph Kony (who the VOA dutifully calls "general") and he has informed Matsanga that the LRA was not responsible for the alleged killings.
Why would anyone believe Kony? And, where is he?
Now, this is the same Matsanga who earlier this year told the world he spoke for the LRA and convinced the international community to trek to the jungles where they were to witness Kony signing a peace agreement with Uganda.
Of course, Kony didn't. Once confronted, Matsanga confessed that he had never really talked with Kony, who probably didn't even know he was supposed to show up and sign a document he knew nothing about.
But, this has not stopped people like Matsanga from continuing to claim he represents the LRA, while sitting in his house in Nairobi. And, it has not stopped the news hacks at VOA from giving this man a global forum for his unique brand of nonsense.
It is no wonder that fewer and fewer people take news organizations, especially newspapers, seriously anymore, and prefer to read blogs like this.
For those who don't know this man, he is the so-called spokesman for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has gone on a bloody rampage in the Democratic Republic of Congo since Christmas and killed 400 innocent people.
Senseless killing is standard operating procedure for the LRA. This time it's in response to the Dec. 14 attack on the LRA camps by the Ugandan, Congolese and South Sudanese armies.
Any true military force would combat another military force that attacked it. But not the LRA. This cult of killers responds by killing defenseless villagers, then thumps its chest about how "invicible" it is.
And, there is Matsanga, taking calls from news hacks and claiming that it is not the LRA, but the Uganda army that is killing the civilians. And, pathetically, the news organizations publish that.
The most recent nonsense sent around the world came from the Voice of America. Matsanga told VOA the killings were carried out by a special battalion of the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) called Battalion 105 that is composed of former LRA combatants who have defected.
It's an interesting idea, but like everything Matsanga says, impossible to take seriously.
The many former LRA fighters I have interviewed -- something Matsanga has not done -- would welcome the opportunity to put a bullet into the head of each and every LRA commander for what these abducted children were forced to do by the LRA. This included killing their own parents, or mutilating their friends and relatives.
Matsanga goes on to say that he has talked with the LRA leader Joseph Kony (who the VOA dutifully calls "general") and he has informed Matsanga that the LRA was not responsible for the alleged killings.
Why would anyone believe Kony? And, where is he?
Now, this is the same Matsanga who earlier this year told the world he spoke for the LRA and convinced the international community to trek to the jungles where they were to witness Kony signing a peace agreement with Uganda.
Of course, Kony didn't. Once confronted, Matsanga confessed that he had never really talked with Kony, who probably didn't even know he was supposed to show up and sign a document he knew nothing about.
But, this has not stopped people like Matsanga from continuing to claim he represents the LRA, while sitting in his house in Nairobi. And, it has not stopped the news hacks at VOA from giving this man a global forum for his unique brand of nonsense.
It is no wonder that fewer and fewer people take news organizations, especially newspapers, seriously anymore, and prefer to read blogs like this.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Situation worsens as LRA rampages
As feared, the situation in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has worsened now two weeks after the Dec. 14 air strike against the rebel Lord's Resistance Army camps in and around the Garamba National Park.
Aid agencies report that tens of thousands of people continue to flee the rampaging Ugandan rebels in the wake of more than 400 deaths, about half of which were in the town of Doruma, not far from the South Sudan border.
The Catholic relief agency Caritas has reported that some 20,000 people had fled to the mountains from the rebels, whose controversial spokesmen continue to deny carrying out the attacks.
Yet, an eyewitness told the BBC that five people in Faradje had their lips cut off by Lord's Resistance Army fighters as a warning not to speak ill of the rebels.
Bruno Mitewo, head of the Catholic aid agency, said the agency has information that from parishes in the region that more than 400 civilians have died in the attacks.
He said that in Faradje 150 civilians had died, almost 75 people in Duru and 215 in Doruma. The victims had been hacked to death and forced into fires, he said.
"All villages were burned by rebels... we don't know where exactly the population is because all the villages are empty," he told the BBC.
"We have almost 6,500 displaced who are refugees in the parishes of the Catholic Church around the city of Dungu, more than 20,000 people displaced are running to the mountains," he said.
Those who were hiding in the bush and forest were mainly the young, as the LRA tends to kidnap children and recruit them as fighters, he said.
An eyewitness in Faradje said the people who had their lips cut off were being treated for their injuries.
“The entire population of Faradje [80km from the Sudanese border], some 30,000 people, has left. Most have taken refuge in Tadu and Kpodo,” said Ivo Brandau, head of information for the UN's OCHA. The villages are 37km and 11km from Faradje.
As has been widely reported, forces from the DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan are in the midst of a joint military operation against the LRA after the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, failed to sign a peace agreement with Uganda in early December.
OCHA officials said people from Kiliwa and Paika, two villages north of the regional capital of Dungu, had also fled.
“It’s not yet known exactly how many. Another group of around 180 households is said to be in Duru (about 50 kms north of Dungu). This area is considered to be at risk because of the presence of the LRA,” said Brandau. “Villages and local officials are still looking for bodies.”
Several prominent Faradje citizens were killed in the attacks, including a senior doctor, two pastors, a school inspector, a pharmacist, and the deputy head of the Directorate General of Migration.
According to OCHA, the LRA occupies seven villages around Doruma: Batande, Manzagala, Mabando, Bagbugu, Nakatilikpa, Nagengwa and Natulugbu.
Military officials said that following the air strike on LRA positions in Garamba National Park, the rebels fled north towards Sudan and south into the DRC.
Aid agencies report that tens of thousands of people continue to flee the rampaging Ugandan rebels in the wake of more than 400 deaths, about half of which were in the town of Doruma, not far from the South Sudan border.
The Catholic relief agency Caritas has reported that some 20,000 people had fled to the mountains from the rebels, whose controversial spokesmen continue to deny carrying out the attacks.
Yet, an eyewitness told the BBC that five people in Faradje had their lips cut off by Lord's Resistance Army fighters as a warning not to speak ill of the rebels.
Bruno Mitewo, head of the Catholic aid agency, said the agency has information that from parishes in the region that more than 400 civilians have died in the attacks.
He said that in Faradje 150 civilians had died, almost 75 people in Duru and 215 in Doruma. The victims had been hacked to death and forced into fires, he said.
"All villages were burned by rebels... we don't know where exactly the population is because all the villages are empty," he told the BBC.
"We have almost 6,500 displaced who are refugees in the parishes of the Catholic Church around the city of Dungu, more than 20,000 people displaced are running to the mountains," he said.
Those who were hiding in the bush and forest were mainly the young, as the LRA tends to kidnap children and recruit them as fighters, he said.
An eyewitness in Faradje said the people who had their lips cut off were being treated for their injuries.
“The entire population of Faradje [80km from the Sudanese border], some 30,000 people, has left. Most have taken refuge in Tadu and Kpodo,” said Ivo Brandau, head of information for the UN's OCHA. The villages are 37km and 11km from Faradje.
As has been widely reported, forces from the DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan are in the midst of a joint military operation against the LRA after the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, failed to sign a peace agreement with Uganda in early December.
OCHA officials said people from Kiliwa and Paika, two villages north of the regional capital of Dungu, had also fled.
“It’s not yet known exactly how many. Another group of around 180 households is said to be in Duru (about 50 kms north of Dungu). This area is considered to be at risk because of the presence of the LRA,” said Brandau. “Villages and local officials are still looking for bodies.”
Several prominent Faradje citizens were killed in the attacks, including a senior doctor, two pastors, a school inspector, a pharmacist, and the deputy head of the Directorate General of Migration.
According to OCHA, the LRA occupies seven villages around Doruma: Batande, Manzagala, Mabando, Bagbugu, Nakatilikpa, Nagengwa and Natulugbu.
Military officials said that following the air strike on LRA positions in Garamba National Park, the rebels fled north towards Sudan and south into the DRC.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Deja-vu northern Uganda
As many feared and some predicted, the Dec. 14 attack on the camps of the Lord's Resistance Army in northeastern DRC has provoked a bloody response.
So far, according to UN sources, at least 200 people have been killed by the scattered forces of the LRA, led by their self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony. At least 120 homes have been burned.
One of the most gruesome of these latest attacks was in a church near the town of Doruma (pictured above) close to the border with South Sudan. There LRA rebels hacked to death 45 people who were hiding in a church.
This attack on innocent civilians rivals some of the gore that the LRA indulged in across northern Uganda for two decades.
I visited Doruma this past June to interview people there about an earlier attack by Kony's killers on Easter weekend of this year.
Maybe this is how Joseph Kony likes to spend religious holidays: killing hundreds of innocent people.
The attack against Kony was of course long overdue. He has been killing and abducting people in this remote area of the DRC for more than two years now.
And, he has been lavishly aided and abetted by the soft-minded members of European Union who remain convinced Kony will sign a peace agreement and give up, no matter how many people he kills.
Whatever.
The latest bloody rampage, however, can be blamed on the Ugandan government which can be accused of botching this attack on Kony.
Instead of surrounding the camp before they bombed it, thus enabling the LRA and its leadership to be killed and/or captured as they fled, Uganda bombed first and sent troops two days later.
This allowed Kony and his army to disperse, taking what they needed, including their supposedly dead and wounded, assuming there were any.
Why has it taken so long for Uganda to produce proof of any casualties?
The problem now is that Uganda and the DRC are facing an extended guerrilla war in northern DRC, much like it suffered in northern Uganda.
Already, Kony's units have scattered, and despite the claims of "victory" by the Ugandan government, Kony was able to conduct coordinated attacks on and after Christmas day.
In short, it's deja-vu northern Uganda. The coming year promises to be a bleak one for the people of northern DRC.
And sadly, neither Kony nor his top commanders are any closer to being captured and put on trial before the International Criminal Court which has sought them since October 2005.
So far, according to UN sources, at least 200 people have been killed by the scattered forces of the LRA, led by their self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony. At least 120 homes have been burned.
One of the most gruesome of these latest attacks was in a church near the town of Doruma (pictured above) close to the border with South Sudan. There LRA rebels hacked to death 45 people who were hiding in a church.
This attack on innocent civilians rivals some of the gore that the LRA indulged in across northern Uganda for two decades.
I visited Doruma this past June to interview people there about an earlier attack by Kony's killers on Easter weekend of this year.
Maybe this is how Joseph Kony likes to spend religious holidays: killing hundreds of innocent people.
The attack against Kony was of course long overdue. He has been killing and abducting people in this remote area of the DRC for more than two years now.
And, he has been lavishly aided and abetted by the soft-minded members of European Union who remain convinced Kony will sign a peace agreement and give up, no matter how many people he kills.
Whatever.
The latest bloody rampage, however, can be blamed on the Ugandan government which can be accused of botching this attack on Kony.
Instead of surrounding the camp before they bombed it, thus enabling the LRA and its leadership to be killed and/or captured as they fled, Uganda bombed first and sent troops two days later.
This allowed Kony and his army to disperse, taking what they needed, including their supposedly dead and wounded, assuming there were any.
Why has it taken so long for Uganda to produce proof of any casualties?
The problem now is that Uganda and the DRC are facing an extended guerrilla war in northern DRC, much like it suffered in northern Uganda.
Already, Kony's units have scattered, and despite the claims of "victory" by the Ugandan government, Kony was able to conduct coordinated attacks on and after Christmas day.
In short, it's deja-vu northern Uganda. The coming year promises to be a bleak one for the people of northern DRC.
And sadly, neither Kony nor his top commanders are any closer to being captured and put on trial before the International Criminal Court which has sought them since October 2005.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Kony Runs Rings Around Negotiators
Someone defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
It’s an accurate description of the continuing situation with Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, currently holed up in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.
As he has in the past, Kony continues to play humiliating games with negotiators seeking a final end to northern Uganda’s brutal 20-year war with the LRA.
He, or his so-called spokesman David Matsanga, repeatedly announce that Kony plans to sign a permanent peace agreement, and even go so far as to set dates. Negotiators scramble to an agreed rendezvous point in the jungle – but Kony never shows.
This is followed by public grumblings from the negotiators, who vow never again to be fooled. But that “never again” lasts only a few weeks. Kony then calls someone like United Nations Special Envoy Joachim Chissano or talks mediator Riek Machar, the vice president of South Sudan, or dials up Mega FM in Gulu or Radio France International, and rambles on about how much he wants peace.
This inevitably draws yet another delegation to the jungles and which again is left sitting alone and waiting. Kony undoubtedly enjoys this because of the ease with which he can get away with it.
He clearly does not want peace.The was made abundantly clear – again – over the past week, when the LRA reportedly conducted more attacks on civilian populations both in South Sudan and on unarmed civilians in northeastern DRC.
One South Sudanese soldier was killed, according to reports, and others injured in an attack on Sakure, a village in Western Equatoria Province of South Sudan, which officials say was the work of the LRA.
South Sudan’s army reportedly chased the rebels back across the border into DRC, but the LRA didn’t quit there. Instead, it looted and burned houses, schools, churches and health centers, mostly in DRC.
Meanwhile, several hundred kilometres to the southwest of these attacks, some 50 students were kidnapped by LRA rebels in Duru. It’s a village about 75 km north of Dungu, in DRC.The reason for this convulsion of violence by the LRA is unknown, but it is not unexpected.
As reported by IWPR, the LRA went on a rampage in early spring, trekking to Obo in the Central African Republic and then back again with hundreds of abductees carrying as much loot as they could.
This kind of violence by the LRA has continued at various levels ever since the peace talks with the LRA began two years ago in Juba, South Sudan.This latest round of attacks came simultaneously with a September 18 statement out of Juba calling for yet another round of meetings with Kony and his Acholi tribal leaders. The statement was signed by Acholi chief David Acana, Machar, and Matsanga.
What kind of military response, if any, these latest attacks may generate, is unclear. Some have suggested that the LRA has stepped up the attacks because of increased presence in Dungu of the Congolese army.
The LRA apparently wants to test the resolve of the local forces to see who really intends to control the region.When I was in Dungu in June, the UN had just completed a large airstrip about eight km from the town, and was expecting the arrival of up to 1,000 Congolese soldiers.
They’ve started to arrive, but it remains to be seen what they’ll do.The people of Dungu, who reportedly have already begun to leave following these latest attacks by the LRA, view the arrival of Congolese soldiers with fear since they have a reputation of being as bad or worse as the militias they’re supposed to be fighting.
What’s lacking in this on-going circus is the collective will on the immediate states involved –DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda – or the international community to bring an end to it all.
To read the complete post go to: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=346795&apc_state=henpacr
It’s an accurate description of the continuing situation with Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, currently holed up in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.
As he has in the past, Kony continues to play humiliating games with negotiators seeking a final end to northern Uganda’s brutal 20-year war with the LRA.
He, or his so-called spokesman David Matsanga, repeatedly announce that Kony plans to sign a permanent peace agreement, and even go so far as to set dates. Negotiators scramble to an agreed rendezvous point in the jungle – but Kony never shows.
This is followed by public grumblings from the negotiators, who vow never again to be fooled. But that “never again” lasts only a few weeks. Kony then calls someone like United Nations Special Envoy Joachim Chissano or talks mediator Riek Machar, the vice president of South Sudan, or dials up Mega FM in Gulu or Radio France International, and rambles on about how much he wants peace.
This inevitably draws yet another delegation to the jungles and which again is left sitting alone and waiting. Kony undoubtedly enjoys this because of the ease with which he can get away with it.
He clearly does not want peace.The was made abundantly clear – again – over the past week, when the LRA reportedly conducted more attacks on civilian populations both in South Sudan and on unarmed civilians in northeastern DRC.
One South Sudanese soldier was killed, according to reports, and others injured in an attack on Sakure, a village in Western Equatoria Province of South Sudan, which officials say was the work of the LRA.
South Sudan’s army reportedly chased the rebels back across the border into DRC, but the LRA didn’t quit there. Instead, it looted and burned houses, schools, churches and health centers, mostly in DRC.
Meanwhile, several hundred kilometres to the southwest of these attacks, some 50 students were kidnapped by LRA rebels in Duru. It’s a village about 75 km north of Dungu, in DRC.The reason for this convulsion of violence by the LRA is unknown, but it is not unexpected.
As reported by IWPR, the LRA went on a rampage in early spring, trekking to Obo in the Central African Republic and then back again with hundreds of abductees carrying as much loot as they could.
This kind of violence by the LRA has continued at various levels ever since the peace talks with the LRA began two years ago in Juba, South Sudan.This latest round of attacks came simultaneously with a September 18 statement out of Juba calling for yet another round of meetings with Kony and his Acholi tribal leaders. The statement was signed by Acholi chief David Acana, Machar, and Matsanga.
What kind of military response, if any, these latest attacks may generate, is unclear. Some have suggested that the LRA has stepped up the attacks because of increased presence in Dungu of the Congolese army.
The LRA apparently wants to test the resolve of the local forces to see who really intends to control the region.When I was in Dungu in June, the UN had just completed a large airstrip about eight km from the town, and was expecting the arrival of up to 1,000 Congolese soldiers.
They’ve started to arrive, but it remains to be seen what they’ll do.The people of Dungu, who reportedly have already begun to leave following these latest attacks by the LRA, view the arrival of Congolese soldiers with fear since they have a reputation of being as bad or worse as the militias they’re supposed to be fighting.
What’s lacking in this on-going circus is the collective will on the immediate states involved –DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda – or the international community to bring an end to it all.
To read the complete post go to: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=346795&apc_state=henpacr
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Another setback for ICC prosecutor
The Hague, Netherlands -- The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, again has been handed a setback in his efforts to bring former eastern Congo militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to trial.
In the latest move, the ICC's judges last Thursday rejected the prosecutor's request that the Lubanga trial, which they summarily suspended in June, be allowed to continue.
Instead, the judges outlined the conditions under which they would allow the trial proceed.
Their primary requirement is to be allowed full access to documents and evidence that Moreno-Ocampo obtained from United Nations and other sources under the condition that the information be kept confidential.
The court suspended the Lubanga case after the judges concluded that Lubanga could not receive a fair trial because not only the judges, but Lubanga's defense, was prevented from accessing that evidence.
That evidence reportedly could benefit Lubanga.
Moreno-Ocampo has argued that he is allowed to collect confidential information under the Rome Statute which created the court.
The ICC judges agreed, but said that information can only be obtained anonymously if it is used to obtain other information and evidence that can be shared.
The judges, however, said they might lift their suspension of the Lubanga trial if, and only if, they "can adequately review - on a continuing basis for the entirety of the trial– the documents in question...."
In other words, they want full access. Once that happens, then the judges will decide what, if any, evidence can be handed over to the defense in order to insure a fair trial for Lubanga.
The primary charges against Lubanga are for recruiting and using child soldiers for his ethnic Hema militia in eastern DRC.
The judges indicated that discussions are continuing between the court, the prosecutor, and the UN and others who provided the documents, suggesting that a breakthrough in this deadlock may be possible.
The judges decision is far from complete, however, and does little to solve the standoff between themselves and the court's chief prosecutor.
And, it does little to change the condition of Lubanga, who remains in ICC custody.
In the latest move, the ICC's judges last Thursday rejected the prosecutor's request that the Lubanga trial, which they summarily suspended in June, be allowed to continue.
Instead, the judges outlined the conditions under which they would allow the trial proceed.
Their primary requirement is to be allowed full access to documents and evidence that Moreno-Ocampo obtained from United Nations and other sources under the condition that the information be kept confidential.
The court suspended the Lubanga case after the judges concluded that Lubanga could not receive a fair trial because not only the judges, but Lubanga's defense, was prevented from accessing that evidence.
That evidence reportedly could benefit Lubanga.
Moreno-Ocampo has argued that he is allowed to collect confidential information under the Rome Statute which created the court.
The ICC judges agreed, but said that information can only be obtained anonymously if it is used to obtain other information and evidence that can be shared.
The judges, however, said they might lift their suspension of the Lubanga trial if, and only if, they "can adequately review - on a continuing basis for the entirety of the trial– the documents in question...."
In other words, they want full access. Once that happens, then the judges will decide what, if any, evidence can be handed over to the defense in order to insure a fair trial for Lubanga.
The primary charges against Lubanga are for recruiting and using child soldiers for his ethnic Hema militia in eastern DRC.
The judges indicated that discussions are continuing between the court, the prosecutor, and the UN and others who provided the documents, suggesting that a breakthrough in this deadlock may be possible.
The judges decision is far from complete, however, and does little to solve the standoff between themselves and the court's chief prosecutor.
And, it does little to change the condition of Lubanga, who remains in ICC custody.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Hema Feel Vindicated by Lubanga Trial Crisis
Inside a Bunia neighborhood mud hut where one can buy a bowl of mandro, a murky homemade beer, customers say the International Criminal Court, ICC, was wrong to prosecute Thomas Lubanga.
Many in the hut in Mudzi-pela – on the side of Bunia that is almost wholly occupied by the Hema ethnic group to which Lubanga belongs – believe the delays and problems with the trial are a sign that the case was weak from the outset.
“[This] shows that the ICC cannot take control of the case. We can’t understand why they have postponed it so many times,” said one patron, who, along with others here, see Lubanga as a hero not a villain.
The trial was supposed to start on June 23, but judges have postponed it after concluding that the prosecution had withheld a “significant” body of evidence from the defence.
They consider the breach so serious that they will meet on June 24 to decide whether Lubanga should be released and dismiss the case against him.Lubanga, who is being held in The Hague, has been charged with recruiting children under the age of 15 to become fighters for his militia, the military wing of his political party, the Union of Patriotic Congolese, UPC.
Vicious clashes between the Lendu and Hema in the Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, grew out of a civil conflict that broke out in the region more than ten years ago.
The decade of war, which has resulted in the deaths of more than five million people, according to recent reports, saw the toppling of the two regimes and the spawning of many ethnic-based rival militia groups in the eastern Congo.
The Ituri region has been the focus of ICC investigations since 2003, and has resulted in the arrest of four Congolese, including Lubanga, Germain Katanga, Matthieu Ngudjolo, and Jean Pierre Bemba, a senator and former presidential candidate.
Militia leader Bosco Ntaganda has also been indicted, but he is still at large in eastern Congo.Lubanga’s trial – which was the first to be prosecuted by the ICC – was originally scheduled to begin on March 31.
Various reasons have been given for the delays, including the failure of prosecutors to disclose to the defence all its evidence and the identities of witnesses testifying against the accused. To people in Mudzi-pela, Lubanga is a saviour who defended them during the decade-long civil war.
“Thomas came to our rescue,” said one woman. “We were running for our lives with babies in our arms. He came to help.”
She pointed to the dirt road outside the hut where she said five people had been killed.“People were trying to kill us. They were Lendu,” said another woman.
“Thomas [Lubanga] helped us so much.” The repeated stays in the Lubanga proceedings have drawn accusations in the region that a case should never have been brought against him.
“The [ICC is] telling lies,” said one man, adding that many Hema orphans had little option but to become fighters.
“Imagine the [Lendu] come and kill your family. It’s better to be a child soldier. Children were given a way of protecting themselves.”
To read the complete article:
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=345236&apc_state=heniacr200806
Many in the hut in Mudzi-pela – on the side of Bunia that is almost wholly occupied by the Hema ethnic group to which Lubanga belongs – believe the delays and problems with the trial are a sign that the case was weak from the outset.
“[This] shows that the ICC cannot take control of the case. We can’t understand why they have postponed it so many times,” said one patron, who, along with others here, see Lubanga as a hero not a villain.
The trial was supposed to start on June 23, but judges have postponed it after concluding that the prosecution had withheld a “significant” body of evidence from the defence.
They consider the breach so serious that they will meet on June 24 to decide whether Lubanga should be released and dismiss the case against him.Lubanga, who is being held in The Hague, has been charged with recruiting children under the age of 15 to become fighters for his militia, the military wing of his political party, the Union of Patriotic Congolese, UPC.
Vicious clashes between the Lendu and Hema in the Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, grew out of a civil conflict that broke out in the region more than ten years ago.
The decade of war, which has resulted in the deaths of more than five million people, according to recent reports, saw the toppling of the two regimes and the spawning of many ethnic-based rival militia groups in the eastern Congo.
The Ituri region has been the focus of ICC investigations since 2003, and has resulted in the arrest of four Congolese, including Lubanga, Germain Katanga, Matthieu Ngudjolo, and Jean Pierre Bemba, a senator and former presidential candidate.
Militia leader Bosco Ntaganda has also been indicted, but he is still at large in eastern Congo.Lubanga’s trial – which was the first to be prosecuted by the ICC – was originally scheduled to begin on March 31.
Various reasons have been given for the delays, including the failure of prosecutors to disclose to the defence all its evidence and the identities of witnesses testifying against the accused. To people in Mudzi-pela, Lubanga is a saviour who defended them during the decade-long civil war.
“Thomas came to our rescue,” said one woman. “We were running for our lives with babies in our arms. He came to help.”
She pointed to the dirt road outside the hut where she said five people had been killed.“People were trying to kill us. They were Lendu,” said another woman.
“Thomas [Lubanga] helped us so much.” The repeated stays in the Lubanga proceedings have drawn accusations in the region that a case should never have been brought against him.
“The [ICC is] telling lies,” said one man, adding that many Hema orphans had little option but to become fighters.
“Imagine the [Lendu] come and kill your family. It’s better to be a child soldier. Children were given a way of protecting themselves.”
To read the complete article:
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=345236&apc_state=heniacr200806
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