Eastern Congo: An Update from the Kivu Provinces

Posted on the 08 October 2013 by Therisingcontinent @Ambrosenz

By BK Kumbi 

This picture of young Canadians appalled by the crimes should wakes us all the youth of the Great Lakes region – Congolese, Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian to stand up against the numerous atrocities the Rwandan president and his allies have been committing for so many years in their respective communities.

There is a resurgence of children’s rape in the Kivus. They are taken in the forests where they are raped [and killed]. Then their bodies are thrown on roadsides after being ” tattooed ” with knives with symbols of some Mai-Mai groups. This means that today the people of Kivus consider that it is the Mai-Mai who are raping these victims in the region.

Yet anyone can mark these children with a knife to weigh the responsibility for these rapes only on Congolese people, and exonerate the Rwandan militias [M23] and MONUSCO contingents which also rape Congolese children.

Additionally, the M23 is preparing to attack again, while recent news inform of U.S. sanctions against Rwanda and Congo for having used child soldiers. The M23 attack is this time with the support of Rwandans based in Tanzania. We can therefore ask questions on the clean-up made by Kikwete, and assume that Tanzania might still hold potential criminals [against DRC]. 

In March this year a large number of voter cards were stolen in the Kivus. Today we find alleged Congolese families settling in Rutshuru . These families are not only 200 as this had been announced but rather 1000 and from what we have learned, another batch is preparing to enter the Congo. What people should know about the young in these families is that just once they enter the Congo, they are taken to Chanzu where they receive military training and this since 3 October specifically.

The M23 is currently forcibly recruiting Congolese doctors and nurses to treat their wounded. Ten nurses were kidnapped from Beni on September 29th and have not been since. Tsongo Shathehekwa Justin, Principal Nurse at the Maleki Health Centre and his colleague Richard Vutshuraho with whom they were on a night shift were on their part assassinated.

Last Saturday October 5th, the General Staff of M23 met for the military planning at Kahunga, about ten kilometers east of Kiwanja. The objective is to plan the resumption of hostilities against FARDC positions on the lines, Mabenga – Rwindi, Kahunga – Tongo and expand their attacks on the territories of Masisi and Nyiragongo with support from the Rwandans transferred from Tanzania.

The delegation of the M23 High Command was led by self-proclaimed General Sultan Makenga, attended the meeting among others Col. Innocent a.k.a Indian Queen and Moses Rusangiza. After Kahunga, in the evening, Makenga and his entourage visited Nyongera.