Oct 15, 2008
In a recent statement from the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC), the
possibility was raised of a greater military presence there under U.N.
auspices. This announcement comes at a time when there has been an escalation
of fighting between rebel groups and the Congolese National Army in North and
South Kivu provinces, located in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
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Underlying the continuing conflict in the DRC are the vast, highly
concentrated mineral resources in the eastern regions. The southeast and
eastern areas as a whole contain ore of every mineral listed in the periodic
resource tables.
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U.N. special envoy Alan Doss reported to journalists on Oct. 3 that the
request for a greater military presence was made during a closed session of the
Security Council. Doss did not say how many additional troops were requested.
There are currently 17,000 U.N. soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, the largest so-called peacekeeping force in the world.
Despite a peace agreement signed in 2003 ending a five-year war among
regional rebel groups backed by the neighboring U.S.-allied countries of Uganda
and Rwanda, and despite a 2006 election won by President Joseph Kabila, two
other political and military factions remained alienated from the central
government.
Soon thereafter serious conflict erupted, and has grown over the last two
years. A former colony of Belgium, which extracted immense wealth from this
African country, Congo gained its independence in 1960 but has been beset by
the intervention of outside imperialist forces and their surrogates ever
since.
In early October the Kabila government reported to the Security Council that
the administration had obtained photographs of Rwandan military forces inside
DRC territory. Although the Rwandan government denied the allegation that its
forces crossed the border into North Kivu, 34 photographs turned over to
Reuters press agency purportedly show weapons, Rwandan currency, a medical
insurance card and a military satchel that bore the inscription “Rwanda
Defense Force.” (Reuters, Oct. 11)
In response to the photographs, Congolese Ambassador to the United Nations
Atoki Ileka forwarded a letter to Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, the current
president of the Security Council, confirming the Kabila government’s
concern that neighboring Rwanda was preparing for a major incursion into
Congolese territory.
It has been reported that the rebel leader, Gen. Laurent Nkunda, a renegade
Congolese military officer, has received material assistance from the Rwandan
government. Nkunda, who is of Tutsi ethnic origins and operates in eastern DRC,
has accused the Congolese government of being allied with members of the Hutu
ethnic group who were involved in the mass killings in Rwanda during 1994.
Nkunda’s rebels, who call themselves the National Congress for the
Defense of the People, are very active in eastern DRC. It is alleged that they
wear Rwandan military uniforms and speak Kinyarwanda, a language used on both
sides of the Congolese and Rwandan borders.
As a result of fighting, since Aug. 28 dozens of civilians have been
reported killed and injured and some 10,000 have been internally displaced. In
a recent statement, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans
Frontières—MSF) said that the humanitarian situation in North Kivu
was rapidly deteriorating.
The Inter-Regional Information Network, a U.N. affiliate, reported that
“The head of MSF in Goma, Axelle Delamotte Saint Pierre, said villagers
in Rumangabo, Rubare and Rutshuru areas had been displaced and were now living
with other families or in precarious conditions.”
The IRIN report went on to state that “Delamotte Saint Pierre said MSF
had attended to some 90 injured people at the general hospital in Rutshuru. A
local [nongovernmental organization] official, Jerome Tanzi, said the villages
of Katale, Bushenge, Kabaya, Nkokwe, Ntamugenga, Kazuba and Biruma had been
emptied after the residents fled fighting between the army and the rebel group
CNDP,” headed by Laurent Nkunda.
On Oct. 9 the rebel group issued a statement claiming it had captured a
government military base at Rumangabo, 25 miles north of the city of Goma.
MONUC reported that dozens of Congolese soldiers were killed in the attack.
Kabila calls for national mobilization against rebels
On Oct. 11 President Kabila went on Congolese television and appealed to the
people of eastern DRC to take up arms and defeat the rebels under the control
of Laurent Nkunda. Kabila—who took power after the assassination of his
father, Laurent Kabila, in 2003—was elected as president in a national
poll held in 2006.
Two days earlier, Kabila had told the people: “Over and above any
political divide, we must mobilize as one behind our armed forces and our
elected representatives to preserve peace and the unity and territorial
integrity of the country.” He commended the efforts of the Congolese
National Army, saying that “despite their youth and the imponderables of
an unconventional war, [they] have consistently resisted the enemy attacks with
courage.”
Kabila went on to say that while “we thought a page had turned on this
country’s tumultuous history with the establishing of new institutions,
the sound of boots is once again being heard in the east, with echoes in Ituri
[a northern province], where brothers’ blood is again being
spilled.”
The president continued by pointing out that Nkunda’s aim was
“not to protect his ethnic community as he has always claimed, but to
divide the country to bring about the expansionism of a neighboring
territory,” referring to Rwanda.
In addition to Kabila’s statement on national television, the
country’s new prime minister, Adolphe Muzito, stated in an interview on
Oct. 11 with Radio France International that he would soon visit the eastern
regions to work toward bringing peace to the area.
Prime Minister Muzito said that the purpose of the visit was to
“reinforce discipline and give the resources and control over them so
that they are not used to attack anyone but to defend the country.”
Conversely, rebel leader Nkunda said in a British Broadcasting Corp.
interview on Oct. 8 that his forces would continue fighting against the central
government based in the capital of Kinshasha. According to the BBC, Nkunda
“called on all Congolese people to ‘stand up’ to the national
government and said his rebel group would ‘fight until the people are
liberated.’”
On Oct. 10 the African Union Commissioner Jean Ping traveled to the DRC and
met with leading Congolese governmental officials, including President Kabila
and members of parliament. He also held discussions with MONUC special envoy
Alan Doss.
Ping said, “I have come to meet with Congolese authorities to
understand the situation on the ground before putting forward
solutions.”
What’s at stake in eastern DRC
Underlying the continuing conflict in the DRC are the vast, highly
concentrated mineral resources in the eastern regions. The southeast and
eastern areas as a whole contain ore of every mineral listed in the periodic
resource tables.
A report issued by the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons in 2001 stated
that as a result of rebel activity, almost 40 percent of the Congo’s
wealth from natural resources was outside the control of the national
government.
One source of mineral wealth is the large deposit of copper found in an area
140-by-30 miles extending from the Katanga region into neighboring Zambia. This
area is known as the copper belt. During the period of the former U.S.-backed
leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, the DRC was the fifth-largest producer of copper in
the world. In addition, it was considered the leading producer of cobalt and
the second-largest producer of industrial diamonds.
The mining of copper and cobalt was under the control of a government firm,
Gecamines, which allowed Western transnationals to extract the minerals in
return for royalties. These imperialist corporations were always pressuring the
government to let them keep an even larger share of the wealth. In recent
years, partnerships between the DRC government and transnational firms have
proven to be problematic due to the ongoing rebel activity in the
mineral-producing areas.
For example, a Washington Post fact sheet reported on Nov. 28, 2001, that
“The Société du Terril de Lubumbashi (STL), a consortium
consisting of 7s, a Belgian and a U.S. company have invested $120 million in a
project aimed at extracting cobalt, copper and zinc oxide from the slag heap in
Lubumbashi using the world’s second-largest electric oven. The new
facility is expected to produce an alloy with cobalt content of between 15-22
percent.
“In addition, the exploitation of the Kolwezi slag heap by Congo
Mineral Developments (CMD), a 50/50 joint venture between American Mineral
Fields (AMZ) and AngloGold, has also recently been extended for another year.
And in April [2001], the government approved the new terms of the copper-cobalt
tailings in a $350-million deal with AMZ.”
However, rebel activity in these regions has led to the massive theft of the
natural resources of the DRC. For example, while the country is the largest
producer of industrial diamonds, an illegal trade outside government control
generates anywhere between $300 million and $500 million per year.
Another important mineral found in abundance in this region is coltan, which
is used in cell phones. According to the Washington Post, another problem for
the national government is “the theft of coltan, the new wonder mineral
of which large deposits have been recently discovered and exploited in
rebel-held areas of North Kivu. Technological advances and increased global
consumption, especially of high-tech manufactured goods, has turned coltan into
one of the most sought after raw materials.
“Its uses vary from making tantalum capacitors in cell phones,
computers, game consoles and camcorders to pharmaceuticals, chemicals and
automotive industries. In a recently published U.N.-sponsored report on the
illegal exploitation of the DRC’s natural resources and other forms of
wealth, it was estimated that up to 100 tons a month of tantalum was exported
by the Rwandan army. Likewise, Ugandan exports of the mineral rose from 2.5
tons in 1997 just before the war, to nearly 70 tons in 1999.”
