RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

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RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

RVI in local and global media

The RVI Media Update is a cumulative record of references to the Rift Valley Institute and RVI projects, including the Usalama Project and the Nairobi Forum, in local and international news media, academic literature and government publications. Links to the original items, where available, are provided with each article. RVI publications are available as free downloads from the www.riftvalley.net/publications. Recent additions include: Usalama Project reports From CNDP to M23: The Evolution of an Armed Movement in Eastern Congo () : The Background to Conflict in North Kivu Province of Eastern Congo (Jason Stearns) PARECO: Land, Local Strongmen, and the Roots of Militia Politics in North Kivu (Jason Stearns) UPC in Ituri: The External Militarization of Local Politics in North-eastern Congo (Henning Tamm) Ituri: Gold, Land, and Ethnicity in North-eastern Congo (Dan Fahey) Raia Mutomboki: The Flawed Peace Process in the DRC and the Birth of an Armed Franchise (Jason Stearns et al.) FNI and FRPI: Local Resistance and Regional Alliances in the North-eastern Congo (Henning Tamm) Print-on-demand editions of the reports listed above are available from Amazon. Usalama Project briefing papers ‘M23’s operational commander: A profile of Sultani Emmanuel Makenga’ (Jason Stearns) ‘Strongman of the eastern DRC: A profile of General ’ (Jason Stearns) ‘The Perils of Peacekeeping without Politics: MONUC and MONUSCO in the DRC’ (Emily Paddon) Nairobi Forum briefing papers ‘AMISOM in transition: The future of the African Union Mission in Somalia’ (Paul D. Williams) Contested Borderlands Two further volumes in the RVI series will be forthcoming in 2013: Between Puntland and Somaliland: Secessionism, Resource Conflict and Islamism in Northern Somalia (Markus V. Hoehne) Gambela (Dereje Feyissa)

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RVI in local and global media: January-June 2013

In the cities of Somaliland, the future has arrived: cash is disappearing, credit cards are unnecessary,

and daily shopping is speedy and digital. Almost Somaliland: UK Government Urged to every merchant, even hawkers on the street, Intercede Barclays Decision to Suspend accepts payment by cellphone. ... Funds Transfer “I don’t even carry money any more,” says [RVI Somaliland Sun, 24 June 2013 Somaliland Focal Point] Adan Abokor, a scholar and (http://tinyurl.com/pwkgc5z) democracy activist in Somaliland. “I haven’t seen cash for a long time. Even small payments, like a The UK government is being urged to stop Barclays bus ticket, can be made with Zaad. When my kids closing the last account in Somalia which allows its are at school and they want a sandwich, I send citizens overseas to send money back home. A them the payment by Zaad. It’s immediate – there’s group of aid practitioners said the service was a no waiting for it, no counting of cash.” "lifeline" for an estimated 40% of the Somali population which rely on the transfers because of family welfare back home of the estimated 1.5m Somalis living overseas.

Barclays which is the last major British bank to still M23 Kampala talks set to resume provide such money transfer services in Somalia IRIN News, 20 June 2013 said it could only serve firms which had strong anti- (http://tinyurl.com/mfrm3gn) financial crime controls. Its plan to close its account with Dahabshiil - the largest money transfer Delegates representing the government of the business providing services to Somalia - on 10 July Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the rebel will cause a crisis for the families which rely on the M23 are back in Kampala, , for a fresh round transfers, the letter signed by over 104 researchers of peace talks, but analysts say that unless both and aid practitioner's states. ... sides are fully committed to the negotiations, a political solution to the crisis in the DRC’s North 21. Dr Mark Bradbury, Rift Valley Institute, Nairobi Kivu Province is unlikely. The talks, which kicked off Kenya & London, UK in December 2012 under the auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), broke down in April; M23 representatives walked out following a decision by the UN to deploy

an intervention brigade to neutralize armed groups How mobile phones are making cash in eastern DRC. ... obsolete in Africa Some regional analysts are suspicious of M23’s Globe & Mail (Toronto), 21 June 2013 return to negotiations. (http://tinyurl.com/n79znfy) "The M23's return to the negotiation table should When he rolls into a gas station to fill his tank, be seen first and foremost as a PR [public relations] Barkhad Dahir doesn’t get out of his car. He manoeuvre. The movement wants to show that it is punches a few buttons on his cellphone and within seeking peace by all means," said Michel Thill, seconds he has paid for the fuel. With the same Great Lakes Region programme manager at Rift quick keystrokes on his phone, he pays for virtually Valley Institute (RVI). "Its demands, however, are everything he needs: groceries at the supermarket, well beyond what Kinshasa would agree to a few oranges from a market stall, a shoeshine on negotiate with what they consider terrorists - the the street, a cup of sweet milky tea from a café, and M23 knows that. even, if he wants, an afternoon’s worth of khat, a "The tensions are mounting between the M23, the mild drug favoured by many Somalis. … FARDC and the civil population in North Kivu, in the face of repetitive claims by UN senior officials and

3 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 the Secretary-General himself that the international be the one condemned for conducting military brigade will be deployed in mid-July," he added. activities in civilian, residential areas, bringing "The renewed fighting in late May just before Ban ordinary people into harm’s way. … Ki-Moon's visit to proves this." Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley Institute.

New US envoy urged to push Congo governance Advocacy Groups, Congo Experts Applaud New Vision, 20 June 2013 Appointment of Feingold as Envoy (http://tinyurl.com/msrrf8y) Enough Project, 18 June 2013 More than a dozen advocacy groups urged the first (http://tinyurl.com/k4ynd5u) U.S. special representative to Africa's war-torn Twenty-one advocacy groups and Congo experts Great Lakes region on Wednesday to push for applaud U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for his democracy and good governance in the Democratic appointment of former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold Republic of Congo. The United States named Russ (D-WI) as the new U.S. Special Envoy for the African Feingold on Tuesday in an effort to promote peace Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of in a region long afflicted by violence, not least in the Congo. They congratulate Special Envoy eastern Congo, where mineral wealth and ethnic Feingold in an open letter, and call on him to apply strife have drawn in neighbouring states. leverage and use incentives to focus on critical "We are convinced that this is a critical moment of democratization reforms in Congo. They also urge opportunity for U.S. policy towards the Great Lakes him to ensure that a peace process between Congo region," said an open letter from groups including and its neighbors address security, economic, and the Enough Project, the International Crisis Group refugee issues. … and the Rift Valley Institute. The signatories of the letter include Anthony W. Gambino, former USAID Mission Director to the DRC; Stephen R. Weissman, Former Staff Director; House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Africa;

John Prendergast and Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Memo To The SRF: Try Not To Kill Any More Project; Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Ethiopian Peacekeepers Group; Wynnette LaBrosse of Open Square; David By Aly Verjee Abramowitz of Humanity United; Sarah Pray of the African Arguments, 19 June 2013 Open Society Policy Center; Jason K. Stearns of the (http://tinyurl.com/ph4kjud) Rift Valley Institute; Jolly Okot and Lisa Dougan of Invisible Children; Dr. Denis Mukwege of Panzi If you fight for or sympathise with the SPLM-North Hospital; Michael Poffenberger of The Resolve; and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), you might Michel Gabaudan of Refugees International; argue almost any place in South Kordofan is a Jacques Bahati of the Africa Faith and Justice legitimate military target, Kadugli included. You Network; Vukasin Petrovic of Freedom House; Sean might say the SPLM-N’s shelling of the United D. Carasso and Monique Beadle of Falling Whistles; Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and Alysha Atma of the Atma Foundation. logistics base and Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission (JBVMM) headquarters, which resulted in the death of a female Ethiopian peacekeeper and the injury of two others, was regrettable, but part of war. Sudan-South Sudan row gets worse You might feel international condemnation (i.e. the Radio France Internationale, 11 June 2013 US State Department remarks) that singles out the (http://tinyurl.com/oxdeboa) SPLM-N is unfair, particularly given the recent Misseriya attack in Abyei which killed Dinka Ngok Relations between Sudan and South Sudan further paramount chief Kuol Deng Kuol and an UNISFA deteriorated this weekend after Khartoum accused soldier. Or that the Government of Sudan should Juba of supporting rebels hostile to President Omar

4 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 al-Bashir. Khartoum has announced it is suspending leadership in DRC, which went to a Brazilian general nine security and economic agreements with its whose last job was tackling criminal gangs in Haiti. neighbour, including oil exports from South Sudan. This led to some discussion over whether South Aly Verjee, a Sudan-South Sudan researcher at the Africa might pull out in protest, according to Jason Rift Valley Institute in Nairobi, explains. Stearns, director of regional think tank the Great Lakes Institute.

Our Sudan: musings of the undead effendi By Magdi El Gazouli On Darfur and the death of Mohammad Sudan Tribune, 9 June 2013 Bashar (http://tinyurl.com/ng7ng38) By Aly Verjee A group of technology-savvy, gender-sensitive and African Arguments, 5 June 2013 human-rights-mainstreamed Sudanese young (http://tinyurl.com/m9rel2y) women and men put together a twelve minutes film The second honeymoon of Darfur’s Doha peace titled #OurSudan for the English-literate audience process lasted just over a month. On April 6, with Arabic subtitles. I recognized a few of the Mohammad Bashar, leader of the Justice and people who spoke to the camera as friends and Equality Movement-Sudan (hence referred to as university colleagues. The film is the brainchild and JEM-Bashar) signed the Doha Document for Peace production of Tariq Hilal, a Khartoumian political in Darfur (DDPD; English, Arabic) in the ballroom of scientist and democracy practitioner employed by the Doha Ritz-Carlton hotel. the US Conflict Dynamics International. It is essentially a replay of Hilal’s TEDx Khartoum lecture In Doha, Bashar told delegates he was looking in May 2012 with a cast. Apparently a hygienic forward to going home. On May 12 he was dead, exercise in the marketing of ‘good will’ and ‘positive killed on the Sudan-Chad borderlands at the hands thinking’, the film is a demonstration of ideology at of his former comrades in the mainstream Justice its purest with the gushing of politics flushed out and Equality Movement (JEM). leaving bare the white bone of fantasy. … Accounts of Bashar’s death vary. Abdullahi El-Tom, The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He JEM’s head of strategic planning, described JEM publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at forces engaging with a heavily armed JEM-Bashar his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at convoy, resulting in the death of Bashar and his [email protected] deputy Arko Dahiya. El Tom writes: “had JEM been interested in sheer massacres of the invaders, it would have not spared the lives of the 20 or so who are now in its captivity.” …

Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley Institute. DRC Intervention Brigade stumbles as SA irked leadership choice Daily Maverick, 5 June 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/mnzl93x)

Deployment of a new UN combat force, billed by Logistics, South African caution delay Congo UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as a peace combat force enforcer for eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC), is being delayed by logistical difficulties and reticence Reuters, 28 May 2013 from . Reuters reported that a 3,000- (http://tinyurl.com/mtp5z6n) strong UN Intervention Brigade of Tanzanian, South Deployment of a unique new U.N. combat force, African and Malawian troops with an billed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a unprecedented mandate for offensive operations peace enforcer for eastern Congo, is being delayed has only just begun to arrive. Analysts say South by logistical difficulties and reticence from troop Africa has also been irked by a perceived slight in contributor South Africa. An uneasy six-month the choice of both the brigade's command, which peace in eastern Congo collapsed last week when has gone to a Tanzanian, and the overall UN military clashes erupted between government troops and

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M23 rebels near the region's largest city Goma, The (UN) and World Bank launched days before a visit by Ban and World Bank president a USD 1 billion initiative on May 22 in the Great Jim Yong Kim. … Lakes region in Central and Eastern Africa to foster peace and regional trade. The region, loosely This led to some discussion over whether South comprising Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo Africa - keen to flex its regional muscles - might pull (DRC), Kenya, , and Uganda, out in protest, according to Jason Stearns, director connected by Lake Victoria, Tanganyika, , of regional think tank the Great Lakes Institute. Alberta and a few others, has seen its fair share of Rebels may also be using the delay to seize the conflicts. The multilateral initiative aims to make initiative before the brigade arrives, Stearns said. peace a cornerstone of the plan - especially "M23 wants to be able to either prevent the between Rwanda and the DRC - and nourish it to Intervention Brigade from arriving altogether or to improve cross-border trade, and reduce poverty be in a very strong military position once it arrives," through greater access to electricity. … he said. The meteoric rise of Raia Mutomboki, a new armed group that emerged from the lowland jungles of the eastern part of the country has brought fresh uncertainty into the proceedings.

"By mid-2012, the Raia Mutomboki spanned an The Sudanese: between a rock and a hard area of approximately 30,000 square kilometers, place although it was split into at least four main factions By Magdi El Gazouli with no clear chains of command," wrote Jason Sudan Tribune, 27 May 2013 Stearns, in a report for the Rift Valley Institute and (http://tinyurl.com/q5z7c7l) Usalama Project. The UN and World Bank are The National Congress Party – Reform Platform making a renewed effort to push for peace in the (NCP-RP), a semi-clandestine association of troubled country. disgruntled Islamists that developed as a carrier of the memoranda politics preceding the Islamic Movement’s November 2012 general conference and the political vehicle of the ensuing coup attempt of Brigadier-general Mohamed Ibrahim Somalia's young army recruits face uphill Abd al-Jalil (Wad Ibrahim) and fellow officers, issued battle for credibility on Saturday a statement declaring a mass revoke of The Guardian, 19 April 2013 allegiance to President Bashir. The NCP-RP author(s) (http://tinyurl.com/chfnb7q) used the Arabic word bai’a to define the relationship with President Bashir, a term from Captain Muhudun Ahmed Muhamud has faced the medieval Islamic jurisprudence that modern Islamic same weaponry – rocket-propelled grenades – that movements beginning with the Egyptian Moslem brought down two Black Hawk helicopters during Brotherhood under Hassan al-Banna have the US special forces assault on Bakara market in rehabilitated to refer to organisational subjugation Mogadishu in 1993. Muhamud, 21, succeeded and almost unconditional obedience to an all- where "Operation Restore Hope", which killed knowing leader. … around 1,000 Somalis, could not; in 2011, he led a company of 100 men to oust insurgents from the The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He market area, playing an important role in the publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at liberation of the capital from Islamic extremists al- his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at Shabaab. Muhamud lost six men in the operation. [email protected] "Soldiers have died, officers have died, but still we will defend," he says. … On 14 April, al-Shabaab killed 30 people in one of its deadliest attacks since the group was forced out of

Mogadishu in 2011. The bomb attacks were Africa gets USD1bn injection to boost peace, condemned by Human Rights Watch as "war trade crimes". Suicide bombers targeted the supreme Zawya.com, May 26 2013 court, while a car bomb detonated near the airport (http://tinyurl.com/k493meo) was aimed at aid workers.

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"It [the attack] demonstrates that at least some with regional powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia Somali institutions are woefully insecure, and that playing important roles. After more than two amid recent optimism in the city a sense of decades of civil war and inter-clan conflict, Somalia complacency has grown that urgently needs to be is undertaking an ambitious programme of national addressed," says James Smith, analyst at the Rift reconciliation and development, with federalism is Valley Institute. a pillar of its plan. The national administration, in place since 2012, is called the Somali Federal

Government (SFG), and the country’s basic law is the Provisional Federal Constitution. Both embrace the principle of power-sharing between central and

Resurrecting The Popular Consultations: A regional authorities. … Way Forward For South Kordofan And Blue “Due to its natural resources and location, Jubaland Nile? has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest By Aly Verjee regions, but conflict has kept it chronically unstable African Arguments, 17 April 2013 for over two decades,” according to the Rift Valley (http://tinyurl.com/d8yzecd) Institute. … There are also concerns about whether Jubaland is I would guess Omar al-Bashir gives more speeches than vice-president Ali Osman Taha, but I usually cohesive enough to ensure a viable state. Its constituent regions lack decent road links or any find the latter’s statements provide more insight into the thinking of the Khartoum regime. Recently, history of shared administration. “Geddo in the I got to see Taha perform live in Doha: noting his north links to Mogadishu, the south links to [the Kenyan town of] Garissa. But Middle and Lower eloquence is nothing new, but it was striking to see him speak a sight better than his Arab Jubba roads are often impassable because of rains. There is no easy prospect of people and goods contemporaries. moving throughout,” said Ken Menkhaus of Naturally, there’s more to Taha than good Davidson College. rhetorical speaking. Depending on the audience, “Whatever solution emerges,” Matt Bryden, the his speeches usually feature at least one of six elements. The first is to float policy trial balloons, director of Sahan Research, told a recent [Nairobi Forum] seminar in Nairobi, “Jubaland is going to often reflecting internal debates and sometimes disputes within the NCP. The second is to either set have to deal with the kinds of issues we’ve heard the stage for a future policy announcement by al- about [for years]: sharing and management of resources and the perception among various clans Bashir, or reinforce one already made. The third is to provide an alternate characterization of a that there is some kind of equitable distribution.” situation, event or policy, which while not in direct contradiction to his president or other senior figures, is typically better nuanced. The fourth is to shore up the party’s Islamist credentials. The fifth is

Taha as conciliator, whether to the West or to domestic opposition. The sixth is as hardliner and [Sally Healy live interview with BBC World Service regime enforcer. … ‘Newshour’, 2045 GMT 14 April 2013, on bomb attack in Mogasishu] Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley Institute.

Why Blair and Buffett are wrong about

Briefing: Somalia, federalism and Jubaland giving international aid to Rwanda The Guardian, 12 April 2013 IRIN News, 16 April 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/d44k74r) (http://tinyurl.com/dxq4vra) When a UN Group of Experts report found that Moves to bring three regions in the deep south of Rwanda was supporting rebels fighting a deadly Somalia together into the state of Jubaland have conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the turned into a tussle with the central government, Congo (DRC), a number of countries including the

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US and Britain cut or suspended foreign aid in protest. Rwandan President steadfastly denied supporting the Congo militias that have been wreaking havoc along the Rwanda- Khartoum et Juba: relancer les accords de Congo border, but the evidence was strong enough paix? to convince even some of Kagame's biggest RFI, 12 April 2013 supporters that the western powers needed to send (http://tinyurl.com/d36uazv) a message of disapproval. Le président soudanais Omar el-Béchir est attendu That didn't include Howard Buffett, Warren ce vendredi 12 avril à Juba, la capitale du Soudan du Buffett's son, or Tony Blair. Buffett and Blair argued Sud, avec plusieurs ministres et de nombreux against the move, contending that reducing aid to officiels. Nordistes et sudistes, qui ont fait la guerre Rwanda would just cause more harm than good to pendant 22 ans quand ils étaient dans le même Etat, the unstable Great Lakes region of . ne parviennent pas réellement à faire la paix depuis "Cutting aid does nothing to address the underlying qu’ils se sont séparés en 2005. De nouveaux textes issues driving conflict in the region, it only ensures signés en mars tentent de lancer l’application des that the Rwandan people will suffer — and risks précédents accords. … further destabilizing an already troubled region," Blair and Buffett wrote in a recent Foreign Policy A Juba, les deux présidents pourront célébrer avec article soulagement la reprise de la production de pétrole qui a eu lieu il y a quelques jours. « Le Soudan est This was followed by a report from the Howard G dépendant du pétrole du Soudan du Sud, analyse Buffett Foundation echoing the same points. The Ali Verjee, du Rift Valley Institute, il est important report went further by questioning the reliability of qu’il y ait une relation de travail entre les deux pays, the UN experts – the group that originally reported car les deux en souffrent si celle-ci n’existe pas ». evidence that the Rwandan government was supporting rebels in the eastern DRC. ... "This is not a matter of aid stopping because of advocacy efforts, explained Aaron Hall, associate director of Research for the Enough Project. "Aid Jailed Sudan coup officers seek Bashir's stopped because there was credible information amnesty from state intelligence reports that showed these AFP, 9 April 2013 connections are real and that Rwanda was in (http://tinyurl.com/cq7mtb4) violation of the UN Arms Embargo on Congo and implicated in destabilising a neighboring state." Sudanese military officers jailed for a coup attempt want President Omar al-Bashir to pardon them as Jason Stearns, director of the Rift Valley Institute's "political prisoners," the army said on Tuesday, Usalama Project, agreed with Hall, adding: "The highlighting turmoil within the Khartoum regime. (report) does place most weight on the M23, but I They were convicted on Sunday and ordered to think that is fair, given that this rebellion was the serve sentences ranging from two to five years in largest source of instability in the region in 2012. prison for the plot last year. Army spokesman But the GoE does spill a lot of ink discussing criminal Sawarmi Khaled Saad said they have waived their networks within the Congolese army, as well as right of appeal. … support to other armed groups." Stearns added that there are questions to be raised about the lack of "This is a power struggle. It's no more than that," collaboration with the UN peacekeeping mission said Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley and the governments of Uganda and Rwanda. Institute. He said Bashir will likely pardon some of However, the Buffett Foundation does nothing to the officers, whose goal is to replace Defence carry out a "serious" evaluation of the UN report. Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein and There is room for improvement in the report, he assume other key security roles. "This is about some says, but the broad conclusions are basically sound. sort of (political) exchange, rather than a court procedure," Gizouli said.

8 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

persons were convicted of attempting to undermine the constitutional and security system

and threaten the country's unity and harm the SA must use political clout to counter rebel armed forces by the use of force," army spokesman attack in DRC: Analyst Sawarmi Khaled Saad said. … SABC, 8 April 2013 Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, (http://tinyurl.com/c3bmmsd) said it was "a political statement not a court ruling," The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo while other analysts said the case revealed turmoil (DRC) is as much political as it is military, and the within the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, who South African government should approach it as himself seized power in a coup 24 years ago. such. This is according to Jason Stearns, Director of the Rift Valley Usalama Project - a Research Project on armed groups in the Eastern Congo. Speaking to

Xolani Gwala on SAFM’s AM Live on Monday, Stearns says the rebels in the DRC will aim to inflict Rebuilding Darfur enough casualties on SANDF troops to make their , 8 April 2013 presence, as part of the UN intervention mission, a (http://tinyurl.com/d9lbbuo) political liability for President Zuma’s government. Ten years after the start of the fighting in Darfur, In light of this, he says, South Africa should be world leaders say it is time to rebuild. Delegates prepared to use its significant political clout in the from around the world have arrived in Doha, region in the event of an attack. Stearns adds that Qatar's capital, with the objective to raise billions of with the events in the Central African Republic still dollars to pay for infrastructure, food and clean fresh in everyone’s minds, the rebels in the DRC will water. The UK took a lead role on Sunday, pledging capitalise on this. He says that they are well-armed $16.5m before the conference began but other and will fight an unconventional war. countries still have a long way to go to reach their [AUDIO OF FULL INTERVIEW FOLLOWS] goal of more than $7bn. … So, can Darfur be rebuilt without peace on the ground? And with much of the world's attention now focused on other conflicts, is there still enough money to be allocated to it? Inside Story, with presenter Fauziah Ibrahim,

discusses with guests: Atta al-Mannan Bakhait, the Review: The Trouble with the Congo: Local assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs Violence and the Failure of International at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); Peacebuilding by Séverine Autesserre Edward Thomas, fellow at the Rift Valley Institute; By Jason K. Stearns and Ahmed Hussein Adam, the foreign secretary of Review of African Political Economy 40/135 (April the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). 2013): 163-7 (http://tinyurl.com/ct99hzp)

Briefing: M23, one year on Irin News, 3 April 2013

Sudan officers jailed up to 5 years over (http://tinyurl.com/c4vaffx) coup: army The M23 rebellion, the latest of a string of armed AFP, 8 April 2013 insurgencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (http://tinyurl.com/coqczrw) (DRC) North Kivu Province, has been active for one year now, during which hundreds of thousands A group of Sudanese military officers were have fled their homes and many have lost their lives. sentenced to between two and five years in prison on Sunday for their role in a coup attempt last year, The Mouvement du 23-Mars, or March 23 the army and a defence lawyer said. "The accused Movement, came into existence in April 2012, when

9 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 hundreds of mainly ethnic Tutsi soldiers of FARDC, By Magdi El Gazouli the national army, mutinied over poor living Sudan Tribune, 3 April 2013 conditions and poor pay. Most of the mutineers had (http://tinyurl.com/cdesqsu) been members of the National Congress for the I would like to begin this talk with the narration of a Defence of the People (CNDP), another armed conversation I had back in 2010 with an old group that in 2009 signed a deal with the gentleman in El-Gineina, capital of South Darfur government, which the dissidents felt Kinshasa had state, close to the Sudanese-Chadian border. I not fully implemented. M23 is named after the date landed in the town seconded by Ahfad University the agreement was signed. … for Women in Omdurman on commission of the On 18 March, Ntaganda surrendered himself to the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the US Embassy in the Rwandan capital, , and efficacy of a WHO-funded project to rehabilitate a asked to be transferred to the International string of hospitals in the then three states of Darfur. Criminal Court for trial over alleged war crimes and Naturally, I was granted lodging in the WHO Guest crimes against humanity. He made his first House wherever there was one. The guard of the appearance in court on 26 March. According to a guest house in al-Jineina was a native Fur of my paper by the Rift Valley Institute, Ntaganda had father’s age. He welcomed me with the respect due fallen out with fellow commanders early in the to a dignitary, and then asked the evident question rebellion and had been effectively relegated to the of all encounters. Where do you come from? I said sidelines. … from Omdurman, he replied, Omdurman, then you Various reports indicate that Makenga is now know how to speak, over here we fight instead. We consolidating his fighters, thought to number about then drifted into a discussion about the war and the 1,500, and M23-held territory in North Kivu, but he impossibility of speech. From this gentleman I may also be preparing for further negotiations with learned that the was understood President ’s government. According to locally as a second Um Kwakiya, period of mayhem, Congo expert Jason Stearns, “The internal M23 split chaos, blood-letting and general deterioration of may have provided the break they [DRC authority (1). The first Um Kwakiya extended from representatives] needed to make the deal 1874 to 1916, between the collapse of the Fur state acceptable for the rebels.” under the severe blows of al-Zubeir Pasha Rahama and his army of slaves/mercenaries encroaching from Bahr al-Ghazal and its tenuous inclusion into the Sudan under Ottoman rule until the defeat of Darfur’s self-instated Sultan Ali Dinar and the

incorporation of the region into the Anglo-Egyptian A new friendship between the two Sudans? Sudan. My interlocutor and I shared Sudan as a Deutsche Welle, 3 April 2013 geographical space but not as a nation. We came (http://tinyurl.com/c4trkp2) from different worlds. … Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to withdraw The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He their troops from their joint border area in early publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at April. Oil is also due to start flowing again soon. his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at How long will this new friendship last? [email protected]

"I don't think [the conflict between both sides] is over yet, but there is significant rapprochement," Magdi el-Gizouli, a Sudanese expert with the Rift

Valley Institute, said in an interview with DW. Sudan and South Sudan have until Thursday April 4, 2013 Novelty alone is not enough to realise the to withdraw their troops from their shared border Kenyan dream region. By Aly Verjee The National (UAE), 27 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/d72zwzt) Between the usual rhetoric of the election

campaign, foreign media hyperbole, the Sudan: the quest for the emancipatory candidature and the victory of the presidential subject aspirant accused of crimes against humanity, there

10 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 hasn't been much space for Kenya to seriously discuss decentralisation and local government.

Local government is not an exciting subject. Some would say it is the dullest of topics. But the election Congolese war crime suspect Bosco of officials at the county level might be the most Ntaganda is going before the International important legacy of Kenya's March 4 vote: for the Criminal Court first time in the nation's modern history, power was RTE (Ireland), 23 March 2013 shifted away from the capital and towards the (http://tinyurl.com/am6asrw) country. These are the tentative first steps away Congolese war crimes suspect Bosco Ntaganda has from a historically unresponsive and highly arrived at the International Criminal Court's centralised government of the Nairobi elite towards detention centre in The Hague. Mr Ntaganda was a meaningful devolution of power. … flown to the Netherlands from Kigali in Rwanda to Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley face war crime charges. He turned himself in at the Institute. On Twitter: @AlyVerjee, @RVINews. US embassy in the Rwandan capital earlier in the week. …

An independent research and educational organisation working in , the Rift Valley Institute, said: "Bosco thought his choice was the

Congolese warlord arrives at war crimes ICC or probable death." court jail Defence Web (South Africa), 25 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/coblkq5)

[VERBATIM FROM REUTERS, BELOW] In Delicate Balance, Sudan Courts Both Iran and Saudi Arabia By Daniel Large World Politics Review, 22 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/c33y9n4) Congolese warlord arrives at war crimes court jail Sudan has been pursuing some eye-catching regional diplomacy in recent weeks. In late- Reuters, 25 March 2013 February, Sudan’s ICC-indicted defense minister (http://tinyurl.com/coblkq5) was in Riyadh, while its oil czar was in Tehran. These A Congolese warlord known as "the Terminator" visits followed a meeting between Sudanese who is accused of murder, rape and other atrocities President Omar al-Bashir and Iranian President arrived at the International Criminal Court's jail in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of an the Netherlands early on Saturday, the court said. Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Bosco Ntaganda, who walked off the street and Cairo in January, and Bashir’s attendance at the gave himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali in a Arab Economic Development Summit in Riyadh surprise move on Monday, was flown in a private earlier in February. Combined, the moves suggest a jet from the Rwandan capital to The Hague after shift in Sudan’s tactical approach to relations with being handed over to the court's custody. … Saudi Arabia and Iran, one guided by Khartoum’s "Bosco thought his choice was the ICC or probable pragmatic concerns for regime survival. … death," said Jason Stearns of the Rift Valley Daniel Large is assistant professor at the School of Institute. "Bosco's arrest won't bring peace to the Public Policy, Central European University, and eastern Congo, but Bosco's arrest does spell a director of the Rift Valley Institute's Sudan Open victory in the battle against impunity and the Archive. dismantling of one of the barriers to a peace process in the country," Stearns said. [ARTICLE MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: CBC Radio ‘As it Happens’, 21 March 2013, Congo rebel surrenders (http://tinyurl.com/bosqkcu)]

11 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

For several years, the US has called for Ntaganda's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It even added his name to its "War Crimes Rewards Programme", where people are

A broken rebellion and Rwanda's cold rewarded for giving information, which then leads shoulder: Why Congo's Terminator turned to the arrest of those wanted by the ICC. One man in Kigali, told me with a wry smile on his face, that himself in he believed the driver who dropped Ntaganda at By Jason K. Stearns [FROM CONGOSIASA] the Embassy "should get the bounty". … Christian Science Monitor, 22 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/cmuojgk) "The Rwandan government probably either forced him to hand himself over," says Jason Stearns from Warlord Bosco Ntaganda turned himself in because, the Rift Valley Institute. "Or he was so afraid of with his rebel group fracturing and dwindling what would happen if they arrested him, (or support from Rwanda, he had little other choice, [Sultani] Makenga got a hold of him) he made a run writes political analyst Jason Stearns. for the embassy." There has been a lot of conjecture and speculation surrounding the Rwandan-born Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda's "surrender" to the US embassy in Rwanda on Tuesday morning. In recent weeks, various parties to the conflict have been purposely Celebrating The Bureaucratisation Of Peace: spreading false information about "The Terminator" The Addis Implementation Matrix – who was wanted in connection with war crimes By Aly Verjee by the International Criminal Court – which has made it difficult to parse the facts in the case. Here African Arguments, 20 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/cy8gqnh) are my own thoughts on some of these points. … March 2013: another Addis negotiating marathon, Why did he surrender? another document heralded as the ‘breakthrough’ His time was up. On Feb. 24, an internal battle had agreement between Sudan and South Sudan. The broken out among the M23 rebels, pitting Mr. 68-point implementation matrix (not counting sub- Ntaganda's wing against that of points), signed on March 12 by Idris Mohamed (for more information about Ntaganda's career and Abdel Gadar for Sudan and Pagan Amum for South the divisions within the M23 see the Usalama Sudan, follows the meeting on March 8 of the Project's briefing here [LINK TO RVI SITE]). While defence ministers of both states, who agreed again Ntaganda led a large group of soldiers – at least 500 to withdraw their forces from the previously were reported to have crossed the border on March defined Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ). 14 – he was short on ammunition. After weeks of Or as South Sudan’s negotiating team put it, with a fighting, he decided to run. … first sentence tongue-twister for bored diplomats and journalists covering the next meeting in Addis: “On March 8, 2013, after months of negotiations, the Republic of South Sudan and the Republic of

Sudan’s Joint Political and Security Mechanism The surrender of Bosco Ntaganda (JPSM) came to an agreement on the content of a Al Jazeera, 20 March 2013 framework for implementing the commitments (http://tinyurl.com/d4brq5h) made in the bilateral September 2012 security arrangements agreement. This important The US embassy in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, sits development should result in the creation of a safe like a fortress in the centre of the city: its mirrored demilitarized buffer zone along the two countries’ windows and square concrete structure, is similar in shared border. Both sides have already ordered architecture to other American embassies in Africa. their armed forces to withdraw to their side of the As we drove into the visitor's entrance, I wondered buffer zone.” … what the staff especially the Rwandans who work here, must have thought when the tall, imposing Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley figure, of Bosco Ntaganda walked up to the gate on Institute. Monday morning.

12 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

pénale internationale pour crimes de guerre et crimes contre l’humanité, s’est rendu lundi 18 mars

2013 à l’ambassade des Etats-Unis à Kigali au Bosco Ntaganda: U.S. mulls warlord’s fate Rwanda. Sitôt après sa reddition aux autorités after surprise surrender américaines, Bosco Ntaganda a demandé à être Toronto Star, 19 March 2013 transféré devant la cour pénale internationale. … (http://tinyurl.com/brdw8xs) Invités: [VERBATIM FROM REUTERS, BELOW] Professeur Bob Kabamba, Professeur à l’Université de Liège en Belgique et coordonnateur de la Cellule d’appui politologique en Afrique centrale. Samuel Monga, Analyste en questions

internationales. Il s’intéresse aux problèmes U.S. working out what to do with Congo ICC géostratégiques et géopolitiques africains. suspect Jason Stearns, Analyste des questions liées à la Reuters, 19 March 2013 sécurité. Il est directeur d’un projet de recherche (http://tinyurl.com/crqqrtk) dénommé Projet Usalama. The U.S. embassy in Rwanda was working out on Tuesday what to do with a Congolese warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court, a day after Bosco Ntaganda walked off the street and turned himself in to face war crimes charges. [Jason Stearns interview with BBC Afrique, 18 Ntaganda stunned U.S. embassy staff when he March 2013] walked into the diplomatic mission and gave himself up, an apparently meek end to a 15-year long career that saw him fight as a rebel and government soldier on both sides of the Rwanda-

Congo border. … Congolese Warlord Turns Himself In With an international arrest warrant hanging over Wall Street Journal, 18 March 2013 him, Ntaganda worried he might be sold out as part (http://tinyurl.com/chhsbuk) of any peace deal and was seen as a potential spoiler to the process, Jason Stearns of the Rift A rebel leader in the mineral-rich eastern Valley Institute wrote in a briefing paper days Democratic Republic of the Congo surrendered before Ntaganda's surrender. Monday at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda, U.S. and Rwandan officials said, in an apparent attempt to negotiate safe passage to the International Criminal Court, where he is charged with crimes against humanity.

Bosco Ntaganda, a general who defected from [Jason Stearns interview with BBC World Service Congo's army in April 2012 along with hundreds of ‘Newsday’, 19 March 2013] loyal soldiers, walked into the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, capital of neighboring Rwanda, State Department

spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington. The U.S. was discussing Mr. Ntaganda's request with officials from a number of

governments, including Rwanda, Ms. Nuland said. … La reddition du rebelle congolais Bosco Ntaganda "He knows he's facing a jail term in the Hague," said (‘Dialogue entre Congolais’), 19 March Jason Stearns, project director of the Rift Valley 2013 Institute in Nairobi and the author of a popular (http://tinyurl.com/d6l9cqw) book on the conflict. "So that was preferable to whatever his other options were. With his notoriety, Bosco Ntaganda, ancien général des FARDC et un he had become a pretty big liability for Rwanda, and des chefs rebelles du M23, recherché par la cour

13 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 perhaps they didn't want to be the ones to turn him "Even if Juba stops its support it doesn't mean an over to the ICC." ultimate end to this conflict," said Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute. "There are Mr. Stearns added that Rwanda has taken a more domestic local causes of this war and these causes hands-off approach toward the M23 this year, have to be addressed." further weakening the already splintered group. A faction of the M23 led by Sultani Makenga has been negotiating a settlement with regional leaders in Kampala.

Is All Well In The Teak Forests Of South Sudan? By Aly Verjee

African Arguments, 14 March 2013 Wanted Congolese general gives himself up (http://tinyurl.com/d42fkrm) Financial Times, 18 March 2013 Think of tropical hard wood – ebony, mahogany, (http://tinyurl.com/d2l45py) teak – and you probably don’t think of South Sudan. Bosco Ntaganda, the former Congolese general who One of the country’s lesser-known natural resource is wanted by the International Criminal Court for superlatives is its relative abundance of forests. suspected war crimes, has given himself up at the Government figures suggest that there are almost US embassy in Kigali, according to Rwandan and US 200,000km2 of forested lands in South Sudan, officials. Victoria Nuland, spokeswoman for the US covering 29 per cent of the country’s total land area. state department, said Gen Ntaganda had walked Most of this is less valuable soft wood – hard woods into the US embassy in Kigali on Monday morning are a relatively small part of the forests. But they after giving no prior warning to American officials. are a valuable component. A 2007 assessment by … the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded “existing teak plantations alone In recent months, he had tried to frustrate talks could potentially generate up to USD 50 million per between a faction of the rebels and the Congolese year in export revenue.” The same government government, Congo expert Jason Stearns said. website exclaims “the teak plantation [in South “With the international arrest warrant hanging over Sudan] is the largest of its kind in the world.” … Ntaganda, he worried that he would be sold out as part of any bargain, and thus was a potential spoiler Enter South Sudan, and renewed interest in its teak to the peace process,” says Mr Stearns in a paper resources. Teak is not indigenous to Africa. for the Rift Valley Institute. Seedlings were planted in the colonial era across the continent, from Benin and Nigeria to Tanzania and South Sudan. Forestry expert Abdalla Gafaar dates the first plantation in South Sudan to 1919, at Kagelu, Central Equatoria. Planting activity

intensified in the 1940s, across the Equatorias and Sudan, South Sudan talk peace Bahr el Ghazal. In 2004, thirteen teak plantations Middle East Online, 15 March 2013 were found and mapped by satellite, and in 2007, a (http://tinyurl.com/d5doryk) further five plantations, covering a total of 7,680 Sudan and South Sudan are talking peace after hectares (76.8 km2), were found with different months of intermittent clashes but observers say satellite technology. Most of the mature trees there is still no end in sight to a rebellion in the standing today are between 35 and 50 years old. … north's border states. Regardless of whether deals Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley reached over the past week -- including a Institute. demilitarised border zone -- finally end conflict between Khartoum and the South's government in Juba, observers say Sudan will continue to face an insurgency in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Sudan says the South has been backing the rebels, who were not part of last week's discussions in Addis Ababa.

14 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

In a recent Rift Valley Institute report, Congo expert Jason Stearns referred to 15 mostly Hutu splinter

militias in the neighbouring territory of Kalehe. Sudan - On Nostalgia and Wars

By Magdi El Gazouli Sudan Tribune, 11 March 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/cgx2rxe)

The educated Sudanese used to take a certain pride Congo rebels clash near Goma after political in their passion for political debate. Whether at chief sacked afternoon meal, funerals, weddings or the nightly The Star (Malaysia), 1 March 2013 binges of old Khartoum political prowess was a (http://tinyurl.com/a494hvs) marker of prestige. The effendi idol of the early post-colony was a political animal with a voracious [VERBATIM FROM REUTERS, BELOW] appetite for press, cigarettes and the labels. Once abroad, the preoccupation with al-balad (the country) became a calling and an investment, considering that a PhD of whatever discipline was sufficient until the late 1960's to place its bearer at Congo rebels clash near Goma after political the top of a government department with a good chief sacked chance of entering the cabinet. Under the early Reuters, 28 February 2013 Nimayri, i.e. from 1969 until the 1977 'national (http://tinyurl.com/c4eg86b) reconciliation' between the rayes (president) and the allies of the opposition National Front, the Fighting erupted between two factions of Congo's effendiya had their day so to speak. Men with M23 rebels near the eastern town of Goma on Thursday after one side said it sent men to arrest a distinguished post-graduate degrees recycled through Nimayri's cabinets almost in an orgiastic leader of the other, Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted on international war-crimes charges. M23's military fashion. … command said its political coordinator Jean-Marie The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He Runiga had been sacked for backing Ntaganda, publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at highlighting divisions that threaten regional efforts his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at to end two decades of conflict in the restive [email protected] borderlands zone of central Africa. The M23 revolt is the latest uprising in Democratic Republic of Congo's mineral-rich east. Last year the group inflicted a series of embarrassing defeats on government forces, culminating in the brief seizure

Briefing: Militias in Masisi of Goma, a strategic border town. … IRIN News, 6 March 2013 "This plays into Kinshasa's hands, either because (http://tinyurl.com/cj5ojg8) they're using it to strike a deal with some elements The process of integrating armed groups into the of M23, or because they can take advantage of their Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army, FARDC, weakness to launch a military strike," Jason Stearns, director [sic] of the Rift Valley Institute think-tank, has stalled again amid heavy fighting at a base where hundreds of combatants had assembled. The said. clashes, which started in Kitchanga, North Kivu Province, could jeopardize community [ARTICLE MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ reconciliation across much of the province's Masisi CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: territory, which saw outbreaks of ethnic violence in The Atlantic, 1 March 2013, What if the UN Were 2012. In this briefing, IRIN looks at armed group Allowed to Shoot First in the DRC? integration and community pacification in eastern (http://tinyurl.com/bb8eqan)] DRC and asks how these processes might develop in Masisi and elsewhere in the region. …

15 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

roquettes flambant neufs, sont fournies par l'armée nationale congolaise (FARDC). …

Congo’s M23 Rebel Group Split Over Plan to «Les milices sont bien plus violentes que l'armée lors de combats. Ces mercenaires sont un outil Arrest Ntaganda grossier mais efficace pour les FARDC», explique Bloomberg News, 28 February 2013 Jason Stearns, spécialiste du Congo au Rift Valley (http://tinyurl.com/a36fgz3) Institute. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel group is split over a decision by one of its commanders to arrest General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. “If the international community supports us, I guarantee you that in one week Bosco Trotz Friedensplan steigt die Gewalt im Ntaganda will be before the ICC,” M23 spokesman Kongo Colonel Vianney Kazarama said by phone today Wall Street Journal Deutschland, 26 February from , 1,610 kilometers (1,000 miles) east 2013 of the capital, Kinshasa. The group is preparing to (http://tinyurl.com/asgu3oo) arrest Ntaganda and his supporters in M23, he said. Die Hoffnung, dass der gerade geschlossene UN- … Friedensplan der Demokratischen Republik Kongo The split is the “climax of a rift” within M23 that has Ruhe und Stabilität bringt, scheint sich bereits zu existed for years between supporters of Ntaganda zerschlagen. Im Osten des Landes liefern sich and Makenga, said Jason Stearns, who researches verfeindete Rebellengruppen erneut Gefechte. Die armed groups for the Nairobi-based Rift Valley Vereinten Nationen und elf afrikanische Länder Institute and headed a United Nations group of hatten am Sonntag in Äthiopien eine Aufstockung experts panel on Congo in 2008. “Bosco Ntaganda der Friedenstruppen in der Provinz Nord-Kivu does not want peace” and is forcing a power beschlossen. Doch nur Stunden später kam es in der struggle, Stearns said by phone from in Region Rutshuru, in der Gold gefördert wird, zu eastern Congo. “A peace deal means Ntaganda will neuen Kämpfen. be marginalized or arrested.” Die Rebellengruppe M23, die sich aus abtrünnigen Soldaten zusammensetzt und im vergangenen Jahr eine Reihe von Städten erobert hatte, war an dem Abkommen nicht beteiligt. Die separaten

Verhandlungen mit der kongolesischen Regierung L'est du Congo se prépare de nouveau à la stecken in der Sackgasse. Am Sonntag lieferte sich guerre die M23 Gefechte mit der ruandischen Le Figaro (France), 27 February 2013 Rebellengruppe FDLR. … (http://tinyurl.com/b8xs7ls) Beobachter warnen jedoch, dass sich die Initiative Malgré un accord régional pour mettre fin aux als Schlag ins Wasser erweisen könnte, weil weder hostilités en RDC, l'armée congolaise équipe des die M23 noch andere Milizen beteiligt sind: „Dieser milices locales, en prévision d'une reprise des Friedensschluss könnte ironischerweise neue combats. Allongé à l'ombre d'un arbre au bord de la Gewalt auslösen", sagt Jason Stearns. Er leitet die route qui relie Goma à Ishasha, Shetani finit sa tasse Hilfsorganisation Rift Valley Institute und war früher de vin de palme matinale. «Je suis le premier ange Mitglied der UN-Expertenkommission für die de Dieu», clame le commandant du Front populaire Demokratische Republik Kongo. Er sagt, dass ihr pour la démocratie (FPD), ivre. Il est 11 heures et Ausschluss die M23 wieder in den Kampf treibe. Muhami «Shetani» Gola, barbiche en pointe et accoutrement rasta, fait honneur à son nom de guerre qui signifie Satan en swahili. Un peu plus loin, ses hommes extorquent argent et bières aux conducteurs de camion de passage sur le tronçon de route que la milice contrôle. Les armes qu'ils leur agitent sous le nez, des AK 47 et des lance-

16 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

proxys are a very crude tool for the Congolese army to use, but they are very efficient as well."

Despite peace accord, eastern Congo [ARTICLE MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ appears on brink of renewed conflict CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: Washington Post, 25 February 2013 New York Times, 25 February 2013, ‘Framework’ (http://tinyurl.com/ahg6d54) Announced for Peace in Congo [VERBATIM FROM AP, BELOW] (http://tinyurl.com/ah38rga)]

Despite peace accord, eastern Congo still on Jason Stearns, spécialiste de la RDC et edge directeur du programme Oussalama Associated Press, 25 February 2013 Radio France Internationale, 24 February 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/bj27rdo) (http://tinyurl.com/betslvl) Despite the signing of a Congo peace accord on « Ce n'est plus le texte qui va poser un problème Sunday, this Central African country remains (...) mais je pense que c'est dans la mise en oeuvre unsettled by signs of a return to war. The peace qu'on va voir si c'est vraiment un texte qui va agreement, signed in Ethiopia by 11 neighboring pouvoir aider la région pour sortir de la crise ou si countries and backed by the United Nations, ca va être encore une fois un processus de paix qui elicited much praise from African and other world a ses limites. » leaders who said it points the way to stability in L'accord-cadre régional qui doit permettre de Congo. pacifier l'est de la RDC devrait être signé à Addis But on the ground here in eastern Congo, there are Abeba, en Ethiopie, ce dimanche 24 février 2013. Le signals that fighting may soon erupt between the secrétaire général des Nations unies, Ban Ki-moon, Congolese government and the M23 rebels. The a confirmé sa participation à cette rencontre qui regional peace accord is helpful but it does not have réunira onze chefs d'Etat ou leur repésentant dans specifics to immediately improve the tense security la capitale éthiopienne. situation, said an expert on eastern Congo. "I think Jason Stearns est spécialiste de la République it is a step in the right direction. But the agreement démocratique du Congo et directeur du programme is more a statement of principles than a concrete Oussalama qui étudie les groupes armés actifs dans action plan. It is lacking in details, such as what an l'est du pays. oversight mechanism for its implementation would look like," Jason Stearns, a Congo specialist for the Rift Valley Institute, said to The Associated Press. … "The M23 has political ambitions that Congo does not want to discuss. And the government wants the Accord-cadre (RDC): 46 ONG exigent "des arrest of the top five M23 leaders, which is a garanties" completely unacceptable condition for the rebels. Courrier International, 24 February 2013 The talks will go nowhere," said Stearns, the author (http://tinyurl.com/axypggn) of "Dancing in the Glory of Monsters" and a Congo expert. Après la signature ce dimanche d'un accord régional pour tenter de ramener la paix à l'Est de la Last month several high-ranking M23 officers were République démocratique du Congo, un collectif called back from the Kampala negotiations to the d'ONG espère que ce document recevra les rebels headquarter in Rutshuru, Congo, as the garanties et "l'appui politique nécessaire". Ces ONG armed group is planning new operations, according souhaitent également voir nommer "des Envoyés to rebel sources. … "The M23's main problem is its spéciaux et accroître l’implication régionale" dans le lack of weapons and troops. So if the army can conflit congolais. … gather more men, they would have the upper hand," explained Congo analyst Stearns. "Militia Les 46 ONG souhaitent également que l’Union africaine, la Conférence internationale sur la région

17 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 des Grands Lacs (CIRGL) et la Communauté de Glory of Monsters", das eine umfassende Analyse développement de l’Afrique australe (SADC) der Entwicklung im Kongo bietet. continuent "d’apporter leur soutien au processus".

Une conférence de donateurs pour engager les ressources nécessaires doit être aussi organisé "afin de promouvoir la collaboration économique transfrontalière et la réforme en profondeur des Forty-six leading Congolese and international institutions congolaises". Selon Jason Stearns, NGOs welcome Peace, Security and Cooperation directeur du projet Usalama pour le Rift Valley Framework, but call for further action to make Institute, "l’accord-cadre apporte de l’espoir, mais il peace a reality exige un capital politique et financier considérable Radio France Internationale, 24 February 2013 pour surmonter les intérêts bien enracinés". (http://tinyurl.com/a8vewgc)

A group of prominent Congolese and international NGOs today called on countries in the Great Lakes region, along with their international partners, to ensure that the Peace, Security and Cooperation KONGO: Stearns: "Abkommen zum Kongo Framework Agreement signed in Addis Ababa is wirft Fragen auf" given the political backing necessary to bring an end Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2013 to war in the eastern Congo. (http://tinyurl.com/a9z7rum) In a published policy response and letters to DRC Mit einem Abkommen wollen afrikanische Staaten President Kabila, UN Secretary General Ban Ki- den Ostkongo-Konflikt beilegen. Ob das gelingt, moon, African Union Chairperson Dlamini Zuma, US bleibt fraglich. Kongo-Experte Jason Stearns nennt President Barack Obama and the High im DW-Interview die Schwachpunkte. Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Herr Stearns, am Sonntag (24.02.2013) haben elf Security Policy, , the groups afrikanische Staaten in Äthiopiens Hauptstadt Addis welcomed the Framework Agreement as an Abeba ein Abkommen unterzeichnet, das Frieden opportunity for a new kind of decisive engagement und Sicherheit in der Demokratischen Republik in a conflict that has persisted for two decades and Kongo garantieren soll. UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki- ravaged the lives of millions of Congolese. … Moon war anwesend, ebenso wie Vertreter der "There has not been a solid peace process in the Afrikanischen Union und afrikanischer Congo since 2006, despite the escalation of violence Staatenbündnisse. Worum geht es in diesem since then", says Jason Stearns, Usalama Project Abkommen? director for the Rift Valley Institute. "The Das Abkommen baut auf zwei Säulen: Die erste ist Framework Agreement provides hope, but it will eine Reform der staatlichen kongolesischen require substantial political and financial capital to Institutionen. Dahinter steckt die Erkenntnis, dass overcome entrenched interests." ein Zusammenhang besteht zwischen der anhaltenden Krise, den immer neu aufflammenden [ARTICLES MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ Konflikten und dem schwachen kongolesischen CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: Staat. Bei der zweiten Säule geht es darum, den Christian Science Monitor, 22 February 2013, Is a internationalen Einmischungen im Kongo ein Ende new peace process starting in eastern Congo? zu setzen. Um diese zwei Punkte zu erreichen, soll (http://tinyurl.com/aghw6uc) es Überwachungsmechanismen geben, die die Maßstäbe setzen und die Durchführung Al Jazeera, 24 February 2013, Is DR Congo peace überwachen - aber das Abkommen bleibt sehr vage. only 'paper thin'? Die meisten Details bleiben noch zu klären. … (http://tinyurl.com/akgtsb9) Jason Stearns ist Leiter des Usalama Projekts am New Vision, 24 February 2013, 11 countries to sign kenianischen Rift Valley Institute, das den Konflikt DR Congo peace accord: UN im Ostkongo untersucht. Seit vielen Jahren befasst (http://tinyurl.com/bzrnhbg)] er sich mit dem Kongo, unter anderem im Auftrag der Vereinten Nationen und der International Crisis Group. 2012 erschien sein Buch "Dancing in the

18 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

The Guardian, 20 February 2013, Just another peace-making spasm in DR Congo

(http://tinyurl.com/b28s99o) Messrs ICG: tobs are not loincloths Enough Project, 15 February 2013, 5 Stories You By Magdi El Gazouli Might Have Missed This Week Sudan Tribune, 24 February 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/a8y5dbb)] (http://tinyurl.com/a2d7rsg)

The International Crisis Group (ICG) recently released a report on thewar in South Kordofan, the first as it said in a series of reports on the on-going conflicts in Sudan’s peripheries. In their Somalia: The World Cannot Bring Us Peace- introduction the author(s) offered the disclaimer President Hassan that the ICG “could not obtain access to somalilandsun.com, 11 February 2013 government-controlled areas in Sudan but has tried (http://tinyurl.com/dy57fku) to reflect the government’s views as much as possible, including by interviewing individuals in [VERBATIM FROM NEW INTERNATIONALIST, other locations”. The disclaimer, it must be noted, BELOW] does not feature in the preceding ICG report on

Sudan released in November 2012, ‘Major Reform or More War’, the footnotes of which are rich with references to interviews conducted by the ICG in

Khartoum as late as November 2012. … Sharia inflation: a preacher speaks politics The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He By Magdi El Gazouli publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at Sudan Tribune, 6 February 2013 his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at (http://tinyurl.com/bxhdpvq) [email protected] The allies of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) recently welcomed the professional Moslem cleric turned politician Yusif al-Koda in their Kampala habitat. Yusif and the Chairman of the Sudan

People’s Liberation Army/Movement in North Djibouti Ruling Party Seen Maintaining Grip Sudan (SPLA/M-N) Malik Agar, also the Chairman of on Power in Vote the SRF, signed on 31 January a joint political Bloomberg News, 22 February 2013 statement of four articles: the guarantee of the (http://tinyurl.com/as3ksu4) unity of the country, public freedoms, the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, peaceful Djibouti’s ruling party will probably retain its transition of power and the federal system of majority in parliamentary elections today, while government; the guarantee of citizenship as a basis electoral law changes may give the opposition a for rights and duties without regard to religion, race, greater say in the nation’s affairs, said analysts colour, geographical or political affiliation; issues of including Aly Verjee of the Rift Valley Institute. dispute between the political forces such as the Lawmakers in November approved a proposal to system of rule and the relationship between state make 20 percent of the country’s 65 parliamentary and religion should be deferred till further dialogue, seats electable on a proportional representation preferably in the context of a constitutional basis. That may benefit the six opposition parties conference. The fourth article stated that Yusif al- that have unified under the banner of the Union for Koda’s organisation, al-Wasat Islamic Party, is a National Salvation, or USN, Verjee said in an e- political party registered according to law in Sudan mailed response to questions on Feb. 20. … that ascribes only to peaceful popular struggle and dialogue as means of change, an indemnity note I guess. … [ARTICLES MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He Christian Science Monitor, 22 February 2013, Is a publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at new peace process starting in eastern Congo? his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at (http://tinyurl.com/aghw6uc) [email protected].

19 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

nahm Goma ein, die Hauptstadt der Provinz Nord- Kivu. Gefechte zwischen ihr und der kongolesischen Armee trieben Zehntausende Menschen in die

Flucht. Experten der Vereinten Nationen (UN) Somali President: the world cannot bring us bezichtigten die Nachbarländer Ruanda und Uganda, peace an dem neuen Ausbruch der Gewalt beteiligt zu sein, New Internationalist, 5 February 2013 und warfen ihnen vor, die M23-Rebellen zu unterstützen. Doch Ugandas Präsident Yoweri (http://tinyurl.com/bbecy9y) Museveni konterte: Die internationale Sally Healy speaks to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Gemeinschaft mische sich viel zu oft in about his hopes for security in Somalia, which must kongolesische Probleme und Konflikte ein, ohne begin to 'address the bitter memories' of its past. deren wahre Ursprünge zu kennen, sagte er bei [TEXT VERBATIM FROM CONCILIATION RESOURCES, einem Gipfeltreffen der südafrikanischen BELOW] Entwicklungsgemeinschaft im vergangenen Dezember.

Seine Worte haben einen sarkastischen Unterton. Doch tatsächlich wissen viele, die von außen eingreifen, nur wenig über die Ursachen der

komplexen Konflikte in der Demokratischen Somalia: Ready to move on? Republik Kongo und die Motive und Interessen der Conciliation Resources, 5 February 2013 Beteiligten. Zu oft erblicken sie nur den Gipfel des (http://tinyurl.com/bc7d6zo) metaphorischen – und im Ostkongo besonders Sally Healy was co-editor with Mark Bradbury of großen – Eisbergs. Dies liegt unter anderem daran, dass die Vielzahl der bewaffneten Gruppen, die am ‘Accord 21 (2010): Whose peace is it anyway? Connecting Somali and international peacemaking’. Konflikt beteilig sind, kaum untersucht ist. … Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was an Accord 21 Michel Thill ist am Rift Valley Institut (www.riftvalley.net) für das Great--Lakes-Programm author.Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was an unexpected choice for the job of taking Somalia out verantwortlich und sitzt in London. of its long and self-perpetuating period of ‘transitional’ government. His election in September [ARTICLES MENTIONING JASON STEARNS/ 2012 came as a surprise because he had not formed CONGOSIASA BUT NOT RVI OR USALAMA PROJECT: part of earlier administrations and was not tainted Al Jazeera, 26 January 2013, Doubts loom over new with corruption or incompetence. Far from being a UN Congo peace plan Somali warlord, Hassan Sheikh had spent most of (http://tinyurl.com/a6u7p2b)] the last 20 years living in Mogadishu, where he played a leading role in civil society conflict resolution. … Sally Healy is a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute.

Extracts from her conversation with President Democratic Republic of Congo: M23, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 2 February 2013 can also be heard on a podcast on the Rift Valley imperialist looting and barbarism – Part Two Institute website. In Defence of Marxism, 23 January 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/b2yhhwr)

The M23 officers – Bosco Ntaganda, Sultani Makenga et al – have risked highly lucrative positions in the FARDC command structure, control

Rebellion mit Ruandas Hilfe of tax rackets mines and timber amongst other things in carrying out this rebellion. Why is it war By Michel Thill seems more profitable than peace? Welt-Sichten, 5 February 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/aftxv6x) According to a 2011 report from the UN Group of Experts, Bosco Ntaganda "was making about Der Osten des Kongo wurde im vergangenen $15,000 (£10,000) a week at one border crossing. ... November erneut von Unruhen erschüttert: Die He also is thought to own a flour factory, a hotel, a Rebellenbewegung M23 (Bewegung des 23. März)

20 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013 bar and a cattle ranch outside Goma." Such things covered, and, in spite of differences in method of are not given up lightly – especially by these analysis Stearns remains one of the better for nouveau-riche bandits. This M23 mutiny was not accurate material on the region and we rely on the first – an earlier attempt in in January much of this for the present article. … collapsed almost immediately with Sultani Makenga To underline the importance of the question of land watching from the sidelines. Another attempt was and access to it – formerly decided in many areas by made in March following Thomas Lubanga’s the traditional chief, in other words in primitive conviction by the ICC before being aborted again. communist relations – Stearns (riftvalley.net, pdf - One ex-CNDP officer said “the soldiers were tired of p25-26) provides figures on changes to seeing their commanders get rich and not give them demographics and social relations, particularly in anything” while another stated “Why risk your lives the Masisi and Rutshuru highlands. … for commanders you don’t believe in?” (Stearns, RVI, CNDP to M23). … “Many among the CNDP’s original political leadership, handpicked by Nkunda, fled from Ntaganda and dispersed across the region as Kigali Omdurman’s Sabreen: the gaieties of the installed its own proxies: first Desiré Kamanzi, then, in December 2009, Philippe Gafishi. Both were class divide relative unknowns in the Kivus and had built their By Magdi El Gazouli careers in Rwanda. When Gafishi’s deputy tried to Sudan Tribune, 21 January 2013 create a new branch of the CNDP in May 2010, he (http://tinyurl.com/b6cg8dh) was arrested by security services in Rwanda.” Several years back, I accompanied the late (Stearns, RVI, CNDP to M23) Mohamed Ibrahim Nugud, the former Political Secretary of Sudan’s Communist Party, on a drive through Khartoum’s upscale neighbourhoods on New Year’s Eve. Nugud had just emerged from more than a decade of underground life and was eager to get a feel of the beat of the streets on such Democratic Republic of Congo: M23, an occasion in the new Khartoum of oil and sharia. imperialist looting and barbarism – Part One He was taken aback by the sheer number of young In Defence of Marxism, 21 January 2013 people on the streets, an uncontrollable swirling (http://tinyurl.com/ajubh6m) mass along Airport Road and the main streets of Once again the Democratic Republic of Congo has Khartoum (2). Moving at a snail’s pace we been through months of turmoil, soldiers defecting proceeded through the crowd to experience the en masse from the Congolese Army (FARDC) first minutes of the new year close to the Officers’ followed by fighting between government forces Club. Fireworks were too rare to be the common and militia in the Kivu regions. But why is all this means of celebration. Instead, the young fun- happening and what interests lie behind these seekers splashed each other with water using the events? Gavin Jackson looks at the different forces plastic bottles of ‘Crystal’ juice newly introduced on the ground and outlines the looting on the part into the market at the time. … of the various imperialist powers that is the real The author is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He reason behind the barbarism. … publishes regular opinion articles and analyses at This latest episode in over two decades of his blog Still Sudan. He can be reached at bloodshed has laid bare the deep scars left by the [email protected]. imperialist exploitation of the African continent. The well practised response of the bourgeois media – 'conflict minerals', corruption, tin-pot dictators, brutal ethnic warfare, inexplicable violence, Africans slaughtering Africans - does nothing to advance our understanding of what is taking place and why. … While this is the general trend there are outstanding examples. The work of Jason Stearns through both the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) and Congosiasa reveal a great deal of what is not

21 RVI – Media Update – January-June 2013 – 26 June 2013

Doing The Addis Shuffle: Kiir And Bashir KONGO: Rebellen versprechen Feuerpause Waltz Again Deusche Welle, 10 January 2013 By Aly Verjee (http://bit.ly/TORwK1) African Arguments, 7 January 2012 (http://bit.ly/13aPebO) Die Rebellen im Osten des Kongo haben einen einseitigen Waffenstillstand erklärt. Das könnte 2013: a new year, but an old set of issues for Sudan Bewegung in die sich hinschleppenden and South Sudan. Presidents al-Bashir and Kiir Friedensgespräche mit der kongolesischen concluded the latest round of bilateral talks in Addis Regierung bringen. Traumatisiert und misshandelt: Ababa this weekend. The statement of outcomes of So geht es vielen Menschen im Osten des Kongo. the summit, issued by the African Union High Level Sie sind Opfer der immer wieder aufflammenden Implementation Panel (AUHIP), is available here. Kämpfe zwischen den Regierungstruppen und den Some thoughts on the latest talks: Rebellen der M23. … 1. Re-committing to prior commitments is good, but Dass die Rebellen jetzt zu einem einseitigen implementation is as uncertain as ever. There’s Waffenstillstand bereit sind, sieht Jason Stearns als little new in the outcome document, and it’s hard strategischen Schachzug. Er ist Kongoexperte des to say it represents substantial progress beyond the renommierten Konfliktforschungs-Instituts Rift cooperation agreement signed between Sudan and Valley. "Die M23 wollen wie diejenigen wirken, die South Sudan in September 2012. … sich um Frieden bemühen“, glaubt Stearns. "Sie 2. How long can resolution of Abyei be deferred? wollen mehr Ansehen erlangen und zeigen, dass sie The AUHIP – and the AU’s Peace and Security nicht die Aggressoren des Konflikts sind". Council (PSC) – have repeatedly set – and missed – Die Delegation der kongolesischen Regierung in dates for action on Abyei. … Kampala begüßte den Waffenstillstand der M23, 3. Are there changes in Ethiopia’s quiet diplomacy? bleibt aber skeptisch. "Wir bestehen in erster Linie Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi darauf, dass er auch wirklich umgesetzt wird", played an influential role in the Sudan-South Sudan erklärte der Informationsminister der mediation, following up with and regularly Demokratischen Republik Kongo, Lambert Mende telephoning both presidents, despite his illness and Omalaga. Die Regierung bietet ihrerseits aber other preoccupations. … keinen Waffenstillstand an, er bleibt einseitig. Skepsis sei aber nicht die einzige Erklärung für die Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley Reaktion der Regierung, so Jason Stearns gegenüber Institute. He blogs regularly for Making Sense of der DW: "Ein Grund, warum sie den Sudan. Waffenstillstand nicht unterschreiben wollen könnte sein, dass sie sich einen militärischen Eingriff offen lassen wollen." …

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