Press Conference: Advocates Call for End of U.S. Support of African Tyrants

IPS’ Foreign Policy In Focus joins a diverse U.S. based activist coalition focusing on Africa is calling on U.S. leaders to cease their support and empowerment of brutal dictators across Africa. July 31 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm   A diverse U.S. based activist coalition focusing on Africa is calling on U.S. leaders to cease their support and empowerment of brutal… Read More

Congo militia leader ordered rapes, massacres: prosecutor

Defense Counsel Marc Desalliers (R) and Caroline Buteau look on during the case against Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, February 10, 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/TOUSSAINT KLUITERS/UNITED PHOTOS/POOL (Reuters) – A Congolese militia leader widely known as “the Terminator” led fighters, including child soldiers, in a campaign of ethnically-motivated rape and murder, the International… Read More

DRC government and M23 sign peace deal

  The rebel group agreed to engage in talks in October after suffering defeats against government and UN-backed forces.     M23 rebels, who were once part of the country’s army, mutinied in 2012 The Democratic Republic of Congo government and M23 rebels have signed a peace agreement in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The deal was announced through an official statement. … Read More

Congolese Rebel Group Says It Is Laying Down Arms

Pete Muller for The New York Times Following a string of recent victories on the battlefield by the Congolese Army operating with United Nations support, the group, known as the M23, said that it was ending the 20-month rebellion that had brought renewed instability, uncertainty and conflict to the eastern part of Congo. In a statement, the group’s chairman, Bertrand… Read More

US ups pressure to end DRC’s M23 rebellion

US Great Lakes envoy Russ Feingold is believed to be more even-handed than some of his predecessors http://feingold.senate.gov/images/feingold_headshot_highres.jpg   The US’s new representative for Africa’s Great Lakes region has upped the pressure on Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to end the bloody M23 rebellion in north-east DRC. After years of close relations between Washington and Rwanda, Russ… Read More

A beautiful country with poor leadership

By Jennifer Fierberg The growing dissatisfaction with President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo has encouraged more opposition parties to stand up and express this outrage. President Kabila has shown little leadership since he has come to power though the direction of the Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2001 after the assassination of his father former President Laruent Kabila.… Read More

Press Briefing Announcement Regarding Great Lakes Special Representative

Remarks John KerrySecretary of State Press Briefing Room Washington, DC June 18, 2013   SECRETARY KERRY:  Good morning, everybody. QUESTION:  It’s a late morning. SECRETARY KERRY:  Good afternoon.  (Laughter.) I’m happy to spend just a few minutes with you today and I apologize that I have to run over to the White House quickly after this, but I wanted to… Read More

DR Congo: War Crimes by M23, Congolese Army Response to Crisis in East Should Emphasize Justice

 (Goma, February 5, 2013) – M23 rebels and Congolese army soldiers raped scores of women and committed other war crimes during the rebels’ occupation of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo<http://www.hrw.org/drc>in late 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. Ongoing talks among parties to the conflict, countries in the region, and the United Nations should ensure that any agreements include… Read More

U.N. Security Council allows drones for eastern Congo

 By Michelle Nichols (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council has given a green light for peacekeepers to use surveillance drones in eastern Democratic Republic of Congoafter weeks of delay over concerns of Russia, Chinaand Rwanda about the use of aerial spy equipment. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote to the 15-member council late last month to advise that peacekeepers in Congo planned to use unmanned aerial… Read More