Congo+Crisis

** 11/28/08 **       Conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken the lives of 5.4 million people since 1988 and continue to leave as many as 45,000 dead every month, according to a 2008 mortality survey released by the International Rescue Committee.   The vast majority died from non-violent causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition—easily preventable and treatable conditions when people have access to health care and nutritious food.   This is equivalent to the state of Colorado losing its entire population within a decade!   //Goma,// //North Kivu// //21 Nov 2008// //-// Women and girls in eastern Congo's North Kivu province are once again suffering increasing levels of sexual violence amid renewed conflict, instability and widespread displacement of civilians. An International Rescue Committee team conducted a three-day assessment of conditions in Kibati Camp, north of Goma, where roughly 55,000 people have settled. The team found that women and girls are being raped both in and around the camp. They must leave the camp for food and supplies, because their men will be killed or recruited if they leave the camp, leaving little choice for the women.    __ http://www.theirc.org/special-report/congo-forgotten-crisis.html?gclid=CN76sq2Cl5cCFSJIagodM3oiJA __    Conflict in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Katanga provinces continued. Rebel groups, including former Rwandan-backed Tutsi and Hutu militias (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) being largest), continued to fight for land and resources.    Over the past three years, ending the North Kivu conflict has been repeatedly postponed in favour of efforts to consolidate the transition and secure Kabila's election. But North Kivu has been the epicentre of Congo’s violence since the conflict began more than fifteen years ago. Now is the time to address this major gap in the Congolese transition and end a crisis which is producing immense suffering and continues to carry wider risks for Congo and its neighbours.   Disarmament of the remaining armed groups and the recovery of the many weapons held in the different communities will not be achieved by force or by simply co-opting community leaders into national institutions. It has to be accompanied by establishing at least minimal trust between the local communities and the administration through sensitisation efforts and sustained investment in building better local governance capacity in advance of the district’s elevation to province status in 2009. Another key element in creating this trust is the replacement in pacified zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Armed Forces (FARDC), which continue to be responsible for numerous human rights violations, by the national police force.         ** RECOMMENDATIONS ** // Completing the disarmament process and restoring state authority // **To the Government of the Democratic** **Republic** **of** **Congo****:** 1. Concentrate the deployment of FARDC in the strongholds of the Front for National Integration (FNI) and the Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) militias and systematically replace it in the rest of the district with national police force officers including residents of Ituri. 2. Order the military prosecutor to initiate official investigations into the alleged complicity of FARDC officers in the illegal exploitation of natural resources and mining in Ituri. 3. Initiate a disciplinary investigation into Governor Médard Autsai’s administration of Province Orientale. 11. Ensure the regular financing of Ituri’s land commission by harmonising the efforts of national and international partners involved in sensitisation efforts to prevent the eruption of land-related conflicts in the district. // Improving the management of resources and revenues, in particular with respect to customs, forestry, mining and oil exploitation //   __ http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=conflict_search&l=1&t=1&c_country=37 __
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