FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
INL Programming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fact Sheet
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
June 11, 2013
Since 2008 INL has funded programs in the DRC designed to increase security along the country’s massive borders, bolster the movement of non-conflict minerals, provide support and access to justice for survivors of sexual assault, and improve the efficiency of the police pay system.
Border security: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) receives INL funding to improve the security situation along the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) eastern border. This program focuses on strengthening the capabilities of the border police and the customs and immigration agencies in the vulnerable Orientale, North Kivu, and South Kivu regions. Border police in the region benefit from training and equipment, vehicles, and buildings. Customs and immigration agencies will come together in a new, integrated border management facility at a key border crossing in Kasindi that will serve as a model for cooperation among the five Congolese agencies that staff each border post.
Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV): Since 2009, INL has funded the American Bar Association (ABA) to strengthen the capacity of local legal and law enforcement actors in North Kivu to respond to, prosecute, and ultimately prevent SGBV. Beginning in 2011, INL has partnered in South Kivu with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) to bolster the capacity and coordination of medical, legal, and law enforcement networks to collect and document forensic evidence for use in the prosecution of SGBV cases.
Mining security: This IOM-run program is designed to provide the security component of the Congolese government’s pilot conflict-free minerals program, which is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development. It will supply training, equipment, and facilities to the Congolese National Police to ensure the secure transportation of conflict-free minerals in the eastern DRC. Offices will be constructed at the regional police headquarters in Goma, and offices and police checkpoints may be constructed in other areas. The program also aims to train 180 police officers in specialized mineral security operations and fund the necessary vehicles and computers.
Police pay: The existing system of cash payments to DRC police is subject to mishandling and corruption. INL is exploring a new system utilizing electronic and mobile payments to ensure that police receive their full salaries. The program will likely provide regulatory support to the Congolese government to help put the necessary laws in place, technical support to banks and mobile operators to establish interoperability, and education and training to the police to operate the new system.
Showing posts with label DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Show all posts
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Thursday, June 7, 2012
M23 ANTI-GOVERNMENT FORCE IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 6, 2012
The United States is concerned by the continued mutiny of officers and soldiers formerly integrated into the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and now operating in North Kivu province as an armed group under the name M23, and by recent reports of outside support to M23.
We support the Congolese government’s efforts to discourage further defections and to bring to justice alleged human rights abusers among the mutinous forces, including Bosco Ntaganda. These efforts are an essential step toward developing a disciplined and unified Congolese army and bringing a sustainable peace to the DRC.
The United States also reiterates its support for the international community’s comprehensive approach to disarming and demobilizing the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a violent armed group responsible for atrocities against civilians in the DRC’s eastern provinces and whose leaders participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. We support ongoing efforts to hold FDLR leaders accountable for their atrocities, and we urge FDLR soldiers and dependents to present themselves to Congolese or UN authorities for disarmament and repatriation.
We encourage the DRC, its neighbors, and its partners to work together to prevent M23, the FDLR, and all other armed groups from receiving outside support in contravention of the UN Security Council’s arms embargo on non-governmental entities and individuals operating in the DRC.
The United States also strongly supports the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, in particular its active efforts to assist the Congolese government in protecting civilians displaced or threatened by clashes between government forces and armed groups.
We support the Congolese government’s efforts to discourage further defections and to bring to justice alleged human rights abusers among the mutinous forces, including Bosco Ntaganda. These efforts are an essential step toward developing a disciplined and unified Congolese army and bringing a sustainable peace to the DRC.
The United States also reiterates its support for the international community’s comprehensive approach to disarming and demobilizing the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a violent armed group responsible for atrocities against civilians in the DRC’s eastern provinces and whose leaders participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. We support ongoing efforts to hold FDLR leaders accountable for their atrocities, and we urge FDLR soldiers and dependents to present themselves to Congolese or UN authorities for disarmament and repatriation.
We encourage the DRC, its neighbors, and its partners to work together to prevent M23, the FDLR, and all other armed groups from receiving outside support in contravention of the UN Security Council’s arms embargo on non-governmental entities and individuals operating in the DRC.
The United States also strongly supports the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, in particular its active efforts to assist the Congolese government in protecting civilians displaced or threatened by clashes between government forces and armed groups.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
THOMAS LUBANGA DYILO FOUND GUILTY OF USING CHILDREN AS SOLDIERS
The following excerpt is from a U.S. State Department e-mail:
ICC Conviction of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
Press Statement Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
March 16, 2012
On March 14 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, former commander of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo militia and president of the Union of Congolese Patriots, for his responsibility for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children and using them to participate actively in hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002 and 2003. Congolese authorities referred the situation in the DRC to the ICC in 2004.
As the Court’s first conviction, this ruling is an historic and important step in providing justice and accountability for the Congolese people. The conviction is also significant for highlighting as an issue of paramount international concern the brutal practice of conscripting and using children to take a direct part in hostilities. These children are often sent to the front lines of combat or used as porters, guards, or sex slaves, and their conscription reverberates throughout entire communities. This conviction puts perpetrators and would-be perpetrators of unlawful child soldier recruitment and other atrocities on notice that they cannot expect their crimes to go unpunished.
Congolese institutions have a critical role to play in ending impunity in the DRC. The Congolese government has taken recent positive steps, such as the prosecution and conviction in national courts of several Congolese army officers for the mass rapes that took place in the town of Fizi on January 1, 2011. The United States continues to encourage the Congolese government to arrest other alleged human rights violators and abusers still at large.
ICC Conviction of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
Press Statement Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
March 16, 2012
On March 14 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, former commander of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo militia and president of the Union of Congolese Patriots, for his responsibility for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children and using them to participate actively in hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002 and 2003. Congolese authorities referred the situation in the DRC to the ICC in 2004.
As the Court’s first conviction, this ruling is an historic and important step in providing justice and accountability for the Congolese people. The conviction is also significant for highlighting as an issue of paramount international concern the brutal practice of conscripting and using children to take a direct part in hostilities. These children are often sent to the front lines of combat or used as porters, guards, or sex slaves, and their conscription reverberates throughout entire communities. This conviction puts perpetrators and would-be perpetrators of unlawful child soldier recruitment and other atrocities on notice that they cannot expect their crimes to go unpunished.
Congolese institutions have a critical role to play in ending impunity in the DRC. The Congolese government has taken recent positive steps, such as the prosecution and conviction in national courts of several Congolese army officers for the mass rapes that took place in the town of Fizi on January 1, 2011. The United States continues to encourage the Congolese government to arrest other alleged human rights violators and abusers still at large.
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