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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Who will arrest Bosco Ntaganda, "The Lord of Impunity"?

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I am not the type that likes to simplify conflicts. If possible I try not to. However, I think in some rare instances this becomes a necessity. The film-makers of Kony 2012 have already advanced this argument. I cautiously follow the trail.

If there is one man that makes me less optimistic about the prospects of peace in eastern DRC, it one Gen. Bosco Ntaganda. A lot has already been written and said about the crimes of this "killer king of North Kivu". Yet he remains rabidly defiant and elusive. An op-ed piece in the New York Times recently noted that he, "continues to live a life of leisure" despite a three-year old indictment by the International Criminal Court.

His life might be full of leisure--he said to own several night clubs in the city of Goma and businesses in nearby Gisenyi-- however, pleasure for this stateless dictator comes with a high cost for eastern Congo residents. The "general"  has been implicated in rape, the abduction of child soldiers and possible ethnic cleansing.

Why has Ntaganda remained so elusive and untouchable? Is it really possible that the 17,000 UN peacekeeping force is incapable of arresting him? The answer lies in the nature of politics in the fragile states of both Rwanda and DRC.

According to an investigative piece by both Setano Valentino and Anneke Verbraeken, Ntaganda enjoys the support of both Rwanda and DRC. He is literally the dowry that makes possible a marriage of convenience between Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila  since 2009. As the two benefit directly from Ntaganda, they have made it impossible for rebel -in-chief to be arrested. The indictment by the ICC has been reduced to a useless and meaningless chit of paper.

Ntaganda was born in Bigogwe, northern Rwanda in 1974. It is region occupied by Tutsi pastoralists just a few miles from the feet of mount Karisimbi. He later migrated to the Namitaba region of Masisi, from where he lived until joining forces with Kagame-led Rwanda Patriotic Front in the early 1990s. In 1994, Ntaganda was among the RPF rebels that took control over Rwanda following the genocide.

Tow years later, Ntaganda was part of the Rwandan forces that invaded the DRC. Here, they were successful as well. The war ended with the defeat of Joseph Mobutu ( a brutal dictator and long-term ally of the US). Laurent Kabila was the puppet leader of this Rwandan force, which functioned to legitimize the rebel movement among the indigenous Congolese. However, when Kabila fell out with Rwanda, Ntaganda and other Tutsi soldiers retreated to eastern Congo where they formed "a state within a state".

That was in 1997. Over the years, there is so much that has changed. Alliances have shifted very quickly in Congo's dense forests. While, Kabila senior and his Rwandan sponsors were initially fighting against former members of the Hutu army and Interahamwe, Kabila extended his support to the Hutu fighters as a strategy against Kagame.

Ironically the situation today has brought Kabila and Kagame together again. In a region where popular support is not an important determinant of political legitimacy, each desperately needs the military muscle of the other. And this is how Ntaganda has remained relevant and untouchable.

In a nutshell, Ntaganda pursues strategic interests for the pair. For Kagame, he ensures an easy access to eastern Congo's vast natural resources. Indeed,  he has been consistently implicated by UN report into illegal mining and logging of Congo's forests. He also ensures that the Hutu fighting forces are contained outside Rwanda's borders. For Kabila, Ntaganda ensures that he maintains "legitimacy" through the rigging of elections.

One has to wonder for how long this lord of impunity will be allowed to reign. Few doubt his role in Congo's bloodied history. So much of the killings here happen faraway from the lenses of the camera. They are neither captured nor reported and the victims are soon forgotten. One of the most documented incident involving him is the Kiwanja massacre in 2010. Journalists with both New York Times and France 24 captured live footage of the massacre. In total, 150 corpses were left lying behind by Ntaganda's CNDP.

To be sure, this is one case where the ICC should be praised for boldness. Many of the killers tied to either Rwanda and Uganda have never made it to the ICC's list. Ntaganda's crimes must have been such an obvious embarrassment that the ICC had no option but to act. Even against the wishes of the regional power brokers: Rwanda and Uganda.

However, the ICC has not pressured Rwanda enough. One reason is that Rwanda is not a signatory to the court. Which in itself is a politically calculated move to prevent the court from stepping into crimes committed by Kagame's regime. At the same time, the court has universal jurisdiction over such serious crimes of the states in question fail to prosecute the suspects.

As I welcome the conviction of another war lord, Thomas Lubanga, I share the same concern with Congolese academic, Pascal Kambale. My earnest hope is that Ntaganda will not be allowed to continue to terrorize our people for yet another full year. Given the number of people who are dying in the DRC as a direct result of the conflict, this is one such case that could urgently benefit from a Kony2012 campaign. Ntaganda must be brought to justice! The sooner the better!

10 comments:

Brad Lehigh said...

Of course everyone can agree that Bosco Ntaganda needs to be brought to justice, and the sooner the better. However I do have concerns about the process in which this could happen. Similar to the oversimplification of catching Joseph Kony, I don't think arresting Bosco Ntaganda is a simple as having Joseph Kabila order handcuffs on him. It has been noted that CNDP elements within FARDC operate independently from the official army hierarchy, and it is also known that these same CNDP elements have not had any rotation throughout the DRC, but instead have stayed entirely in the Kivu's, giving Bosco Ntaganda enourmous power and leverage. Because of these facts I have 2 questions in regards to the logistics of arresting Ntaganda

1) Assuming Ntaganda would not be taken in under his own free will, who has the capacity to do so?

If Ntaganda truly does control the majority of the army in the Kivu's, it would be hard pressed for Kabila to actually send a large and loyal army force out east to do accomplish this, and there would almost certainly be unrest in Goma.

Since Rwanda has a lot more control over Ntaganda than Kabila does, they would certainly have to be involved in a large capacity as they were with Nkunda's arrest. Becuase Rwanda is not an ICC signatory, they have little reason to do so unless pressured externally by larger powers

2) What would be the reaction of the thousands of troops loyal to Ntaganda?

If Bosco's arrest were to precede a army mutiny in the east, or even worse, cause the CNDP to disband from the army and continue their rebellion from years ago, would the consequences of his arrest then be worse than the status quo?

Another worry is that after Nkunda's arrest, and then Bosco's, who would the CNDP turn to as their leader? According to the report referenced in your article, there is a "Nkunda wing" still active, and I am not sure their is one figure who could keep the CNDP "unified". A forced, and uncaculated arrest could cause the creation of several other "Bosco's"

Arresting Ntaganda him will not end the smuggling between his forces and Rwanda, so I believe if he is to be arrested, it must not be done in haste, at the risk of causing further destablization and/or a power struggle within the CNDP. There must be more focus on ending the climate which allows this to happen. Kagame and Kabila are still the biggest perpetrators

**I am not an expert on the DRC nor do I claim to be, just someone who has spent enourmous amounts of time researching the region out of personal interest.

Brad Lehigh said...

Of course everyone can agree that Bosco Ntaganda needs to be brought to justice, and the sooner the better. However I do have concerns about the process in which this could happen. Similar to the oversimplification of catching Joseph Kony, I don't think arresting Bosco Ntaganda is a simple as having Joseph Kabila order handcuffs on him. It has been noted that CNDP elements within FARDC operate independently from the official army hierarchy, and it is also known that these same CNDP elements have not had any rotation throughout the DRC, but instead have stayed entirely in the Kivu's, giving Bosco Ntaganda enourmous power and leverage. Because of these facts I have 2 questions in regards to the logistics of arresting Ntaganda

1) Assuming Ntaganda would not be taken in under his own free will, who has the capacity to do so?

If Ntaganda truly does control the majority of the army in the Kivu's, it would be hard pressed for Kabila to actually send a large and loyal army force out east to do accomplish this, and there would almost certainly be unrest in Goma.

Since Rwanda has a lot more control over Ntaganda than Kabila does, they would certainly have to be involved in a large capacity as they were with Nkunda's arrest. Becuase Rwanda is not an ICC signatory, they have little reason to do so unless pressured externally by larger powers

2) What would be the reaction of the thousands of troops loyal to Ntaganda?

If Bosco's arrest were to precede a army mutiny in the east, or even worse, cause the CNDP to disband from the army and continue their rebellion from years ago, would the consequences of his arrest then be worse than the status quo?

Another worry is that after Nkunda's arrest, and then Bosco's, who would the CNDP turn to as their leader? According to the report referenced in your article, there is a "Nkunda wing" still active, and I am not sure their is one figure who could keep the CNDP "unified". A forced, and uncaculated arrest could cause the creation of several other "Bosco's"

Arresting Ntaganda him will not end the smuggling between his forces and Rwanda, so I believe if he is to be arrested, it must not be done in haste, at the risk of causing further destablization and/or a power struggle within the CNDP. There must be more focus on ending the climate which allows this to happen. Kagame and Kabila are still the biggest perpetrators

**I am not an expert on the DRC nor do I claim to be, just someone who has spent enourmous amounts of time researching the region out of personal interest.

Anisa said...

Great job on this piece. By holding our criminals accountable, by being logic about what our people in Africa need-we shall tackle the problems from the roots until we're able to design the better life and future we intend to create for generations to come.

Anisa said...

Great job on this piece. By holding our criminals accountable, by being logic about what our people in Africa need-we shall tackle the problems from the roots until we're able to design the better life and future we intend to create for generations to come.

Anonymous said...

Brad, I think the author of the article mentioned that the 17,000 UN soldiers in Eastern DRC should be able to accomplish the task of arresting Ntaganda, if they were ordered to. As for the distabilization that could arise from arresting him, I personally think of it in terms of let's say Mafia dons in the US. Would the US government restrain from arresting a Mafia don for fear that his henchmen would cause even more chaos after the arrest?

Anonymous said...

hello - re your "polar post" last sunday please pm and we will definatley get back in touch heres a direct link
thanks
james

@BradLehigh said...

Anonymous, while I see your analogy with the Mafia, however its quite different as the Congolese population would be the ones who would suffer. When arresting a mafia don that would usually increase mafia related violence but the general public wasn't that affected. Bosco Ntaganda needs to be brought to justice, but sadly, even though he causes instability, he is also the lynchpin to whatever current stability there is

seamus macniel said...

This is what I wrote in February 2009 after Laurent Nkunda's "arrest:
"In the meantime, Joseph Kony is still here there and everywhere but not behind bars, Bosco Ntaganda is wearing a DRC army uniform, Nkunda is probably sitting in Kigali watching Manchester United on television, and there are only badies in this war a war, which the West can only profit from."
The watching Manchester United was pure speculation, the rest of it is a simple statement of fact.
Yes, the bigger criminals are Kagame in Kigali and Kabili in Kinshasa, and that other character in Kampala .... and the really big criminals? Well, you know the answer to that question!
http://sansculottism.wordpress.com/?s=congo

Anonymous said...

This is what I wrote on February 15th, 2009 after Laurent Nkunda's "arrest":
"In the meantime, Joseph Kony is still here there and everywhere but not behind bars, Bosco Ntaganda is wearing a DRC army uniform, Nkunda is probably sitting in Kigali watching Manchester United on television, and there are only badies in this war a war, which the West can only profit from."

Yes, Kagame in Kigali and Kabila in Kinshasa, along with "our" man in Kampala, are the bigger criminals. However, the really big criminals? Of course, you know the answer to that question!

seamus macniel said...

This is what I wrote in February 2009 after Laurent Nkunda's "arrest:
"In the meantime, Joseph Kony is still here there and everywhere but not behind bars, Bosco Ntaganda is wearing a DRC army uniform, Nkunda is probably sitting in Kigali watching Manchester United on television, and there are only badies in this war a war, which the West can only profit from."
The watching Manchester United was pure speculation, the rest of it is a simple statement of fact.
Yes, the bigger criminals are Kagame in Kigali and Kabili in Kinshasa, and that other character in Kampala .... and the really big criminals? Well, you know the answer to that question!
http://sansculottism.wordpress.com/?s=congo