The Old Republic Threat Of Peace Cbr: A Prequel to the Epic Star Wars MMO

Under the thumb of a treaty that was negotiated after the Sith sacked Coruscant, the Jedi have attempted to maintain the illusion of peace-until now! Even as one battle ends on Balmorra, another begins on Dantooine, where Jedi Satele Shan finds herself clashing sabers with an enemy that threatens not just her body, but her soul! As the treaty begins to crumble around her, Satele knows something desperate must be done to save the galaxy from the return to war!

The Old Republic Threat Of Peace Cbr

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In a complex, changing, and increasingly contested world, the Carnegie Endowment generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and safeguard peace.

By June 2003 it was estimated that there were between 300,000 and 330,0003 fighters in the DRC. One of the objectives of the peace agreement was the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) into civilian life of an estimated 150,0004 former fighters and the integration of the remainder into a unified national army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo).

In three years of transition, from 2003 to 2006, and despite the presence of a thinly-spread UN peacekeeping force, known by its French acronym, MONUC,6 conflict has continued and serious human rights abuses are still being committed. By early 2006, it is estimated that 3.9 million people have died since 1998 as a result of the direct and indirect consequences of the ongoing conflict.7 Between 1.4 and 1.66 million people, most of them women and children, are now displaced within the DRC, and an additional 1.3 million 'returnees' are in need of urgent assistance.8

This report is the product of Amnesty research covering most of the regions involved in the reform and the DDR operations, including the Kivus, Ituri and Katanga. It is also based on information collected by the organization in Katanga, Kasaï and other districts of eastern DRC, such as Haut and Bas Ouélé. It sets out specific recommendations to all the major actors, including the Congolese government, armed groups, MONUC and intergovernmental organizations involved in peacekeeping in DRC.

The army has always played a predominant role in Congolese politics since the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Since the beginning of the most recent conflict in 1998, the country experienced unprecedented militarization, an increased illegal flow of arms and the mushrooming of armed groups, ethnic and sometimes "community" militias and paramilitary groups, almost all of which included thousands of children in their ranks.11 Most of the estimated 300,000-330,000 fighters were recruited during the successive phases of the conflict. Needless to say, apart from weapons handling, almost none of them received training in human rights and international humanitarian law. In that sense "they represent a permanent threat to the civilian population if they are not demobilized or integrated into the national army and then retrained."12

Reorganization of the national defence forces and the creation of an integrated and reformed army that respects human rights and international humanitarian law is one of the priority objectives of the post- conflict period. This reform is indeed more than just a simple military activity: it forms part of a range of preconditions for peace and stability in the DRC and remains at the heart of the human right agenda. The institutional and individual observance of human rights cannot be attained without the implementation of a national disarmament and demobilization programme which offers a meaningful opportunity for social reintegration to the DRC's former fighters.

The DDR programme in Ituri, known as the Désarmement et Réinsertion Communautaire, Disarmament and Community Reintegration (DCR) programme, was launched in September 2004 as an interim strategy (stratégie intérimaire) before the national DDR programme was fully designed and implemented. Ituri was the first region in which CONADER, with the leading implementing role of UNDP (agence chef de file du MDRP),22 started the disarmament and demobilization programme. Ituri was targeted because it was one of the regions worst affected by the conflict and none of the armed groups operating in this war-torn district were signatories to the Global and All-Inclusive Peace Agreement. Some robust MONUC armed peacekeeping operations in Ituri in 2004, sometimes conducted jointly with DRC government forces, had only partly disrupted the armed groups' activities and several areas in the district remained firmly in the control of the armed groups.

Problems with the DCR programme were aggravated by the transitional government's incapacity to maintain peace and stability in eastern DRC and also by the ambiguous and contradictory discourse employed at the beginning of the process. For example, during a visit to Ituri in December 2004, General Ondekane, the then DRC Minister of Defence, declared that certain armed groups in Ituri could be directly integrated into the FARDC without registering at the reception centres, as required by the programme's operational plan. This was the beginning of bypassing all vetting activities in forming the new army, an issue that will be examined later in this report.

Despite the highly insecure context in which it took place, the DCR programme did achieve some of its goals including the demobilization of a targeted number of fighters, and the dismantling of the ethnic armed groups. It has also brought about relative security in a large part of the district enabling a relatively peaceful conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections held in July and October 2006.

Indeed, the situation obtaining in Ituri is typical of the DDR process elsewhere in the DRC. The 21st report of the UN Secretary-General on MONUC echoed this concern and indicated that thousands of disgruntled ex-fighters across the country continued to experience late payment of stipends in orientation centres, presenting an ongoing threat to security and stability in the DRC.41 The UN Secretary-General also noted the delays in implementing the reintegration programme due to serious shortcomings in the management of CONADER, including the alleged misappropriation of funds42 .

A number of armed groups in Ituri and elsewhere, distrustful of reform and anxious to maintain their sources of income and power have continued to defy government authority. These groups continue to represent a serious threat to the success of the DDR and army reform programmes.

On 26 July 2006 in Kambutso in Ituri, the MRC signed a peace agreement44 with the transitional government and committed to demobilize its troops in return for a "general amnesty" for its fighters and a position as colonel in the FARDC for its leader, Mathieu Ngojolo. However Colonel Kakolele, one of the senior members of the group has not endorsed the agreement. Peter Karim agreed a peace accord with the transitional government in Ddoy on 13 July 2006. He agreed to disarm his group on terms similar to those accorded to MRC, including also appointment as colonel in the FARDC.45 These accords were rushed through within days of the first round of presidential elections in July 2006, reportedly to enable the free movement of people to the polling stations. However, despite the peace accords, it was reported that these groups continued to recruit new fighters. The appointments of Mathieu Ngojolo and Peter Karim as FARDC colonels were confirmed by the DRC Minister of Defence, Adolphe Onusumba, in October 2006. "The objective of these nominations is the pursuit of peace," Adolphe Onusumba told the press,46 although it remains unclear whether these agreements will mark an end to armed group abuses in Ituri or herald a significant improvement of the human rights situation in the region.

The Katanga Mayi-Mayi groups are reported to be responsible for serious human rights abuses against civilians. The Katanga Mayi-Mayi are opposed to integration of the national army and have increased their atrocities against civilians.52 Two Mayi-Mayi factions led by Jean Pierre Chinja Chinja and Kyungu Muntanga Wa Bafunkwa Kanonga Kalunga Mbikavu, better known as Gédéon, were allegedly responsible for the worst atrocities in this province.53 At Mitwaba, during several attacks, from August to October 2005, Gédéon's men are reported to have burned entire villages, tortured and murdered civilians raped women and forced tens of thousands of people to flee for their lives. The FARDC troops deployed to put an end to the Mayi-Mayi attacks also pillaged and looted belongings of the population.54 Until recently, the silence of the authorities on the crimes committed by Mayi-Mayi and governmental forces betrays the FARDC's military weakness and suggests the existence of a culture of impunity.55 Although Chinja Chinja has been in provisional custody since July 2005, and Gédéon surrendered to the authorities on 12 May 2006 with around 200 of his fighters, the majority of whom were reportedly children; neither has yet been brought to justice.56 Moreover, more than 5000 of his men are still armed in the region and constitute a threat to demobilization, integration, army reform and the political process. Since November 2005 the transitional government has increased its pressure on these groups by deploying troops without being able to dismantle them. The FARDC brigades have also been accused of committing serious human rights violations, including rapes and extrajudicial executions, against civilians. According to MONUC Human Rights Division's findings57 in Mitwaba, North-Katanga, 97 civilians were killed, wounded, or inhumanly treated in the period of early 2005 through March 2006. MONUC officials said they had addressed recommendations to the Minister of Defence, including replacing the 63rd Brigade by an integrated FARDC brigade and prosecuting identified perpetrators. However, Refugee International, following a field mission in August 2006 to the region, has recently indicated that the situation has improved.58 2ff7e9595c