Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains a powder keg for the presence of various armed groups. This is what the latest report says on behalf of UN experts on the Great Lakes region, quoted by the Congolese newspaper Le Potentiel.
In the eastern DRC several armed groups, some foreign, other Congolese have been operating for some time. Among the first are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA, Ugandan origin), the National Liberation Forces in Burundi (FNL). Among the latter there is the Mai-Mai Yakutumba, the PARECO La Fontaine, the Federalist Republican Forces (FRF).
The new information revealed by the report is the formation of "military alliances" between the different irregular groups and between these and some regular armies, in order to perpetuate the plundering of resources in the region (from coltan to gold, from tin to timber), which are the true object of the dispute beyond the political demands proclaimed by the various guerrilla movements to justify their actions.
The UN experts also reveal some interesting aspects on the LRA. This group operates which operates in an area which goes from the north of the to south Sudan until Central Africa, is officially banned by the international community for crimes committed against civilians (especially to recruit children by force). The United States has sent 100 "Green Berets" to the region to help local armies to hunt down the LRA leadership.
According to the UN report, however, the LRA has taken possession of some Congolese mines which were occupied by Ugandan armed forces. "Through a spell?" the Congolese newspaper Ironically asks itself. The LRA also continues to collect profits from the sale of gold and precious wood, and is capable of handling money. A fact that should raise some doubts on the isolation of this group. Not only, according to the UN report, the LRA recruites fighters in Uganda, in the DRC, in Burundi, in Tanzania and even among the Somali refugees in Kenya. In short, the LRA seems to have a more sophisticated structure than what may appear to a superficial analysis. To put an end to this state of things, controls to prevent the sale of commodities on the market illegally withdrawn from the DRC should be strengthened, following the plan of what was done to control the diamond market. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/01/2012)
