Warring Party

1,500 Casualties per Day

The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been escalating anew since last August, hitting particularly the eastern part of the country, where the bloodiest war, worldwide, since 1945 was launched in the mid '90s. According to recent estimates, since 1998 the war and its subsequent humanitarian crisis in the Congo have cost the lives of more than five and a half million people. Aid organizations estimate an average of 1,500 casualties per day, even before this new conflict began. The eastern part of the country is particularly hit, especially the Kivu provinces and Ituri (see our map).[1] The current armed conflict is concentrated mainly in North Kivu.

Resources

Since the mid 1990s, Rwanda has been inextricably linked to the war in the North Kivu province. North Kivu is exceptionally rich in natural resources, while neighboring Rwanda is lacking. For more than ten years, the Kigali government has been seeking to attain influence over the natural resources of North Kivu, either through illegal mining and commerce or through occupation. German businessmen and government agencies have repeatedly been involved in the Rwandan expansionist drive (german-foreign-policy.com reported [2]). This is illustrated by the German government's intensive support to Paul Kagame, the former rebel leader, who came to power in Kigali in 1994. The former German colony Rwanda has again become one of Germany's closest cooperation partners in Africa.[3]

Strategic Cooperation

Military policy is one of the fields of cooperation between Berlin and Kigali. Last spring, both governments had been discussing the military intervention in Darfur, where more than 3,000 Rwandan soldiers are stationed and where Germany has a mandate for logistical support, such as air transport. In Darfur, Rwandan soldiers have assumed tasks in accordance with German and Washington's plans, receiving punctual aid - for example through air transport - from the German and US Armies. In return, last April Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung promised Rwandan President Paul Kagame negotiations on direct military aid.[4] Military cooperation with Rwanda is an important aspect of Berlin and Washington's common Africa strategy - aimed at securing the transatlantic predominance in Central and Eastern Africa.[5]

War Criminals

Cooperation with the Rwandan military will not be without consequences. Members of Kigali's government, as well as its army leadership are being accused of serious war crimes. These accusations refer to crimes committed during the Rwandan civil war and its murderous escalation in 1994, as well as to brutalities committed during Rwanda's two invasions of the Congo and in the subsequent years. For example: Karenzi Karake, the Rwandan general, who, with Western support, has been appointed deputy commander of the UN/AU troops in Darfur (UNAMID), as well as other members of the Rwandan military have been indicted in Spain on charges of war crimes.[6]

Warning

The Rwandan Army, Berlin's cooperation partner, is obviously preparing to intervene again in the Congo. At the beginning of October, following the latest outbreak of armed conflict, Rwandan troops were deployed along the border to the Congo's North Kivu province - according to officials - out of fear of an immanent invasion from the Congo. But this official justification is not credible. In any case, there are no reports of Congolese preparations for an attack. But recent photos show soldiers in Rwandan uniforms on Congolese territory. According to the Congolese government, Rwandan troops participated in attacks in October launched by militias in North Kivu.[7] These sorts of operations are known from the past. "We do not want to see the Congo plunged back into the conflict which spilled over and involved its neighbors," warned the head of the UN Congo mission (MONUC) a few weeks ago.[8]

Support

While the UN warns, the German government intensifies its support for Kigali. At the beginning of October, simultaneous with the Rwandan army's preparation for deployment at the Congolese border, the German Minister for Environmental Affairs and Renewable Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, was visiting Rwanda and promising to attract German-European businessmen to come and invest in the country.[9] And on October 16 - reports of Rwandan attacks on Congolese territory were already widely known - Kigali's press announced a new deal: Rwanda and Germany had just signed an agreement, by which Germany promised Kigali 16,5 million Euros per year in "development funds", of which 10 million are earmarked for blanket budget support rather than for projects.[10] Kigali is celebrating this as its promotion through the German government and a big success.

Advance

The militias that, according to the Congolese government, are being supported by Rwandan troops, are units under the command of the notorious warlord Laurent Nkunda. Nkunda, who, already back during the civil war 1990 - 1994, had been a loyal partisan of the current Rwandan president Kagame, has been fighting for years against the Congolese army in North Kivu (german-foreign-policy.com reported [11]). He has been accused of serious war crimes. His troops' massacres of civilians have recently been documented.[12] Nkunda is even recruiting his troops in Rwanda. He is financing his war with Congolese natural resources that he his sells to industrial countries via Kigali.[13] He has announced his intention to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and has already captured the first detachments of the Congolese regular army. About 200,000 people are fleeing the region. Presently Nkunda is advancing towards Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province.

Mediator

If Nkuanda succeeds in allying his militias with the armed gangs in other provinces, the war could escalate throughout the country. Nkunda's military chief is a former member of the militia in Ituri, an area bordering North Kivu, where conflicts have also broken out.[14] Nkunda, who is posing as the leader of a nationwide rebellion, is a partisan of Germany's close ally, Rwanda, which is receiving an increasing amount of aid from Berlin. And the German position has been noticed locally. One of Nkunda's spokespersons recently proposed to call upon the German government to be a mediator.[15] It is clear that Germany will do nothing to the disadvantage of the Rwandan warring party and its proxies in the Congo.

[1] IRC Study Shows Congo's Neglected Crisis Leaves 5.4 Million Dead; www.theirc.org 22.01.2008
[2] see also War Resources (I), Kriegsressourcen (II), War Resources (III) and Interview mit Dr. Helmut Strizek
[3] see also Focal Partnership and Partners In War
[4] see also State Visit and Transatlantic Front
[5] see also Mit Rebellen gegen Khartum, Transatlantic Front and Establishing a State
[6] see also Haftbefehle and State Visit
[7] Appell an UNO: Kongo fordert Abzug von Ruandas Armee; RIA Nowosti 10.10.2008
[8] Kongos Krieger auf irakischen Abwegen; taz 07.10.2008
[9] Rwanda: German Minister Vows to Woo European Investors; The New Times 02.10.2008
[10] Rwanda: Rwanda, Germany Sign Financial Cooperation Pact; The New Times 16.10.2008
[11] see also They Are Ready, Haftbefehle and The Lueshe Mine
[12] Congo-Kinshasa: Congolese General 'Summarily' Executing Civilians; Rwanda News Agency 21.07.2008
[13] see also Im Kriegsgebiet and War financing
[14] Kongos mörderisches Muster; Süddeutsche Zeitung 13.10.2008
[15] Massenflucht im Kongo; Frankfurter Rundschau 17.10.2008