Gorilla

Many people inside and outside of the DR Congo are frustrated wtih the failure of the United Nations Peace keeping force to protect civilians, and halt the conflict that is pushing the situation towards a regional war.

The Monuc Website has revealed the following development

“The UN Security Council has discussed, on 27 November 2008, the possibility of amending the mandate of the UN Mission in DR Congo. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the DRC, Alan Doss attended the meeting”.

and 

“The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the DRC and MONUC’s Chief, Alan Doss highlighted the need for addressing the root causes of the conflict, which, according to him, have never been dealt with. He applauded the current efforts by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed by the UN Secretary- General as Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region. Many other stakeholders joined efforts, including the representative of the Russian Federation.

DRC’s representative acknowledged and repeated that the Nairobi and Goma processes were the only “reliable framework” for the restoration of peace to a region plagued by crisis he attributed to “a warlord who continues to defy the international community in all impunity…”.

We should recall that the UNSC resolution 1843 of 20th November authorized a temporary increase of MONUC’s military and police strengths to enable it to put an end to the crisis in North Kivu. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General said the extra troops will not be deployed for at least two months.”

Read more on the Monuc website here 

 A ceasefire has been announced by Nkunda and the situation in Goma is quieter today but still tense. Our friends on the ground continue to iform us about the state of confusion, disappointment and abject fear.  Eyewitnesses say that the humanitarian situation is ‘dire’ with thousands of displaced people looking for a safe place to set up. While NGO’s have left Goma to the safety of Gisenyi on the Rwanda side of the border  Congolese civilians are not allowed to cross and sadly have few choices. There is no food or water in Goma.  Access to other towns is blocked by armed militias. The BBC describes those attempting to return to IDP camps getting shot at. They say that there is nothing there anyway as the former IDP camps have been looted and burned.   There are few NGO’s still providing support on the ground. Even Monuc have evacuated their non essential staff in fear that Nkunda’s troops will break the ceasefire and attack Goma.

Rangers this is from Mongabey: Five days after rebels occupied Virunga Park’s headquarters, thirty-nine wildlife rangers are still unaccounted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During the takeover, which included fighting between the Congolese army and the rebels, many of the rangers fled into the forest.

The rangers who fled do not have food, water, or shelter elsewhere in the park. In addition, so long as they remain in the park they are bystanders in a civil conflict. “These people have devoted their lives to protecting Virunga’s mountain gorillas – whose survival now also hangs in the balance.” Kümpel adds.

We are alarmed with news reports that rebel forces have taken over the military base at Rumangabo. This has forced the ICCN to begin evacuating rangers from the Virunga National Park which is critical for their safety and survival, but will leave the gorillas and forests vulnerable.

According to AFP “The Democratic Republic of Congo’s envoy to the United Nations called on the Security Council to intervene to stop what he called an “imminent” Rwandan attack on the eastern DRC city of Goma.

Atoki Ileka told AFP that DRC authorities had “observed concentrations of Rwandan troops in the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi,” and that this suggested that an attack on Goma, located just across the frontier, was “imminent.”

Goma is the capital of Nord-Kivu province, which is at the center of renewed fighting between rebel and government forces that broke out August 28 in the east of the DRC.

“We have asked the Security Council to put the necessary pressure on Rwanda to prevent a new (Rwandan) aggression against DRC,” Ileka said, adding that troops in Rwandan uniforms had seized the Rumangabo military camp near Goma early Wednesday.”

Reuters have also just reported the invasion of Congo by Rwandan troops “Congo has accused neighboring Rwanda of sending troops across the border and fighting in support of a Congolese warlord. A Rwandan military spokesman denies the allegations.

North Kivu provincial Gov. Julien Mpaluku says Rwandan soldiers backing Congo warlord Laurent Nkunda crossed into Congo three days ago and headed for the frontier villages of Tshanzu and Bunagana. He said Wednesday that Rwandan troops were fighting in Rumangabo, a small village north of the regional capital, Goma”.

Rumangabo is the headquarters of the Virunga National Park where our former CEO Emmanuel de Merode and his team of rangers including Diddy and Innocent are based. In a post on the Official Virunga National Park website where Samantha reports that heavy fighting had broken out between the army and Nkunda’s rebels. The fighting approached the park station (Rumangabo is the Park headquarters). Military tanks were apparently “firing on the hills where they believe the rebels to be; an army helicopter is also hovering, patroling the area”.

It is now certain that the CNDP (Nkunda’s troops) have taken control of the Rumangabo military base – a major blow to the army and a major threat to the Rangers at the station.

A post on the blog at Gorilla.cd states

“Emmanuel is doing his utmost to try and secure the station and get the remaining people out. Monuc – the UN team in DRC – thankfully knows Pierre and the others are all there and have told them not to move from the station as it is unsafe”.

This is of course terrible news for conservation as it not only puts the ICCN staff in a severely dangerous situation(over 120 rangers have died in the line of duty over recent years), but will further curtail conservation activities, patrols or management of the park. In addition, it is likely to escalate the problem of internal refugees which will deepen the environmental impact of the tens of thousands that are being displaced as they seek safety.