The Congo, a War Criminal, Rwanda, and Moving On

Within the past week, Bosco Ntaganda, a former head of the M23 militia fled to the US Embassy in Rwanda and asked to be handed over to the International Criminal Court where he is wanted for war-crimes charges.

To the average person in the West, this may not seem like a big deal.  But, there are many reasons the world should care about this issue.

I will not attempt to give an in depth report of the events leading up to this situation. You can find that very easily in a simple "google search."  I will simply point out reasons why those of us without direct ties to Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo should care, and what we should do about situations like this.

First of all, despite their rhetoric, M23 is not a "movement." They are a militia that attacked and killed both soldiers and civilians.  Movements seek reform. Militias kill and seek destruction.  When the top leaders of M23 could not get along with each other, M23 literally split into 2 factions and began battling each other.  This battle did not happen with words, it happened with weapons.  Civilians were caught in the crossfire.  The very people that M23 said they were "trying to liberate" were the ones that had to flee their homes just to survive.  I don't have the statistics, but I would wonder how many were killed by this in-fighting?  Had M23 really been about Governmental Reform in the DRC (which is drastically needed), why didn't they use political pressure? Why didn't they form their own political party? Why didn't they raise popular support? Instead, they acted as an invading army.  That, my friends, is called power taking.  I'm no predictor of the future, but had they succeeded, I envision more of the same oppression and bad leadership.  But, that is a rabbit trail that we need not travel.

Ntaganda was a former Rwandan Patriotic Front member (the same army and now political regime of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda).  Ntaganda was part of Kagame's forces that took over Rwanda after the Genocide of 1994.  (Read previous articles on this blog about the misinformation that passes as the official story of the 94 Genocide).  Ntaganda then went into the DRC and became involved in Militias.  In other words, he got power hungry. He wanted his share of DRC's minerals.  Although he was wanted for war-crimes, the DRC Government refused to hand him over.  Although he terrorized the people of the DRC, nothing was done by the DRC Government to stop him.  Talk about a Government that lives in an Ivory Tower!

President Joseph Kabila of the DRC is nothing short of a weak leader at best and a corrupt puppet at worst.  Though his nation could be one of the richest nations in the world because of its mineral wealth, the people live in abject poverty.  Kabila does nothing.

Ntaganda, when he was leading M23 was supported by the Rwandan Government.  The Rwandan Government vehemently denies this, but the Group of Experts report from the United Nations has given proof that only the Rwandan Government and Tony Blair will try to whitewash.  (Remember, Tony Blair was the first to jump on President George W. Bush's war in Iraq because of their non-existent weapons of mass destruction...To this day, Blair still defends that war as a "good thing.).

As of today, March 20, 2013, Ntaganda is still in the US Embassy in Rwanda awaiting transfer to the International Criminal Court.  He was no idiot in making this move. Had he stayed in the DRC, he faced the possibility of death since M23 had split and he was now a marked man.  By fleeing to Rwanda, Ntaganda was fleeing to a country that did not sign the treaty for the International Criminal Court.  The ICC has no jurisdiction in Rwanda.  By entering the US Embassy, he entered an embassy whose nation has not signed that same treaty, because, after all, neither Americans nor Rwandans commit war-crimes (yes, that was sarcasm).

If Ntaganda is turned over, it will only be a symbolic offering of justice to the people of the DRC, but it will be important.  The people of the DRC, especially in the Eastern DRC live in abject Hell.  Not only are they terrorized by attacking militias, foreign backed rebel groups, but they are also terrorized by their own military.  When the military came to "liberate" them from M23 recently, the DRC military went on to rape a large number of their own women.

So, what is the answer?  First of all, the answer needs to come from the Congolese people.  They need to say that enough is enough.  They need to speak in one voice and rather than seek power, they need to seek unity.  They have a God-Given right to live their lives - a right that has been broken since Colonial times.  These exploited people need to say that their days of being exploited are over, but in the process they need to say that they will not exploit others.  If they can make that move, they will win.


As a final and personal note, it will be interesting to see how this blog post is taken. Members of the Rwandan Government follow all of my writing.  They practice intimidation techniques.  As I have asked before - If you are right and I am wrong, give me evidence, and I will retract anything that I have said. I will apologize for the mistake I made. And, I will acknowledge that you are correct.  But, if the past repeats itself, watch for racist remarks, insults on my intelligence, and personal slander.