DR Congo : HRW nails Rwanda ( part 1 )

Human Rights Watch reports

DR Congo: M23 Rebels Kill, Rape Civilians

New Evidence of Rwandan Support for M23

M23 rebels take position near the town of Mutaho, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on May 27, 2013.

© 2013 Reuters

(Goma) – M23 rebels have summarily executed at least 44 people and raped at least 61 women and girls since March 2013 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Local residents and rebel deserters reported recent forced recruitment of men and boys by the M23 in both Rwanda and Congo.

After behaving relatively well during the M23 occupation of Goma it would seem that M23 are reverting to type. It should be noted that infighting in the M23 rebels was at its height at during March culminating in the surrender to the International Criminal Court of one of the M23 leaders Bosco Ntaganda. There can be no doubt that rape is seen as weapon of war in the DR Congo but it is interesting to note that it increases after Ntaganda's defeat. It is also interesting to note that that Rwanda supported the faction of Sultani Makenga who was the eventual victor in the factional conflict. I guess you can draw your own conclusions.

After a nearly two-month-long ceasefire, fighting resumed on July 14 between the Congolese armed forces and M23 rebels near the eastern city of Goma.

Residents and rebel deserters described recent support from within Rwanda to the abusive M23 forces. This includes regular movements from Rwanda into Congo of men in Rwandan army uniforms, and the provision of ammunition, food, and other supplies from Rwanda to the M23. The M23 has been recruiting inside Rwanda. Rwandan military officers have trained new M23 recruits, and have communicated and met with M23 leaders on several occasions.

Absolutely no surprises here. Rwanda is of course in denial, but they are fools if they think anyone believes anything they say.

" The Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with UN sanctions for Congo, also said in its interim report that M23 rebels in Congo continue to recruit fighters in neighbouring Rwanda with the aid of sympathetic Rwandan military officers.
Rwanda has denied the group's allegations, accusing it of bias."

“Not only is Rwanda allowing its territory to be used by the abusive M23 to get recruits and equipment, but the Rwandan military is still directly supporting the M23,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This support is sustaining an armed group responsible for numerous killings, rapes and other serious abuses.”

I have been arguing from about March that the tide has been going out on M23. It would seem to have become apparent to Rwanda that their Congolese proxies are losing ground and this would seem to be an attempt by Rwanda to reinforce them. It however would seem to be to little to late. That this is a situation created by Rwanda ( through their support of factionalism in M23 )   would be amusing but for the the price that the people of the DR Congo might well pay for that.    

The latest Human Rights Watch findings are based on more than 100 interviews since March, including with former M23 fighters who left the movement between late March and July and civilians living near the Congo-Rwanda border, some of whom were victims of abuses.

That number of interviews gives a huge amount of credibility to the report. 
In addition to M23 abuses, Human Rights Watch documented several cases of killings and rapes by Congolese Hutu militia groups operating in and around M23-controlled territory. Some Congolese army officers have allegedly supported factions of these groups, as well as factions of the allied Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a largely Rwandan Hutu armed group, some of whose members participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

This is a very short sighted act on the part of the Congolese army. The FDLR are incapable of inflicting any real damage on Rwanda. FARDC support of these groups at best pisses the Rwandans off but crucially if gives Rwanda an excuse to interfere in the DR Congo. One they have and will continue to use as a justification.  

Since its inception in April 2012, the M23 has committed widespread violations of the laws of war. Despite numerous war crimes by M23 fighters, the armed group has received significant support from Rwandan military officials. After briefly occupying Goma in November, then withdrawing on December 1, the M23 controls much of Congo’s Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories, bordering Rwanda.

On April 25 and 26, M23 fighters killed 15 ethnic Hutu civilians in several villages in Busanzagroupement in Rutshuru territory, and at least another 6 in mid-June, in an apparent attempt to “punish” villagers for alleged collaboration with Congolese Hutu militias.

Other civilians killed by M23 fighters since March include a 62-year-old man who was shot dead because he refused to hand his sons over to the M23, a motorcycle driver who refused to give money to the M23, M23 recruits who were caught after trying to escape, and others accused of collaborating with Hutu militia.

It is time for justice to be done. Sultani Makenga must be held accountable for these act along with the perpetrators. Rwanda's participation and responsibility for these acts should also be examined and not through the looking glass of the genocide. Atrocities have never and will never justify further atrocities.  


On July 5, four M23 fighters gang-raped a 12-year-old girl as she went to fetch water in her village in Rutshuru. An M23 fighter who accosted an 18-year-old woman near Bunagana shot her in the leg on April 15 when she refused to have sex with him.

Since June, M23 leaders have forced local chiefs in areas under their control to undergo military and ideological training and obtain recruits for the M23. The M23 considers these chiefs to be part of their “reserve force” that can be called upon to provide support during military operations.

M23 fighters have arrested or abducted dozens of civilians in recent weeks in Rutshuru, most of them Hutu. The M23 accused many of them of collaborating with the FDLR or allied Congolese Hutu militias. M23 fighters beat them severely, tied them up, and detained them. The M23 then forced many of them to undergo military training and become M23 fighters.

If it sounds like desperation on the part of M23 that is because that is what it is. We can expect more such stories. 

A former M23 police officer, who deserted in April, told Human Rights Watch that he participated in investigations of killings of civilians. He said that before each investigation, a high-ranking M23 commander, Innocent Kayna, told him: “You will do the investigation. You will say it’s bandits in the neighborhood who killed, not M23.”
Human Rights Watch contacted the M23’s military leader, Sultani Makenga, but he was unavailable to speak about the recent alleged abuses.

M23 seem to have come to the conclusion that they are a sovereign nation  

GOMA, Congo — A rebel group in eastern Congo on Friday defended its right to organize criminal trials despite concerns from the country’s United Nations mission, which has said that the proposed prosecution of 11 young men on weapons charges could not meet international standards.

They are of course deluded.

Those recruited in Rwanda into the M23 include demobilized Rwandan army soldiers and former FDLR fighters, most of whom had become part of the Rwandan army’s Reserve Force, as well as Rwandan civilians. A 15-year-old Rwandan boy told Human Rights Watch that he and three other young men and boys were promised jobs as cow herders in Congo, but when they got to Congo were forced to join the M23. They were given military training by Rwandan officers in Congo and told they would be killed if they tried to escape. Other M23 deserters also said Rwandan officers were training new M23 recruits.

Former M23 officers who had been part of previous Rwanda-backed rebellions said they recognized officers serving with the M23 who they knew were members of the Rwandan army. Congolese deserters told Human Rights Watch that a number of M23 fighters admitted freely that they were Rwandan. Some said they had served in the Rwandan army’s peacekeeping contingent in Darfur.

It is hard to see why Rwanda persists, despite all the evidence against it, in its denials. The contempt shown for the rest of the world verges on that of the apartheid regime of South Africa and it is time for the world community to make it clear that it can expect the same isolation South Africa experienced should it persist.

Recent M23 deserters interviewed by Human Rights Watch described frequent – in some cases weekly – arrivals of soldiers and recruits from Rwanda. Sometimes these were rotations, with new soldiers replacing others who had returned to Rwanda. Weapons, ammunition, large containers of milk, truckloads of rice, and other supplies were brought to the M23 from Rwanda. M23 deserters also described phone conversations and meetings in both Rwanda and Congo between senior M23 leaders and people the deserters were told or knew to be Rwandan officials.

All of the recent M23 deserters interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that Rwandan soldiers, officers, and trainers were present throughout their time with the M23, and that there had been new arrivals from Rwanda in recent months.

“For the past 17 years, the Rwandan army has repeatedly deployed troops to eastern Congo and backed abusive proxy forces responsible for war crimes,” Bekele said. “As in the past, Rwanda denies it’s supporting the M23, but the facts on the ground speak for themselves.”

On this evidence it would be reasonable to conclude that Kilgali intends to fight to maintain its position in the DR Congo. This can not be allowed to happen. 


Rwandan government and military officials did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s requests for a meeting. Rwandan officials in the past have repeatedly denied allegations that the government is providing support to the M23.

The Rwandan government should immediately halt all support to the M23 because of its broadly abusive behavior, Human Rights Watch said. The United Nations and United States special envoys for the Great Lakes region and donor governments should publicly denounce continuing Rwandan support to the M23 and call for sanctions against senior Rwandan officials responsible for backing the armed group.

The Congolese government should immediately suspend, investigate, and prosecute as appropriate Congolese military officers and government officials who have provided support to the FDLR or allied groups. The government should make clear that abusive militia commanders will not be integrated into Congo’s army as part of any political settlement.

I have been suggesting this course of action with regard to sanctions but I would go further and say that the sanctions should also be applied to the officers of FARDC and Congolese officials who are assisting the Rwandan rebels such as FDLR. 

The simple reality is that the possibility of integrating M23 into the Congolese army as required by the failed peace negotiations in Kampala is a pipe dream. If it happens I predict only failure. M23 needs to disband and its leadership and fighters who have been responsible for the atrocities described above need to face the ICC.    

According to international journalists present near the front line and photographs seen by Human Rights Watch, Congolese army soldiers treated the corpses of M23 fighters killed in combat on July 16 in a degrading manner, stripping them, making ethnic slurs, and prodding their genitals with weapons. International law prohibits “committing outrages upon personal dignity,” including against the dead. Human Rights Watch also documented cases in which the Congolese army detained former M23 fighters and alleged collaborators for several weeks without bringing them before a court, and often incommunicado and in harsh conditions.

Congolese military officials should appropriately discipline officers and soldiers responsible for mistreating corpses, and ensure that such acts cease immediately. Military and judicial officials should ensure that captured combatants and civilians are treated in accordance with due process standards, including being promptly brought before a judge and charged, or released. Detainees should not be mistreated or held in inhumane conditions.

The bar is set higher for the Congolese government and FARDC than it is for M23, that is the price of sovereignty.  

DR Congo: Will sanctions against Rwanda work ?

The Washington Post editorial board opines

U.S. needs to push for sanctions on Rwanda to help Congo

                                            Congolese refugees

BACK IN January, President Obama rationalized his refusal to act in Syria in part by asking, in an interview with the New Republic, “How do I weigh tens of thousands who’ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?” Since then, his administration has supported a vigorous campaign of diplomacy and military intervention to stop the bloodshed in . . . Congo. This worthy effort now faces its first serious test.

The ramping up of hostilities between the warring factions is of huge concern but it was predictable with deployment of the African Intervention brigade. MONUSCO should be ready for this. MONUSCO's repeated failures are also a cause of this problem.

A United Nations-sponsored conference in February produced a peace framework; in March the U.N. Security Council authorized a 3,000-strong “intervention brigade,” the first in U.N. history, to carry out offensive operations against armed groups. The force, composed of troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania, is due to be fully deployed by next month — and it appears that its services will soon be needed. This month fighting has erupted between the Congolese army and a rebel group called M23 after months of relative calm. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in North Kivu province, where there are already nearly 1 million displaced civilians.

That is one way of looking at it but I think that it is a fear of the " services " that the African Intervention Brigade will provide is directly responsible for the increased hostilities by all sides. That doesn't mean that I don't support the brigades deployment, I do. The consensus seems to be that a military solution will not work in the Eastern DR Congo but a well armed African Brigade that takes no shit from any of the warring parties seems to be part of a quasi military solution. It is vital that the brigade is allowed to deploy and build its strength up, this should be the prime goal of the 20,000 plus MONUSCO peace keepers currently deployed.   

The scale of recent bloodshed in Congo is in no way comparable to that in Syria, but it stems from a chronic conflict that has repeatedly convulsed Africa’s Great Lakes region. With the Congolese government in faraway Kinshasa unable to control the region, neighboring countries — beginning with Rwanda — have repeatedly intervened. Rwanda originally sought to protect itself from Hutu militias that fled its territory after carrying out a 1994 genocide, but over the years it has developed economic interests in Congo and close ties with Congolese Tutsis.

Actually the Syrian comparison seems fairly simplistic and not very helpful the situations are very different. The bottom line in the Eastern DR Congo is that Rwanda must stop its intervention both directly and indirectly through its support of M23. That said Kinshasa is playing with fire through its support of the FDLR. 

According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, Rwanda is backing M23 despite its commitment at the February peace conference to stop sponsoring Congolese militias. The report says M23 has carried out scores of murders and rapes since March. It is not the only offender: Government troops are also guilty of abuses, as are smaller militias allied with one of the two sides. M23 may be trying to gain advantage ahead of the U.N. force’s deployment, which is why it’s important that the force begin to act on its mandate as soon as possible.

I will blog the Human Rights Watch report separately but it is very damming of the actions of M23. 

" (Goma) – M23 rebels have summarily executed at least 44 people and raped at least 61 women and girls since March 2013 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Local residents and rebel deserters reported recent forced recruitment of men and boys by the M23 in both Rwanda and Congo. .....

The latest Human Rights Watch findings are based on more than 100 interviews since March, including with former M23 fighters who left the movement between late March and July and civilians living near the Congo-Rwanda border, some of whom were victims of abuses."

MONUSCO over riding objective over the next few weeks must be to allow the brigade to form up. If that means turning its weapons on the Congolese army ( FARDC ), M23 or the FDLR and should they be stupid enough to invade the Rwandan armed forces ( RDF ) so be it.  

The Obama administration continues to focus on the problem: Secretary of State John F. Kerry is due to lead a ministerial discussion on Congo at the United Nations on Thursday. Mr. Kerry can be expected to remonstrate in private with representatives of Rwanda — which unconvincingly denies links to M23 — but he ought to speak out publicly about the violations as well. The United States and European governments, longtime supporters of Rwanda, suspended some aid last year after M23 briefly seized the city of Goma. Now they need to threaten further sanctions, while also offering Rwanda incentives, including economic carrots, that will allow it to beat a face-saving retreat from Congo once and for all.

The sanctions should be targeted at the political and military leadership of Rwanda and should be ready for immediate application. Equally the same sanctions should be made ready for application to the DR Congo leadership should they continue supporting the murderers of FDLR. Rwanda's repeated denials should be ignored it is time to make it clear to all sides that the world will not tolerate the ongoing denial of human rights and security to the people of the Eastern DR Congo. 

DR Congo: A war for Goma, Is it begining ?

Fox News reports ( This report isn't being carried at this stage by other major news groups )

DR Congo rebels claim 400 troops killed in fighting flare-up

 

A soldier of the FARDC government forces mans a machine gun on the front line in Kanyaruchinya, 15km from Goma on July 24, 2013, as rebels claimed today they had killed more than 400 army troops since fighting resumed 10 days ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile east, as each side accused the other of new attacks. (AFP)
Rebels claimed Wednesday they had killed more than 400 army troops since fighting resumed 10 days ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile east, as each side accused the other of new attacks.

"Since July 14, 401 soldiers have been killed and several wounded among FARDC (government forces) ranks, while the M23 has had six deaths and 14 wounded," said Vianney Kazarama, military spokesman for the M23 rebel movement.

The army claimed on July 15, a day after the latest fighting erupted, that its forces had killed 120 rebels and lost 10 troops.

Neither toll could be independently verified.

Both sides meanwhile accused each other of launching new attacks Wednesday near the flashpoint city of Goma.

"The M23 is starting to attack," said an army officer after two bombs exploded in the town of Kanyarucinya, 12 kilometres (seven miles) north of Goma.
Just after the explosions, government troops with heavy weapons were deployed toward the town, an AFP correspondent said.

The rebels claimed the army had in fact attacked their positions first and accused them of deliberately targeting civilians.

"Two FARDC helicopters have just dropped multiple bombs" on a neighbourhood in Rumangabo, a town 45 kilometres north of Goma where the M23 has taken over a large military base, the rebel group said in a statement.

This at least has been independently verified.

It called the attack "insane and irresponsible", and said three children had been burnt to death in their home, one man killed, and several civilians wounded.
"Most of the victims are civilians," said rebel spokesman Kazarama.

The United Nations' peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, its largest in the world, said the army had reacted "quickly and firmly" to M23 attacks, retaking a key hill in Kanyarucinya.

This had "a devastating psychological effect" on rebel morale, said the peacekeeping mission.

The UN has begun deploying its first-ever offensive force to DR Congo to fight the M23 and other armed groups. About two-thirds of the new 3,000-troop force is in place, and the UN said last week it was ready to send them into battle.
The rebellion by the M23, a group formed by Tutsi ex-soldiers who mutinied from the army in April 2012, is the latest to ravage the vast central African country's mineral-rich but conflict-torn east.

The M23 occupied Goma -- the capital of North Kivu province and the hub around which most of the fighting has revolved -- for 10 days in November, before withdrawing from the city under international pressure.
The latest bout of fighting has extinguished a truce that had lasted from late May, when UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited the region, until mid-July.

Remember this is a Fox News report. They have not got a great reputation for getting things right.

DR Congo: Worse than useless - FARDC

New Vision Uganda reports

Congo army helicopter strikes hit civilians - park official

           A Congolese army helicopter amidst smoke from rockets fired at M23 positions north of Goma, DR Congo

GOMA - At least 10 civilians were injured, some of them seriously, in an attack by Congolese army helicopters on a rebel-held military base in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an official said on Wednesday.

Why doesn't this surprise me at all.


The assault on the Rumangabo army barracks followed renewed fighting erlier this month between the military and the Tutsi-dominated M23 rebels, who accuse the government of failing to honour a 2009 peace deal.

The base, which lies 30 km (19 miles) north of Goma, the main city in the country's eastern borderlands, is a major stronghold for the M23, who seized it from the army last year.

"(The helicopters) have been over Rumangabo for the last two hours. It seems there have been quite a number of victims," said Emmanuel De Merode, chief warden at the Virunga

He said 10 civilians wounded in the strikes had been admitted to the park's infirmary. One man lost his leg, and two children were seriously injured by shrapnel, he added. The rest of the victims were not seriously wounded.


This doesn't surprise me either. Emmanuel De Merode runs the only organisation in the Eastern DR Congo that is competent.


"They missed their target and hit civilians," M23 spokesman Amani Kabasha said.

He said four people, including three children, died when several homes were destroyed in the raids. However there was no immediate independent confirmation of the deaths.

A spokesman for the Congolese army, known as the FARDC, said the strikes had not targeted civilians.


So they hit homes not military barracks.


"Rumangabo is a purely military site. It is possible that there were civilians seeking refuge inside, but it is a legitimate target for the FARDC," Colonel Olivier Hamuli said.

The M23 rebels are made up largely of fighters who were integrated into the FARDC under the 2009 peace deal but who deserted its ranks last year, saying the agreement had not been fully implemented. They have since threatened to topple the government of President Joseph Kabila.

M23 provoked an international outcry last November when - with support from neighbouring Rwanda, according to a United Nations group of experts - they captured and briefly held Goma, a city with one million inhabitants.

They withdrew from the city under a deal that called for peace negotiations in neighbouring Uganda, but clashes resumed after those talks broke down.

The United States on Tuesday called on Rwanda to end support for M23 after a report by Human Rights Watch accused Kigali of continuing to back the group, which it said committed serious rights abuses including executions and rapes.


Actually in all fairness to M23 they apparently were comparatively well behaved when they overran Goma, something that can't be said for FARDC as they retreated through Goma.


A report by a group of United Nations' experts released on Monday also found that Rwanda's military was backing M23, but said that its support had diminished in recent months.


Jason Stearns blogs at Congo Siasa


If the Congolese army is really performing better, then why?

"This time, the logistics are much better," a UN official who works closely with the army told me. "The salaries are being paid, the supplies are getting to the front line. They still overreact and waste too much ammo, but there are a much better fighting force." When I asked a senior Congolese intelligence officer, he confirmed this, saying that General Francois Olenga had been making an effort to make sure supply chains actually function.

On this evidence the answer would seem to be no.

 

DR Congo: Good news and..... from Virunga National Park

Sekibibi Bareke at Virunga National Park blogs.

Young Gorilla Found Alone Two Kilometers Outside Virunga NP

                                          This young gorilla was unusually calm - even for a habituated animal.

A few nights ago we received a call from the head of Bikenge patrol post, who told us a very young male gorilla was found alone in a cornfield two kilometers outside the park in the village of Kasura. Our rangers ended up spending the night in the cornfield protecting the baby because they needed to determine which family he came from before moving him.

                                           Napping safely under the protection of Virunga’s rangers.

Thinking the juvenile belonged to either the Mapuwa or Lulengo family because of where he was found, we set out first thing the next morning to do head counts of those families. We started with the Mapuwa family, which is the family that just welcomed a new baby a few days ago. As was the case then, the family still had 19 members. Since we didn’t have enough daylight left, we had to wait until the next day to check the Lulengo family. Again, our rangers had to spend the night in the cornfield guarding the young gorilla. The following morning, we headed out to find the Lulengo family to see if they were missing a young gorilla. Like the Mapuwa family, their family unit was complete with all its nine members.

This was not the news we had hoped for because it likely meant this young gorilla was a victim of animal traffickers. Of course, this also means it is highly likely members of this gorillas family were killed during his abduction.

Signs this gorilla had been in the hands of animal traffickers: wounds under the arm likely caused by being tied up with rope

The rangers who protected the baby around the clock estimated he was about three years old and appeared to be in good health, aside from being covered with body lice. He also had a good appetite. Not surprisingly, he liked maize, but he was also eating the Drogosta plant, which is a staple food of the mountain gorilla. The other interesting thing was how comfortable this gorilla was with humans — too comfortable in fact. This fits with him having been in human hands for some time. After a number of cursory scans of his body by Dr. Martin Kabuyaya, who was with the rangers in Bikenge when the call first came in, a small wound under his arm was found. On even closer examination, a thin line of missing hair was found on his back, which suggested to everyone that this gorilla had spent a lot of time tied up with a rope. Again, another clue this baby was taken by animal traffickers. Our best guess is they abandoned him out of fear they would be caught and sentenced to time in prison.

                   Awaiting a more certain and friendly future with Andre and his team at the Senkwekwe Center

Rangers guarded the gorilla until a team of Gorilla Doctors arrived on the fourth day. Gorilla Doctor Martin Kabuyaya, who was with the rangers from the beginning, teamed up with fellow vets Eddy Kambale and Dawn Zimmerman to transport the gorilla safely to the Senkwekwe Center at park headquarters in Rumangabo. Once there, they gave him a complete physical, immunizations, and also took genetic samples to determine if he is a mountain gorilla or an eastern lowland Grauer’s gorilla. We have decided to name this little one Matabishi, which means “gift”. His survival is indeed a gift to all of us rangers.

A happy end and once again some real heros in the DR Congo.

Mel Smith- 1952-2013. A very funny man. RIP.

The Guardian reports

One of the great comedians dies. RIP  Mel Smith.

Mel Smith


Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"

If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.

Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV comedies of the 1980s and 90s. He directed films including The Tall Guy (1989), with Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson, and the box-office hit Bean (1997), an adaptation of Atkinson's TV series. As co-founder, with Griff Rhys Jones, of Talkback Productions, he was a TV producer responsible for innovative comedy series including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show and I'm Alan Partridge. As an actor, he played a string of well-received roles, but perhaps none more effectively than Winston Churchill, opposite Michael Fassbender as the IRA leader Michael Collins, in Mary Kenny's play Allegiance at the Edinburgh festival in 2006.

Smith was born in Chiswick, west London. His parents, Kenneth and Vera, ran the area's first betting shop. After studying at Latymer upper school in Hammersmith he went to New College, Oxford, where he studied experimental psychology, while many of his 80s TV contemporaries – Rhys Jones, Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie – were finessing their skills in the well-established comedy nursery of Cambridge Footlights.

As a member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, Smith honed his theatrical and comedy prowess with a production of The Tempest in Oxford and shows at the Edinburgh fringe. After graduation he worked in 1973 at the Royal Court theatre in London, as assistant director, and at the Bristol Old Vic, before becoming assistant director at the Sheffield Crucible in 1975. At one stage, he thought of ditching theatre to become a bookmaker in his family's shop.

His breakthrough came when he and the producer and comedy writer John Lloyd collaborated on Not the Nine O'Clock News for BBC TV. The sketch show, which ran for four series from 1979 to 1982, starred Smith alongside Pamela Stephenson (now Pamela Stephenson Connolly), Atkinson, Rhys Jones and Chris Langham. Conceived originally as a topical news-based satire, it was broadcast at 9pm weekly on BBC2 against the actual nine o'clock news over on BBC1.

The series was a child of Margaret Thatcher's recent electoral triumph: in one sketch, a mock Conservative party political broadcast, Smith stripped to his pants and climbed into an overflowing bath to clinch the point made by the snooty party hack in a voiceover (performed by Atkinson) that under Labour, British industry had become flabby. It concluded with Atkinson attacking Smith with a chainsaw to cut off his arms and legs, so he could be leaner and better able to compete in the global marketplace.

But the show was not merely political (the lorry-driver-indicting I Like Trucking song proves that point). Rather, as the pop-culture historian Mark Lewisohn has argued, Smith's first TV success "largely created modern alternative comedy".

Smith found himself suddenly famous. "One minute you're doing a TV show that no one is watching, and then everyone is. That was the biggest change in direction," he told the Guardian in 2007. He resented the resultant intrusion into his private life, though in the same interview noted that Not the Nine O'Clock News was no longer fashionable: "I have a feeling that we are regarded as being out of fashion, but that doesn't bother me a great deal … That's the story of the world."

In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded Talkback, which they sold to Pearson in 2000 for £62m. "Talkback gave me the confidence to direct, so it was a short leap to the cinema," he said. His first film, The Tall Guy, was also Thompson's movie debut. Bean, made for a budget of $18m, took about $250m at the box office worldwide. In between those two films he directed Radioland Murders (1994) under the guidance of Star Wars' creator George Lucas. "The film was a disaster," recalled Smith. "George doesn't understand comedy, so the movie flopped." Smith, though, did understand comedy – at least, British TV comedy. As Lloyd said: "Mel did an extraordinary thing – he taught us all how to make comedy natural."

After Not the Nine O'Clock News, Smith and Rhys Jones became a renowned double act. The pairing resembled Abbott and Costello, with the twist that it was not clear who was more stupid. Between 1984 and 1998 they did 10 series together, first under the title Alas Smith and Jones. TV viewers became familiar with Smith's profile, his lower jaw jutting forward in bulldog surliness, as the two men discussed many subjects, though rarely with insight. In one memorable sketch Smith simulated a faked orgasm in the manner of Meg Ryan while Rhys Jones looked on, unedified.

"We did 10 series together and that was enough," said Smith. "There was no row. We do see each other, but only occasionally. He is always either climbing a mountain or crossing a river, and since I enjoy neither, I'm a bit of a hindrance.'

The pair bought the rights to Neil Simon's The Odd Couple for a mooted West End stage production together. It never happened – a shame, perhaps, since Smith would have excelled as the slob Oscar with Jones as the prissy Felix (unless, counter-intuitively, they intended to play it the other way round). Another sadly unrealised project was Smith's libretto for a musical on the life of Barbara Cartland entitled Romance and Vitamins.

In 1999, Smith was hospitalised after suffering from stomach ulcers. He had been taking more than 50 Nurofen Plus tablets a day. "I'd been swallowing them like Smarties and they ate into my insides," he told one interviewer. "They just helped me relax. But I felt so bad I wouldn't get out of bed until lunchtime."

As an actor, Smith was most memorable on screen in The Princess Bride (1987) and Brain Donors (1992), and was ideally cast as Sir Toby Belch in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film of Twelfth Night. On TV, he starred in Colin's Sandwich (1988-90), a sitcom about a British Rail worker with writing aspirations; Hustle (2006); and John Sullivan's prequel to Only Fools and Horses, Rock and Chips (2010-11).

In 1988 he married Pamela Gay-Rees, a former model. She and their daughter, Alexandra, survive him.

DR Congo: Does Rwanda intend to invade ?

New Times Rwanda reports

Rwanda: UN brigade aiding FDLR-Congo alliance

The Government has accused the newly-deployed Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), under the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Congo (Monusco), of backing collaboration between DR Congo-based Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia (FDLR) and the Congolese army.

The accusations are contained in a letter that Rwanda’s Ambassador to the UN Eugene-Richard Gasana wrote to the US’s Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo in her role as this month’s president of the UN Security Council.

This runs completely against a report in Congo DRC News last week in which the International Brigade / Africa Brigade /  Force Intervention Brigade were accused of supporting M23 against the FDLR and FARDC that I blogged here. The problem Rwanda faces is that the Africa Brigade ( under the command of  MONUSCO ) has not really formed up yet. 

Jason Stearns at Congo Siasa describes it thus.

For weary observers of the M23-FARDC standoff, the cycle of events is becoming all too predictable. Every week, dozens of rumors are spread via SMS, the web, and word-of-mouth about cross-border infiltrations from Uganda and Rwanda––most of them false, but persistent enough for it appear to be an orchestrated campaign of misinformation. Some MONUSCO officers spend many of their waking hours just hunting down the latest canard, usually to come up with nothing.

Then the fighting: in past weeks, a variety of militia loosely allied to the Congolese government have launched attacks against the M23. Last week, a small bunch of APCLS Mai-Mai somehow made their way to the north of Goma to harass the M23; before that, it was the MPA and FDLR-Soki to the northeast of Rutshuru. And now it is the M23's turn again to strike against the FARDC, attacking Mutaho, a village overlooking Goma from the north.

Alex Engwete offers two possible explanations. 

The first explanation is that little doubt remains in the minds of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and his military entrepreneurs and plunder operators that they are watching unravel--live!--the endgame of this installment in their serial assaults on the Congo. 

The second explanation is that Rwanda is rehearsing its rationales for an all-out military assault in the Congo.

And this could turn out to be Kagame's biggest mistake in his long career of pillages and thefts in the Congo, as the Rwandan president is now antagonizing Tanzania.

Understandably Alex is pro FARDC whereas I see them as part of the problem at this stage rather than part of a possible solution. Congo DRC News gives us some graphic pictures of why FARDC are probably the least professional army in the world today, including the despicable crime of offering indignities to the dead.

A man accused by the Congolese Army of being a spy of rebels of the M23 movement is tied and taken away on July 16, 2013 in Munigi on the outskirts of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo… PHIL MOORE/AFP/Getty Image

The bodies of two alleged M23 fighters are dumped out of the back of a pickup truck by Congolese Army soldiers in the village of Rusayo on July 16, 2013 during a press visit. According to the army, one of the men was Ugandan and the other Rwandan, but they could not produce the identity cards that they claimed to have seen proving this.PHIL MOORE/AFP/Getty Image

More troubling and in line with Alex's second possible explanation is Jason Stearns prediction that it is possible that a M23 re-occupation of Goma can not be ruled out. 


So will fighting continue? Will the M23 or the FARDC escalate? Anything is possible, but I would imagine the Congolese army would wait for the Intervention Brigade (FIB) to fully deploy, and for the army to carry out its ongoing restructuring before making a move––and that could take at least another month. The M23 would have a greater interest in escalation, perhaps in order to preempt the FIB from deploying or improving the deal on the table. But their problem continues to be a lack of troops. With only 1,500-2,500 troops, they have to protect an area 100km long and some 20-50km wide.

So taking Goma would leave a considerable vacuum along the Rwandan border, and would probably only be possible with backing from the Rwandan army––would this once again be forthcoming?

Is Rwanda is positioning its self politically to invade the Eastern DR Congo again ? Incidentally how will that sit with its current membership of the UN Security Council ?

A case of two letters

The letter, a copy of which this paper has obtained, is a replica of another that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, sent to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week, according to Gasana’s letter.

Amb. Gasana, also Rwanda’s State minister for cooperation, said in the Tuesday letter that senior FIB commanders have held several meetings with FDLR commanders to discuss cooperation while the force is supposed to hunt down the rebels.

“The Government of Rwanda has credible, reliable and detailed information that various forms of tactical and strategic collaboration with the FDLR were discussed during those meeting,” Gasana said in the letter. “Their actions, implicating senior UN commanders picking sides among the very armed groups whose military activities they are meant to deter, is of serious concern.”

The FDLR militia is largely composed of elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of a million people.

The newly-formed UN intervention brigade in eastern DR Congo is mandated to dismantle the group, among others.

But Rwanda says it’s concerned that the militia is cooperating with the Congolese army, FARDC, in offensives that the army has been conducting on several armed groups in eastern DR Congo, especially against the M23 rebels who they are fighting near the North Kivu capital of Goma.

Kigali is concerned that reinforcement of the FDLR would allow the group to mount military operations against the Rwandan territory.

Such attacks have in the past compelled Rwanda to send its troops to eastern DR Congo to neutralise the rebels and ensure that Rwanda is safe from their attacks and their plan to continue their extermination agenda against the Tutsi.

Rwanda is very good at making wild allegations and providing no evidence to back them up. There is nothing I have been able to track down supporting any of the Rwandan claims in fact  the opposite would seem to be the case again from Congo DRC News .

“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of alleged mistreatment of M23 detainees and desecration of corpses of M23 combatants by the Congolese armed forces,” Ban’s press office said.
“MONUSCO has launched the process of reviewing its support to FARDC units suspected of being involved in these incidents,” said Ban’s statement. “The Secretary-General calls on the DRC to bring the perpetrators of these reported acts to justice.”



Weapons delivery

Amb. Gasana said Rwanda has reports of large quantities of weapons and ammunition delivered to FDLR by FARDC officers with the knowledge and support of FIB commanders.

The Rwandan government accused FIB commanders and contingents of observing as FARDC integrates FDLR units and commanders into its commando units near the border with Rwanda.

“The above-mentioned activities and patterns are developments that my government takes seriously, as they constitute a serious threat to the security of my country but also put into question the credibility of MONUSCO and its peacekeeping operations,” Amb. Gasana said.

He added that any hidden agenda driven by political or economic interests would undermine efforts for peace in the region.

"....any hidden agenda driven by political or economic interests...."  Rwanda has got to be taking the piss if it thinks it can get away with that allegation unchallenged. I have argued for some time that M23 despite last weeks limited success has its back against the wall. 

One might well argue that Rwanda scored an own goal in its support of Makenga over Ntaganda and the subsequent hanging out to dry of Ntaganda that has brought about M23's current weakness. Reuters reports. 


 "To halt Ntaganda's activities, Rwandan authorities arrested some of the individuals who were part of this network," the experts said.

"Some Rwandan officers also provided limited material support to Makenga as he sought to defeat Ntaganda," found the report. "While some Rwandan officers had ensured Ntaganda of their assistance, in reality they had decide to support Makenga.

"Rwandan officers also fed disinformation to Ntaganda which precipitated his defeat. Former M23 soldiers who fought alongside Ntaganda reported that soldiers of the (Rwandan Defense Force) special forces that were deployed along the border provided Ntaganda with ammunition at the outset of fighting, which made him believe that he enjoyed RDF support."

As his troops began to run low on ammunition after two weeks of fighting, Ntaganda fled into Rwanda, where he feared Rwandan soldiers deployed on the border would kill him. The U.N. experts said that Makenga had also ordered his troops kill Ntaganda.

It was estimated that about 200 rebels from both sides were killed during the M23 split, the report said. Almost 800 rebels loyal to Ntaganda also fled into Rwanda after their defeat. The experts said Makenga was left with some 1,500 fighters spread across a 270 square mile area (700 sq km).

The FIB, which is made up of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, has begun patrolling in eastern DR Congo and the completion of its full deployment is due by August.

One should not forget Rwanda has gone out of its way to piss off Tanzania, the nation leading the Africa Brigade / FIB . 

Monusco refutes Rwanda’s claims

Reacting to the accusations, Monusco spokesperson Madnodje Mounoubai told The New Times by telephone yesterday that the mission has not found any proof of the actions taking place.

“Monusco has not been able to substantiate these accusations,” he said.

Mounoubai instead called on both Rwanda and the DR Congo to stop counter accusations, the latter having continually accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels.

“We are actually calling on all parties to exercise restraint and not to escalate the situation. The losers (in the conflict) are actually civilians on the ground,” Mounoubai said, highlighting an already alarming number of internally displaced persons in eastern DR Congo.

On Monday, two mortar bombs fired from an area under the control of FARDC and Monusco landed in villages in Rubavu District, according to Rwandan government.

The Rwandan government described the bombing act as “provocative and deliberate” by FARDC and Monusco since there was no fighting nearby between the Congolese warring factions.

I think Rwanda might well be painting itself into a corner and may well be left with the option of invasion of the Eastern DR Congo and Goma under the guise of M23 or humiliation and back-down something that unfortunately Paul Kagame I suspect is incapable of doing.