- Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, who was charged with war crimes in September 2005, is left to lead military operations in eastern Congo Kinshasa (DRC). Although his whereabouts are well known, neither the Congolese army nor UN peacekeepers have tried to arrest the rebel, wanted for war crimes. Human rights groups now demand his arrest.
Over three months ago, an arrest warrant was issued on Mr Nkunda. The former officer in the Congolese army had been implicated in numerous war crimes and other serious human rights abuses during the past three years. In past investigations, the US group Human Rights Watch has documented summary executions, torture, and rape committed by soldiers under Mr Nkunda's command, in Bukavu in 2004 and in Kisangani in 2002.
Mr Nkunda was a senior officer in the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), one of the main rebel groups fighting in eastern Congo from 1998 to 2003. In 2004 he was named general in a new national Congolese army, created from troops of the dissident forces at the end of the war. He refused the post and withdrew with hundreds of his troops to the forests of Masisi in North Kivu. In August 2005 he announced a new rebellion but launched no military operations at that time.
During the last year, the Kinshasa government, UN troops and human rights groups have documented serious war crimes allegedly committed by Mr Nkunda, resulting in formal charges in September last year. During the last three months, however, no attempt has been made to arrest the rebel leader.
Mr Nkunda, also known as Nkundabatware, has remained at large even though provincial government authorities, the Congolese army and UN peacekeeping forces knew of his whereabouts. Local journalists and civil society sources have reported his frequent visits to Goma, seat of the North Kivu provincial government, and a major operations center for Congolese soldiers and UN peacekeepers.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Congolese army has shown no interest in detaining Mr Nkunda even if the 8th military region of North Kivu has had the possibility to do so. The military commander of that region, General Gabriel Amisi, in October 2005 had told the US group that "he knew where Nkunda was but gave no explanation why he did not arrest him." General Amisi is a former colleague of Mr Nkunda.
Also the UN peacekeepers, who are mandated by the UN Security Council to stop human rights violations, are well presented in Mr Nkunda's operative area. Asked by Human Rights Watch researchers why U.N. peacekeepers had not assisted in arresting Mr Nkunda, one senior UN official mentioned possible repercussions from Rwanda as one reason. There existed no plans to take action against the alleged war criminal.
According to Alison Des Forges of Human Rights Watch, the rebel leader still poses a "grave risk" to the security of the civilian population in eastern Congo. "Every civilian who was the victim of war crimes during the recent fighting paid the price of continuing impunity in the DRC," said Mr Des Forges. During the last month, Mr Nkunda's rebels on several occasions have attacked and occupied several towns in North Kivu province.
While the UN peacekeepers and the Congolese army are unwilling to arrest the rebel leader, the Kinshasa government today promised that action would be taken. "We have deployed sufficient forces to put an end to Nkunda's adventure. He has not got very much more time as a free man," Congolese Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi told the press agency Reuters today.
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