Gregory Mthembu-Salter
Government forces in Congo (Brazzaville) loyal to President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and assisted by Angolan government troops are engaged in a deadly battle with dissident factions of the Ninja militia in and around the capital Brazzaville and the surrounding region of Pool.
The leader of the main dissident Ninja faction is a pastor named Frdrik Bitsangou (alias Ntumi), who acting Defence Minister Pierre Oba said he intends to “crush” once and for all.
The latest fighting erupted in late March following the presidential elections on March 10 and is devastating the civilian population. More than 60 000 Brazzaville residents fled their homes when the fighting broke out, but many are now heading home as the situation has calmed down.
However, the fighting is apparently worsening in rural Pool where almost 10% of the region’s population has been displaced and, according to a humanitarian worker, where the government forces’ military operation “is only now beginning to get going”.
Humanitarian agencies in Brazzaville have had little access to the people, most of whom are reported to be in dire need of aid. On Wednesday, however, a United Nations humanitarian evaluation mission was given permission by the military to fly to Kindamba, 170km north-west of Brazzaville where about 5 000 people are reported to have been displaced into camps with no water, food or sanitation.
In the interim an increasing number of reports are filtering through of atrocities committed against civilians by both sides, and particularly by government forces.
Bill Paton, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Congo (Brazzaville) says he is appealing to the international community to pressure the combatants to “respect the rights of civilians not to be killed, raped and looted, and their right to remain in their homes and not be forced into camps”.
Sassou-Nguesso first became president of Congo (Brazzaville) in 1979, but was defeated in the country’s first multi-party elections in 1992. He came back to power with Angolan assistance in a coup in 1997. More than 10 000 people were killed and 800 000 displaced in the civil war that followed. Most of the fighting was in Pool, pitting Sassou-Nguesso ‘s Cobra militia against the Ninjas, who were loyal to former prime minister Bernard Kolelas.
The war slowly diminished during 1999 and there followed a faltering peace process involving prolonged talks between Sassou-Nguesso’s government and civilian opposition parties, and a partially successful disarmament and demobilisation campaign among the Cobras and the Ninjas.
The peace process culminated in the March presidential election, commandingly won by Sassou-Nguesso, who registered 89% of the vote. Most opposition parties had, however, earlier pulled out of the poll citing bias and leaving Sassou-Nguesso to run almost unopposed. The election attracted little international criticism, mostly owing to the heightened focus on Zimbabwe’s presidential election.
The international community has never displayed much interest in Congo (Brazzaville), partly because conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region have tended to steal the limelight, but also because the conflict around the capital has rarely spread far, and has left untouched the richly endowed oil-producing coastal region of Koilou.
Sassou-Nguesso ‘s main allies are the governments of Angola and France, with the latter being among the first to congratulate Sassou-Nguesso on his electoral victory.
Until now France has also persuaded the European Union to overlook the brutality of Sassou-Nguesso’s regime in the interests of “stability”, in marked contrast to its approach in Zimbabwe.
The recent violence and the threat of more to come puts Sassou-Nguesso’s ability to maintain “stability” in grave doubt, but so far there has been no comment from the EU. Humanitarian agencies are desperate for someone in the international community to take the initiative and at least send envoys to inspect the latest carnage and show Sassou-Nguesso’s government that the world is watching him.
So far their requests have met with a deafening silence.