Congo’s president granted a partial amnesty to the central African nation’s rebels, easing their entrance into a national-reconciliation government meant to end a four-and-a-half-year civil war.
President Joseph Kabila’s amnesty will spare rebels from charges such as treason, according to a presidential decree read on state television late on Tuesday. It won’t give any warring parties — including Kabila’s own troops — immunity from prosecution on genocide or crimes against humanity.
Government representative Kikaya Bin Karubi explained on Wednesday that the amnesty covers acts of war such as bearing arms against one’s own country, or allowing foreign troops to fight in the country — charges that could make it difficult for rebels to participate in the anticipated unity government.
Rebels hailed the decision.
”This is in line with the peace accords we signed … it helps national reconciliation,” said Joseph Mudumbi, an official for one rebel movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy. He spoke by phone from insurgent headquarters in Goma, eastern Congo.
Government officials, rebels, unarmed political parties and civil society representatives are preparing to form a broad-based government to end civil war in Congo, as agreed under power-sharing arrangements signed in South Africa on April 2.
Analysts warn that unresolved issues remain — such as rebels’ safety in government-controlled Kinshasa, and how to integrate long-time enemy fighters into a new army.
Kabila has launched the government’s constitution, but no representatives from rebel groups have yet joined. Rebel groups are expected to hold two of the new government’s four vice presidential positions.
Congo’s war broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent Kabila, the current leader’s father. They accused him of backing insurgents threatening regional security.
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to back Kabila, splitting the country into rebel- and government-held areas.
Most foreign troops withdrew after a series of peace deals took hold, but fighting between rival rebel factions and Ugandan troops has continued in eastern Congo.
Aid groups estimate that 2,5-million people died as a result of the fighting — most from strife-related hunger or disease. – Sapa-AP