The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains as unstable as ever as vote counting continues following landmark elections two weeks ago, with incumbent president Joseph Kabila leading with 53% of the votes counted by Tuesday.
Ethnic rivalry within the security forces in DRC’s eastern regions is hampering the integration of ethnic Tutsis into the national army and fuelling tension between the minority Tutsis and other local communities, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.
”The government must address the fears of Tutsi soldiers and guarantee that they will be fairly treated in the integrations process,” said Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to HRW’s Africa division.
The report follows a shootout between rival Congolese army brigades — one loyal to the central Kinshasa government and another to dissident army commander Laurent Nkunda — on August 5 in Sake, about 30km from Goma that left two people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes.
Nkunda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, heads the renegade 83rd Brigade composed of ethnic Tutsi Congolese who were members of the Rally for Democracy-Goma, a Rwandan-backed rebel-movement-turned-political-party.
The breakaway army column of an estimated 5 000 men refused to disarm and demobilise before the recent polls, citing retribution fears by the anti-Rwanda Kinshasa administration.
While human rights organisations have long called for Kabila’s government or the United Nations Mission in DRC to arrest Nkunda, observers fear that his removal would reignite violence in the simmering region, which also houses ethnic Hutu militias suspected of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Meanwhile, Kabila’s closest challenger in the polls and one of his four vice-presidents, Jean Pierre Bemba, is trailing with 17,5% of votes already counted from 75 of the vast Central African country’s 169 voting districts.
Bemba is also sought by the ICC for war crimes. — Sapa-dpa