Rwandan Rebel Leader Faces ICC on War Crimes Charges | |
VOA News - September 16, 2011 | |
A former Rwandan rebel leader has appeared before the International Criminal Court facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, told The Hague court that Mbarushimana represented the “respectable public face” of the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group that attacked civilians in Congo's North and South Kivu provinces in 2009. | |
UN Employee Arrested for Trying to Smuggle Tin Ore | |
provincenordkivu.org - August 22, 2011 | |
A United Nations employee was arrested in North Kivu province Sunday night while attempting to smuggle over one ton of tin ore to neighboring Rwanda, Congolese officials said on Monday. | |
Controversy over "conflict minerals" law | |
IRIN - August 2, 2011 | |
Major industries are seeking to alter the proposed US reporting rules on “conflict minerals” mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a bid to stem the flow of money from minerals mined in eastern Congo, widely seen as fuelling the ongoing conflicts, the US government included a clause in the financial reform legislation of July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. | |
Security Council extends mandate of UN mission in DR Congo | |
UN News - June 28, 2011 | |
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a year, with the force now scheduled to stay at least until 30 June 2012. The Council resolution, adopted unanimously, “reaffirms that the protection of civilians must be given priority” by the mission MONUSCO, which last year succeeded an earlier mission known as MONUC. | |
UN envoy tells Security Council of improving security, remaining threats | |
UN News Service - June 9, 2011 | |
“There has been significant progress regarding the security situation in recent years in eastern DRC,” said Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), in a briefing to the Council. | |
Rwanda genocide fugitive Bernard Munyagishari arrested | |
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda - May 25, 2011 | |
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announced on 25 May 2011 the arrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo of ICTR fugitive Bernard Munyagishari, former President of the Interahamwe for Gisenyi, who was arrested in an operation mounted by the DRC Armed forces, in collaboration with the Office of the Prosecutor Tracking Unit in Kachanga, North Kivu. | |
New Law Aims to Halt Sale of Conflict Minerals | |
Heather Murdock | VOA News - April 18, 2011 | |
In the Congolese countryside, there is said to be $24 trillion worth of precious minerals like tantalum, tungsten, gold and tin. They are used to make everything from light bulbs to airplanes, and have long funded the conflict in the country’s tumultuous eastern provinces. | |
New rules for miners | |
IRIN - March 17, 2011 | |
Various stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining sector have signed a code of conduct designed to reduce fraud and increase transparency in an industry that has played a key role in the armed violence that has ravaged the east of the country for years, but there is still concern about illegal mining and the military’s role. | |
Plight of the Congo Is Focus of U.S. Congress Hearing | |
chrissmith.house.gov - March 8, 2011 | |
The tragedy and hopes for peace in the Congo was the focus of a hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee. Actor Ben Affleck testified about the work of the Eastern Congo Initiative, including his travel to the DRC. | |
Foreign 'gold smugglers' arrested in eastern Congo | |
BBC News - February 7, 2011 | |
Eight foreigners - from the US, France and Nigeria - have been arrested on allegations of gold smuggling in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say. "Millions of dollars" and 436kg of gold were seized, the local governor said. |