07 Nov 2006: ISS Today: Towards a Legacy of Impunity in the Great Lakes Region: Two Militia Leaders Appointed Army Colonels in DRC

07 November 2006: Towards a Legacy of Impunity in the Great Lakes Region: Two Militia Leaders Appointed Army Colonels in DRC

 

Two militia commanders have been appointed colonels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army in a bid by the government to pacify the troubled northeastern district of Ituri, the then Defence Minister Adolphe Onusumba said. "The objective of these nominations is the pursuit of peace". (1)

 

The world is still reflecting on the paradox of peace and justice in the Northen Uganda case and yet, in the DRC, two militia leaders have been “rewarded for war” and appointed army colonels.

 

In fact, in the name of peace, two Ituri ex-militia leaders, Peter Karim of Front des Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes (FNI) and Mathieu Ngudjolo of Mouvement des Révolutionnaires Congolais (MRC), both accused of killing, rape, and using child soldiers, have been appointed as colonels in the national army. This appointment authorized in a ministerial decree signed on 2 October 2006 has been publicly announced on 10 October 2006. What is shocking is the fact that the Peter Karim and Mathieu Ngudjolo cases are not the only ones in this regard. Several similar cases are to be counted. Indeed, last year four ex-militia leaders were appointed generals in the national army.

 

It seems that impunity can be tolerated or preferred in the name of the peace process. In so doing, this appointment threatens to undermine future justice in term of accountability for those responsible for grave human rights violations. Are all these appointments helpful for peace and reconciliation in the DRC especially when the previous appointments did not bring peace in this area?

 

One should recommend that if the DRC wants a lasting peace, the country should not appoint individuals into the army when there is irrefutable evidence that those individuals have committed grave atrocities. But in the case of the last appointment, Adolph Onusumba, argued that the objective of these nominations is the pursuit of peace. The term of peace has a broad meaning, but in the context of a post-conflict situation such as the DRC, the term peace raises a couple of questions: What is peace? Does that mean peace for the woman who was raped? Does it mean peace for the man who saw his wife and/or daughter being raped? Where is peace for those who witnessed their families being slaughtered and their houses burnt to the ground?

 

It seems that for the victims of war in the DRC, ‘peace’ means positive peace, one in which justice is addressed, human rights are respected and people live without any fear (as opposed to a negative peace such as a ceasefire, which is negative because it stops the war but does not address other issues). And this ‘peace’ has to be based on the concept of justice. There is no peace without justice. But this justice has to be taken into the holistic sense. If the objective, however, is to protect war criminals from facing the law, then this strategy has to be condemned. It will send the wrong message to the victims of the war. It will further undermine any reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators, for the victims will feel betrayed by the government. Accountability for human rights violations is an important instrument in breaking the cycle of violence and impunity and is an indispensable component of the process of healing the wounds.  

 

Joseph Yav Katshung and Dieu-Donne Wedi Djamba, Consultants, African Security Analysis Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria) Office

 

 

1. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55907&SelectRegion=Great_Lakes&SelectCountry=DRC KINSHASA, 11 Oct 2006 (IRIN)