Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

As Bosco Dines in Congo, UN Called Shameful by Former Commander, Chissano's Bye

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, June 24 -- A former commander for the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC), Major General Patrick Cammaert, on Wednesday told the Press that recent events in Eastern Congo are "shameful" and "destroy the reputation of the UN and of MONUC." Video here, from Minute 37:29.

Inner City Press had asked him about MONUC working with indicted war criminal Jean-Bosco Ntaganda of the CNDP rebels, and having stood by and done nothing about rapes by CNDP forces, according to a doctor from Bukavu's Panzi Hospital. Click here for previous Inner City Press story.

Cammaert recounted that in the past, MONUC had tried to arrest Bosco but failed -- because a subordinate commander lost will, Cammaert, said. But now, MONUC is aware that Bosco has been described as a deputy coordinator of an operation by the Congolese Army which MONUC is assisting. Video here, from Minute 24:40. Cammaert said that MONUC should not even indirectly work with Bosco. But it is.

Cammaert said that he was recently in Goma, dining at the lakeside Le Chalet, and almost "choked on his chicken" when he saw that Bosco was dining there too. He said that President Kabila should be pressure to arrest Bosco, rather than being allowed to say that despite being indicted he is invaluable to the peace process.

Patrick Cammaert reviews blue helmets: "shameful" (Bosco not shown)

Jan Egeland, former UN Humanitarian Coordinator and now with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, concurred that heads of state should be held accountable. Inner City Press asked Egeland not only about Sri Lanka -- article elsewhere on this site -- but also Northern Uganda. Egeland said he had been proud of his work there, reducing the level of threat in Northern Uganda. But it spread to Eastern Congo.

Inner City Press asked for Egeland's view of the early termination of the UN-funded mission by Joaquim Chissano to meditate with the Lord's Resistance Army. Egeland said that mediation should continue.Video here from Minute 41:50. But the UN is closing the office, and Chissano is moving on to a SADC inspired mediation in Madagascar.

UNIFEM's Anne-Marie Goetz, describing the outcomes of the colloquium on Conflict Related Sexual Violence in Peace Negotiations, said that UN envoys -- like MONUC's Alan Doss -- should be measured and assessed by what happens on these issues. She said that data should be collected, as it is on the issue of Children and Armed Conflict. Who will hold the UN accountable?

* * *

UNITED NATIONS, May 13 -- The UN in the Congo claimed that it would not work with the Congolese Army if indicted war criminal Jean-Bosco Ntaganda was a part of it. Then the UN reduced the claim to that it would not work on Congolese Army operations in which Bosco played a part. Now, faced with Army minutes showing Bosco as a deputy commander in an operation MONUC works with, the claim is further reduced. The permanent representative of a Congo-interested country, part of the Contact Group, told Inner City Press on May 12 that at least the UN will not "sit down and take a photo with Bosco Ntaganda." That's not saying much.

On May 13, in advance of a Security Council trip to the Congo led by France's Jean-Maurice Ripert, Inner City Press asked Ripert for his and France's position on how the UN should distance itself from indicted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda. Ripert said, "France is very clear on that: we are a party to the Rome Stat[ute], we will not meet with people who are involved or indicted." Video here, from Minute 7:45.

But should the UN be working with the Congolese Army and its operations in the Kivus in which Bosco is listed in minutes as deputy coordinator? "This is a question you have to ask to the UN," Ripert answered, "not to France."

Alan Doss of MONUC, April 4 minutes show below

He went on, in response to another question, to say that the purpose of the Congo leg of the trip is to "monitor" the UN Mission. Doesn't monitoring include determining, factually, whether the UN Mission is working in an operation in which a war criminal is deputy coordinator?

Footnote: In the interim, in the run-up to the Council's visit to the Congo, Inner City Press did "ask to the UN," as Ripert suggested, and got back this, which drops the UN's claim that it hadn't seen the April 4 FARDC minutes in question:

1.) We stand by our 30 January statement, that MONUC will not support operations with the FARDC in which Jean-Bosco Ntaganda plays a role.

2.) Both the MONUC Force Commander and SRSG have made this clear to their interlocutors at senior levels of the DRC Government and military. These interlocutors have assured MONUC that Bosco does not figure in the chain of command for operations in the Kivus.

3. MONUC has no executive law enforcement powers to execute the arrest warrant but is on record that it is prepared to assist the DRC Government in arresting Bosco should it decide to do so.

UNITED NATIONS, May 7, updated -- When it comes to working with war criminals, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is willing and even wants to be deceived. Bosco Ntaganda, indicted by the International Criminal Court, appears in minutes of an April 4 meeting of the Congolese Army, known by its French acronym FARDC.

What the UN did next is to ask the FARDC to tell them that Bosco was not a deputy commander. The UN has spend billions of dollars in the Congo, largely to the benefit of current president Joseph Kabila. His FARDC told the UN want they wanted to hear. But no explanation of the April 4 FARDC minutes, reproduced below, has been provided.

A UN official involved in preparing MONUC's response, below, told Inner City Press that as long as Doss received assurances from FARDC, it doesn't matter what the leaked minutes show, or even if they are true: the UN”s hands are clean. These dubious assertions should be a topic of the UN Security Council's African trip later this month, along with proposals to send Bosco Ntanganda's previous boss, Laurent Nkunda, from Rwanda into exile in a country other than the DRC.

On April 9, the day after Doss had gotten the Daily Report about Bosco's involvement in the FARDC's Operation Kimia II, Inner City Press asked Doss to confirm that MONUC had earlier received a request to help arrest Bosco. Doss confirmed that, among other things (click here for that story, and here for the request to MONUC about Bosco, and Doss' predessessor William Lacy Swing's response.) Doss said the request "has not been renewed," adding that MONUC will not work with Bosco. But see below.

Inner City Press: do you have a response to these reports that Bosco, the ICC indictee for war crimes, was described as a deputy coordinator in the Congolese Army action against the FDLR, and also, therefore, calling into question the UN statement that it doesn’t work with indicted war criminals.

Associate Spokesperson: Yes, we’re aware of those reports. At the same time, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, has not seen the documents that were referred to in the media reports that allegedly showed that Jean Bosco Ntaganda was part of the joint operation. Actually, on the contrary, the DRC authorities have shown MONUC relevant documents defining the operation’s command structure, which does not make any mention of Mr. Ntaganda. MONUC has clearly stated that it will not conduct or support joint operations in which Jean Bosco Ntaganda plays a part. This has been communicated directly to the DRC Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff, who in turn have assured MONUC that Mr. Ntanganda is not a part of any joint operation’s command structure. MONUC leadership continues to engage with our Congolese interlocutors on this matter.

Inner City Press: Even when you actually see this document, what will the UN do if it turns out he was the deputy commander of that operation?

Associate Spokesperson: Well, as I just said, we continue to engage with our Congolese interlocutors. But I’ve told you exactly the precise assurances that we’ve been given by the Government of the DRC on this. And as for the hypothetical question, we’ll cross that bridge if that is a reality.

Well, now it is a reality. The April 4 FARDC minutes, obtained by Inner City Press, show in paragraph (d) Bosco Ntaganda taking the floor, and described him as deputy commander:

Le Coord a transmis à l’assistance les directives du Comd Suprême sur le profil que doivent afficher les Mil des FARDC notamment ceux œuvrant dans les provinces du NORD et du SUD KIVU.

- Enfin, indigné par les jugements portés contre les FARDC dans les médias face au phénomène FDLR, le Comd Suprême nous lance un défi. NE doutant nullement des capacités des FARDC à combattre efficacement les FDLR, il attend les résultats probants et fera régulièrement lui-même l’évaluation de la Sit.

- Les Comd d’unités doivent privilégier l’intérêt des Tp et éviter le détournement des moyens mis à leur disposition

d) Prenant la parole à son tour, le GenBde BOSCO NTAGANDA, Coord Adjt, a soulevé les problèmes Log qui ont été à la base du retard qu’ont connu les Ops après celles menées conjointement par les FARDC et RDF. Ce qui a permis aux FDLR de se réorganiser et mener quelques Acn contre nos Tp.

These minutes, and MONUC's response to them, should be a topic of the UN Security Council's African trip later this month, along with proposals to send Bosco Ntanganda's previous boss, Laurent Nkunda, from Rwanda into exile in a country other than the DRC. Watch this site.

Update of 12:55 p.m. -- at Friday's UN noon briefing, after publication of the article above, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe to respond to the April 4 FARDC minutes listing Bosco Ntaganda as Deputy Coordinator, including whether the UN disputes the authenticity of the minutes. Ms. Okabe said she had nothing to say on the topic. Minutes later, her Office sent Inner City Press the following statement:

From: unspokesperson-donotreply@un.org
To: matthew.lee@innercitypress.com
Sent: 5/8/2009 12:39:54 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Your question on Ntaganda

MONUC has not seen the documents referenced in the media report allegedly showing that Mr. Ntanganda is a part of the joint operation. On the contrary, the DRC authorities have shown MONUC relevant documents defining the operation's command structure, which does not make any mention of Mr. Ntanganda. MONUC has clearly stated that it will not conduct or support joint operations in which Jean Bosco Ntaganda plays a part. This has been communicated directly to the DRC Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff, who in turn have assured MONUC that Mr. Ntanganda is not a part of any joint operation’s command structure. MONUC leadership continues to engage with our Congolese interlocutors on this matter.

Better talk fast, with these Congolese interlocutors... Inner City Press is e-mailing the FARDC minutes to MONUC, which claims not to have seen them. Watch this site.

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video Analysis here

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations