State of siege in the DRC: former rebels appointed military governors
Abuses are said to have been committed in Ituri by rebels now appointed governors.
(Drawing).
MONUSCO / Abel Kavanagh
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is the eve of the establishment of a state of siege in the battered provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
This state of siege aims to put an end to the massacres which have plagued these populations for more than 20 years.
And to achieve this, President Tshisekedi decided to transfer the powers of the civilian authorities to the military authorities for a month, including in the area of justice.
Military governors and vice-police governors were appointed on Tuesday, May 4.
Among them are former rebels.
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With our special correspondent in Kinshasa,
Sonia Rolley
In Ituri,
President Félix Tshisekedi
chose to appoint General Constant Ndima.
He was until then the Deputy Chief of the General Staff in charge of administration and logistics.
He was commander of the 3rd defense zone which covers the two Kivus, Maniema and Tshopo.
But he is a former rebel of Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC, cited in a UN investigation report as the boss of the operation called "Erase the table" in Ituri.
Fighters including those of the MLC had been accused of having massacred and raped Nandés and Pygmies, suspected of being close to another rebellion.
It was between 2002 and 2003. There was even talk of acts of cannibalism.
There is still no reaction from the presidency or the government.
" Erase the board "
The MLC denies the participation of General Ndima in any exaction in Ituri, he was not there.
The former rebellion, which has become a political party, recalls having held a trial on the operation “Erase the picture” in Gbadolite in February 2003. Constant Ndima was not one of the 19 convicted.
Its vice-governor, the divisional commissioner, Romy Ekuka Lipopo, was one of the bosses of the judicial police in Kinshasa, he also coordinated the technical group responsible for securing the last electoral process.
On the North Kivu side, the appointed military governor is General Luboya Nkashama, the former boss of the first defense zone, which includes Kinshasa among others. He was also the commander of the 13th Military Region of Ecuador. He is a former member of the RCD Goma rebellion, considered close to Rwanda. The RCD Goma had for a time administered this province, which is already pointed out by some civil society organizations. General Luboya Nkashama is, as expected, assisted by a police officer. The divisional commissioner Benjamin Alonga Boni is a former MLC, he was the deputy of General Numbi during
the assassination of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana
, he had testified at the trial as simple informant, it is one of the last officers to have left the general inspectorate of the police force on the day of the assassination.
In 2011, he told the court that he had seen hooded police officers from the Simba battalion, the unit accused of having committed this double assassination, on leaving, explains a lawyer for the civil parties.
This got him into trouble with
General Numbi
, adds one of the police officers who testified on RFI.
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To read also
In the DRC, President Tshisekedi outlines the state of siege in Ituri and North Kivu
State of siege in the DRC: names of military governors unveiled
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