UN Congo Report Pins Uganda

By Emmy Allio The United Nations on Monday asked for sanctions against rebel groups and their outside backers to prevent the plunder of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In reaction to the 56-page report to the Security Council, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended an immediate, temporary ban on exports of minerals and timber from and to Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. He said the council should order UN member states to freeze the financial assets of the rebels supported by the three countries and slap an arms embargo on the rebels and their backers. It named senior military and government officials in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi involved in the "mass-scale looting" and systematic exploitation of DRC's natural resources. It also named companies and government officials whose economic activities directly or indirectly hurt powerless people and weak economies. The panel's choice of those committing economic crimes was based on the crucial roles played by these persons in either providing support, entertaining networks or facilitating the exploitation of natural resources within the DRC. The panel recommends that the Security Council establishes an international mechanism to investigate and prosecute persons involved in criminal economic activities. The individuals include Caleb Akandwanaho alias Salim Saleh, Jean Pierre Bemba, James Kazini, Mbusa Nyamwisi, Ateenyi Tibasima, Roger Lumbala and Aziza Kulsum Gulamali. It also listed Col. Tikamanyire, Jovia Akandwanaho (Saleh's wife), Col. Kahinda Otafire, Col. Mugenyi, Mr. Khalil, Nahim Khanaffer, Jean-Yves Ollivier, Adele Lotsove, Abdu Rhaman and latecomers such as Lt. Col. Noble Mayombo. The panel focused on three key actors. First and second are Major General (retired) Salim Saleh and his wife, Jovia. It said Saleh and Jovia are at the core of the illegal exploitation of natural resources in areas controlled by Uganda. Saleh, the younger brother of President Museveni, was said to be (very popular in the army) and he pulls the strings of illegal activities in areas controlled by Uganda and allies. James Kazini is his executing arm and his right hand. He controls and protects Mbusa Nyamwisi and Ateenyi Tibasima. In return, they protect his commercial and business interests in regions controlled by the former RCD-ML. He (Saleh) used both the Victoria Group and Trinity for the purchase and the commercialisation of diamonds, timber, coffee and gold. Sources said Jovia is more aggressive on the issue of exploitation of the natural resources of the DRC. She is particularly interested in diamonds. According to sources, she is at the root of the Kisangani wars. She wanted control of the Kisangani diamond market after having confirmation from Mr. Khalil, 'Director' of the Victoria Group, that it was a good idea and that it was feasible to control the market. The third is Brig Gen James Kazini, former Chief of Staff of UPDF and former commander of military operations in the DRC. He is the master in the field; the orchestrater, organiser and manager of most illegal activities related to the UPDF presence in north and north-eastern DRC. He is the right hand of Salim Saleh. He relies much on the established military network and former comrades and collaborators, such as Tikamanyire and Mugeni. Kazini has been close to Nyamwisi, Tibasima and Lumbala and to Jean-Pierre Bemba, all of whom have facilitated his illegal dealings in diamonds, col-tan, timber, counterfeit currency, gold and coffee, and imports of goods and merchandise in Equateur and Orientale Provinces. He is said to have a good relationship with Mr. Baramoto, a former general of President Mobutu. In spite of being discharged from his responsibilities as commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, his network remains in place. The panel asked to meet with these key actors, but the request was turned down. The panel recommends that the Security Council establishes a permanent mechanism to investigate the illicit trafficking in natural resources in armed conflicts so as to monitor the cases which are being investigated by other panels, such as those of Angola, the DRC and Sierra Leone. It said member states should be encouraged to adopt laws that will forbid companies registered in their territory from importing or exporting natural resources to or from invading countries. It recommends that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund suspends support to these countries, saying the bank was aware that Uganda's improved economy was due to gold and diamond exports, few of which it produced itself. The panel questioned humanitarian aid from the United States, Britain, Denmark and Germany to Rwanda and Uganda, asking whether such funds freed money to finance the war. It says Uganda has no known diamond production and since 1997, when it first became involved in the Congo war, Uganda's diamond exports have jumped in value from US$198,000 annually to well over a million dollars. It said some of the players not only produce counterfeit Congolese francs, but use them to purchase natural resources. The Victoria Group, whose key shareholder is Saleh, was involved in making counterfeit francs to purchase commercial crops, primarily coffee. Another source told the panel that in mid-1999, Bemba ordered the production of 100-franc notes. Simultaneously, the Victoria Group also produced counterfeit notes. By the end of 1999, Equateur Province was so flooded with fake francs, that Bemba decided to suspend all 100-franc notes to check inflation in the areas he controlled. It says Victoria Group is chaired by Khalil (Khalid), a Lebanese national. Its headquarters are in Kampala. Khalil reportedly deals directly with Jovia on diamond issues. He has two collaborators based in Kisangani and Gbadolite. Both are said to be from Lebanon. They are Mohammed Gassan and Mr. Talal. The report says during its visit to Gbadolite, the panel confirmed the presence of one of them and his leading role in the purchase of diamonds in the region. A reliable source told members of the panel that the Victoria Group is jointly owned by Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son to President Museveni, Salim Saleh and Jovia. The Group is involved in trading diamonds, gold and coffee. It purchases these minerals and agricultural products in Isiro, Bunia, Bumba, Bondo, Buta and Kisangani. The Group, the report says paid taxes to MLC, but failed to do so with RCD-ML. When counterfeit francs and US dollars were found in areas where the company buys the natural resources, fingers were pointed at it. Other sources have confirmed to the panel the involvement of the Victoria Group in the making of counterfeit currency. It says another company called Trinity, managed by Ateenyi Tibasima, second vice-president of RCD-ML and now the Commissaire général adjoint of FLC, is a fictitious company and a conglomerate of various businesses owned by Salim Saleh and his wife. Its primary purpose was to facilitate their business activities in Orientale Province. Tibasima granted a tax holiday to all Trinity activities in the areas controlled by Uganda and administered by RCD-ML in November 1999. Trinity has imported various goods and has taken from Orientale Province gold, coffee and timber without paying any tax. Different individuals, Ugandans as well as Congolese, have taken the opportunity created by the confusion over Trinity to export from the Congo, "on behalf of Trinity", various natural resources without paying taxes. The panel says it has evidence that the illegal exploitation of Congo includes financial transactions, taxes and the use of cheap labour, which their mandate qualified as other forms of wealth. Local banks and insurance companies operating in Goma, Bukavu, Kisangani, Bunia and Gbadolite deal directly with Kigali or Kampala. A system of tax collection, enforced in some cases, has been implemented by MLC, RCD-ML and RCD-Goma with their established Ugandan and Rwandan counterparts. In the rebels' own words, these taxes are aimed at "financing or supporting the war effort". Indeed, part of the funds collected are sent to Kigali (in the case of RCD-Goma). In the case of the former RCD-ML and MLC, not only was part of the taxes sent to Kampala but also individual colonels would claim direct payment from RCD-ML. In Bunia and Bukavu, people protested, demonstrated and denounced this practice. In areas controlled by Mr. Bemba, peasants carrying palm oil on bicycles have to pay taxes on the bicycles. In mass-looting, the report mentions that in late August 1998, on Brig. Kazini's orders, soldiers absconded with the stockpiles of timber belonging to the logging company Amex-bois, located in Bangoka in Kisangani. In December that year, Kazini ordered the confiscation of all the stocked timber belonging to the logging company La Forestière, which was the UPDF headquarters. It said Kazini was reportedly seen in the area at least twice during the period when the looting occurred and temporarily established his headquarters in the area. The report said in January 1999, in Equateur Province, Bemba and Kazini organised a large operation to confiscate coffee beans. Bemba initiated, encouraged and perpetuated such practices in the province. In a written letter to one of his commanders, he urged him to release a bigger vehicle he was using because it was needed urgently. The source said this was used to carry away tons of coffee beans. A participant in this operation, who has since left the movement, said two months were required to remove the enormous quantities of coffee. In the past, this province produced 60% of the country's robusta coffee. In Bumba, Lisala, Bosonzo, Binga and Mindembo for a year did not have coffee stocks to export because of these seizures. The Société congolaise du café, the largest owner of coffee stocks in the area, went bankrupt. The mass-scale looting reached such levels that, in one instance, Bemba seized 200 tons of coffee beans from the SCIBE company, which was owned by his father, Saolona Bemba. The matter is still in court. The panel has received reports from the custom posts of Mpondwe, Kasindi and Bundibugyo of the export of minerals such as cassiterite and coltan from Congo. The report said the panel came across a number of cases in which soldiers were directly involved in mining in Watsa. In September 1999, the UPDF local commander demanded the extraction of gold on the pillars of the Gorumbwa mine galleries in which dynamite was used. On September 9, the galleries collapsed, leading to the death of a number of miners. The panel said plunder also affected the wildlife industry saying Ugandan troops and SPLA have led to the death of nearly 4,000 out of 12,000 elephants in Garamba National Park in north-eastern Congo between 1995 and 1999. It said by April 2000, about three tons of tusks were temporarily seized by RCD-ML in Isiro. After strong pressure from Uganda, the cargo was released and transferred to Kampala. It said poaching is done in violation of international law (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)). It said either soldiers hunted directly with the consent of the commander or they provided equipment and protection to local villagers with the objective of collecting elephant tusks. It cited a UPDF Col Mugenyi and his soldiers. Ends