Laurent Nkunda

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Laurent Nkunda alias Laurent Nkundabatware or Laurent Nkunda Batware (born February 2, 1967) is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is the current leader of a rebel faction operating in the province of Nord-Kivu, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsis and the Tutsi-dominated government of neighbouring Rwanda. Nkunda commands former RDC troops of the 81st and 83rd Brigades of the DRC Army.

Rwandan Genocide 1994-1995

During the Rwandan Genocide, the former psychology student traveled to Rwanda, joining the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) who were fighting against the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), the military of the genocidal Hutu-led government.

First Congo War 1997-1998

After the RPF defeated the FAR to become the new government of Rwanda, Nkunda returned to the DRC. During the First Congo War, he fought alongside Laurent-Désiré and Joseph Kabila who successfully overthrew Mobutu.

Second Congo War 2000-2003

At the outset of the Second Congo War, Nkunda joined and became a Major in the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RDC), fighting on the side of Rwandan, Ugandan, Burundian, and other Tutsi-aligned forces (the latter are a relatively small group in the DRC, numbering between half a million to a million, but are a significant military force).

Army Career and Rebellion 2007

In 2003, with the official end to war, Nkunda joined the new integrated national army of the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a Colonel and by 2004, he was promoted to General. He, however, soon rejected the authority of the government and retreated with some of RCD-Goma troops to the Masisi forests in Nord Kivu. where he raised the flag of rebellion against Kabila's government of Congo. Ostensibly he claimed to be defending the interests of the Tutsi minority in eastern Congo who were subjected to attacks by Hutus who had fled after their involvement with the Rwandan Genocide. This war has come to be known as the Kivu Conflict.

Forming a government

In August 2007, the area under Nkunda's control lay in a crescent nearly 100 km long starting from a position in the mountains 15 km west of Sake, running north between Masisi and Kiroliwe, turning east through his headquarters at Kichanga, going as far as Rutshuru. In this crescent, Nkunda: has built institutions including a radio station, police force and courts. His government levies taxes, especially on trucks, artisan mining, and trade. He has appointed his priests and formed his own political party, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). He flies his own flag and has declared a new country, the "Land of the Volcanoes" reminscent of the Katanga crises of 1960.

Religious beliefs

Nkunda claims to be a devout Pentecostal Christian and says most of his troops have converted as well. In August 2007 Nkunda was seen wearing a button that reads "Rebels for Christ.

Human rights

Throughout the years Nkunda has come under scrutiny and been accused by a number of organizations of committing Human Rights abuses. Nkunda has been indicted for war crimes in September 2005 and is under investigation by the International Criminal Court.

According to human rights monitors such as Refugees International, Nkunda's troops have been alleged to have committed acts of murder, rape, and pillaging of civilian villages; a charge which Nkunda denies. Amnesty International says his troops have abducted children as young as 12 and forced them to serve as child soldiers.

In May 2002, he was accused of massacring 160 people in Kisangani, prompting UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson to call for his arrest following the abduction and beating of two UN investigators by his troops. He has claimed that the UN have ignored the widespread attacks on Tutsis in the region as they did during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

External sources

• Map of the region controlled by L Nkunda

References

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Last updated on Sunday February 17, 2008 at 19:05:28 PST (GMT -0800)
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