Laurent Nkunda
Encyclopedia
Laurent Nkunda or Laurent Nkundabatware, or Laurent Nkunda Batware, or as he prefers to be called The Chairman — is a former General
in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is the former warlord
(leader of a rebel faction) operating in the province of Nord-Kivu
, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsi
s and the Tutsi-dominated government of neighbouring Rwanda
. Nkunda, who is himself a Congolese Tutsi, commanded the former DRC troops of the 81st and 83rd Brigades of the DRC Army. He speaks English
, French
, Swahili
, and Kinyarwanda. In early 2009, he was captured during a joint operation between the Congolese and Rwandese militaries.
University then became a school teacher in Kichanga. He has claimed to admire leaders including Gandhi and George W. Bush
.
preacher and an ordained minister. He says that most of his troops have converted. In the 2008 documentary Blood Coltan
about the real costs of mobile phones, Nkunda proudly shows a button he wears that reads "Rebels for Christ." He claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist
pastor. He also claims to receive help and guidance from American "Rebels for Christ" who visit the Congo spreading Pentecostal
Christianity. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has disputed Nkunda's claims of affiliation.
, 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.
, he fought alongside Laurent-Désiré Kabila
, who successfully overthrew Mobutu
.
, Nkunda joined and became a major
in the Congolese Rally for Democracy also known as Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), fighting on the side of Rwandan, Uganda
n, Burundi
an, 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 who live just across the border from Rwanda).
as a Colonel
and by 2004, he was promoted to General. However, he soon rejected the authority of the government and retreated with some of the RCD-Goma troops to the Masisi forests in Nord Kivu, where he raised the flag of rebellion against the government of Joseph Kabila
(who had succeeded his father in 2001). Nkunda 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
.
. In this area, Nkunda established his headquarters by building necessary infrastructure and developing institutions of order. He established a political organisation known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People
(CNDP).
rebels who are opposing both the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and United Nations
forces of the 17,000 UN contingent in the country. It was reported that he was advancing on the city of Goma
with the aim of capturing it, and the Congolese army claimed he was receiving aid from Rwanda
.
The fighting has uprooted 200,000 civilians, bringing the total of people displaced by the Kivu conflict
to 2 million, causing civil unrest large food shortages and what the United Nations calls "a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions."
In an interview with the BBC
on November 10, 2008, Nkunda threatened to topple the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo if the President, Joseph Kabila
, continues to avoid direct negotiations.
s in September 2005.
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.
, who has become the new representative of the group. The two might have had a falling out over a massacre of civilians perpetrated by Ntaganda's forces.
, a city in Rubavu
district in the Western Province of Rwanda.
On 26 March 2010, the Rwandan Supreme Court ruled that his case could only be heard by a military court, since the military had been responsible for his apprehension. Nkunda’s Defence had sought in vain to have his detention declared illegal and he has yet to be charged with a crime.
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is the former warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
(leader of a rebel faction) operating in the province of Nord-Kivu
Nord-Kivu
Nord-Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Goma....
, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
s and the Tutsi-dominated government of neighbouring Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
. Nkunda, who is himself a Congolese Tutsi, commanded the former DRC troops of the 81st and 83rd Brigades of the DRC Army. He speaks English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, and Kinyarwanda. In early 2009, he was captured during a joint operation between the Congolese and Rwandese militaries.
Personal life
Nkunda has six children. Before joining the military, Nkunda studied psychology at KisanganiKisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
University then became a school teacher in Kichanga. He has claimed to admire leaders including Gandhi and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Religious beliefs
Nkunda is an ordained ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
preacher and an ordained minister. He says that most of his troops have converted. In the 2008 documentary Blood Coltan
Coltan
Coltan is the industrial name for columbite–tantalite, a dull black metallic mineral from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral is columbite, hence the "col" half of the term...
about the real costs of mobile phones, Nkunda proudly shows a button he wears that reads "Rebels for Christ." He claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
pastor. He also claims to receive help and guidance from American "Rebels for Christ" who visit the Congo spreading Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
Christianity. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has disputed Nkunda's claims of affiliation.
Rwandan Genocide 1994–1995
During the Rwandan GenocideRwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
, the former psychology student traveled to Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, joining the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...
(RPF) who were fighting against the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), the military of the genocidal Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
-led government.
First Congo War 1996–1998
After the RPF defeated the FAR to become the new government of Rwanda, Nkunda returned to the DRC. During the First Congo WarFirst Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
, he fought alongside Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997, when he overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko, until his assassination by his bodyguards on January 18, 2001...
, who successfully overthrew Mobutu
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
.
Second Congo War 2000–2003
At the outset of the Second Congo WarSecond Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
, Nkunda joined and became a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the Congolese Rally for Democracy also known as Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), fighting on the side of Rwandan, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
an, 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 who live just across the border from Rwanda).
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 CongoTransitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo was tasked with moving from the state riven by the Second Congo War to a government based upon a constitution agreed on by consensus. In 2001 President Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state...
as a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and by 2004, he was promoted to General. However, he soon rejected the authority of the government and retreated with some of the RCD-Goma troops to the Masisi forests in Nord Kivu, where he raised the flag of rebellion against the government of Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
(who had succeeded his father in 2001). Nkunda 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
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. This war has come to be known as the Kivu conflict
Kivu conflict
The Kivu conflict is an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda . The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo also became involved in the conflict...
.
Forming a government
In August 2007, the area under Nkunda's control lay north of Lake Kivu in Nord-Kivu in the territories of Masisi and RutshuruRutshuru Territory
Rutshuru Territory is a territory in the North Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo , with headquarters is the town of Rutshuru....
. In this area, Nkunda established his headquarters by building necessary infrastructure and developing institutions of order. He established a political organisation known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People
National Congress for the Defence of the People
The National Congress for the Defence of the People is a political armed militia established by Laurent Nkunda in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2006. The CNDP was engaged in the Kivu conflict, an armed conflict against the military of the Democratic Republic...
(CNDP).
2008 Nord-Kivu fighting
In fighting that began on 27 October 2008, known as the 2008 Nord-Kivu fighting, Nkunda leads TutsiTutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
rebels who are opposing both the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
forces of the 17,000 UN contingent in the country. It was reported that he was advancing on the city of Goma
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...
with the aim of capturing it, and the Congolese army claimed he was receiving aid from Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
The fighting has uprooted 200,000 civilians, bringing the total of people displaced by the Kivu conflict
Kivu conflict
The Kivu conflict is an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda . The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo also became involved in the conflict...
to 2 million, causing civil unrest large food shortages and what the United Nations calls "a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions."
In an interview with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on November 10, 2008, Nkunda threatened to topple the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo if the President, Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
, continues to avoid direct negotiations.
Human rights
Throughout the years Nkunda has come under scrutiny and been accused by a number of organizations of committing human rights abuses. Nkunda was indicted by the Congolese government for war crimeWar crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s in September 2005.
According to human rights monitors such as Refugees International
Refugees International
Refugees International is a humanitarian organization supporting refugees and stateless people. It publishes annual reports, as well as approximately twenty-five field reports throughout the year on refugee issues, as well as comments on international aid issues around the world...
, 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
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
says his troops have abducted children as young as 12 and forced them to serve as child soldiers
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
.
In May 2002, he was accused of massacring 160 people in Kisangani
Kisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
, prompting UN Human Rights Commissioner
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a United Nations agency that works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948...
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
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
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
in 1994.
Child soldiers
Nkunda strongly denies recruiting child soldiers, stating that as of 2005 he has demobilised 2,500 "young soldiers". His total army was estimated at 7,000–8,000 men.Possible ouster
Nkunda may have been usurped in leadership by fellow general Bosco NtagandaBosco Ntaganda
Bosco Ntaganda is the military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People , an armed militia group operating in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, who has become the new representative of the group. The two might have had a falling out over a massacre of civilians perpetrated by Ntaganda's forces.
Capture and arrest
Nkunda was arrested on 22 January 2009 after he had crossed into Rwanda. After unsuccessfully attempting to defeat the CNDP militarily, Congolese president Kabila made a deal with President Kagame of Rwanda to allow Rwandan soldiers into the DRC to uproot FDLR militants in exchange for Rwanda removing Nkunda. Rwandan officials have yet to say if he will be handed over to DR Congo, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest. A military spokesperson said he had been seized after sending three battalions to repel an advance by a joint Congolese-Rwandan force. The force was part of a joint Congolese-Rwandan operation which was launched to hunt Rwandan Hutu militiamen operating in DR Congo. Nkunda is currently being held at an undisclosed location in Rwanda. A Rwandan military spokesman has claimed, however, that Nkunda is being held at GisenyiGisenyi
Gisenyi is a city in Rubavu district in the Western Province of Rwanda. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population of the city is about 106 000 .-Description:...
, a city in Rubavu
Rubavu
Rubavu is a district in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Gisenyi, Rwanda's biggest beach resort and border city.- Geography :...
district in the Western Province of Rwanda.
On 26 March 2010, the Rwandan Supreme Court ruled that his case could only be heard by a military court, since the military had been responsible for his apprehension. Nkunda’s Defence had sought in vain to have his detention declared illegal and he has yet to be charged with a crime.
Further reading
- Stewart Andrew Scott. Laurent Nkunda et la rébellion du Kivu : au coeur de la guerre congolaise. Paris : Karthala, (2008). ISBN : 9782811100872
- Miller, Eric: "The Inability of Peacekeeping to Address the Security Dilemma," 2010. ISBN 978-3-8383-4027-2
- WOLTERS, S., 2007. Trouble in Eastern DRC: The Nkunda Factor. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies
External links
- Encounter with A Rebel Leader by David McDougall, CBC News, November 17, 2008
- Interview with Radio France Internationale, October 2008 (In English)
- Interview with Sunday Monitor, November 2008
- Map of the region controlled by L. Nkunda
- Days after General Nkunda's arrest, doubts and disbelief reign in Rwanda by Josh Kron, Nation, February 4, 2009
