GREED & GUNS: Uganda's Role in the Rape of the Congo
This report deals specifically with the recent Ugandan involvement in the military, political and economic affairs of its' giant western neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has contributed to a pattern of serious human rights abuses of the Congolese people, reference needs to be made to the politics of Africa's Great Lakes Region over the previous decade or so. To corroborate evidence and gather additional information on Uganda's involvement in the Congolese conflict the authors of this report have visited Uganda and Ituri in November 2005. One of the authors of this report, Brian Johnson Thomas, attached himself to the nascent rebellion of
Laurent Desiree Kabila during the march from Bukavu to Goma in 1996 – a Long March that proceeded via Masisi and Kisangani to the final overthrow of President Mobutu Sese Seko in Kinshasa. Even at that early state it was clear that most of Kabila's military and political support came from Rwanda and Uganda – at that time operating in close harmony.
Indeed, one recalls that in late 1993 the then Major Paul Kagame of the Intelligence Section of U.P.D.F. Headquarters in Kampala was given "unpaid leave of absence" by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to begin the, ultimately successful, insurrection by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The Ugandan government and political-military elite then looked favourably on Rwandan aspirations and, it seems, readily appreciated the security concerns of the new Rwandan regime which led Kigali to seek to aid in the removal of Mobutu as a necessary step in the removal of the threat to their western border posed by soldiers of the former Rwandan regime and Interahamwe militias in exile.
DRC war may cost Uganda billions
Residents of Bunia were left destitute by the fighting over land and resources
Uganda is accused of massacring Congolese civilians
The International Court of Justice has ruled that Uganda must pay compensation to the Democratic Republic of Congo for looting during the 1998-2003 war.
ICC Needs to Probe Uganda Role in DRC
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