Did Murdered U.N. Expert Unknowingly Tell Her Killers How to Find Her?
By informing FARDC Brigadier General
Emmanuel Lombe of their itinerary,
which would be standard practice,
did Zaida Catalan sign her death
warrant and that of her colleague
Michael Sharp in the Democratic
Republic of Congo?
“The U.N. Security
Council urged the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday to cooperate
in the investigation into the killing of two UN experts and the mass graves
found in the Kasai region.”
The Voice of
America/Africa presser then segues
to a statement written by France (the penholder for DRC)
that calls on Kinshasa and opposition parties to reach an agreement allowing a
presidential election to move forward before the end of 2017.
Tying the
investigation of the murders of Zaida Catalan and Michael Sharp to politics in
the same document is telling. One must revisit the narrative that began in
August 2016 in Kasai Province when Mwami (Chief) Kamwina Nsapu was killed to
understand why.
According to Radio Okapi, the
Coordinator of the Congolese Human Rights Observatory (OCDH) in Central Kasai,
Hubert Ngulandjoko, condemned the killing of “militia leader” Kamwina Nsapu.
Overnight, the Mwami who was organizing against the regime of President Joseph
Kabila and fighting for social justice became a militia leader and terrorist in
press reports. His body was desecrated in opposition to traditional beliefs.
The two murdered
experts, commissioned by the UN secretary-general to document the violence in
central Kasai province, were investigating the killing of the Mwami and the
discovery of more than 40 mass graves in the region. Since August more than 400
villagers have died in what is now known as the uprising of Kamwina Nsapu.
Who is doing the killing?
The deaths of Sharp
and Catalan mirror those of the 400 they were investigating.
“There are multiple,
credible allegations of massive human rights violations in Kasai, Kasai
Central, Kasai Oriental and Lomami provinces, amid a sharp deterioration in
security situation there, including people being targeted by soldiers (FARDC)
for their alleged affiliation with a local militia,” said UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in February and before the
deaths of Sharp and Catalan.
A YouTube video posted on February 17, 2017, shows
men in Congolese army uniforms fatally shooting a group of villagers. A close
look at the grainy footage shows that the victims are carrying slingshots,
machetes and spears as they are mowed down by machine gun fire.
After a series of
denials by DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende, and pressure by Human Rights
Watch and other groups, the soldiers responsible for the atrocities against the
villagers were arrested and charged.
“At a press
conference, military justice announced several arrests in the video case of the
execution of alleged militiamen Kamuina Nsapu. There were uniformed men firing
on civilians, most of them disarmed. The Congolese government had described
these images, shot in a single plane and broadcast on social networks, as
“rough editing.” Military justice says something else.”
Ida Sawyer, Central
Africa Director at Human Rights Watch offered a different take on the arrests.
“But Congolese judicial officials have shown little ability or willingness to
independently investigate the military chain of command to examine the role of
high-ranking commanders in unlawful killings and other crimes,” she said.
The orders came from
high up the chain of command, and by his denials and blame directed at a
“roughly edited” videotape, DRC spokesman Lambert Mende was introducing the
possibility of culpability.
While all of this was
going on, the U.N. investigators were kidnapped on March 12 and their bodies
found 16 days later in a shallow grave. At least that is the narrative you will
find in most international press reports. Other reports suggest that their
bodies were found within a day of the executions, but this was hidden from the
public and United Nations officials. Was this an attempt to buy time?
CGTN Africa, among others, is
questioning the veracity of a video being circulated by the Congolese
government.
“On 13 March, JMAC
(the intelligence service of MONUSCO), informally circulated the news of the
killings to the chancelleries and high authorities of the international
community in the DRC.” See this report.
I am queasy
discussing the execution of these young people, yet another of millions of
atrocities that have not been brought to light in Congo. My fear is that
writing about this assault and veering from the spoon fed narrative could be an
unintended exploitation of the families. But, experience suggests that the
truth is not what the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo wants us
to believe. Unfortunately, the official United States narrative seems to be
following suit, as evidenced in the VOA presser.
Mounting evidence and
reports from the ground suggest that DRC government troops (FARDC) killed the
U.N. experts in the most heinous ways possible. Coincidentally or by design,
their executions were also videotaped and Mende has used the video, which shows
men with red headbands (a symbol of the followers of Mwami Kamwina Nsapu)
committing the executions.
Mende conveniently
produced a professionally edited video (he will not say where he got it).
Is this really “proof” that FARDC was not involved?
Someone needs to
explain how rebel forces could execute two innocents, film it, and then how
Mende could obtain it and subsequently have it narrated by Congolese police.
Mende learned his lesson when a video surfaced in February and implicated
government forces. Would a self-produced video help to exonerate him this time?
Couple that with the
fact that MONUSCO (UN in Congo) has cozied up to FARDC and is working hand in
glove with them. As Radio Okapi reports, “During
discussions with the authorities of Upper Katanga, MONUSCO Force Commander
Mgwebi Mbuyi Leso stressed the need for collaboration between the UN mission
and the Congolese army (FARDC).”
Also, MONUSCO and
General Emmanuel Lombe Bangwanga allegedly knew the secret route the victims
were taking to investigate the mass graves.
Consider this: “On March 11, UN
expert Zaida Catalan was received at the headquarters of the 21st Military
Region in Kananga (Kasai, DRC) by the commander of the latter, General Emmanuel
Lombe Bangwanga. Together, they would have agreed on the route to the villages
where the Swedish young woman with her teammate, the American Michael Sharp,
accompanied by a Congolese guide and three moped drivers, should have traveled
to investigate Mass graves full of opponents belonging to the Kamuina Nsapu
movement. Following the indications of this senior officer, that the following
day, the convoy took a runway located in a zone under the control of the
regular army (FARDC).”
The independent
investigative unit L’AgenceD’Information asks the question no
one has answered.
“By entrusting
General (Emmanuel) Lombe, on the eve of her departure, the itinerary she was
about to take, did Zaida Catalan sign her death warrant, that of her colleague
Michael Sharp and their Congolese interpreter Betu Tshintela? Confirmed by
numerous indices, the hypothesis is more than likely.”
You can find the rest
of this report here.
This information
contradicts the statements of Lambert Mende who, after the disappearance of the
experts, said he regretted that they did not inform the authorities of their
itinerary.
Voice of America
Africa should be demanding, not “urging,” a thorough accounting from
dictator Joseph Kabila. But expecting human rights from Kabila is a non
sequitur.
Zaida Catalan was
beheaded after other even more unspeakable atrocities. This is not what you
want to read in the morning, but this is reality every single morning for
villagers in Kasai and elsewhere. Adding to the mounting obfuscations
propagated by DRC spokesman Mende, I will add that having worked under a U.N.
press badge in DRC, you must inform them of your routing. It did not work out
well for me either. My “bodyguard” turned out to be a mercenary who turned me
over to the secret police. I was lucky and got out of the mess. Oh, and my
“bodyguard” was working under a U.N. badge also.
US Ambassador Nikki
Haley summed it up. “In other words, the U.N. is aiding a government that is
inflicting predatory behavior against its own people. We should have the decency
and common sense to end this.”
It was too late for
Zaida Catalan and Michael Sharp who were trying to help the people of Congo.
You can read more about Michael Sharp, an extraordinary young American, here.
Zaida Catalan’s
last re-tweet on March 3 read: “Three things
cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. –Buddha”
By Georgianne Nienaber
The Huffington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment