By Kambale Musavuli
Today is a very difficult day for the families affected by the killings of Congolese Mustapha Milambo Baguma, Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio and his Italian bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci.
I know the feeling of losing family members and digging online for information about them. It is one of the most painful experience to see the dead bodies of your loved ones on social media. My heart goes out to the families in this trying time.
While this is a sad experience, for those who joined the H2O congo webinar this weekend, you heard me say that on:
1. 15 February 2021: 11 were killed in Ndalya,
2. 16 February 2021: 10 were killed in Kalembo, and
3. 17 February 2021: 4 were killed in Oicha.
This is almost 30 Congolese killed in a week that we know of. Somehow people are not as outraged for Congolese dying every day as the death toll since 1996 has surpassed 6 million deaths.
Something more disturbing is the circumstances of the deaths today. While I’m not a certified investigator, there are things that should make everyone worry about the situation:
1. The Italian ambassador had been on tour visiting the DRC where some of the World Food Programme projects are, particularly in Kasai and North Kivu. After his stop in Kasai, he came through Goma in North Kivu to visit a WFP project in Rutshuru (still in North Kivu) about a few hours from Goma.
2. What has been confirmed is that he came through the Goma airport, went through the DGM (customs) and standard UN protocol, had a security brief where it was decided that the road was secure and there was no need for a bullet-proof vehicle for the trip.
3. They left around 9 or 10 am toward Rutshuru and while in a two-vehicles convoy 25 km from Goma, they were attacked by kinyarwanda-speaking gunmen who shot and killed the driver, forced the ambassador, his bodyguard and a few people to follow them and took them to the Bush. The rest of the story is that these kidnappers shot him and his bodyguard… wounded a few people and then disappeared in the forest. When rangers from the Virunga park arrived, it was too late to save all three. The bodyguard and driver died first. The ambassador was pronounced dead at the hospital he was taken to back in Goma.
There are a few things I don’t understand:
1. The head of police of North Kivu province, General Aba Van Ang said to the local press when news came to town that Attanasio had not informed either the police or the army of his plans. Now how did he come into town? Via the airport. Did he present his diplomatic credentials and why he was there with customs (DGM) at the airport? Yes! Did the ambassador meet with the UNDSS folks for clearance and route (standard protocol)? Yes. So what’s this story from the police if his people don’t inform him? Is he insinuating there is now all of a sudden a new protocol that the ambassador did not follow which may include sending him a personal WhatsApp message with an emoji?
2. In less than 24 hours, the Congolese government has solved this case. They have declared that the Rwandan FDLR group is responsible for the killing. They must have some sophisticated intelligence because we are still waiting 2 years later for the non-aggregated results of the 2018 presidential elections.
3. Who are these kinyarwanda speakers near the Virunga park? There may be the FDLR Rwandan Hutu rebels. But what I am clear of is that the December 23, 2020 UN Group of Experts report stated in its summary on Page 2 that “members of the Rwanda Defence Force were present and conducted operations in North Kivu from late 2019 to early October 2020 in violation of the sanctions regime.”
The report adds in its page 11 that “the presence of RDF in Nyiragongo, Rutshuru and Masisi territories was confirmed by defence and security officers, MONUSCO sources, FDLR ex-combatants, members of civil society and researchers.”
