12/14/2007

• Command and control of the national army are weak and unstructured. According to sources working closely with the Congolese national army, the FARDC, there is no cooperation between the President and the Minister of Defense. President Joseph Kabila does not trust his military staff, and issues orders directly to his regional commanders and brigade commanders in the field. The General Staff has no detailed knowledge about the tactical situation in North Kivu.


• The FARDC headquarters in Kinshasa has little utility, and there is no divisional command in the east to parallel MONUC’s Eastern Division structure. Not one written operational order has been issued, and there are no written administrative and logistic reports within the FARDC.


• The FARDC lacks cohesion and basic operational capability. The basic standard of military performance of FARDC troops is very weak. In four major operations conducted by the FARDC against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in South Kivu, not one rebel was apprehended. Operations merely succeeded in displacing the FDLR to areas deeper inside the DRC, and all were followed by retaliatory massacres of civilians. In North Kivu, the FARDC 15th Integrated Brigade disintegrated in September 2007, and there is an ongoing tendency for FARDC forces to over-react with heavy weapons fire or to flee when attacked.


• FARDC exactions and harassment of the local population continue in virtually all areas of deployment. Government troops have been responsible for arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, and other serious human rights violations throughout the country. Cordon and search operations have been conducted by the FARDC, in order to press gang local youths into service as porters to carry equipment and supplies to the front.


• Illicit taxing by government forces is ubiquitous in North and South Kivu. The official salary of a FARDC general is around $100 per month, but many enjoy large residences and lavish lifestyles. The chain of command and the chain of salary and other payments have up to now been one and the same, and FARDC elements continue to cooperate with the FDLR, sharing looted items and taxes, and the proceeds from gold and coltan mining operations.


• MONUC has dossiers on a number of troops who have committed crimes and abuses, but FARDC commanders have taken no action to prosecute them. Nevertheless, there are currently about 3,000 FARDC members in prison, many of them in pre-trial detention. This number represents about 25% of the Congolese prison population. The DRC military justice system is partially dysfunctional, and prosecutors and judges remain subject to interference from the chain of command.


• FARDC troops and their dependants receive very little support from the military hierarchy. FARDC soldiers are extremely badly paid, even by African standards. They take their families with them on operations in the east, where they face cholera and other clear risks to their safety, often living in far worse conditions than most internally displaced people. There are 500 cubic meters of medical supplies lying in the army warehouse in Kinshasa, while there are no medical supplies for the forces in eastern DRC. Non-governmental organizations provide what little medical care they receive, and MONUC takes care of MEDEVAC for combat operations.