Primary area: DR Congo Secondary area: Primary theme: Background Secondary theme: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty International -The Terror Trade Times Fuelling the flames of conflict Despite overwhelming evidence of mass human rights abuses committed by both sides, government forces and rebels have been able to obtain new supplies of weapons, equipment, training and personnel to continue their campaigns of torture and murder. The following examples are meant only to indicate the range of arms, security equipment and personnel that are flooding into the Great Lakes region. The scale and numbers of states involved in the conflict, the complexity of legal and illicit arms supply routes, and the high levels of secrecy surrounding these deals and troop movements, make a comprehensive analysis impossible. Government forces There have been numerous reports that Zimbabwean and/or Angolan aircraft have been involved in the indiscriminate bombing of populous districts in Kinshasa and other towns. In January 1999, for example, Zimbabwean aircraft were reported to have indiscriminately bombed the city of Kisangani. In the light of such cases, Amnesty International has been concerned at Zimbabwean newspaper reports that Zimbabwe is re-equipping its air force, buying sophisticated F7 fighter planes from China and attack helicopters from the Russian Federation. Several media reports have also revealed how Zimbabwe had clinched a multi-million dollar deal with a Swiss company, Aerotech SA, for the supply of 65 UK-manufactured BL 755 cluster bombs. The Swiss government subsequently denied an export licence to the company, apparently out of fear that the bombs would be used in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Press reports also indicate that members of the Angolan and Zimbabwean armed forces have trained thousands of soldiers from the Congolese armed forces. Altogether, the Congolese government is reportedly planning to use Zimbabwean and Angolan assistance to train up to 25,000 men. These government forces have also been reinforced by Angolan and Zimbabwean troops. Rebel forces Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi have supplied troops and equipment to opposition forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are continuing to do so. Local sources report that there have been almost daily movements of troops and equipment from the three countries by land and air. Uganda In the light of these major arms transfers, subsequent reports that Uganda has acquired further arms are particularly worrying. Newspaper reports allege that in January 1999 a North Korean ship docked in Dar es Salaam port, Tanzania, with a huge military consignment bound for Uganda. The arms cache reportedly included "six pieces of armoured tanks, 5,000 anti-tank missiles, 5,000 anti-aircraft missiles, 5,000 automatic machine guns, 1,000 grenade launchers, 2,000 boxes of ammunition..." In December 1998 there were media reports that Uganda had received 62 battletanks from Ukraine via Dar es Salaam. The deal was reportedly brokered by an Israeli arms dealer. Although Uganda is also fighting an internal conflict in its northern regions, some or all of the weapons may be destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo. In July 1999 a Ugandan newspaper, The New Vision, reported how thousands of rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo were being trained by Ugandan instructors. Prior to this transfer, there were numerous reports that US special forces trained Ugandan counterparts during 1997 as part of the US government's Africa Crisis Response Initiative. Rwanda There are estimated to be at least 10,000 Rwandese soldiers now fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although many volunteered to join the Rwandese Patriotic Army, there have also been large scale round-ups of men and children who are forced to undergo military training and then fight in the conflict. Prisoners from Rwanda have also been made to fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In some cases, the training is carried out in Gabiro military training camp in eastern Rwanda. Military experts described by Rwandese sources as US nationals were reportedly among those carrying out some of the training at the camp, although it is unclear whether these experts have links to the US government. The USA does, however, remain a close political and military ally of the Rwandese government. US authorities supplied training to members of the Rwandese Patriotic Army between 1996 and 1998, during which time the Rwandese Patriotic Army committed grave human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Rwanda. The USA has rarely condemned the human rights record of the Rwandese Patriotic Army. Following the outbreak of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August 1998, the US government claimed that it had withdrawn all its military personnel from Rwanda. However reports of the presence of US personnel in Rwanda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have continued to reach Amnesty International after this date. Bulgaria Bulgaria has been a major supplier of arms and security equipment to human rights abusers in the Great Lakes region for many years. Many of the protagonists now fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been good customers: Bulgaria played a role in arming Burundi government forces during the regional arms embargo which ran from August 1996 to January 1999. According to a UN official and a Belgium-based pilot interviewed by Human Rights Watch in August 1996, weapons flights out of Bulgaria were supplying the Burundi government as well as Burundi Hutu rebels. In February 1998 a plane flying from Bulgaria to Bujumbura, Burundi, was grounded in Lagos, Nigeria, after weapons were discovered on board. The Bulgarian defence ministry reportedly arranged in 1998 to sell tanks to Uganda. A government spokesperson confirmed in December 1998 that Bulgaria's export licensing body had authorized the sale of "rather old types of tanks" to Uganda, as well as to Ethiopia. Arms to Rwandese forces allegedly responsible for genocide in 1994 were flown from Bulgaria to Goma airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) in early 1995. This was in direct breach of a UN arms embargo. Bulgaria has been notorious as a haven for arms brokers, for its lax enforcement of arms export controls, and for the breaching of UN arms embargoes by Bulgarian nationals. There are real dangers that Bulgarian supplied arms and military equipment are now being used to commit human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.