Obama administration defends Congo policy, rejects congressional criticism
BY DONNA CASSATA, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DECEMBER 11, 2012 7:10 PM
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its response to
the security and humanitarian crises in Congo, rejecting criticism from
Congress and human rights groups that the U.S. has failed to take decisive
action.
Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said
the United States has worked closely with other countries to try to end the
hostilities, with officials from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice pursuing a comprehensive response.
Carson described the situation in Congo as the most volatile in Africa, with
an estimated 5 million people killed since a second regional war began in
1997. Despite a major peacekeeping operation, the M23 rebel group is
operating in eastern Congo.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
subcommittee that oversees Africa, called it an "ongoing reign of terror,"
and questioned whether the Obama administration's policy had failed.
"I reject that notion and reject that pretty soundly," Carson told the
subcommittee. "At all levels of the U.S. government, we are working to
advance greater peace and stability."
Carson detailed various trips and outreach by Clinton, Rice and
Undersecretary Wendy Sherman. A recent U.N. report accused the Rwandan
government of backing the rebels, a charge Rwanda denies. The insurgents
have been accused of rape, using child soldiers and conducting summary
executions in eastern Congo.
The situation has created greater scrutiny of Rice, a potential candidate to
succeed Clinton, and her relationship with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Rice served as assistant secretary for African affairs and on the National
Security Council in the Clinton administration during the effort to end the
genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s.
Carson said that in the past six months, the United States had reduced its
foreign military assistance to Rwanda by $200,000, although it is still
maintaining developmental aid.
Lawmakers on the subcommittee scoffed at that cut.
"That's a drop in the bucket," said Rep. Tom Marino, a Republican who said
the United States has provided some $1 billion in aid to Rwanda in the past
decade. "It doesn't seem that we're very serious about this."
Carson said the United States had no evidence that Rwanda was misusing the
money or that it was ending up in the hands of the rebels.
"Rwanda has a high level of credibility with respect to the way it uses its
resources," he said.
The testimony failed to satisfy the lawmakers.
"How many people have to die before you stop and get serious about this?"
Marino said.
Separately, 13 House members led by Democrats Howard Berman, Karen Bass and
Adam Smith sent a letter to President Barack Obama pleading for the
appointment of a presidential envoy, backing for a U.N. envoy and calling
for the African Union to appoint a special emissary.
"M23's formation and inexcusable military advance, supported by Rwanda and
to a lesser extent Uganda, is only the latest chapter in Central Africa's
conflict," the lawmakers wrote. "We feel the systemic problems that drive
the cyclical fighting can be broken, but only if the political leaders of
Central African country governments take decisive and sustained action and
the international community maintains a heavy focus on these issues with
sustained high-level leadership."
Human rights groups such as the Enough Project, Freedom House and Invisible
Children sent a letter to Obama on Monday also pressing for an envoy and a
cutoff of aid to Rwanda
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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