Rwandan and Congolese Military Career
Ntaganda fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army in the early 1990s and participated in the overthrow of the Hutu-led Rwandan government in 1994 following the Rwandan Genocide. He subsequently joined the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (Forces Patriotiques pour la libération du Congo, FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and became its chief of military operations. During this time, he is alleged to have been involved in numerous massacres and other serious human rights abuses. When Ntaganda was in charge of the UPC Ntaganda told child soldiers: When you're a soldier, you get a woman for free. Everything is free.
In January 2005, Ntaganda was appointed a general in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a peace process, but he refused the offer. On 1 November 2005, a United Nations Security Council committee imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on him for violating an arms embargo.
In 2006, following conflicts within the UPC, he returned to North Kivu, his home province, and joined Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). As of April 2008, he was believed to be living in the Masisi district of North Kivu, serving as the CNDP's chief of staff. The CNDP has now been incorporated into the regular Congolese armed forces and Ntaganda is now acting as a General in the army, despite being wanted by the ICC.
In 2012, he was living openly in the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Avenue des Tulipiés, about 100 yards from the Rwandan border.
According to DRC authorities, General Bosco Ntaganda had "crossed from Goma to the town of Gisenyi, Rwanda, twice in 2011, in March and again in September, despite the travel ban imposed on him. Congolese authorities reported that on both occasions Ntaganda had gone there to attend a burial, having sought official authorization to do so from his military hierarchy and from immigration authorities. Rwandan officials told the Group that they have no objections to Ntaganda's crossing the border. They claim that his status as a sanctioned individual “is not a Rwandan problem, but a Democratic Republic of the Congo problem”, adding that “Bosco contributes to peace and security to the region, which converges with Rwanda's aims”.
The UN Group of Experts reported in late 2011 that Ntaganda controls the Mungwe and Fungamwaka mines, near Numbi, through the Great Lakes Mining Company, managed by Edson Musabarura. Ntaganda also derived profits from mineral exploitation at Nyabibwe, through his alliance with Colonel Saddam Ringo. At Rubaya, Ntaganda gains large revenues from taxation levied by "parallel" mine police. Ntaganda ordered his troops to intervene on behalf of Krall Metal Congo at Lueshe.
On 4 April 2012, it was reported that Ntaganda and 300 loyal troops defected from the DRC and clashed with government forces in the Rutshuru region North of Goma. On 11 April 2012, president Joseph Kabila called for Ntaganda's arrest.
Read more about this topic: Bosco Ntaganda
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