European Parliament asks U. E to extend its penalties against perpetrators of crimes mentioned in the UN report of the Mapping Project ,18/09/2020

 

The European Parliament, in a resolution specified on Thursday, 17 September 2020 on the situation in the DRC, invited the Union to maintain sanctions against perpetrators of violence and human rights violations in the DRC and calls on the extension of these penalties to perpetrators of the crimes mentioned in the United Nations report of the mapping project.

In addition, Parliament condemns the use of sexual violence against women in conflict and calls on the international community to step up its efforts to eliminate the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict and wars, to protect Victims, to end impunity for perpetrators of violence and to guarantee survivors access to justice, reparations and remedies.

′′ The European Parliament welcomes the progress made in ratifying the Maputo protocol on women's rights; underlines the importance of implementing this protocol ", says the resolution.

In the wake, the European Parliament reminds us that violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is perpetrated by armed groups of domestic and foreign rebels, which are funded by ore trade and are fighting for access to this trade.

It also points out that all companies, persons, States or actors linked to a State that contribute to the perpetration of such crimes must be brought to justice.

However, the European Parliament congratulates the entry into force of the regulation on ores from conflict zones scheduled for the Union in January 2021, which represents the first of the many steps the international community must take to address this problem deeply rooted.

′′ The European Parliament underlines the urgent need to take additional measures regarding the duty of mandatory diligence and responsible behavior of companies operating in conflict zones ", continues the resolution.

In addition, the European Parliament urged cross-border cooperation in the African Great Lakes region and the implementation of a regional strategy by neighbouring countries to fight violence and human rights violations in the DRC.

Death threats against Mukwege: European Parliament supports Nobel Prize and urges government to investigate without delay, 18/09/2020

 

The European Parliament asked the Congolese government to conduct ′′ without delay ", a thorough investigation into death threats formulated on social media, by phone and direct messages aimed at the Nobel Prize Denis Mukwege, his family and staff of the Panzi hospital.

In a resolution adopted on Thursday

17 September 2020 on the situation of Dr. Mukwege and the DRC in general, Parliament welcomes the ′′ firm ′′ commitment of ′′ the man who repairs women ′′ to the work carried out in the 2010 report. United Nations on the mapping project.

This is how Parliamentarians condemn ′′ the absence of progress by the international community in the implementation of its recommendations ′′ and invites the DRC authorities to step up their efforts to prevent further human rights violations in the is from the DRC.

Further, they demand that the Congolese government take measures to put in place mechanisms that will guarantee victims of future conflicts respect for their rights to justice and reparations.

The European Parliament, however, welcomed the United Nations decision to restore the protection of Dr Mukwege by MONUSCO.

Death threats against Mukwege occurred a few days after he reported in a tweet on July 26, 2020, the killing of civilian populations in South Kivu province.

Is it true? DRC civil societies claim that Ugandan army presence on Congolese land.

Ugandan army soldiers crossed the Congolese border in Mahagi territory located more than 180 km north of the city of Bunia, Ituri province.

The fact happened on Monday, September 11, according to Anican Tengo, a local civil society actor who alerted.

′′ The territory of Mahagi is already undercover, on Monday the millilitaries UPDF (Uganda National Defense Forces) returned to Congolese soil aboard two trucks. They entered the Zolo village in War-Palara chiefdom, on the pretext that they were looking for a secret service agent in their country he explains in a telephone exchange.

Still according to the same source, both trucks came back empty, while the UPDF millitians walked on foot.

′′ We don't know how many of them were and if all came back, nor the cause that prompted them to enter our house in violation of the Congolese border ′′ worries Mr. Tengo.

Still in this unit, a Congolese police officer was captured the same week by Ugandan services who came to pick him up while visiting his mom in the border village of Uriwo.

We have failed to contact the admin of Mahagi territory for his version of the facts.

Kagame, Museveni and Lourenço refuse to go to Goma, the mini-summit will be held by videoconference.

While Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo invited them to the mini-summit, Angola, Burundi, Angola and Uganda declined this invitation, according to several consistent sources.

The postponement of this activity by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms this version.

According to the press release signed by Marie Ntumba Nzeza, this Mini Summit will be held by video conference ′′ next date due to the constraints due to Covid19 ".

′′ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo seizes this opportunity to thank the sister republics of Angola, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda for their collaboration in the preparatory work on feasibility studies of the said mini-Summit which have leads to the afore mentioned decision ", says Marie Ntumba Nzeza.

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says renewing to its regional and international partners, ′′ the assurances of its high consideration ".

This mini-summit was planned to promote, among other things, a common response to insecurity issues in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

European Parliament deplores sine die postponement of mini-summit in Goma and instead calls UN security council to establish an international criminal tribunal against all crimes committed in DRC as earlier demanded by DR Denis Mukwege.

In a resolution adopted this Thursday, the European Parliament deplores the postponement of the mini-summit in Goma originally scheduled for September 13, 2020, following the invitation of the DRC, in order to bring together the five leaders State of the African Great Lakes region to discuss ways to restore peace in the region.

The European Parliament strongly hopes that this summit can be rescheduled as soon as possible and that it can lead to a calm of tensions between neighbouring countries ". In the same document, it also calls for cross-border cooperation in the African Great Lakes region and the implementation of a regional strategy by neighbouring countries to fight violence and human rights violations in the DRC.

Kinshasa didn't throw in the sponge. The Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is fighting to get this mini-summit organized on September 20th.

Subregional cooperation is essential to solve the security problem in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, given that MEPs are emphasizing that the violence in this region ′′ is perpetrated by groups armed with domestic and foreign rebels, which are funded by the trade of ore and who are fighting for access to this trade.

The European Parliament underlines that all companies, persons, states or actors linked to a State that contribute to the perpetration of such crimes must be brought to justiceIn a resolution adopted this Thursday, the European Parliament calls on the member states of the United Nations Security Council to call for the creation of an international criminal tribunal ′′ that would advance proven cases of human rights violations dating back to before 2002 ".

In the adopted text, the European Parliament also welcomes Dr Denis Mukwege's firm commitment to the work carried out in the UN report 2010 on the mapping project. It condemns the international community's lack of progress in implementing its recommendations.

The European Parliament calls on the DRC authorities to step up their efforts to prevent further human rights violations in the east of the DRC and to take measures to put in place mechanisms that will guarantee victims of future conflicts respect for their rights to justice and repair.

As a reminder, the mapping report documents crimes listed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This document reviews the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in Congolese territory between March 1993 and June 2003.

Denis Mukwege and several Congolese figures including Martin Fayulu support the need to dig up this report, which draws an inventory of 617 war crimes and humanity crimes. If these crimes are brought before a competent court, some of the atrocities documented in the Mapping report could be the crime of genocide, some NGOs noted.

C.G. Haenel MK556 Won German Army Tender To new assault rifle.

 

After almost six decades with Heckler & Koch, the German Bundeswehr appears to have selected a new supplier for its assault rifle. 

A MK556 configuration shown on Haenel’s site (Haenel Defense)

C.G. Haenel MK556 Won German Army Tender To Replace G36 The C.G. Haenel  company belongs to the Merkel Group, which is part of the Tawazun Holding (United Arab Emirates). The group also owns Caracal.

According to several sources the German Ministry of Defense has chosen C.G. Haenel GmbH to supply the next German Assault Weapon. The initial report came from the German Press Agency (DPA) and has been widely quoted. At the time of writing neither the Bundeswehr nor Haenel have made official statements.

Haenel is already supplying the Bundeswehr with the Haenel RS9 sniper rifle (designated the G29 in German service). Despite this they have long been seen as the underdog in the Bundeswehr’s search for a new service rifle.

The total deal is probably worth in the region of 245 million euros (over $290 million) and will see the procurement of some 120,000 new firearms.

The MK556 from C.G. Haenel won over the Heckler & Koch HK416 and the HK433, both of which are believed to have been under consideration. It also beat out the RS556, an entry from Rheinmetall and Steyr Mannlicher.

Heckler & Koch HK433 Ver 4 (souce - უახლესი გერმანული შაშხანა Heckler&Koch HK433 Ver 4 RAL 8000)

The “MK” stands for “Maschinenkarabiner” (Machine-Carbine) and was presented in 2017. As you can see in the pictures it follows the AR15 layout, but uses a short-stroke gas piston system with an adjustable gas system.

The exact configuration of the weapons and the accessories they will be equipped with is still unconfirmed.

Advanced gun System (AGS) trials during Advanced Battle Management Systems (ABMS) test.

 

The Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) shot from an Advanced gun System (AGS) tube mounted on a M110 8-inch howitzer chassis during the Advanced Battle Management Systems (ABMS) Onramp 2 at White Sands Missile Range.