The Last Stand of the Gorilla

The National Congress for the Defence of the People (Congrès national pour la défense du peuple, CNDP) is a Tutsi domi- nated militia established by Laurent Nkunda in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2006, numbering an estimated 8000 troops, bringing together sev- eral militia groups and many Tutsi fighters. In early January 2009, Bosco Ntaganda, formerly from the Union of Congolese Patriots and now a CNDP officer, declared that he was taking leadership from Nkunda. Nkunda was arrested on 22 Janu- ary after he had crossed in Rwanda. Ntaganda was awarded a senior position by attempting to integrate CNDP forces into the Congolese army, with limited success. Some 6,000 CNDP militia were in theory adopted into the FARDC, but in spite of several peace agreements intended to convert the CNDP into a political party, they are still heavily involved in the fighting and looting in the region. CNDP The Congolese army (Forces Armées de la République Démocra- tique du Congo (FARDC)) number around 130,000 troops, but has suffered substantially from lack of payment and support. Several other countries have attempted to support the FADRC, including countries with mineral interests in the DRC, in an at- tempt to bring stability. Also the UN has attempted to work with FADRC including joint operations and supply of funds to pay the soldiers, with variable success, and the FADRC has, like the militias, been involved in atrocities and looting. FADRC day feeding, otherwise rest, most of the time on the ground. They vary the time spent in a site according to season and di- gestibility and availability of food, often moving out for months returning in a partial circle after some months when sites are in recovery from former use, using an area from 5 and up to 40 km 2 , dependent upon terrain, season and food availability. Booby traps, typically consisting of a fragmentation grenade fastened with two forked twigs and a trip wire, or anti-person- nel mines, are rarely placed randomly throughout the forests, but mainly on trails, in natural travelling routes such as on ridges between different terrain, or in downhill slopes towards drainages and near water crossings. However, in spite of the

dominated Rwandan Democratic Liberation Forces (FDLR), many involved in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, as well as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from Uganda. However, much of the militia have continued their business, still fuelled by an influx of arms in exchange for minerals and timber through neighboring countries, including the continued involvement of corrupt officials and subsidiaries of many multinational com- panies. This continues to impact the gorillas and their habitats. Gorillas are also impacted as a direct result of contact with armed militia, or where they have been wounded as a result of mines or booby traps. Gorillas frequently spend most of the

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