There are 22 days left before the preliminary hearing in which the Gup will decide whether the two defendants Rocco Leone e Mansour Rwagaza may be tried in Italy in the proceeding which sees them accused of manslaughter e omitted precautions in the ambush that on February 22, 2021 I led to the killing, in the Democratic Republic of Congoof the ambassador Luke Attanasioof the chosen carabiniere Victor Iacovacci and the World Food Program (WFP) driver Mustapha Milambo. But despite the imminence of the judge’s decision, the family lawyer, Rocco Curcio, announced, through a press release, two important innovations. The first is that the lawyers, since April 28, have started a collaboration with the firm Tuccillo & Partners. The second, which was “started a dialogue with the authorities at the Republic of Kenya aimed at acquiring information of investigative interest” pertaining to the dossier.
The two elements disclosed today by the Curcio studio appear to be linked to each other: in particular, a news item from 2019 reported that the lawyer Francescomaria Tuccillo, in his capacity as secretary general of Lawyers Without Borders Italy (ASF), had been officially received at Nairobi and Noordin Haji, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Republic of Kenya, a role which according to the Kenyan constitution is independent of any other power. A tested collaboration, therefore, which could be very useful in the Attanasio dossier, a crime that took place in North KivuCongolese region where Kenya has long had a important geopolitical role. Right now, for example, Kenyan military are present along with other armed forces of the East African Communityofficially to encourage the appeasement of the area, in particular to stop the advance of the militiamen of theM23.
However, the news of the resignation of the commander of the regional military force, the Kenyan general, dates only a few days ago Jeff Nyagahwhich in a letter seen by Afp spoke of threats to his life. “There was an attempt to intimidate my security at my former residence by deploying foreign military contractors (mercenaries) that they placed monitoring devices”, he declared in the letter dated April 27 and sent to the secretary general of the East African Community. Nyagah further stated that there would be a “negative media campaign well orchestrated and financed” against him which aimed to frustrate the work of the regional force.
The move by the lawyers of the Attanasio family seems to have the purpose of fuel the investigation on the triple homicide which, also due to the lack of collaboration of the Congolese authorities and of WFP which he continues to invoke the immunity for their employees, they risk running aground. This is also thanks to the collaboration of a government, that of Nairobi, which boasts an important weight in the whole area of central-eastern Africa. To all this it must be added that the Italian state has not yet communicated if it intends form a civil party.
The situation on the ground has been dramatic for months now: the advance of the M23 militiamen has provoked the displacing more than 1.1 million peopleaccording to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Displaced persons who – despite the massive presence in the region of humanitarian agencies of all kinds – have been living for months in informal refugee campsin indescribable sanitary conditions.
Twitter: @simamafrica e @GianniRosini