JMO Professor Leads 2-Week Mission Training Democratic Republic of Congo Military

ABOUT > News > August 2012

NEWPORT, R.I. - Joint Military Operations Professor Navy Captain Kevin Brew returned recently from a 2-week mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where he led a team to train the DRC military on various legal issues ranging from ethics and anti-corruption to military investigations and prosecution of sexual violence crimes.

Brew was the leader of a mobile training team from the Defense Institute for International Legal Studies (DIILS) sent to Kinshasa to work with the DRC military judges and line officers. He lectured on law of armed conflict, ethics, anti-corruption, rule of law, the International Criminal Court (including the recent first conviction and sentencing by the ICC -- in fact of DRC militia commander Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for use of child soldiers) and atrocity crimes (e.g., ethnic cleansing, genocide). Brew spent five weeks in the DRC last summer training DRC military at various locations on similar subjects.

The DRC continues to be challenged by security, social, economic, and other problems having been the site of the recent African Great War and was recently ranked #2 on the FP Failed States index -- Somalia was #1. Congress, the State Department and the Department of Defense have placed a special focus, funding, and assets on development of the DRC including its military. Recent outbreak of fighting in the east led by a mutiny of M23 led by the rogue general Bosco Ntaganda aka The Terminator (himself under indictment by the ICC) was a topic of much discussion during the training.

The seminar was collaborative in nature as the DRC military magistrates provided training on the DRC Constitution, the new DRC Code of Ethics, and the military code.

Based in Newport, RI, DIILS provides mobile training seminars on law and leadership to international military law partners. DIILS will continue to conduct approximately 10-15 missions per year to the DRC. Brew hopes to continue the NWC-DIILS connection regarding this training in support of the DRC.

Posted by Naval War College Public Affairs

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