Local civil society organisations have written to Congolese President Joseph Kabila to denounce the ongoing killings of people in eastern DR Congo, particularly in Beni and Lubero (North Kivu Province).
They say the violence has so far claimed 1,116 lives between October
2014 and May 2016. That’s an average of 60 killed per month, or two a
day, points out their letter (which WWM has seen). It says some 1,470
other people were abducted, while 34,297 families have been forcibly
displaced or are dispersed. There are also numerous cases of sexual
violence against women and children.
WWM reported that around 50 people were killed in various attacks within a week in May, causing thousands to flee the area.
In particular, locals say Islamist militants (ADF-NALU, also known as
Muslim Defence International) were responsible. The material damage is
1,750 and 13 health centres burned down; 27 schools destroyed or
forcibly abandoned, occupied by displaced people or by military or armed
groups; several villages occupied by armed militiamen.
In Lubero, another armed group, the Rwandan FDLR (Democratic Forces for
the Liberation of Rwanda), are reported to "have claimed the power to
levy taxes".
Moreover, the violence, says the group, is accompanied "by collective
and suspicious movements of populations of the same ethnicity and
language, of indeterminate origin, with the intention of land occupation
and dismemberment of the country", and "the systematic looting of
assets and natural resources".
The latter are themes that have persisted through what the BBC described in 2013 as the world’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, across Congo:
“A conflagration that has sucked in soldiers and civilians from nine
nations and countless armed rebel groups, known as the Great War of
Africa, has been fought almost entirely inside DR Congo.”
This forms the wider national backdrop to this latest crisis in the
east – Islamist militias have filled the vacuum left by that war, which
has seen more than five million dead, and several million refugees.
Women and girls, particularly, have paid a heavy price, as rape and
sexual violence were widely used by both armed groups and government
forces.
So the civil society representatives now ask the Congolese State to:
• ensure the safety of all its inhabitants,
• prevent regular soldiers from participating in the trade and exploitation of local natural resources,
• replace military units born from the incorporation of former M23
rebels (who have brought havoc to eastern DRC since April 2012, but who
ended their insurgency in 2013, after the government said they had been
defeated) and other groups,
• speed up the repatriation of FDLR rebels.
The group also denounced the passivity of the UN’s peacekeepers
(Monusco) and its special unit, which aims to carry out offensive
actions to protect civilians. They also called on the international
community to declare as "genocide" the current massacres in the
territories of Beni and Lubero, and to set up an independent
investigation in order to identify the authors of the massacres and
bring them to justice.
Meanwhile, other locals report the impact of the recent attacks on
church life in the area, as well as the final number and names of those
who died between 30 April and 3 May:
• 30 April: 12 massacred
• 1 May : 2 hacked to death with machetes and axes
• 2 May : 6 hacked to death with machetes and axes; whereabouts of 11 others still unknown
• 3 May: 17 hacked to death with machetes and axes.
Another attack late on 6 May in the province of Ituri, slightly further
north, saw between nine and 15 killed. All the victims are members of
local churches (CECA20, Anglican and Catholic).
The ongoing violence has dramatically affected the local churches, as
thousands have fled the area. Consequently, several churches have been
closed because of lack of attendance. The violence has also had
financial implications, as members are experiencing hardship and
economic difficulties. Some church leaders have also fled with their
families, while others are struggling to survive and to provide
counselling and trauma support to their affected members.
The figures below show the impact of the violence on church attendance:
• CECA20 Church, from 500, down to 10 attendees
• Kisiki Church, from 250 to 8 attendees
• Mupaka Church, from 300 to 0 (closed)
• Mwamba Imara Church, from 250 to 40 attendees
• Eglise Internationale/Ndalya, from 200 to 0 (burned down)
• Catholic Church/Lese, from 250 to 0 (closed)
• Anglican Church, from 370 to 0 (closed)
• Church of Christ, from 250 to 50 attendees.
The leaders of the affected churches call for a prompt return of peace
and stability in the region. They also launched an appeal to the
international community to provide relief and humanitarian aid to the
displaced and other victims of the crisis.
Courtesy: World Watch Monitor
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