Ituri Conflict
Encyclopedia
The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu
and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level conflict continuing until 2007. The conflict had been vastly complicated by the presence of various armed groups who participated in the Second Congo War
, the large amount of small arms in the region, a scramble for the area's abundant natural resources, and the ethnic tensions of the surrounding region. The Lendu ethnicity was largely represented by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front
(FNI) while the Union of Congolese Patriots
(UPC) claimed to be fighting for the Hema. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
The increased intensity of the violence is also the result of a 'borrowing' of ethnic ideology from the Hutu
-Tutsi
standoff. Human Rights Watch
reported that the Lendu began thinking of themselves as kin to the Hutu, while the Hema identify themselves with the Tutsi. While there is little basis to this new formation of identity, it vastly increases the imagined stakes of the conflict.
favored the Hema, resulting in education and wealth disparities between the two. This divergence continued into modern times. Despite this, the two peoples have largely lived together peacefully, practicing extensive intermarriage
. While the northern Hema speak Lendu, the southern Hema speak Hema
.
The Hema and Lendu have longstanding grievances about land issues, that erupted into conflict on at least three previous occasions in 1972, 1985 and 1996. Much of the animosity revolves around the 1973 land use law, which allows people to buy land they do not inhabit, and then force the residents to leave two years later when ownership can no longer be legally contested. Unscrupulous use of the law forced families to leave their homes because they were unaware it had been bought by someone else. Some Hema were apparently attempting to take land from Lendu using this tactic in 1999.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide
sent psychological shockwaves throughout the Great Lakes region. The murder of 800,000 people on the basis of ethnicity served to make people even more aware of their tribal and linguistic affiliation. The subsequent influx of Hutu refugees
into the region, which led to the First Congo War
served as further emphasis. However, it was not until the Second Congo War, which began in 1998, that the situation between the Hema and Lendu reached the level of regional conflict. Much of the northern DRC, including Orientale province, was occupied and under the nominal control of the invading Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Kisangani faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
(RCD-K) under the leadership of Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
. The widespread conflict was accompanied by an influx of assault rifle
s and other firearms. While land disputes used to be fought with bows and arrows, the easy availability of small arms vastly increased the destructiveness of the fighting.
, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, ignored the protests of the RCD-K leadership and created a new “province” of Ituri out of eastern Orientale province. He then named a Hema to be the new governor. This apparently convinced the Lendu that Uganda
and the RCD-K were backing the Hema against them, and violence erupted between the two groups. The UPDF did little to stop the fighting and, in some cases, aided the Hema. However, even as the fighting intensified the UPDF continued to train both Hema and Lendu. Reports indicate that Lendu trainees refused to join the RCD-K and instead set up ethnically-based militias.
from their homes and 7,000 were killed in the fighting. An unknown number died of conflict-related disease
and malnutrition
, but mortality rate
s as high as fifteen percent were recorded during two measles
outbreaks in the affected regions.
and held by the Ugandan government without explanation. Throughout this period, the RCD-K had an internal power struggle that resulted in the splitting of the organization into the RCD-K of Wamba dia Wamba and the RCD-Mouvement de Libération (RCD-ML) of Mbusa Nyamwisi, which has prominent Hema in its leadership. Wamba dia Wamba returned to Bunia
to denounce a proposed merger of the three major Ugandan-backed rebel groups, the RCD-K, the RCD-ML and Movement for the Liberation of Congo
, as a Ugandan imposition. The quick collapse of Wamba dia Wamba's military base without Ugandan support is most probably a direct result of a perceived pro-Lendu stance.
Even as the Second Congo War
wound to an official end in 2003, for the next several years a low level conflict continued in Ituri, with tens of thousands more killed. The continued conflict has been blamed both on the lack of any real authority in the region, which has become a patchwork of areas claimed by armed militias, and the competition among the various armed groups for control of natural resources
in the area.
Half of the militia members were under the age of 18
and some are as young as eight.
, a subsidiary of mining conglomerate Anglo American, among others, formed with the FNI. Payments were made to facilitate mining operations near the town of Mongbwalu, and gold was smuggled through Uganda to Europe and beyond. The benefits of this gold trade are shared by the companies and armed militias, whose use of murder, torture and rape in the course of conflict is well documented. Following the release of the HRW report in June 2005, leading Swiss
gold refiner Metalor Technologies agreed to stop buying gold from Uganda.
On October 17, 2006, an Amnesty International
, Oxfam
and International Action Network on Small Arms joint-research effort in Ituri found US, Russian, Chinese, South African, and Greek bullets. The researchers stated that: “this is just one example of how lax arms controls fuel conflict and suffering worldwide. UN arms embargoes are like dams against tidal waves.” The research was conducted during September out of samples of arms and ammunition recovered since the UN arms embargo of 2003.
. In the same month an observer died in a mine explosion. In May 2003 two military observers were killed by a militia.
The withdrawal of 7000 Ugandan troops in April 2003 led to a deteriorating security situation in the Ituri region endangering the peace process. The UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
called for establishing and deploying a temporary multi-national force to the area until the weakened MONUC mission could be reinforced. On May 30, 2003 the Security Council
adopted the Resolution 1484 authorising the deployment of an Interim Multinational Emergency Force (IMEF) to Bunia
with a task to secure the airport, protect internally displaced person
s in camps and the civilians in the town.
The French Government
had already shown interest in leading the operation. It soon broadened to an EU-led mission with France as the framework nation providing the bulk of the personnel and complemented by contributions from both EU and non-EU nations. The total force consisted of about 1800 personnel and was supported by French aircraft based at N'Djamena
and Entebbe
airfields. A small 80 man Swedish Special Forces group (SSG
) was also added.
The operation called Operation Artemis
was launched on June 12 and the IMEF completed its deployment in the following three weeks. The force was successful in stabilising the situation in Bunia and enforcing the UN presence in the DRC. In September 2003, responsibility for the security of the region was handed over to the MONUC mission.
The Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front
(FNI) and Union of Congolese Patriots
militias murdered nine Bangladesh
i MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe
on February 25, 2005, the largest single UN loss since the Rwandan Genocide
. In response, MONUC forces assaulted a FNI stronghold, killing fifty. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots
, and other militia leaders were arrested by Congolese authorities and imprisoned in Makala
, Kinshasa. Lubanga was accused of having ordered the killing of the peacekeepers in February 2005 and of being behind continuous insecurity in the area. On February 10, 2006, the International Criminal Court
issued an arrest warrant for Lubanga for the war crime
of "conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities". The Congolese national authorities transferred Lubanga to ICC custody on March 17, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4815966.stm
On April 1, 2005, MONUC reported that less than half of the 15,000 militia members had disarmed by a deadline set by the United Nations
. UN peacekeeper Col. Hussein Mahmoud stated that MONUC would now aggressively and forcibly disarm the remaining militias.
In April 2006, one Nepal
ese peacekeeper was killed and seven were taken hostage by the FNI. MONUC has confirmed that 7 of its peacekeepers were captured in an area 100 km east of Bunia, in the disputed northeastern region of Ituri. In May 2006, the FNI released the seven Nepalese peacekeepers. On October 9, 2006, MONUC reported that 12 FNI militias were killed in clashes with DRC army forces. MONUC spokesman Leocadio Salmeron stated that “no population movements have been observed” as a result of the fighting.
leader Martin Ngudjolo were both appointed to the rank Colonel
in the DRC army, commanding 3,000 troops each.
The conflict has also seen the abduction and enslavement of civilians by armed troops. On October 16, 2006, Human Rights Watch
stated that the DRC government needs to investigate and prosecute members of the DRC army who participated in the abduction of civilians and their use as forced labour and called to end the practice. The whereabouts of nine civilians abducted on September 17 and 20 civilians abducted on August 11 remains unknown.
On October 30, an officer, alleged to have been drunk, shot and killed two election officials in the town of Fataki, which provoked a riot. He was sentenced to death the next day.
On November 24, DRC's military prosecutor announced that three mass graves, containing the bodies of about 30 people, were discovered in Bavi, Ituri. The commander of the battalion stationed in the town and a Captain in charge of maintaining discipline were arrested.
In November 2006, the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front, the last of the three militias involved in the conflict, agreed to a deal by which up to 5,000 fighters are going to release hundreds of child soldiers and disarm in exchange for an amnesty. Militia members will be incorporated into the national army and their leaders made officers in the wake of general elections
endorsing the government of Joseph Kabila
. The FNI became the last militia to begin turning over its weapons in April 2007, though disarmament and demobilization continued through May.
Lendu
The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages...
and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level conflict continuing until 2007. The conflict had been vastly complicated by the presence of various armed groups who participated in the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
, the large amount of small arms in the region, a scramble for the area's abundant natural resources, and the ethnic tensions of the surrounding region. The Lendu ethnicity was largely represented by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front
Nationalist and Integrationist Front
The Nationalist and Integrationist Front is a Lendu rebel group active in the Ituri conflict in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FNI has fought against the Hema tribe and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe in February 2005...
(FNI) while the Union of Congolese Patriots
Union of Congolese Patriots
The Union of Congolese Patriots is an armed group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were in 2003 said to be 15000 soldiers . It has carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies...
(UPC) claimed to be fighting for the Hema. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
The increased intensity of the violence is also the result of a 'borrowing' of ethnic ideology from the Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
-Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
standoff. Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
reported that the Lendu began thinking of themselves as kin to the Hutu, while the Hema identify themselves with the Tutsi. While there is little basis to this new formation of identity, it vastly increases the imagined stakes of the conflict.
Background
Ethnic tension between the Lendu and Hema go back to colonial days. The Belgian colonialistsBelgian colonial empire
The Belgian colonial empire consisted of three colonies possessed by Belgium between 1901 and 1962: Belgian Congo , Rwanda and Burundi...
favored the Hema, resulting in education and wealth disparities between the two. This divergence continued into modern times. Despite this, the two peoples have largely lived together peacefully, practicing extensive intermarriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
. While the northern Hema speak Lendu, the southern Hema speak Hema
Hema language
Hema is a Bantu language and one of three languages spoken by the Hema people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Hema is sometimes called Southern Hema in contrast to the unrelated language Lendu, Northern Hema....
.
The Hema and Lendu have longstanding grievances about land issues, that erupted into conflict on at least three previous occasions in 1972, 1985 and 1996. Much of the animosity revolves around the 1973 land use law, which allows people to buy land they do not inhabit, and then force the residents to leave two years later when ownership can no longer be legally contested. Unscrupulous use of the law forced families to leave their homes because they were unaware it had been bought by someone else. Some Hema were apparently attempting to take land from Lendu using this tactic in 1999.
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
sent psychological shockwaves throughout the Great Lakes region. The murder of 800,000 people on the basis of ethnicity served to make people even more aware of their tribal and linguistic affiliation. The subsequent influx of Hutu refugees
Great Lakes refugee crisis
The Great Lakes refugee crisis is the common name for the situation beginning with the exodus in April 1994 of over two million Rwandans to neighboring countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide...
into the region, which led to the First Congo War
First Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
served as further emphasis. However, it was not until the Second Congo War, which began in 1998, that the situation between the Hema and Lendu reached the level of regional conflict. Much of the northern DRC, including Orientale province, was occupied and under the nominal control of the invading Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Kisangani faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
Rally for Congolese Democracy
The Congolese Rally for Democracy, sometimes Rally for Congolese Democracy, was a rebel group operating in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Assisted by the government of Rwanda, it was a major factor in the Second Congo War . It became a political party in 2003...
(RCD-K) under the leadership of Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba is a senator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was the vice president of the Senate Permanent Commission on Legal and Administrative Matters in the transitional government. Previously, he was commander of the Kisangani faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese...
. The widespread conflict was accompanied by an influx of assault rifle
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
s and other firearms. While land disputes used to be fought with bows and arrows, the easy availability of small arms vastly increased the destructiveness of the fighting.
UPDF's Ituri province created
In June 1999, James KaziniJames Kazini
Major General James Kazini was a Ugandan Army officer. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as Commander of the UPDF, a position that is now known as the Chief of Defence Forces of Uganda, the highest military position within the Uganda People's Defense Force.-History:He was born in 1957 in the...
, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, ignored the protests of the RCD-K leadership and created a new “province” of Ituri out of eastern Orientale province. He then named a Hema to be the new governor. This apparently convinced the Lendu that Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and the RCD-K were backing the Hema against them, and violence erupted between the two groups. The UPDF did little to stop the fighting and, in some cases, aided the Hema. However, even as the fighting intensified the UPDF continued to train both Hema and Lendu. Reports indicate that Lendu trainees refused to join the RCD-K and instead set up ethnically-based militias.
Temporary cessation of hostilities
The fighting did not begin to slow until the RCD-K named a neutral replacement to head the provincial government in late 1999. In the months prior approximately 200,000 people were displacedForced migration
Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
from their homes and 7,000 were killed in the fighting. An unknown number died of conflict-related disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
and malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
, but mortality rate
Mortality rate
Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
s as high as fifteen percent were recorded during two measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
outbreaks in the affected regions.
Renewed fighting
The fighting flared again in 2001 after the UPDF replaced the governor with a Hema appointee. The RCD-K appointed governor was moved to KampalaKampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
and held by the Ugandan government without explanation. Throughout this period, the RCD-K had an internal power struggle that resulted in the splitting of the organization into the RCD-K of Wamba dia Wamba and the RCD-Mouvement de Libération (RCD-ML) of Mbusa Nyamwisi, which has prominent Hema in its leadership. Wamba dia Wamba returned to Bunia
Bunia
Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
to denounce a proposed merger of the three major Ugandan-backed rebel groups, the RCD-K, the RCD-ML and Movement for the Liberation of Congo
Movement for the Liberation of Congo
The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the government throughout the Second Congo War. It subsequently took part in the transitional government and is now...
, as a Ugandan imposition. The quick collapse of Wamba dia Wamba's military base without Ugandan support is most probably a direct result of a perceived pro-Lendu stance.
Even as the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
wound to an official end in 2003, for the next several years a low level conflict continued in Ituri, with tens of thousands more killed. The continued conflict has been blamed both on the lack of any real authority in the region, which has become a patchwork of areas claimed by armed militias, and the competition among the various armed groups for control of natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
in the area.
Half of the militia members were under the age of 18
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
and some are as young as eight.
Foreign collusion
Human Rights Watch has documented links that AngloGold AshantiAngloGold Ashanti
AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.AngloGold Ashanti Limited is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents...
, a subsidiary of mining conglomerate Anglo American, among others, formed with the FNI. Payments were made to facilitate mining operations near the town of Mongbwalu, and gold was smuggled through Uganda to Europe and beyond. The benefits of this gold trade are shared by the companies and armed militias, whose use of murder, torture and rape in the course of conflict is well documented. Following the release of the HRW report in June 2005, leading Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
gold refiner Metalor Technologies agreed to stop buying gold from Uganda.
On October 17, 2006, an Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
and International Action Network on Small Arms joint-research effort in Ituri found US, Russian, Chinese, South African, and Greek bullets. The researchers stated that: “this is just one example of how lax arms controls fuel conflict and suffering worldwide. UN arms embargoes are like dams against tidal waves.” The research was conducted during September out of samples of arms and ammunition recovered since the UN arms embargo of 2003.
Peacekeeping operations
In the beginning of 2003 MONUC observer teams present in DRC since 1999 monitored serious combats and human rights violations in Ituri. In April 2003 800 Uruguayan soldiers were deployed in BuniaBunia
Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
. In the same month an observer died in a mine explosion. In May 2003 two military observers were killed by a militia.
The withdrawal of 7000 Ugandan troops in April 2003 led to a deteriorating security situation in the Ituri region endangering the peace process. The UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
called for establishing and deploying a temporary multi-national force to the area until the weakened MONUC mission could be reinforced. On May 30, 2003 the Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
adopted the Resolution 1484 authorising the deployment of an Interim Multinational Emergency Force (IMEF) to Bunia
Bunia
Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
with a task to secure the airport, protect internally displaced person
Internally displaced person
An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...
s in camps and the civilians in the town.
The French Government
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
had already shown interest in leading the operation. It soon broadened to an EU-led mission with France as the framework nation providing the bulk of the personnel and complemented by contributions from both EU and non-EU nations. The total force consisted of about 1800 personnel and was supported by French aircraft based at N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
and Entebbe
Entebbe
Entebbe is a major town in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, the town was at one time, the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda, prior to Independence in 1962...
airfields. A small 80 man Swedish Special Forces group (SSG
Särskilda Skyddsgruppen
Särskilda Skyddsgruppen is a special operations unit of the Swedish military which became active in 1994. The exact number of operatives is classified but is thought to be between 60 and 80, with an average age of 31...
) was also added.
The operation called Operation Artemis
Operation Artemis
Operation Artemis was a short-term European Union-led military mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.In the beginning of 2003 United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or MONUC, observer teams present in that country since 1999 monitored serious combats and human rights...
was launched on June 12 and the IMEF completed its deployment in the following three weeks. The force was successful in stabilising the situation in Bunia and enforcing the UN presence in the DRC. In September 2003, responsibility for the security of the region was handed over to the MONUC mission.
The Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front
Nationalist and Integrationist Front
The Nationalist and Integrationist Front is a Lendu rebel group active in the Ituri conflict in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FNI has fought against the Hema tribe and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe in February 2005...
(FNI) and Union of Congolese Patriots
Union of Congolese Patriots
The Union of Congolese Patriots is an armed group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were in 2003 said to be 15000 soldiers . It has carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies...
militias murdered nine Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe
KAFE
KAFE is a 60 kW radio station located and licensed in Bellingham, Washington, USA, transmitting from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island...
on February 25, 2005, the largest single UN loss since the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. In response, MONUC forces assaulted a FNI stronghold, killing fifty. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots
Union of Congolese Patriots
The Union of Congolese Patriots is an armed group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were in 2003 said to be 15000 soldiers . It has carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies...
, and other militia leaders were arrested by Congolese authorities and imprisoned in Makala
Makala
Makala is a municipality in the Funa district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.- Demographics :...
, Kinshasa. Lubanga was accused of having ordered the killing of the peacekeepers in February 2005 and of being behind continuous insecurity in the area. On February 10, 2006, the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
issued an arrest warrant for Lubanga for the war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
of "conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities". The Congolese national authorities transferred Lubanga to ICC custody on March 17, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4815966.stm
On April 1, 2005, MONUC reported that less than half of the 15,000 militia members had disarmed by a deadline set by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. UN peacekeeper Col. Hussein Mahmoud stated that MONUC would now aggressively and forcibly disarm the remaining militias.
In April 2006, one Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese peacekeeper was killed and seven were taken hostage by the FNI. MONUC has confirmed that 7 of its peacekeepers were captured in an area 100 km east of Bunia, in the disputed northeastern region of Ituri. In May 2006, the FNI released the seven Nepalese peacekeepers. On October 9, 2006, MONUC reported that 12 FNI militias were killed in clashes with DRC army forces. MONUC spokesman Leocadio Salmeron stated that “no population movements have been observed” as a result of the fighting.
Aftermath
On October 11, 2006, as part of the agreement which led to the release of the Nepalese peacekeepers and following a ministerial decree signed on October 2, DRC Defence Minister Adolphe Onusumba announced that FNI leader Peter Karim and MRCCongolese Revolutionary Movement
The Congolese Revolutionary Movement is a rebel group in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.Laurent Nkunda, leader of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, allied with the MRC in July 2006...
leader Martin Ngudjolo were both appointed to the rank Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the DRC army, commanding 3,000 troops each.
The conflict has also seen the abduction and enslavement of civilians by armed troops. On October 16, 2006, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
stated that the DRC government needs to investigate and prosecute members of the DRC army who participated in the abduction of civilians and their use as forced labour and called to end the practice. The whereabouts of nine civilians abducted on September 17 and 20 civilians abducted on August 11 remains unknown.
On October 30, an officer, alleged to have been drunk, shot and killed two election officials in the town of Fataki, which provoked a riot. He was sentenced to death the next day.
On November 24, DRC's military prosecutor announced that three mass graves, containing the bodies of about 30 people, were discovered in Bavi, Ituri. The commander of the battalion stationed in the town and a Captain in charge of maintaining discipline were arrested.
In November 2006, the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front, the last of the three militias involved in the conflict, agreed to a deal by which up to 5,000 fighters are going to release hundreds of child soldiers and disarm in exchange for an amnesty. Militia members will be incorporated into the national army and their leaders made officers in the wake of general elections
Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2006
General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 30, 2006, the first multiparty elections in the country in 41 years. Voters went to the polls to elect both a new President of the Republic and a new National Assembly, the lower-house of the Parliament.The polls were...
endorsing the government of Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
. The FNI became the last militia to begin turning over its weapons in April 2007, though disarmament and demobilization continued through May.
External links
- Focus on Hema-Lendu conflict, IRIN, November 15, 1999
- Backgrounder, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, 2001 - Web Special on Ituri in Eastern DRC, IRIN, December 2002
- “Covered in Blood': Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northern DR Congo”, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, July 8, 2003 - Ituri conflict linked to illegal exploitation of natural resources, IRIN, September 3, 2004
- UN troops killed 50 militiamen in self-defence, Annan says, IRIN, March 4, 2005
- D.R. Congo: Gold Fuels Massive Human Rights Atrocities, HRW, June 2, 2005
- Nothing New in Ituri: the violence continues (PDF), report by Médecins Sans FrontièresMédecins Sans Frontières' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
, August 1, 2005 - A Glittering Demon: Mining, Poverty and Politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Michael Deibert, Special to CorpWatch, June 28, 2008