A border war is now the most serious threat to peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Gregory Mthembu-Salter
The main flashpoints in the Democratic Republic of Congo are Kisangani in North Kivu – where Rwandan and Ugandan forces are disengaging after a battle two weeks ago that left hundreds dead – and Mbandaka in Equateur, where the Ugandan-backed rebel Mouvement pour la libration du Congo (MLC) is clashing with the armed forces of Congolese President Laurent Desir Kabila.
But it is the low-intensity civil war raging in South Kivu on the borders of Rwanda and Burundi that, unless contained, threatens to wreak the most havoc in the long term.
South Kivu is controlled by the Rwandan- backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), which has its provincial capital in Bukavu.
The RCD and the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), which provides the RCD with its military might, are battling three militia in the province – one home-grown and two foreign.
The home-grown Mai-Mai militia is a loose alliance drawn from ethnic groups in South Kivu who want to be rid of what they see as Rwandan imperialists who have annexed their land.
Although Kabila fought the Mai-Mai on his way to power in 1997, he now sees it as an ally in his war against Rwanda and has appointed one of its generals as his commander-in-chief.
A Mai-Mai representative recently told the Mail & Guardian that this meant that the Mai-Mai is part of the Congolese army.
Kabila’s aim appears to be to capitalise on growing anti-Rwandan sentiment in South Kivu to create a second military front against Rwanda, right on its border.
The Mai-Mai co-operate in South Kivu with remnants of the Rwandan Hutu interahamwe, which fled to Congo after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. But human rights groups claim that this co-operation is lessening as local ethnic groups, tired of the interahamwe’s cruelty, are putting pressure on the Mai-Mai to dissociate itself from them.
Burundi’s Hutu Forces pour la dfense de la democratie (FDD) also works with the Mai-Mai, particularly near Uvira, just across the border from Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura.
These militia also target the Banyamulenge, Congolese Tutsis of Rwandan origin who live in the mountains near Uvira. Many senior positions in the RCD are filled by Banyamulenge, and an often-heard complaint among other ethnic groups is that the Banyamulenge have too much power.
The Banyamulenge, however, claim that they are the most persecuted ethnic group in the Kivus, and catalogue a series of alleged massacres and atrocities perpetrated against them in recent months.
The Banyamulenge are concerned that the militia are able to attack them with such impunity. Some Banyamulenge leaders allege that nearby RPA troops do nothing to stop the attacks and wonder if there is not a secret pact between the RPA and the interahamwe.
One leader has suggested that the Rwandan government secretly welcomes the continued presence of the interahamwe to justify Rwanda’s presence in South Kivu, which he alleges enables Rwanda to exploit the region’s bountiful natural resources.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has defended the RPA, and told the M&G that whatever peace there is in South Kivu it is because of his army. Kagame says that while the RPA cannot be everywhere at once, the idea that it has a pact with the interahamwe is ludicrous. Kagame also denies that Rwanda is profiting from the war in Congo.
Yet the RPA is very unpopular in South Kivu and is perceived by many to be an army of occupation. Rwanda’s role in the RCD’s banishment to Goma in February of the Bukavu Catholic Bishop, Emmanuel Kataliko, did not help matters.
Despite the repeated demands of Congolese Catholics and a 65 000- signature petition, Kataliko remains in Goma. In May RPA commander Dan Gapfizi allegedly burst into the Jesuit College in Bukavu, fired shots into the air and ordered that a photograph of Kataliko be ripped down.
The RCD accuses Kataliko of having whipped up ethnic hatred in his sermons. An additional crime for the RPA was Kataliko’s open support for Augustin Misago, a Rwandan bishop who has been on trial for genocide (he was acquitted last week).
The RPA’s presence is helping stir up ever more extreme anti-Tutsi sentiment in South Kivu, which will linger for decades. The world witnessed this sentiment turning genocidal in Rwanda in 1994, and the tragedy is that in South Kivu the conditions are ripening for this to happen again.