Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has expressed concern over mounting political and ethnic tensions in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), warning that this might spark renewed conflict in the country.
In a report issued recently, the group says additional fighting could undermine the DRC’s uncertain peace process, and lead to human rights abuses in a region that has already become a byword for violations.
Conflict could also worsen the dire humanitarian situation in the DRC.
At present, ”an estimated 31 000 Congolese are dying every month from direct violence or from preventable disease and starvation brought about by insecurity, displacement and lack of access to humanitarian and medical care”, says Amnesty’s report, entitled North Kivu: Civilians Pay the Price for Political and Military Rivalry. The province is located in eastern DRC.
The current instability in the DRC dates back to 1996, when rebels from a Tutsi ethnic group known as the Banyamulenge took up arms against Mobutu Sese Seko to protest against rights abuses — toppling the veteran ruler the following year.
Their campaign was backed by Uganda and Rwanda, which was concerned by the way in which Hutu militants who had helped perpetrate the 1994 genocide were using Congolese territory as a base of operations against the country.
A second round of fighting broke out in 1998 after relations between the DRC’s new president, Laurent Kabila, and his former allies in Rwanda and Uganda soured. This five-year war pitted rebels supported mainly by Uganda and Rwanda against Congolese government forces assisted by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. About 3,5-million people are said to have lost their lives during the conflict, mostly to illness and malnutrition.
Political disputes
Under the terms of the DRC’s peace accords, former combatants from the civil war have joined forces in a power-sharing government that is overseeing preparations for a national poll to be held by June 30 next year.
However, the administration is being held hostage to political disputes between factions that also have an economic interest in maintaining the status quo, notes Amnesty.
”North Kivu is currently the stage on which national political and military antagonisms are being played out,” says the report.
”Far from improving the security climate in North Kivu, the DRC’s transitional authorities at government and provincial levels have allowed a deterioration in the situation, including an inflammation of ethnic tensions, to take place,” it adds.
Radio broadcasts and public gatherings are among the means used to stoke tribal differences.
Unified military needed
Amnesty claims that Congolese factions are showing great reluctance to disarm, hampering their integration into the national army. A unified military is seen as essential to ensuring free and fair elections — and the long-term stability of the DRC.
Where integration is occurring, it is being compromised by the failure to exclude alleged human rights abusers from national forces. The uncertainty surrounding assimilation of various factions has already seen a significant outbreak of violence take place in North Kivu, in December last year.
Amnesty also accuses Rwanda and Uganda of continuing to meddle in the affairs of the DRC by providing support to armed groups in the eastern DRC and — in the case of Rwanda — by deploying troops in the neighbouring state.
The rights organisation acknowledges that the presence of Ugandan and Rwandan militants in the DRC has been used to justify previous incursions by Kampala and Kigali.
But, it goes on to note that ”over time, the Rwandan and Ugandan governments’ claim to be merely exercising a right to self-defence has been weakened by the systematic human rights abuses committed by their forces or by their client Congolese armed groups”.
The operations established by both countries to exploit Congolese resources have also thrown doubt over this claim, it adds.
Recommendations
In its report, Amnesty recommends that an independent body be established to vet military personnel, ensuring that soldiers accused of rights abuses are excluded from the Congolese armed forces and placed under investigation.
It has also called for efforts to restore the DRC’s justice system, and for steps to be taken against those who incite ethnic hostility.
In addition, Amnesty believes the United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC should fully adhere to its mandate of protecting civilians in the eastern DRC. The group has accused the mission, referred to by its French acronym, Monuc, of failing to shield civilians in several instances, and called on the UN to strengthen its position in areas at risk of violence.
While 16 000 peacekeepers have been deployed in the DRC under the auspices of Monuc, they are spread over a vast area. The DRC’s population is estimated at about 53-million.
Jean-Marie Gasana, a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, believes the threats in North Kivu can be contained.
”The issues can be handled — spoilers can be handled,” he says. ”The big issue is to respect the election calendar.”
Denis Kadima, executive director of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, located in Johannesburg, believes there is reason for optimism on this count.
”The registration process is moving peacefully. Even in North Kivu and South Kivu there seems to be no problem,” he said in an interview.
The institute currently has a team in the DRC to monitor electoral preparations and advise on the process. — IPS