After an extended election period marred by instances of violence, mass logistical problems and widespread fraud allegations, yesterday saw four of the 11 Presidential candidates in the DRC calling for an annulment of the polls, citing several  irregularities – including the use of state mechanisms by Kabila, the non-opening of polling stations and the absence of witnesses during vote counting - which they claimed undermined the democratic nature of the proceedings.

In response to the call, Daniel Mgoy Mulunda, head of the electoral commission (CENI), affirmed that the results would NOT be annulled, and invited the four candidates to await results, scolding them for “jumping to conclusions before time”. He defended the election process, stating that only 485 polling stations out of 63,000 had experienced irregularities forwarded by the candidates. “It is less than 1 per cent of polling stations which experienced difficulties, the other 99 per cent functioned well”, noted Mr. Mulunda.

In an interesting twist, Radio Okapi has this evening announced that one of the four candidates had in fact NOT  called for the nullification of results. A representative of Vital Kamerhe – whom many see as the next most popular opposition candidate, after Tshisekedi – reportedly called Radio Okapi this afternoon, stating that Kamerhe had not been amongst those calling for a nullification of results, contrary to a statement given by CENI, and reported by Radio Okapi, yesterday evening.

Tshesekedi too has been mysteriously quiet – possibly due to awareness of the international scrutiny on candidates to maintain peace throughout the country despite diverse issues relating to the elections. Despite the widespread logistical difficulties and late-openings of polling stations inWesternKasaiProvince(his traditional stronghold), whilst denouncing voting irregularities, he has made no move to condemn the outcome of polls. On the contrary, a party spokesperson yesterday announced that UDPS were confidently awaiting Tshisekedi to be confirmed winner upon official publication of results.

This apparent split in opinion does not appear to be limited to Presidential candidates. Observers too have been divided in their reaction to the polls, with a coalition of five independent observation bodies, including the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region releasing a joint statement hailing the “success” of the elections and calling on political stakeholders to “show responsibility” in accepting the outcome of the polls.

Other bodies have not been so forgiving, with a joint observation mission of the European Network for Central Africa (EUrac) and the AETA (Action for transparent and Peaceful Elections) denouncing several logistical and fraud-related incidents reported. In a press statement, they called on CENI to take all necessary measures against ballot papers being tampered with, and to clarify the situation regarding such tampering to the public, and to take such findings into account to ensure the electoral process continues in a “transparent and peaceful way”.

Similarly, as this blog goes to press, the European Union is reportedly undertaking a “Campaign for Peace”, and is approaching all major political parties in an appeal for a peaceful response to the elections. The Ambassador of the European Union in the DRC, Richard Zinck, applauded voting participation but admitted that the polls had been plagued by many problems. Preceding the EU mission releasing their official report tomorrow, Zinck appealed for calm during the counting, compilation and announcement of results, urging all parties to respect the electoral process and reminding them that the only legitmate way to challenge the results was through the official legal channels.

“Peace” and “Calm” appear to be the key words on all international spokesperson’s lips in this tense post-vote moment. International observers are ostensibly growing increasingly worried about prospects for violence in the face of mounting claims of fraud and other voting-related issues which call into question election results. The key figure around which much of the concern revolves is Tshisekedi. Should his name fail to be announced in a weeks time, as he ‘confidently awaits’, many fear that he will incite his followers to violent protest against the elections.

Until time runs out, we are all reduced to playing a watching-and-waiting game. Once the counter is up on this tense waiting period, this time bomb could well explode.

Yesterday voters in the DRC went to the polls in only the second internationally recognised election in the country’s history. The eve of the elections had been a tense one, with increased rebel activity and humanitarian attacks in the country’s fragile east, chronic logistical problems, and an increasingly hardline stand-off between the two main Presidential candidates. Incumbent Joseph Kabila has been President since the death of his father Laurent Kabila in 2001, and was re-elected in internationally endorsed elections in 2006. His greatest rival, long-term opposition Etienne Tshisekedi, has over his extended political career been a minister in Mobutu’s dictatorial regime, a staunch Mobutu rival, Prime Minister (three times), and since 1982, founder and head of the Union pour la Democratie et le Progres (UDPS). Tshesekedi boycotted the 2006 elections claiming fraud, but has this year re-joined the Presidential race, going so far as to pre-emptively declare himself President in the weeks preceding yesterday’s polls.

Voters queuing at the Polls (Courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The elections have thus far been marred by widespread allegations of fraud, ballot stuffing, and a dearth of independent observers. In Kinshasa, many voters were reportedly unable to find their names on the electoral lists and following security incidents in the capital, it has been alleged that police officers seized ballot papers from voters. UN funded Radio Okapi reported that international observers were absent in areas of the capital, as well as elsewhere throughout the country. In Masisi there have been allegations of individuals – including police and military officers – being permitted to vote without official electoral cards. In Kananga, the population reportedly seized stashes of completed voting cards in favour of certain candidates from private residences. In Mbandaka there were accounts of CENI officials refusing (contrary to electoral regulations) to show that ballot boxes were empty before voting began, and of full ballot boxes being found in Western Kasai province. In eastern Congo, Cindy McCain, wife of US Senator John McCain and head of a team of independent observers in Goma, noted that they had encountered a possible case of ballot stuffing, as she found a Presidential ballot box in one station already a third full upon her arrival at dawn, before the opening of the centre. There have been reports of insufficient voting papers in areas where materials were delivered, and of intimidation being used to pressure people into voting for certain candidates. In South Kivu, representatives of the Quaker observation mission noted a lack of voter confidentiality, and significant voting problems related to illiteracy amongst the population.

Abandoned Ballot Papers in Kinshasa (Courtesy of Reuters)

Abandoned Ballot Papers in Kinshasa (Courtesy of Reuters)

Stay tuned for more updates as events unfold.

For videos on the elections and fraud see the Guardian and Al Jazeera

In the early hours of November 13th, four armed men entered a house in Rugenge, Uvira, near the Burundian border. Leaving others outside to assure that no one could intervene, they seized the small amount of money in the house. All four men then proceeded to take it in turns to rape the inhabitant of the house, Nema – a young mother of three.

Following their flight, the local community were able to apprehend one of the attackers, who was identified by the woman in question, and handed over to the local Chef du Quartier (neighbourhood leader). The Chef du Quartier then placed him in the hands of a local police officer. Following this, in a mysterious turn of events, during the short journey to the police station, the attacker managed to “escape” the officer’s clutches, and never made it to his final destination.

This is the latest in a spate of similar rape/robbery incidents which have plagued Kavimvira, a quartier on the outskirts of Uvira. During a particularly grave incident in October, armed men entered a house in the cover of darkness and raped both female inhabitants – a woman, and her ten year old daughter. All three have received medical and psychosocial care, coordinated by a network of local and national NGOs including AMCAV and the ICRC; however sources note that Nema is suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress, and is too fearful to return to her house. In both attacks, vulnerable women seem to have been targeted as easy prey – in the aforementioned instance, the husband and father was allegedly away on business, whilst the most recent attack targeted a widow.

The local community, wary of the petty corruption and paltry protection that Congolese security and justice sectors offer, and outraged at this most recent atrocity which occurred on their doorstep, are unanimously crying – “BRIBE!”, certain that the Chef du Quartier and police officer involved in the incident purposefully released the attacker in exchange for cash. On Monday of last week, a group of around 50 women gathered around the office of the Territorial Administrator for Uvira and the Uvira courtroom, demanding: that the perpetrators be handed over for popular justice; punishment for the Chef du Quartier and police officer involved; and improved security measures to protect the population of Kavimvira.

When their demands were not heard, the following day the women of Kavimvira gathered additional numbers and took to the main street, decorating themselves with garlands and wearing the distinctive Congolese pagnes (brightly coloured and patterned fabrics), and setting up a blockade over the main bridge in Kavimvira, refusing to let traffic or pedestrians through. Their barrier lasted several hours, with the police forces and Territorial Administrator eventually arriving on the scene to break up the protest and clear the through-route.

Upon arrival, the Territorial Administrator asked for 5 female and 5 male representatives to “negotiate” with him in private. Hopeful that their demands would be heard, the protestors quickly named representatives to take part in the discussions. However, in a disappointing reminder of the sour core of the Congolese authorities, an eyewitness noted that the “negotiations” consisted of the government official threatening to have the police open fire on the protestors – a group of around 200 unarmed women and a few men – should they refuse to disperse.

Luckily the Territorial Administrator did not follow through on his bluff, and no one was hurt during the protest, which lasted much of the day. As of the beginning of this week, there appears to have been no action taken to address the protestors’ demands – more updates on the situation to follow.

These most recent non-violent protests, whilst prompted by a tragic set of events, highlight the positive change taking place in the mentality of Congolese women, who are no longer willing to accept impunity and indifference in the face of chronic rape in the DRC. As awareness of women’s rights swells throughout the region, and more follow the examples of the growing number of brave women who have chosen to fight for their rights in “the world’s second most dangerous place to be a woman”, one can only hope that direct, grassroots actions such as last week’s will blossom into a burgeoning women’s rights movement.

« Ça suffit! » the women of Uvira have declared. The question now remains: will the Congolese authorities rise to their responsibilities and heed their peaceful warning?

Yesterday, after weeks worth of rumour and speculation, petit Joseph – the first democratically elected President in the history of the DRC – arrived in Uvira. The seemingly endless Presidential convoy snaked its way through the long central stretch which makes up the heart of the town, with the Presidential family nucleus, including first Lady, greeting the Uvirois on foot.

 They were welcomed amidst much fanfare and an effervescent crowd sporting Kabila’s signature blue and yellow colours. At no doubt colossal expense, a whole manner of paraphernalia has been creatively designed for his campaign – baseball caps, t-shirts, flags, and my personal favourite: headscarves for women (no gender discrimination here!) Over the past week these have been desperately handed out in Uvira to anyone and everyone who would take one, in preparation for the coming of the man who was enthusiastically ushered into the Presidency by Sud Kivutians in 2006. Following the dark times of the previous two decades, people genuinely believed that petit Joseph was what the Congo needed to a bring a peaceful and prosperous future, particularly for the conflict-ridden east.

Kabila Supporter - Photo by Radio Okapi

Kabila Supporter - Photo by Radio Okapi

 Today, the mood was somewhat more sombre. Kabila arrived on the podium to speak before a relatively small crowd gathered at the Cathedral – perhaps 2-3,000 (Uvira and environs have a total population of 200,000). Although greeted enthusiastically, as his speech unfolded, the crowd visibly deflated. He spoke much of development, of the grand plan for Congo– Les 5 Chantiers – improving the key areas of infrastructure, health and education, electricity and water, employment, and housing.

 His speech included much ado about roads – improving  the main road in Uvira (a potholed affair which is only concreted for perhaps two thirds of it’s several mile stretch), his work to re-construct the road leading to Bukavu (which since its completion has been so plagued by armed group attacks that all aid agencies, and most Congolese, take the road through Rwanda instead), the road to Baraka (which involves crossing at least three rivers, and several kilometre stretches of 4 foot-deep mud in the rainy seasons). Schools were next on the agenda – the minister for education is being sent to Uvira to ensure that all primary education is free, apparently.

 As for electricity and water – Kabila’s people are working around the clock to ensure that Uvirois have a constant supply of both. For the moment, even with the SNEL “ligne speciale” in my own house, electricity is available for at most 2-3 hours during the day. For the past 3, we have had none. On the water front, when there is no electricity, there is no water, as REGIDESO does not have the capacity to run the high energy-consuming pumps. In September, my entire quartier was without water for over a week, with people being forced to draw water from the hugely polluted (brown) Kalimabenge river.

 However – people were pleased to hear that Kabila is bringing investment to the region. Yesterday he officially re-launched activities at the rusty sugar refinery in Kiliba (17km north of Uvira), a huge income generator for the area which was abandoned due to financial mis-management and conflict in the mid-1990s. However, not all are convinced by the pomp and circumstance. As one Uvirois confided to me yesterday – “this is all for the campaign, after the elections, it will all be forgotten – the sucrérie is not going to be producing again any time soon”.

 On the conflict and instability that continues to plague the east – in large part due to the under-funded, under-trained, under-resourced and divided national army – the President was brief. “You have seen that since 2006, we have been working to eradicate the instability – and we are getting there, pole pole” (a much-used and most pertinent Kiswahili term meaning slowly slowly).

 The lukewarm greeting from the Uvirois was met with an interesting tone from the President himself – which one couldn’t help but feel verged on begging. “In 2009, you told me that if I re-opened the sucrérie and improved the roads, you would repay me by voting for me again in 2011 – the time has come to repay the debt!”

 Many present, however, remained unconvinced by the somewhat uninspiring discourse: “I don’t agree with what Kabila says” noted one observer: “He continues to lie to the population about what he is going to achieve”. Another exclaimed:” In 2006, he promised us his ‘5 chantiers’ – that was 5 years ago! Now he comes and tells us that he is beginning to improve a road, that he has re-launched the sucrérie yesterday! It is too late.” On the issue of stability, one member of the audience lamented “he talks about peace – is there peace here? No, not total peace.”

 The tepid sentiments of the Uvira constituency were clear for all to see. Following the end of his disappointingly brief 15 minute speech, not even the infuriatingly catchy Kabila theme song could rouse a response. “Votez! Votez! Votez! KA!BI!LA!”, was greeted with indifference, and a slowly disintegrating crowd. Monsieur le President left the building not to cries of ecstatic applause, but to the sighs of hundreds of weary Uvirois.

 Despite the cool reception of Petit Joseph however, it seems that the odds for election victory remain in the incumbent President’s favour. His election strategy so far is quite brilliant in its deviousness. Several months before the elections, he pushed a law through parliament to amend the constitution in favour of a one-round Presidential vote (allegedly through paying each parliamentarian off with a cash ‘gift’ running into the tens of thousands). This means that the candidate with the most votes wins outright -previously the Presidential election was a two-round process, the two candidates with the most votes competing against each other in a final deciding vote. Given the divided state of the opposition, it seems unlikely that another candidate could muster enough support to beat Kabila outright. Moreover, Kabila’s campaign has been beyond lavish, not only in terms of handing out free paraphernalia, but also in terms of advertising – Kabila has bought all of the front-lit billboards in the capitalKinshasafor his campaign, for example.

 If all this wasn’t enough to guarantee success, Kabila has also succeeded in restricting the movements of the top opposition candidates Tshisekedi and Kamerhe. Tshisekedi is currently inSouth Africaand has allegedly been denied landing permission to re-enter the country, and a lack of domestic flights (all filled by Kabila supporters), mean that Kamerhe is also having problems travelling the campaign trail.

 Despite all of the sly strategising, there are deeper reasons too which help to explain why Kabila may win – despite the disappointment of many Sud-Kivutians at his most recent term. People are well-aware of the clientelism and corruption which plagues Congolese politics. Many people recognise that a change of face does not necessarily mean a similar change in the twisted system. Many see Tshisekedi – at 79 – as too old to take the helm. Kamerhe, whilst commanding significant support in his home region, does not enjoy likewise support elsewhere (Read Walter James’ excellent election analysis for details on opposition candidates here).

 Perhaps above all, Kabila for many presents the best chance for peace. Whilst he has promised to step down in the case that he does not win the coming election, the astute Congolese population unanimously expresses it’s disbelief at this prospect. The threat of Kabila using the military to stay in power by force is for many a good enough strategic reason to simply vote him in. After all – who is to say that anyone else will be better anyway? On a positive note, Congo has also seen a much greater level of stability recently than in the past 15 years. Despite continuing insecurity, and a proliferation of armed groups throughout South Kivu, this limited stability has not gone unnoticed. When prompted, many Sud Kivutians will explain that they are voting for Kabila, since, if nothing else, “he has brought us peace”.

It would appear that the Tanzanian government have begun expelling Congolese citizens from their territory on the tense eve of Congolese elections, scheduled for the 28th of this month. UNOCHA reports this week that 398 individuals have been deported from Tanzania to Fizi Territory, following the identification of “irregular migrants” in Nyagurusu, the last remaining camp for Congolese refugees in Tanzania, which currently hosts some 63,000 Congolese refugees who have fled conflict and insecurity in the DRC over the past 15 years.

On the 22nd October the migrants were transferred from Nyagurusu to Kigoma, northern Tanzania, where a boat was waiting to ferry them to the port of Mushimbaki in Baraka. According to the CNR – the refugee agency of the Congolese government – the move follows an announcement that 565 inhabitants with “irregular immigration status” had been identified in the camp, and a warning from the Tanzanian government that they would be expelled from the country.

As perhaps the only consistently stable country of the Great Lakes region, Tanzania has played generous host to huge numbers of refugees from neighbouring Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the DRC over the past few decades. Since 1996, the county has hosted in excess of 150,000 Congolese refugees, as ensuing outbreaks of conflict in the DRC have been accompanied by simultaneous waves of mass displacement. Recent actions on the part of the Tanzanian government however, appear to indicate that patience for refugees to return home is running out.

Rush to Provide Humanitarian Support for Unforeseen Deportee Landing in Baraka

No warning was given for the date of the deportation, which took place over the 22nd and 23rd October, and agencies were caught unawares when the boat carrying over 300 landed on Congolese soil. Similarly, no explanation was given for the irregularity of the individuals concerned, so it is unclear as to how they failed to fulfil conditions for refugee status. Worryingly, whilst the manifest stated that there were 398 deportees onboard, Congolese authorities registered only 337 upon arrival. It is thought that the missing 61 may have escaped during transit in Tanzania.

UNHCR Compound, Uvira

UNHCR Compound, Uvira

Those deported were temporarily accommodated in UNHCR’s transit centre at the port of Mushimbaki, where the Congolese authorities, including the CNR – the refugee agency of the Congolese state – and others including CARITAS, the ICRC and the national Red Cross Society quickly worked to provide humanitarian support. However, the alleged irregular status of the individuals concerned meant that they do not fall under UNHCR’s mandate, nor that of the CNR, and thus after an emergency 48 hour period, agencies were forced to cut off support. The CNR coordinated transport provided by CARITAS for some 130 individuals hailing from Uvira territory, however those from Fizi were left to return home by their own means. Some deportees were from as far away as Kinshasa – some 300km west of Baraka, and Red Cross representatives noted that some of the deportees had been in Nyagurusu for up to 3 years or longer. This prompts the fundamental question – why choose this tense moment for expulsion?

Refugees Under Pressure to Return

Disturbingly, the deportation last week appears to be the most recent in a number of efforts aimed at ousting the long-resident refugee population from Tanzanian territory. Repatriation of Congolese refugees who had fled conflict in the 1990s and early 2000s swiftly progressed between 2005-2009, with over 50,000 refugees returned. However the process stalled 2009 as a result of successive Congolese military operations intended to oust the FDLR, a Rwandan-dominated rebel group based in eastern DRC. The operations had limited military success, but devastating consequences for the civilian population. Over a million were displaced, thousands killed and/or raped, and repatriation resolutely ground to halt.

Rebels on the move

Rebels on the move

Throughout 2011, the Government of Tanzania has been taking increasingly tough measures to re-ignite the repatriation process. These have included “Come and See” and “Go and Tell” visits, facilitated by UNHCR, whereby refugees are given the opportunity to visit home to assess the situation, before returning to the camps and relaying what they have experienced to their compatriots, with situation briefings from UN, government, and other agencies’ staff.

In addition, increasingly coercive push tactics appear to have been employed in Nyagurusu camp, where allegedly rations have been reduced, and markets, shops, churches and schools shut down. Any remaining doubts of the government’s determination to see the camp emptied were resolutely crushed at a June meeting of the Tripartite Commission on Return (made up of the Congolese and Tanzanian governments and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency). Talks broke down as Tanzania announced a deadline of February 2012 for all refugees to be returned – a proposition which overtly violates international refugee law. At a more recent meeting of the tri-partite commission, one source reported that the Tanzanian government had gone so far as to demand that UNHCR provide transport for the mass deportation executed last week:

“They were effectively saying, ‘Take them, we have had enough!’ They want to show their determination for Congolese refugees to leave.”

However, in refugee law and UNHCR guiding principles, refugee return must be voluntary, and must take place in conditions of safety and dignity. Most notably, the cornerstone of refugee law is the principle of non-refoulement, whereby states are expressly forbidden from returning refugees to “territories where their life or freedom would be threatened”.

Threats to Life and Freedom in Fizi and Uvira Territories

Fizi Territory, where the 398 individuals were deported by the Tanzanian authorities, is currently experiencing chronic insecurity and outright armed conflict. Clashes between the FARDC (the Congolese national army) and Mai Mai Yakutumba, a local militia group, have escalated since August of this year. The group has taken control of the Ubwari Peninsula, displacing several thousand people, raping women throughout the area, and kidnapping Fizi’s Financial Administrator in the process. They have attacked Baraka – the largest urban centre in the territory, ambushed an NGO convoy killing 7 people, and allegedly this week attacked Kabumbe, a village approximately 14km from Uvira, causing the entire population to flee. Aid and development agencies – including Oxfam, Tear Fund and GiZ – have pulled out all but essential staff from the territory, and UNOCHA this week warned that if insecurity persisted, travel in the region may soon become impossible without an armed UN escort vehicle.

UN Peacekeeping Mission in the DRC - MONUSCO

UN Peacekeeping Mission in the DRC - MONUSCO

This is not only the case in Fizi. Uvira Territory, where the remainder of those deported were returned, is also suffering from increasing levels of violence and armed activity in the lead up to the presidential elections, scheduled for less than a month’s time. In Marungu, situated in the Moyen Plateau of Uvira, the UN Protection Cluster reports that at least 8 NGO vehicles were attacked in the space of a month and a half by armed groups. Movement of the Mai Mai group Bede towards a village near Lemera in the Moyen Plateau this month caused the flight of 64 households, leaving the village of Kahanda deserted. Inter-ethnic tensions and ensuing clashes between Banyamulenge and Bembe communities in Itombwe – part of the Haut Plateau of Uvira – have left three dead and four wounded in this past week. Over the past month, several buses carrying civilians between Uvira and Bukavu have been attacked by armed groups, who have proceeded to steal money and goods, and in one case, attacked passengers with machetes.

Sexual violence remains at chronic levels throughout the entire east of the country, with countless women, children and in some cases men, targeted on a daily basis with violent attacks. All groups – including the national army – are equally implicated such acts of heinous violence.

The entire province of South Kivu is on high alert. One can’t help but feel the presence of armed groups on the fringes of urban centres more intimately than usual, bristling with nervous energy and breathing down our necks. Everyone is poised for something, though as yet no one is sure exactly what. Aid agencies are gradually cutting down staff to ensure a minimum presence for the elections. Workers are taking extended holidays, attending trainings elsewhere, or arranging to lie-in-wait in neighbouring countries as the election process unfolds. The minimum staff staying are attending UN meetings on evacuation, discussing emergency radio procedures, having their houses registered and evaluated by UN troops, discussing the security incidents of the day and the heightened army presence in hushed tones over a cold Primus before rushing home so as not to be outdoors after the 9pm Uvira-wide curfew. Of course, all of these are precautionary measures, and as UN security services remind us, should not be taken as a sign of certain unrest and violence to come, as such prophesies are dangerous: they have a tendency to become self-fulfilling.

Looming Elections: The Ultimate Test for Congo

Back in Tanzania, the refugee population does not live in ignorance of these facts. There are extended lines of communication between Nyagurusu and South Kivu, and Congolese refugees are well informed of insecurity, and the risks associated with the coming elections – only the second in Congo’s history. This is the principal reason, amongst others, for which they choose not to return during this fragile period of watching and waiting. They know, just as the 41 agencies who released a joint statement yesterday do, that:

“This election in [DR] Congo is the ultimate test. Is [DR] Congo on course to consolidate its fledgling democracy or return to a state of widespread instability, insecurity and violence?”

That the Government of Tanzania should attempt to force Congolese refugees out at such a fragile moment for the DRC, is not only irresponsible and morally wrong, but illegal according to international refugee law. The expulsion of these 398 deemed “irregular migrants” is sadly something that the government cannot be held accountable for: those who do not possess refugee status are not entitled to international protection from non-refoulement. However, this sets a dangerous precedent, and – as the last in a long line of activities aimed at ousting Congolese from Nyagurusu – sends a strong message to the 63,000 deemed “true” refugees by the Tanzanian authorities: “You are no longer welcome here.”

In the last edition of this blog, we saw how multiple shifting kingdoms made up eastern DRC prior to colonisation, and how their power was gradually eroded as the slave trade swelled to chronic levels, particularly under arab-Swahili businessman-turned-King Tippu Tip, who stripped the region of its human and material resources throughout much of the 19^th century.

It is at this point which Henry Morton Stanley becomes a key figure in the history of theCongo. The explorer was made famous by his explorations throughout theCongo, notably his hunt, on behalf of the New York Herald, to find David Livingstone, the explorer long-lost in the deepest heart ofAfrica. This he did, during a meeting on the eastern banks ofLake Tanganyikawhich later became legend:

 “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

It was during his quest for Livingstone and subsequent exploratory missions along the Congo river thatStanleyencountered the slave trade which was devastating the east. Apparently genuinely appalled by what he found, he took news of the enterprise back to Europe, allegedly harbouring hopes that his home country, Britain, would take theCongointo its colonial mother-fold. His disappointment by the British Empire’s disinterest did not last long, as King Leopold of Belgium expressed his desire to ‘civilise’ the vast territories at the centre ofAfrica’s continent.

King Leopold’s Reign

 In 1979 Leopold created the Association International du Congo – (AIC) a “humanitarian organisation” charged with bringing civilisation and development to the Congo. He enlisted Stanley to begin convincing village chiefs along the south-eastern most banks of the Congo River to sign agreements handing over their territorial and trading rights. The Chiefs, mostly unwittingly, and often following intimidating displays of the awesome destructive power of Belgium’s latest weaponry, signed away all of their authority to the AIC.

By 1884, when the Berlin Conference took place – the event at which the Colonial powers sat and carved up the African continent as they saw fit: into that bizarre jumble of lines, many clumsily drawn straight with a ruler, which we have since expected Africans to see as the rightful borders of their nation states – Leopold stepped forward with his mission for the Congo. He offered to take the DRC on as his own personal humanitarian project, and promised to rid the region of slavery, civilise it’s population, and – best of all – declare the entire territory a ‘free trade zone’ for all. One can’t help but wonder if he ended his speech on: ‘NOW HOW’S THAT FOR A SLICE OF FRIED GOLD, COLONIALISTS?!’

“HURRAH!!” they cheered as one, congratulating Leopold on his selflessness and kindness of spirit for promising to civilise those helpless Africans, whilst simultaneously giving capitalism a big fat leg-up.

And so the Congo Free State, now a personal belonging of King Leopold, was born.

King Leopold’s humanitarian mission was in reality the ironic front for a draconian system of forced labour and terrorisation of the population, which he used to enrich his own fortune beyond belief, whilst keeping out other powers to prevent them from gaining access to Congo’s resources, or giving away his dirty secret to the rest of the world. Soon after the Berlin Conference, the invention of the pneumatic tyre sent demand for rubber soaring. The population of theCongo, with their own labour, sweat, blood, and no doubt tears, were soon providing ten per cent of the world’s overall rubber production.

Leopold’s Force Publique, an army (for want of a more fitting word, since armies are designed to protect their native population) made up of Belgian officers and African mercenaries, provided ‘encouragement’ for the local population’s toils. Cripplingly high rubber quotas were set for each village, and when these were not fulfilled, punishment was doled out in the form of kidnappings of local women, children and Chiefs, burning and killing, or if one was lucky, lashes with the chicotte (a lethal whip made out of dried hippopotamus hide), or mutilation of limbs and genitals. Since the Belgian officers of the Force Publique were held accountable for each bullet used, they developed a highly creative catalogue of sadistic corporal punishments for those who failed to meet their impossible targets (again, any of this sound familiar, people?). Rebellions and resistance were swiftly and violently crushed.

The Congo Reform Association and the Demise of the Congo Free State

Despite Leopold’s best efforts to keep prying eyes out of his prize investment, a few individuals, having witnessed the tyrannical enterprise, began campaigning for an end to Leopold’s sadistic enterprise. Most notable were Roger Casement and Edmund Morel, who in 1904 formed the Congo Reform Association – one of the worlds first ever human rights advocacy organisations, and a precursor to organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and The Advocacy Project. Their campaigning eventually resulted in Leopold facing overwhelming pressure to hand over the Congo Free State to the Belgian authorities.

In 1908, leaving the Congo in over one hundred million Belgian francs-worth of debt, Leopold eventually conceded to hand over his experiment to Belgium for the sweet sum of 50 million Belgian francs paid to him personally, in acknowledgement of his valiant efforts to “develop” the region. It was calculated later that his draconian regime had succeeded in halving the Congolese population; an incredible endeavour if one considers that his reign lasted little over 14 years. This means that some 10 million people had either died or fled the region as a result of the regime.

Belgian Rule

Satisfied with the outcome of events, the Congo Reform Association dissolved, and the colonial powers were left unscrutinized. The Belgian government did indeed make some changes – infrastructure projects were put in place to support burgeoning material extraction, and it was decided that kidnapping women and children probably wasn’t an acceptable punishment after all. However, as the demand for rubber was displaced by one for cotton and precious minerals, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga began establishing mines deeper and deeper into the continent, and forced labour re-intensified.

Throughout the C20th, the Belgian powers kept a tight reign on the country, and the Congolese were forcibly repressed and treated as second class human beings, referred to as macaques – monkeys – by scornful Belgian settlers and authorities. “Pas d’elites, pas d’ennemies” (no elites = no enemies) was the motto of the day, as the Belgians believed that an educated black middle class may start getting audacious ideas regarding, oh, freedom from colonial repression and the right to self-rule, perhaps? It was only in 1950 that the Congolese population received citizenship status and voting rights, and upon Belgium’s incredibly hasty withdrawal in 1960, at independence only seventeen Congolese had received a university education.

And so, after over a hundred years of slavery, forced labour, colonisation and oppression, the Congolese people were – in the blink of an eye – left to rule their vast, rich, and diverse country with an educated elite numbering less than twenty. A staunch foundation for a peaceful and prosperous future, no?

Stay tuned for the next edition of A Brief History of Slavery, Colonisation, Conflict and Rape in the DRC for Mobutu’s corrupted 30 year rule and the devastating conflict that has rocked the DRC since his demise in 1994.

It is easy in the context of contemporary society to look upon the situation in the Congo as an incomprehensible and inexplicable phenomenon. The atrocities that occur across the country on such a regular and continual basis, once shocking headlines that touched people the world over, have become commonplace. “Another mass rape in the Congo?” we ask ourselves. “So awful. Those poor women.” But what to do in the face of such mindless brutality? Since there’s no explaining such actions, there is no hope of putting a stop to them. One can’t help but feel that amongst those who struggle to understand the conflict in the DRC (nearly all of us, since it is not an easy conflict to comprehend), even the most politically correct reserve some small part of their consciousness in which they dismiss rape survivors as victims, helpless to escape the violations of the actors involved – madmen and savages. However, such a conception of events is a dangerous thing. It is this pervading mentality that allows us to sit back and do nothing. After all, if there is no explanation for the actions of those who violate, there can be no solution to the problem. So we can sit idle, safe in the knowledge that: “There’s-nothing-that-we-can-do-but-anyway-isn’t-it-a-shame-that-those-poor-Congolese-women-are-suffering-at-the-hands-of-those-immoral-savages? Well – they didn’t call it the Heart of Darkness for nothing”.

This is far from the case. Do a little digging, and explanations quickly emerge. Sexual violence in the Congo is a complex and multi-faceted issue, with roots in historical, political, economic, societal, cultural and psychological factors. There is no quick-fix quotation which can hope to explain rape in the Congo. Instead, a more nuanced understanding is necessary. The following blog hopes to contribute to this in providing a concise account of Congo’s recent brutal history – a key factor in the continuing instability and thus persistent sexual violence perpetrated throughout the East.

Pre-Colonial Eastern Congo in a Nutshell

Prior to colonisation in the 19th century, the region which is now the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo was made up of various shifting kingdoms. Most recently, the Luba Kingdom, the Lunda Kingdom and the Kingdom of Garangaze formed the central and eastern-most areas of the DRC. Such kingdoms were extremely sophisticated and well organised, engaging in organised fishing operations, palm oil extraction, metal mining and working, and trade towards the Indian Ocean.

Throughout the 19th century, these kingdoms saw their power gradually eroded by new states cropping up, and most significantly, ever-growing and increasingly brutal slave trade. The brutal slave trade in eastern Congo had been active for centuries prior to the C19th, but was now snatching away the strongest and best and leaving devastation in its wake at an unprecedented rate. The C19th saw Arab-Swahili traders enjoying a monopoly on this brutal and burgeoning enterprise, with them setting up the first slave fort in Nyangwe in 1860. The mercenaries charged gathering slaves partook in notoriously sadistic and violent practices, routinely kidnapping and raping the children and women of whichever area they were targeting, razing entire villages to the ground, and killing indiscriminately (sound familiar, anyone?).

Tippu Tip, an Arab-Swahili businessman employed by the sultans of Zanzibar, was the key figure in the eastern slave trade at this point. He effectively stripped the region of its key human and material resources throughout the latter half of the 19th century, marching westwards with an army of 50,000 men in search of ivory and slaves, and setting up his own state briefly between Lake Tanganyika and the northeast corner of the Congo River. The famous explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, was apparently so horrified by the brutality of his enterprise in the east, that he described it as “bearing fire and spreading carnage with lead and iron […] 118 villages and 43 districts have been devastated […] The outcome from the territory with its millions of souls is 5,000 slaves, obtained at the cruel expense of 33,000 lives!”

This discovery and disgust at the horror of the slave trade in the Congo should have led to a better future for the people of what is now the DRC. On the premise of halting the devastation of the slave trade and improving the lives of the Congolese, King Leopold began to campaign for himself to personally rule over the region, creating a ‘humanitarian’ organisation to develop and civilise the Congo. Instead, he clandestinely created a vicious and repressive system of forced labour which brutalised and exploited the Congolese population, perhaps to an even greater extent than the slave traders who came before him.

Stay tuned for the next edition of A Brief History of Slavery, Colonisation, Conflict and Rape in the DRC for more on the devastating effects of King Leopold’s reign of the DRC.

This week finally saw the launching of our 2011 Ahadi Project. This is our main advocacy project in the Congo, where we strive to give women who have been victim to sexual violence an international platform to denounce the crimes that have been committed against them, and to share their vision of a better future for the women of Congo. The project uses embroidery as both an art therapy and advocacy tool, as women commission a local artist to draw an image which holds importance for them, and which they wish to share with the international community, and they then embroider the image onto a cloth panel.

The programme was launched in 2010 by Sylvie Bisangwa, last years AP Peace Fellow in the DRC, who worked tirelessly with women in SOS FED’s centres to record and share their messages with the outside world. Her project culminated in several ‘Ahadi Quilts’ being sewn together by women’s quilting groups in the United States, which have since been exhibited around the world to raise awareness about the issue of violence against women in the DRC.

 This year, we have decided to add an income-generating aspect to the Ahadi project. As previously, women are commissioning images which are of particular significance from them and embroidering them onto panels; however this year all of the women who participate in the scheme will receive payment for her work. We will be attaching the embroidered panels to specially made shoulder bags and selling them in theUnited Statesand elsewhere, so that women all over the world will be carrying the messages of those in Congo with them.

When I arrived in Mboko on Monday, embroidery was in full swing, and the local tailor was on hand drawing up prototype bags for us to choose from. Women were sitting in the green shade of the SOS FED garden, out of the glare of the equatorial sun, surrounded by brightly coloured material, thread, and gorgeous chubby little babies of varying ages. Their images paint a kaleidoscopic picture of the disproportionate negative impact that conflict has had on women in the DRC, of what it means to be a woman in Fizi territory today, and of what they hope the future will bring for them and their daughters in years to come. Sitting chatting with these women, who have known infinitely more than their fair share of violence, conflict, and instability – and have lived to tell the tale, and keep hoping that tomorrow will bring a brighter future – several issues quickly emerge at the forefront of discussion. 

Amani Leo: Peace Now

 The first thing which the women unanimously make clear is simple: “the women of Congo want an end to war – we want peace”. After over a decade of experience, they have learned that if the conflict is not brought to an end, and stability achieved, the women ofCongo will continue to suffer the brunt of abuses at the hands of armed groups.  The vast majority of the women, when asked what should be done to end the conflict, stressed the role of the international community – perhaps a reflexion of their disappointment at how little interest the world seems to have in solving the problems – incomprehensible to many outside the country – which continue to plague the DRC. They highlight the importance of putting external pressure on the Congolese government, who have as yet proved incapable or unwilling to end instability in the East of their own accord.

Amani Leo (Peace Now in Swahili) – their latest attempt to bring peace to the region – has spectacularly failed to curb armed activity and attacks on women.Fizi Territory has seen an increase in abuses since Mai-Mai Yakutumba took control of theUbwariPeninsula at the end of August, with open battles between them and Congolese army forces sending thousands of residents fleeing towards Baraka, and sending several new rape victims to our centre in Kikonde. Other Mai-Mai groups, such as Mupekenya which operates from the hills near to Mboko, have also shown increasing signs of violent activity, with pillaging of vehicles and rape on the rise throughout August and September.

 Justice and Human Rights Training for Perpetrators: The Role of the State

 If “Peace Now”, is the top refrain from women in the centres, the runner-up slot most definitely goes to challenging the impunity that rapists currently enjoy. Women involved in the Ahadi project overwhelmingly stated the government bringing perpetrators of sexual violence to justice as a fundamental part in curbing sexual violence. Currently, the number of rapists brought before court, much less prosecuted, is miniscule. Whilst irregular armed groups are evidently above the law due to their rebel status and the remote locations in which they preside, the national army also enjoys impunity when it comes to crimes against women.

 Rebellious factions which have in the past defected and committed horrendous attacks of mass rape, have been welcomed back into the army with little more than a slap on the wrists, as the government fear worse consequences if they are allowed to persist outside of the national army structure. The power which this fear gives rebellious army factions sets a dangerous precedent, as it becomes clear that there are no negative consequences for brutalising the very women whom they are tasked with protecting. However, this said, it would appear that recent restructuring and training have had a positive effect on army units. Several of the women in Mboko stressed the importance of educating soldiers on human and women’s rights, and noted that soldiers who had been through recent re-training would no longer abuse women.

The Complexities of Rape: Ambivalence in Society and Culture

 The final, and perhaps most complex, issue which becomes clear when talking to women involved in the Ahadi project is the impact of culture and society on violence against women in Eastern DRC.  Herein lie both a hindrance and a help to the achievement of respect for women’s rights. Many women noted the importance of bringing rebels back from the bush and into the bosom of society – into the net of social norms and restrictions which restrict an individuals behaviour, and inhibit neighbours from committing abuses against neighbours.  “If the groups came down from the hills and we all lived together, there would be no problem – they would no longer rape”, noted one woman. However, on the other hand, Ahadi participants universally noted that one of the greatest problems that they faced was a lack of respect for women, and women’s rights – an issue they insist is historically embedded in the culture in Fizi territory. “In the past, women have been considered like objects, and their husbands as their ‘owners’”, explains one woman. Others highlight issues of stigmatisation of society towards victims of sexual abuse, and women’s exclusion from the community if it emerges that they have been raped: “many women keep quiet – they are scared that their husbands will throw them out – that they will have nowhere to go”.  

Such women underline the importance of education in empowering women and tackling discrimination: “If a woman is educated, she can know her rights – she can’t be sold like before.” Many also stress the importance of male and community education on human rights and sexual violence: “All of our husbands and brothers need to be educated about sexual violence and domestic violence – they need to understand that violence against women is not the women’s fault.”

Tackling Violence Against Women and Promoting Womens Rights: Mutually Reinforcing Dynamics

 Talking to the women in Mboko then, it becomes clear that many believe tackling sexual violence and promoting women’s rights in the Congoare not just a case of bringing to an end the longstanding conflict which has so negatively impacted on Congolese women for so long. For women to truly take their rightful place in Congolese society, combating instability must go hand in hand with empowering women through education and tackling pervading attitudes which portray women as inferior at both the national and the local level. As Binwa, pictured below, proudly asserts: “Women are also intelligent – they can also contribute to the development of our country”.

Yesterday I met a graceful Bembe woman inFizi Territory. Settling herself down in the dim light of the tiny mud hut where seven of us are squeezed, she takes her baby boy from her back – where she always carries him with her, as all Congolese women do. She allows him to suckle her nipple and he quickly falls asleep, contented in his mother’s lap. As she begins to speak, even in the sombre light that filters through the net curtain which hangs in the door frame, I notice the haunted look in her eyes. She tells me that she has been raped 18 times this year.

 In five separate attacks since June 1^st, Eve has been raped by a total of 18 unknown armed men. During the first attack, three armed men in military uniform entered her home and bound her husband’s hands and feet together before kidnapping her and taking her up into the hills, where they proceeded to take turns at raping her. In each of the other incidents, she was attacked whilst working in her fields – a long walk from her home into the hills west ofLake Tanganyika.

 Like the vast majority of families in Fizi    Territory, Eve’s family survive on subsistence farming. If she does not cultivate, they do not eat. For this simple reason, despite the numerous attacks she suffered, Eve continued to make the journey to her fields, despite the terror she felt at the thought that it could happen again. And it did. ‘They say that she is traumatised, that she jumps at the slightest noise, terrified that they will attack her again’, Amisi Mas, programme coordinator for SOS Femmes en Danger, tells me her family has recounted before we meet Eve.

 Five attacks? Has she been specifically targeted, we ask ourselves? The perhaps more disturbing answer is ‘No’. Eve, it appears, like so many women in South Kivu, has been attacked at random, because she is there, because her attackers have a gun, impunity, and nothing else to their name.  In some cases, she was raped whilst alone. In the third attack, in August, five men raped several women – including, it emerges – a friend sitting next to Eve, a tiny, sprightly woman who nervously plucks at her short braids and giggles with hilarity when I ask, for the third time, whether they are sure they are happy for me to take a photo of Eve and her son.

 Several things become clear to me during, and in the fretful hours after our encounter with Eve. The first is that many, many more women are suffering from violent sexual attacks than we have realised. Eve, despite the numerous attacks and her relative proximity to support services (she lives along the main road between Baraka and Uvira, near to SOS FED’s rape aftercare centre in Mboko and the hospital in Nundu), has approached no one for medical care or psychological support. SOS FED employees have found her through hearsay and painstaking enquiry.

 The social stigmatisation that is attached to rape in Congo is so deep-seated that women choose to hide it even from those closest to them – their families and communities – fearing the repercussions should they speak out and seek help. Eve is actually one of the more fortunate women in this sense – even though her husband knows about the attacks, he has not cast her out of the family home, as many do. However some in the community are not so benevolent: “Her husband has not rejected her, but others in the community are putting pressure on him to do so – ‘She is the wife of those armed men now’, they say – ‘She should be ashamed’.” So Eve has been keeping a low profile, staying with a local priest. Not only has she never sought care, she has never officially reported the multiple attacks.

 The United Nations Fund for Population Analysis (UNFPA), has since January been running a data mapping programme inSouth Kivu, in an attempt to map the location, numbers and perpetrators of attacks on women throughout the region. InFiziTerritory, local partner Arche d’Alliance and other organisations are charged with identifying and logging cases of rape using UNFPA-designed referral forms. Between January and April, such organisations logged only 118 cases throughout Fizi – a territory of over 40,000km², and host to at least five armed rebel groups. Women like Eve – who no doubt run into their hundreds, perhaps thousands – have not been identified, treated or protected from such attacks. Off the radar and hidden from view they suffer alone, receiving support from neither their families, communities, national government, nor the international community.

 It becomes obvious, speaking to Eve and those around her, that the vast majority of women refuse to seek the help of the paltry few organisations like SOS FED who can provide the support they need. Following a spate of attacks in August, SOS FED have discovered through village to village visits a possible 70 rape victims who have not come forward for help, only in this past month. Actors at all levels have consistently underestimated and under-acknowledged the extent to which fear of stigmatisation deters women from seeking help and reporting attacks. Eve’s story illustrates the desperate need to address the issue of sexual violence at its deepest roots – the position of women in Congolese society.

 It further emphasises the incapacity, or worse, unwillingness, of the Congolese state to address the issue of armed groups inSouth Kivu. The men who attacked them, insist Eve and her friend, were part of Mupekenya, a Mai-Mai group based in the hills west of Mboko. Mupekenya, indignant at what they perceive as the ‘Rwandisation’ of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) following the recent incorporation of several rebel groups, including the tutsi-dominated CNDP, refuse to give up their arms or join the FARDC themselves. Their reluctance is also perhaps due to an acknowledgement that the insufficient rations, equipment and salaries make joining the FARDC a less attractive option than surviving off banditry and pillaging local populations.

 This tactic, initiated by the brutal Belgian colonial ‘Force Publique’ in the 1880’s, and infamously endorsed by Mobutu in post-colonial times, is most recently perpetuated by Mupekenya and the numerous other rebel groups that plague South Kivu and the rest of the DRC. For them, laying down arms is unappealing in the current context of chronic unemployment and underdevelopment inSouth Kivu, where 84.7% of the population live under the poverty line.

 Discussing the issue of banditry on the journey back to Uvira, the words of a Congolese friend came to mind. We were discussing an abandoned sugar refinery in Kiliba, 17km north of Uvira, which the government has been talking of re-opening for several years, when he brought up the issue of rebel groups. ‘If they re-opened the factory and they knew there were jobs, that day they would come down from the hills and give up their arms. Do you think they enjoy living up there, with no home, no family, no possessions apart from their gun? They too suffer.’

 This is not to say, of course, that underdevelopment, unemployment and dissatisfaction with government policy excuses individuals who choose to commit violent sexual attacks against innocent women like Eve. However, understanding the historical, political and economic context which has created and sustains rebel groups and their abuses is fundamental to disbanding them and combating sexual violence in theCongo. What we do not need is more hysterical, analysis-free reporting of African savages raping powerless female victims. What we do not need is more empty rhetoric about addressing the issue of sexual violence in the DRC. What is needed is a genuine and sustained effort on the parts of actors at all levels to stamp out sexual and gender-based violence in theCongo. This includes the Congolese national government, the international community, Congolese civil society organisations and communities at the local level.

 In the short term, work by organisations such as SOS FED and Arche d’Alliance to de-stigmatize rape must be vastly expanded. Their community education initiatives introduce women’s rights to community leaders and work to transform harmful mindsets which portray rape as the victim’s fault. Such initiatives have been shown to produce real results at the local level. The international community and Congolese civil society should invest in and support such initiatives to encourage community acceptance of victims, and the recourse to support services and reporting of attacks. Similarly, the international community and particularly the Congolese government must fulfil their responsibility to provide access to free medical care for victims of sexual violence, something which is needlessly and sorely lacking in many parts ofSouth Kivu. Local civil society organisations and the international community should support prevention initiatives such as the communal cultivation and access to nearby water sources practised by SOS FED, which should be used as a model elsewhere.

 In the medium term, the UNFPA, with the support of the Congolese government, the international community, and local partners, must improve the reliability and coverage of the commendable sexual violence data-mapping project which they have begun. Similarly, MONUSCO – the UN stabilisation mission in theCongo– and NGO partners should improve their programmes to focus on rapid alert and response networks to attacks on women in accessible areas.

 Perhaps most importantly, in the medium to long term there are several initiatives that the Congolese government, with support from the international community, must take to combat sexual violence. Firstly, they must work to improve security through reform and professionalization of the FARDC – who are perhaps equally as guilty of abuses as armed rebel groups – through offering improved salaries, rations, equipment and training, including civilian protection and international humanitarian law training. Additionally, they must work to eradicate armed groups and the instability and abuses they perpetuate. Such work necessarily includes a multi-pronged approach, including security measures such as widening the scope of FARDC civilian protection and re-gaining territory currently under rebel control. Equally important is good governance, including comprehensive political reform – genuinely committing to improving basic government services and accountability. Finally, a key component of stabilisation includes providing development and investment initiatives to stimulate the local economy and present tangible alternatives to those who may otherwise resort to joining armed groups.

 These are real and genuinely achievable measures which would have a tangible impact on the lives of Congolese women. There is no longer an excuse to plead ignorance, to perpetuate inaction. We have ignored and failed the women ofCongofor far too long. Eve, and the countless others like her, are a testament to the immeasurable resilience and strength of Congolese women. They deserve better.