[Rather than write three separate entries concerning three recent items of note in Uvira, I decided to combine them for the sake of ease in posting considering an increasingly rare internet connection as of late.]

Vesta Co-op party to benefit Tunza Mazingira

Vesta Co-op party to benefit Tunza Mazingira

First, thanks to Vesta Cooperative House in East Lansing, Michigan for ‘partying with a purpose’ on behalf of an AP partner in eastern Congo. Vesta Co-op opened their doors to MSU students and community members last Friday from 9 pm to the wee hours of the morning in order to benefit AP partner Tunza Mazingira (‘Protect the Environment’ in Swahili) and the alternative cooking fuel program which was started this last year by Tunza field worker Clément Kitambala. As Tunza believes that environmental protection equates with civilian protection in the eastern Congolese context, alternative cooking fuel has become a major focus of Tunza’s work. Congolese women regularly risk their personal safety to go into the forests to collect firewood (making them increasingly vulnerable to violence and rape at the hands of the ever-present active armed groups), or sacrifice their stressed family budgets to purchase expensive traditional ‘makala’ in town to cook, which rises weekly in price in response to growing insecurity in the zones where it is produced and increasing scarcity of eucalyptus, which is used to produce makala and is being rampantly deforested.

Vesta Co-op raised over $800 for further development of Clément’s program with alternative cooking briquettes, which are composed of organic waste and offer a multitude of environmental, economic, and security-related benefits for Congolese civilians, which you can read about in greater detail here. The money will go directly to Tunza Mazingira, and will allow us to 1) build three new briquette presses, 2) offer small loans to women cooking and selling road-side food using alternative cooking fuel, 3) give work to 12 demobilized girls coming out of armed groups (which decreases the likeliness of their rejoining militias due to lack of income), who are making and selling alternative briquettes and will do so on a larger scale in the coming weeks with the new presses, and 4) spread awareness throughout Uvira on the benefits of using the briquettes in place of wood or makala-based cooking fires. Vesta Co-op’s generosity (and that of all the party goers) has jump-started Clément’s work in Uvira, and everyone from Tunza’s staff sends their sincere thanks to the co-opers and everyone responsible for organizing the party, making food, buying/drinking booze, and collecting money. All this sort of makes me wish I was still in college…To check out what an East Lansing paper wrote about the benefit, look here.

Watu wenge sana

Watu wenge sana

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Secondly, and completely unrelated, is the status of the Kimya II operation to ‘throw out or kill’ thousands of FDLR rebels in South Kivu. I could merely quote the pro-government propaganda aired each night on national radio which says that all is going well and that the FDLR are on their way to extinction, but instead I’d like to offer you a linguistic clue as to what the status of the operation is.

Currently, if you have severe diarrhea in Uvira, you will say (if you are up on local slang), ‘Nasikia Kimya II kabisa.’ [literally, ‘I have serious Kimya II’]. This uncomfortable, dangerous, and frequent killer of civilians used to be called ‘kuhara’ (the literal translation of ‘diarrhea’ into Swahili), but is now simply called ‘Kimya II’. This pretty much sums the operation up. N.B. According to the 2008 IRC mortality report for Congo, diarrhea is one of the primary contributors to the 30,000 or so civilians dying each month due to ‘war related’ causes in eastern Congo, which include lack of housing and clean water due to populations fleeing combat, ruined clinics and lack of medical care, and a variety of other problems intensified and unaddressed in light of the insecurity here. Thus, the sense of this recent addition to the ‘Uvira dictionary’ seems pretty clear. The people have spoken and offered a pretty candid approximation on Kimya II’s recent results. Having had no running water in three weeks, everyone in Uvira is starting to feel a bit of ‘Kimya II’ one way or another.

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Thirdly, AP partner SOS Femmes en Danger and I were finally able to arrange the much awaited arrival of the uniforms and school supplies so kindly donated by Diane Von Furstenburg in the villages of Kazimia, Kikonde, and Mboko. The uniforms and supplies benefited children of single mothers, widows, and victims of sexual violence. A small gap in fighting opened up the roads for movement South from Uvira, and now lots of kids are back in class, albeit a bit late. A bad omen for the immediate future emerged when combat resumed as the trip was coming to an end, with Mai-Mai vs. FARDC battles in Kikonde and Mboko (even in heavily populated Baraka town), and FDLR occupation and partial burning of a village 4 km from Kazimia.

One of over 200 DVF sponsored students in her school's office in Kikonde

One of over 200 DVF sponsored students in her school's office in Kikonde

Nevertheless, thanks very much to Diana Von Furstenburg for making it possible for so many kids in Fizi to continue their studies. The regulations at schools in Congo are fairly draconian concerning the requirement of new uniforms for incoming students, so ‘le rentre’ would have been impossible for a lot of kids without the DVF support. Now, if only security can improve a bit to create an atmosphere where studying can happen without fear and without firefights drowning out recitations and lessons.

Ned Meerdink

Yesterday, I was traveling to Lubarika, a small village on Uvira’s Haut Plateau. The Haut Plateau is a mountainous region of South Kivu which begins just east of Bukavu (somewhere near Shabunda) and flows south into Fizi Territory. The villages of the Haut Plateau surrounding Uvira have recently been the site of large movements of IDPs Iinternally displaced persons) fleeing the advance of FDLR troops in their area. Arche d’Alliance was working in Lubarika in order to get a sense of the amount of IDPs moving in the area in light of FDLR attacks over the last week, as well as to attempt to establish a more unified procedure for registering the IDPs moving into Lubarika. Lots if interesting aspects to the IDP crisis around Uvira were made abundantly clear during the visit.

First, the FDLR is quite active in the area. The morning of our arrival, the FDLR rebels had attacked villages just 3 or 4 km from Lubarika. They burned and pillaged houses and sent a large exodus of IDPs fleeing for Lubarika, where Kimya II forces are providing some sense of security. More details of these attacks will probably come to the surface over the next few days, but as we were in the area the morning of, we were given extremely limited amounts of information.

Secondly, we learned that in Lubarika the Kimya II troops, while not trusted by everyone, are making efforts to keep calm in the region. Interviews with newly arrived IDPs revealed that the current FARDC Kimya II soldiers in the area are overwhelmed but have not recently been involved in any extensive pillaging or sexual violence (this is as well just partial information, as not much time has passed to reveal any possible violations by the Kimya II force). We saw their patrols on the road, and they looked, frankly, worn out and ill-prepared to do much more than patrol. The fact that the FDLR was pillaging and burning villages at 3 km seems to corroborate this observation.

In addition, we saw first-hand the importance of an analysis of ‘carrying capacity’ of a community when considering IDP movements. One of the problems beginning to show in Lubarika is that IDPs will arrive from as far as Mwenga (100 km west) with almost nothing at all. They will then look to the Lubarika community to offer what they can in terms of food and shelter. Many have no family in the area and have fled village after village as FDLR attacks have continue to push them further east on the Haut Plateau. The Lubarika population extends the natural amount of Congolese hospitality, but as we were told, it gets to be a major problem. One man interviewed told us that just that following the FDLR attacks of that morning, 12 IDPs arrived at his residence in need of some shelter and food. The impoverished community of Lubarika is working to cater to these arriving IDPs, but there is a clear conflict in the making when people with nothing arrive to ask for help from communities with very little to offer. Each quartier we saw had families of IDPs, some only arriving half-intact, who are now reaching out to their neighbors for everything they need to live.

Further considering the difficulties of supporting the new IDPs, it seems as if NGOs and the international community have a necessary role to play. Taking the burden off families now sharing the very little they have with IDPs and offering more consistent support to the arriving IDPs is a clear way to maintain some semblance of calm in Lubarika. The reality, however, is the there are no efforts of the sort occurring in the region. Each interviewee we spoke with mentioned that there were no other NGOs in the area attempting to aid Lubarika to cope with the IDPs in the area. Simple steps like counting the number of new arrivals, asking where they are coming from, and registering them to be eligible for eventual aid are being performed not by NGOs with sufficient funding but by small field clinics. These clinics, in addition to responding to the ever-increasing problems with malaria and diarrhea among new arrivals in Lubarika, are also charged with writing the names of new arrivals and trying to keep them organized. Not only is this not part of their job description, but they are not paid for this work and understaffed to make serious efforts to properly carry the work out. This is one of the aspects that Arche d’Alliance is attempting to step in on, making them unfortunately the first NGO to be helping Lubarika to care for the overwhelming number of IDPs coming into their community each day.

Finally, we spoke with residents of their plans in light of the continuing attacks near their homes. Most in Lubarika said that if the security situation continues to deteriorate they will be forced to flee themselves towards Uvira (first towards Sange and Kiliba villages immediately below the Haut Plateau). Considering this possibility, it is easy to understand the way in which a refugee/IDP crisis multiplies. Those formally receiving and aiding IDPs become IDPs themselves due to spreading insecurity, and pass the difficulties of supporting a fleeing community onto another village which might be about to flee as well. It is a disastrous cycle, and very troubling to see played out so close to home.

Though the chance of reversing this trend is extremely small, Arche d’Alliance hopes to continue to be able to work with these communities to, at the minimum, be able to accurately register those fleeing in order to await aid which could come in the near future for IDPs living on the Haut Plateau. Communities like Lubarika are doing their best to support their fleeing neighbors while waiting to see if they will have to flee as well, but they are completely overwhelmed. Hopefully, interventions by those with the means to take some of the burden off these communities and combine resources with Congolese (who are already giving everything they have to work with arriving IDPs) will provide some eventual relief within the ongoing problems in South Kivu.

Ned Meerdink

Where in the world is the FDLR?

That seems to be the question going around Uvira recently, as the current government military operation called Kimya II (which means something like ‘quiet’ or ‘invisible’ in Swahili) is taking hold in South Kivu. Kimya II is being conducted against the usual suspects-the Rwandan FDLR rebels, who have at their leadership certain participants in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The operation is more than confusing, as it combines battalions of former enemies like the Mai Mai and CNDP (formerly led by Laurent Nkunda) with the Congolese FARDC forces in order to form a force capable of tracking the FDLR rebels and bringing an end to their long-standing presence in eastern Congo. The success of Kimya II seems unlikely for a number of reasons, primarily because the force meant to fight off the FDLR is composed of forces which have traditionally been extremely antagonistic to each other. For example, just last December, the CNDP was literally within spitting distance of taking Goma from the FARDC forces, with the Mai Mai lingering in the era and periodically attacking both the CNDP and FARDC. Massacres, pillaging, and rape were committed by all three forces involved in the Goma fighting-even by FARDC soldiers fleeing the occupation of their city. Additionally, the now reintegrated CNDP soldiers were part of the battalions which attacked and occupied Bukavu in 2004, raping and pillaging indiscriminately. No one has forgotten this. Now, the Congolese government is hoping all three will work together in harmony to throw out the FDLR, which is marked as an enemy of all armed groups involved.

FDLR positions in eastern Congo. Uvira is located about 30km south of Sange. (courtesy: MONUC)

FDLR positions in eastern Congo. Uvira is located about 30km south of Sange. (courtesy: MONUC)

The population here is obviously almost unanimously against Kimya II and the threat it poses to civilians in South Kivu. First, there is little proof that the FARDC is capable, even with its new found ‘friends,’ of threatening the FDLR rebels. The FDLR rebels are well-entrenched throughout South and North Kivu and commonly regarded as more adequately trained than the FARDC. The Kimya II force seems merely to anger the rebels, then flee their attack, leaving civilians exposed to FDLR ‘revenge.’ Going further, all the groups intended to force the FDLR out are more used to acting directly AGAINST the best interests of the civilian population. Recent investigations by Oxfam (interviews in 20 communities within South Kivu) and Human Rights Watch (interviews throughout North and South Kivu) in the East have commented on the massive abuses by both the FARDC soldiers and their Mai Mai allies, most surveys concluding that communities here have at least as much fear of ‘their own’ troops as the FDLR rebels. These interviews included many of the reintegrated forces (combining former rebels with FARDC) which form the Kimya II force. Finally, no one in the community is neglecting to mention the obvious truth that when the FDLR are being hunted down, the massacres of civilians invariably increase in frequency.

Recent killings across South Kivu have revealed a clear pattern. First, the government forces attack a particular FDLR rebel stronghold as part of Kimya II operations. The FDLR then recedes into surrounding forest areas in order to regroup and plan a counter-attack. This counter-attack occurs, the FARDC troops flee, and the FDLR is left to attack the civilians. This just happened in Busurungi village in South Kivu, with at least 100 civilians killed. A Washington Post article commented that the attacked FDLR rebels recaptured Busurungi village ‘…without resistance from the government forces, who had already moved to another area,’ and then simply arrived to massacre the civilian population. These types of attacks have created the current IDP (internally displaced person) problem in eastern Congo, with at least 900,000 fleeing their homes in North and South Kivu since January. Add to that the 300,000 which fled in December 2008, and you have over 1 million new IDPs in the last 7 months or so.

If anything, Kimya II is merely inciting more violence, causing more distrust and fear among the community, and creating a situation where the IDP population will continue to increase in number. I am certainly seeing this aspect of the ‘fall out’ in Uvira recently, as the constant stream of IDPs fleeing violence in surrounding villages ends in Uvira. Trucks have been coming in to town with astonishing frequency full of IDPs leaving their homes in Lemera, Sange, Livungi, and other villages with strong FDLR presence. Simple lines of those fleeing on foot carrying everything they own are now unfortunately a part of the landscape between Uvira and Bukavu. This is just another situation in Congo which seems to lack a clear military solution, as civilians always bear the brunt of these ‘efforts at consolidating the peace.’ The question I am curious is to ask those leaving their homes is whether they are fleeing the FDLR rebels, the Kimya II forces, or both. Frustratingly typical in Congo, civilians merely move from one hot spot to another, with no one reliable to turn to for protection and no time to come up for air.

Ned Meerdink

As I have been writing recently about the Mai-Mai militias in North and South Kivu, I wanted to offer up this article from the Irish Times speaking about the links between MONUC, the UN peacekeeping operation in Congo, and this militia, which is famous for their arbitrary attacks, ’side-changing,’ and their medication taken to deflect bullets and RPG rounds (called ‘mai,’ which is appropriate as it is made of a mixture of herbs, water-mai is Swahili for water, and local booze).  It’s said to make you invulnerable, but I’ve definitely seen the opposite to be true following FARDC vs. Mai-Mai battles.

This article definitly speaks to the chaos which could break out if this current operation againt the FDLR (called ‘Operation Kimya’ [Swahili for 'quiet,' or 'silent']) ends up anything like the last December offensive, which was a part of Kimya as well and a disaster.  FDLR massacres in remote villages have already begun again with the growing pressure on their bases, and they are not ignorant to the fact they are soon to be ‘hunted’ in eastern Congo again, causing violent backlashes against Congolese.

Take a look at this article and let me know what your thoughts are.  I am confused as you might be.

Ned Meerdink

Terrified civilians say a UN-backed military force is raping, looting and killing villagers at will: Minova/Sud Kivu, Congo

by STEPHANIE MCCRUMMEN in the IRISH TIMES, 28 June 2009

A CONGOLESE military operation against Rwandan rebels who have caused years of conflict in eastern Congo is unleashing fresh horrors across this region’s rolling green hills.

The mission, backed logistically by UN peacekeepers and politically by the US, aims to disband the remaining 7,000 or so Rwandan Hutu rebels who fled into eastern Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

But since the operation began in January, villagers have recounted nightmarish stories that raise questions about whether the military action will ultimately cause more destruction than it prevents.

At least half a million people have fled a rebel campaign of village burnings and retaliatory killings, including a massacre of more than 100 people in which several civilians were decapitated. At the same time, people are also fleeing the advance of their own predatory army – a toxic mishmash of mostly unpaid, underfed, ill-trained former militiamen churned into the military after various peace deals.

According to an army spokesman, the deputy to the commander in charge of the operation is an ex-militia leader and wanted war crimes suspect known as the Terminator. Villagers say soldiers are killing people accused of collaborating with the rebels. And in scenes that recall the brutalities of Belgian colonial rule, commanders are forcing locals to carry supplies across the forest, killing those who collapse from exhaustion.

“Pastors, teachers, students, everyone must carry, and not for one day, for weeks,” said Kalinda Hangi, a former teacher who has filled a notebook with names of people killed by the rebels and the army in his area. “They make you build their tents, take water – if you don’t obey, they kill you.”

In its mission, the army is being supported by trucks, food, attack helicopters and other equipment provided by the UN peacekeepers, but the co-operation has spawned criticism.

Humanitarian workers say the operation has paralysed assistance to newly displaced persons, and a UN inter-agency committee last month described “a fundamental conflict” between the UN support of the army and the world body’s mandate to protect civilians.

“This operation is definitely doing more harm than good,” said Julien Attakla, who heads the UN human rights section in North Kivu province, where the operation has been centred. The rebels “have never been as dangerous to the population as they are now. And the Congolese army – what are the chances of them carrying out a successful operation? They are looting houses, looting farms, raping everywhere, using forced labour – that’s the real face of this operation.”

Diplomats from the UN, Europe, the US and especially from neighbouring Rwanda have pressured Congo for years to act against the Hutu rebels, who are known as the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) and include leaders accused of helping organise Rwanda’s genocide.

Although they are no longer considered an immediate threat to the Rwandan government, the rebels have in the past collaborated with the Congolese army, sharing weapons and fighting against common enemies. The rebels have set up parallel administrations in many areas, preying on villagers and controlling much of the region’s lucrative mineral trade.

Their presence has prompted Rwanda to invade Congo twice, and to back two Congolese rebel movements, fuelling a complex conflict that has become the deadliest since the second World War.

By some estimates, the fighting and related turmoil have left at least five million people dead over the past decade.

US and UN officials say the operation – initially supported by thousands of Rwandan soldiers – is a crucial part of a wider political and economic deal to mend the destructive relationship between Rwanda and Congo, and to return stability to Congo’s long-suffering east. They say the operation has forced hundreds of rebels to desert and has disrupted their command and weakened their hold on the mineral trade, though analysts dispute the latter two gains.

Top UN officials say that if they were not co-operating with the army, human rights abuses would be worse.

“We’ve been mandated to support this army, and we are trying to the best of our ability to improve their performance and protect civilians,” said Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, head of the UN office in North Kivu province.

Still, there have been dozens of rebel attacks since the operation began, many advertised in advance by rebels who have left leaflets in villages promising death to anyone who helps the army.

The most brutal attack came last month in the village of Busurungi, where at least 100 people were massacred, according to several survivors.

The army had taken up position in the formerly rebel-held village, but most of the soldiers had moved on by the time the rebels arrived one night. A few militiamen tried to fight back, but ran out of ammunition.

“They called us civilians and said, ‘Our bullets are finished, try to run’,” said Angelus Bahavu, secretary to a traditional king in the area.

As he ran, he saw rebels force screaming women and children back into their huts, which they set on fire. Rebels guarded the doors to prevent anyone from escaping, he and others said. The rebels slammed babies against trees, and people fleeing were killed with arrows, machetes and guns.

In a tactic aimed at terrorising those who might co-operate with the army, rebels decapitated several people, whose heads were then placed on tree branches planted at the entrance to the village.

“They told people, ‘You are bringing these troops to hunt us, now we will hunt you’,” said Bahavu, who eventually made his way to a sprawling camp of banana-leaf huts. – ( LA Times-Washington Post )