[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

One of the more frustrating aspects of working in the regions of Congo currently under the yoke of Kimya II operations is the stopping of programs already in place due to declining security and risky travel situations. Admittedly, this is a paltry inconvenience when compared with the problems facing civilians all too often directly in the line of fire; their worries are much more significant than those NGOs face. Entire rural villages are being burned up by rebels it daily recently in South Kivu. However, when speaking of the declining quality of life and availability of services that face Congolese during active combat and operations, the blocking of NGO work definitely comes into play. Examples…

One of the AP partners in eastern Congo with whom I have been working, SOS Femmes en Danger, recently appealed to the foundation run by Diane Von Furstenburg for financing to get uniforms and supplies to children of rape victims and single mothers (many mothers themselves are still young enough to be students) in Fizi Territorry villages currently more or less run by FDLR and Mai-Mai militias. Ms. Von Furstenburg was more than generous with us, and the huge hurdle that gaining even minimal amounts of financing usually is for organizations in eastern Congo was made remarkably simple. With the money in place, we got to work putting together hundreds of uniforms and supply sets for kids who pretty much wouldn’t be able to even find their obligatory uniforms due to the cutting of supply routes in their area. This all seems to be adding up to what could be called a ‘successful intervention’ by many, n’est-pas?

Here’s the gritty part: The Kimya II operations in our area have more or less closed the roads due South. Roads that are still passable are manned by a variety of militia soldiers, obviously generally unconcerned with letting free school uniforms get through to more isolated communities. On the contrary, OCHA offices have informed me that not only will the Mai-Mai in question likely interrogate and extort us along the road, but they will likely take whatever is being carried towards Fizi and simply refuse the parcels back after ‘inspection.’ I’ve got no problem riding on a motorbike with heavy boxes for 14 hours, but not just to get robbed along the way. So, we look into taking a boat on Lake Tanganyika around the heavy combat zones, and we’re told that will cost for the moment is about $600 due to the regional insecurity and soaring gas prices (those lines have been cut off or at least limited as well). No chance…

So, as the deadline for the beginning of the school year creeps closer, this prime example of frustrations encountered by NGOs with limited financing is rearing its ugly head. Waiting and wringing our hands is an option, but can only go so far. Hopefully, we’ll be able to convince the UN helicopters moving everywhere these days to organize a good old fashioned air drop, but that seems more than a little far-fetched. Welcome to eastern Congo during the epoch of Kimya II.

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

Of all the empty promises which led to the 2006 election of current president Joseph Kabila, the most potent was probably his guarantee of establishing a network of paved roads (the first in Eastern Congo) from Ituri Province down towards Katanga Province. It is no secret at all the differences an established system of navigable roads creates, which is precisely why the idea of establishing such a system in Eastern Congo carried so much weight for Kabila and his allies on their way to office in Kinshasa.

Seeing that nothing at all has been accomplished in this regard (any pavement in the East has been put down by MONUC troops), the oncoming elections in 2011 might be a scary prospect for Kabila. I personally had been wondering since 2008 how he might go about explaining away the fact that his most ambitious promise hasn’t even begun in order to ensure his reelection, and things began explaining themselves a bit this past December. Towards the middle of December, huge road graders and backhoes arrived in Uvira in a nicely arranged ceremony. The heavy machinery arrived on flatbed trucks (ironically making slow progress on the excuse for a road we find in Uvira) surrounded by a convoy of the Land Cruisers and Mercedes owned by state employees. Businesses all shut down and people began discussing the fact that finally, work was beginning on Kabila’s grand promise to the East. The amount of excitement generated by this procession of earth moving equipment was surprising and eventually extremely disheartening.

Kabila's roads

Kabila's roads

The sad (and unfortunately, distinctly Congolese) part of all this story is that nothing has happened since. The machines ended up making their tour of Uvira, dropping down towards Fizi as well to drum up more hope, then made a quick return to Uvira, where they have been sitting and rusting ever since in what could certainly be called a ‘development graveyard.’ I find myself regularly passing just to see if there are any signs of use or movement among these machines which arrived to build Kabila’s road. The only noticeable difference is that bits and pieces of the machines have begun to be picked from the originals, probably in order to get another machine up to working order. In addition, one of the backhoes is partially crushed as it fell off a flatbed near Kabimba (during the ‘publicity tour’) when the dirt road crumbled and dropped the flatbed off the side of a bridge-I’m not making this up. Another detail I have picked up on is that all the necessary equipment for using the machines (including the keys and various engine parts) are in Bukavu, as administrators there decided to donate their equipment just to generate optimism that the road would be built, with no intention of actually starting any of the machines and getting to work.

No movement since December

No movement since December

This is one of the stories I hope people aren’t forgetting in light of the elections planned for 2011. I certainly understand the enticement offered by the idea of usable roads. Commerce, aid work, security patrols, traveling and countless other necessities are made simple by a good network of paved roads. But, for the moment, nothing seems to be happening in that regard, besides the placement of more than a few expensive and increasingly useless ‘statues,’ or more accurately tributes to underdevelopment in Congo. Don’t hold your breath.

Ned Meerdink

My border crossings in Congo have become rather intricate afffairs with the complexity of the process increasing in proportion to the amount of time spent in Congo. I really had not realized exactly how bizarre this seemingly simple (and ‘official’) process had become until this last week, when three very typical border crossings led to accusations that I am: 1) participating in the arms trade, 2) traveling with a fake passport, and 3) carrying (and producing!) fake visas. It seems that the longer I stay in Congo, the more explaining I have to do in terms of justifying my existence. Unlike a worker for a large NGO or a consultant with a clearly defined arrival/departure date, I just sort of keep ‘sticking around’, which has led to lots of stories forming in officials’ heads about why exactly I prefer to spend so much time in Congo rather then spending more time in more ‘familiar parts of the world.’

As Congo has been thoroughly upset through the last few decades by the gamut of foreign threats, it is not so surprising that border guards and soldiers could be extremely cautious. But, these guys in Congo take it to a while new level. One of the complicating factors, in my opinion, is my designation as a ‘student’ which leaves a lot of room for people to fill in what ever they think might be your real intentions here. If you say you are a student, guards often test out a hypothesis of you being engaged in intelligence gathering for a number of countries, typically including Rwanda and Uganda. If this theory is quickly dismissed by some well-placed manufactured stupidity (e.g. asking the guard, ‘Where is Uganda?’) then other theories quickly surface, such as mineral trading or political ‘agitating’. Education in eastern Congo is looked on as a tool for outsiders to become better plunderers, better critics of the government, or better informed as to the atrocities going on daily in Congo. In this unique circumstance, Western education doesn’t open many doors, but can keep you from going through ones you have a right to pass through.

The truly disturbing part for me, however, is how ready and willing the border guards charged with curbing foreign threats from arriving on Congolese territory are to accepting any small amount of money to let any possible trumped up violation vanish into thin air. After any accusation, an offer will eventually arise hinting that a few dollars will make all these problems disappear. Accused of moving AK-47s in checked baggage? ‘Irrigate’ the guard a bit and this baggage goes through without so much as a once-over. Has your passport’s validity been questioned? Pay a little and you could pass the border with bar coaster with your name scribbled on it in purple crayon. No one is undertaking the heavy questioning and suspicion I meet at border crossings for any reason except to get paid off and any questions of legality or protection of civilians, even in cases where guards might find someone doing something less than above board, will always be quickly swept under the rug by border guards looking for a quick payout. I consider it a point of pride to refuse these and all bribes, and rely on a healthy does of patience and competitive spirit (‘I can wait out even the most persistent corrupt guard’). Getting accused of horrendous things isn’t scary. However, understanding how easily these things occur in this atmosphere of complete impunity (despite a well-manned border patrol) is the scary part. The fight against small arms, counterfeit money, and all other undesirable inputs will always be futile if it only takes a little money and negotiation to bring them onto Congolese soil.

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 )

Tomorrow is the yearly independence celebration across Congo, commemorating the end of Belgian rule and the beginning of what would reveal itself to be a rather doomed state. Belgian influence of course did not end; everything from the national educational system (or what is left of it) to the decaying train tracks offer modern-day reminders of their presence here. There are certainly more off-putting reminders of Belgium’s role in pre-independence Congo. Often times, kids joking with you in the quartiers will be warned by their grandparents to stay away from the ‘Belgian’ or risk a beating with the chicotte, which was a whip made from hippopotamus skin employed throughout colonial days. Additionally, sometimes people will not so politely remind me in Swahili of the riots and killings of foreigners (and Congolese) here during the process towards independence, and their idea that the Mai-Mai could one day repeat history for the remaining ‘étrangers.’ Though many Belgians continue to call the colonial era ‘la belle époque,’ I’d beg to differ given those lingering resonances.

In 2007, a once well-known Belgian administrator, who had spent the almost all of his 60 years in Congo, sent an email to leading aid agencies and governments working in Congo to summarize his feeling on Congolese since ‘la belle époque.’ This email commented that, while spending the grand part of his years in Congo, before and after independence, he learned that the Congolese are, ‘…incapable, selfish, lying thieves.’ This was actually the opening sentence of the letter. He went further, commenting that Congolese have done nothing since 1960 (except drink and steal), further romanticizing the rampant pillage known as the Belgian Colony of Congo. Bringing us up to date, he concluded that, ‘…across Western Europe, the Congolese living there are of course the first in line to go on welfare and waste money given to them by social services, lying about their number of children and ages to defraud European social agencies.’

Talking about this with some friends at their office about this letter, I came to some pretty startling realizations. Speaking with them, who were for the most part educated and working for humanitarian concerns, I noticed they were more or less in agreement with the administrator. They said that he writes well and does touch on a lot of problems in Congo. True, there are lot of thieves and a good number of drunks. My immediate dismissal of the administrator’s writing as the words of an aging colonizer losing his mind was purely my own.

It was in this conversation that I began to think again about these invisible cues that Western ideas and notions are very much a part of our community in Uvira. Society has been so thoroughly down and continually upset by wars since independence that the colonial era DOES begin to hold some deceptive value in some people’s opinions. Enemies WERE more clearly marked in that era, black versus white. Now days, militias composed entirely of Congolese will slaughter villages of fellow Congolese. This is new. A good meal, or one that is sufficiently nutritious, is still called ‘Chakula ya Bulaya (European meal).’ Congolese women often use dangerous chemicals to whiten their skin and straighten their hair, with many men responding to these changes (they are called ‘muzungu’ like me and get higher bride wealth).

Our neo-colonial administrator, given these realities of modern-day Congo, has deceived many (even friends of mine here) into sympathizing with him. There is, however, key missing information. The administrator neglected to consider the position Congo was left in by colonial presence. Lack of infrastructure, a pillaged resource base, a massacred population (Jan Vansina estimated that around 50% of the Congolese population died of causes directly related to colonial presence during the early colonial period)…are these not things that could carry the currently towards poverty and violent conflict, and thus towards some of the ‘evils’ described so one-sidedly by the administrator’s tirade? I believe that my friends’ general acceptance of the letter was also shaded by a failure to reflect on the aspect of colonialism that continues to burden Congolese communities. The chaos that has passed for the last 50 years would certainly have unfolded differently had communities not been shattered, resources plundered, and militias armed and delineated by many of the institutions hoisted up high by those remembering a ‘belle époque’ in Congo.

It is thus true that independence is never enough. It’s a matter of having an enabled population demanding and to take advantage of this independence. We are certainly not lacking this in eastern Congo; tomorrow there will undoubtedly be storms of people rushing down to the military zone to let administrators and soldiers know their frustration to be handcuffed from action despite their Constitution, their freedom, and their independent state. However, the real test of this freedom is the state’s response, and it’s ability to create a state capable of deflecting and disproving wholesale criticism of Congolese like that thrown out by the aging administrator.

Ned Meerdink

This last Wednesday, I was fortunate to visit one of Arche d’Alliance’s ongoing programs in Makobola, which is a village forming the border between Uvira Territory and Fizi Territory in South Kivu. The program is called ‘Le Noyaux de Paix’ and the goal is assembling villagers into small committees in areas lacking security, so that these committees can discuss collective actions to better their security while at the same time providing Arche d’Alliance with accurate information concerning security and human rights violations in hostile regions of South Kivu. The Makobola group, having about 30 members, is merely one ‘nut’ (noyaux=nut) working in a network which now spans 7 remote villages. Importantly, the groups work to maintain a steady gender balance, as male-dominated committees tend to leave out some of the most egregious violations occurring daily in South Kivu, such as violent rape and women’s abduction into sex slavery by rebel groups living in the villages. Because of the Makobola group’s permanent residence in Makobola, they were able to provide significant information concerning soldier movements in the area and their accompanying violations, as well and hope-inspiring details about their collective work to change the security in Makobola.

Me waiting to begin the Makobola conference (vice-president of the committee is the man to the left)

Me waiting to begin the Makobola conference (vice-president of the committee is the man to the left)

The Wednesday meeting began by the committee’s general security report, where the group was asked to report on the various human rights abuses they had witnessed or heard about from other credible sources in Makobola. Makobola remains caught in the center of hostilities between FARDC (Congolese government soldiers) and the Mai-Mai militia, which is technically a non-state armed group but enjoys large chunks of financing coming from Kinshasa. Does this sound strange to anyone else? Two Kinshasa funded armed groups (wearing, in fact, the same uniforms) turning their arms against each other and often the civilians the government in Kinshasa is technically paying them to protect does seem like a stretch, but working in Congo for two years has taught me some valuable lessons. Notably, ‘When considering the actions Congolese armed state and non-state armed forces, an appropriate suspension of disbelief is more than helpful.’ Want to get even more confused? Consider this: It is well-known that elements of the FDLR (Rwandan ex-Interhawme) are also occupying places in Mai-Mai and FARDC brigades. Since last December, the Mai-Mai and FARDC have been charged with ELIMINATING the FDLR threat in their regions, which seems unlikely given that both groups often fight and pillage alongside these FDLR rebels who began arriving in Congo after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Again, suspension of disbelief…

The Makobola Noyaux de Paix committee was pleased to share these developments with us, only asking that contacts be made to curtail negative situations. This is where Arche d’Alliance comes in. Violations reported in a specific manner are run through Arche d’Alliance’s legal assistance system, whereby gross violations of human rights and the perpetrators can be punished. I am obligated to report that the vast number of violations go unreported or uninvestigated, as Arche d’Alliance has limited resources and villagers often have shame to report crimes committed against them. This combination creates an ever-growing list of violations, but efforts are being made by NGO’s like Arche d’Alliance to chip away at this list.

As noted earlier, there are a total of 7 groups in villages with similar security problems as Makobola. As staffers and aid workers are always limited relative to the problems in eastern Congo, the groups maximize on the know how and experiences of villagers across South Kivu. As the committees formed by Arche d’Alliance continue to grow, so does the power of villagers to have a hand in their security on a very real level. If villages waited for larger NGOs to arrive to begin working through these problems with them, they’d likely be kept waiting much longer. But, if communities are empowered through systems like Le Noyaux de Paix work can be done to change the tide of violence with no more than a dedicated group of locals willing to declare their human rights and demand the end of atrocities committed against civilians in eastern Congo.

This month's conference in Makobola concerned the role of women in Congolese democracy

This month's conference in Makobola concerned the role of women in Congolese democracy

Adding to the potency of the groups is the educational aspect of each meeting. After the briefing is delivered by the particular committee, there is an educational seminar held which is open to the general public. This month’s Makobola seminar revolved around the role women will play in both the local and national elections. Both men and women were invited to speak on their feeling about women’s role in democratic societies, and in particular the importance of women voting in the coming elections. As women are overwhelmingly targeted and oppressed in Congolese society, and traditionally have been one of the most victimized populations during hostilities, Arche d’Alliance field worker Masumbuko Songolo tried to stress the point that women need participate in great numbers to have their voices heard. Also discussed were parts of Congolese society that keep women from voting or presenting their candidature for offices in the government. Mentioned were the disproportionate workload at home women cope with, the traditional practice to deny education to young girls in families needing additional labor, and the intimidation of women hoping to initiate change within society.

Arche d'Alliance field worker Masumbuko Songolo speaking at the Makobola conference

Arche d'Alliance field worker Masumbuko Songolo speaking at the Makobola conference

After a 2 hour presentation, those present had come to important conclusions on how they could work to allow women the opportunity of more accurate representation in governmental and local politics. There were more than a few exasperated whines from men once the suggestion was made that they begin to prepare meals alongside their wives to free them up to participate in civic life, but the overwhelming majority was in full support. One of the realities in Congo benefiting the spread of information after such a conference is the fact that Congolese are a deeply social people, and tend to share their ideas and experiences with others. Thus, those not even at the meeting and seminar last Wednesday have probably already heard about the meeting’s contents. With this, a group of 30 or 40 offered some new perspectives quickly becomes an entire village. That is a reason to look toward the future in Makobola with a sense of hope, as the people I spoke with clearly had the determination and open-minded approach to allow for improvements in security, civic participation, and women’s empowerment—and share what they’ve heard with their neighbors.

Ned Meerdink

This last Tuesday, the 16^th of June, communities across sub-Saharan Africa remembered the massacres of Soweto township children by the South African Apartheid regime in 1976. On this annual day of remembrance, organizations in Uvira dedicated to the protection of Congolese children organized various events to highlight the precarious position of children in eastern Congo.

The dangers Congolese children face are probably not unfamiliar to many reading this blog. Congolese fortunate to pass into adulthood have typically navigated their way through a maze of threats against their well-being; forced recruitment into armed militias, sexual violence, untreated illnesses, hunger, and the overwhelming regional insecurity in eastern Congo all contribute to a situation demanding better protection of children and efforts to unite them. The theory among local activists dedicated to the protection and promotion of children is that events organized to educate children and introduce them to methods of protecting themselves make meaningful steps not only towards limiting conflict in eastern Congo (children continue to form large parts of non-state armed groups) but also teach children to live safer lives within the surrounding conflict. The reality that hostilities here are not on their way to disappearing forces children to have strong defenses in order to allow them the opportunity to grow up and hopefully enjoy a more peaceful future. The urgency of similar initiatives is clear. Offensives by rebel groups like the CNDP, LRA, and FDLR occurring over the last 6 months in North and South Kivu have shown that the occupation of villages is only one of numerous goals of armed groups. Rebel groups typically have as a periphery goal the mass victimization of children. Kidnapping children from their homes to fight or to act as ammunition porters, sex slaves, or domestic servants is still the norm. Educational initiatives and the encouragement of more cohesive communities, especially among vulnerable children, have offered a way to cut away at this trend.

On the 16^th this year, I was in Sange village, about 50km north of Uvira, to view activities planned by CEJEDER, a local organization advocating for children’s protection. As Sange is centrally located within Mai-Mai and FDD (Burundian rebels) territory, children there have traditionally faced forced recruitment and sexual violence at the hands of rebels. The prolonged conflict in Sange has also unfortunately left countless orphans, all whom lack the guidance and security usually provided by parent-run households. I saw the seriousness of the insecurity last November in Sange when rebel-led killings occurred early morning before demonstrations planned for the ‘Journée Mondiale pour le Refus de la Misère.’ Fortunately, activities passed well and without other incidents, and we had hundreds of children arriving to demonstrate their solidarity and their common interest improving life in Sange.

Walking towards Sange to begin the June 16 events

Walking towards Sange to begin the June 16 events

The events planned for this year’s June 16 commemoration by CEJEDER included theater performances, a football match, and a discussion/debate concerning issues affecting children in Sange. The theater piece concerned familial relations within child-led households, and some of the difficulties that arrive in daily decision-making (e.g. Who from our house will go to school this term? What are the consequences in sending your siblings to steal for your family’s food supply? What are the consequences in sending children to agricultural fields alone to cultivate?). Theater has a unique place in Congolese culture, and children react very positively to seeing their daily dramas played out before their eyes, especially when the theatre offers alternative conclusions, advice, and ways of thinking about a particular problem. Amisi Pele, from CEJEDER, told me that kids often laugh along with the theater but later begin to reevaluate their own situations when the pieces reflect parts of their lives. He went further to say that bit by bit, community interventions like those of the theater group in Sange, ‘Aurore du Sud,’ work to break down destructive practices and encourage communities to develop support structures for children, often a community’s most vulnerable population.

Children in Sange waiting to begin the debate and theatre portions of the day

Children in Sange waiting to begin the debate and theatre portions of the day

Not all the events this year had a ‘point’ as clearly defined as theater and group discussions. Some events (football match, beignet-eating contest, a meal with the MONUC soldiers, etc.) are not designed to have a tangible result, but just to let kids in Sange have a breath of fresh air, a reason to relax, and a break from the overwhelmingly difficult lives they live in South Kivu. The value of this is obviously open to attack by more pragmatic thinking, but, in my opinion, it was one of the best parts of this year’s June 16^th commemoration. It is heartening to see a besieged population retaining the ability to let down their defense mechanisms and enjoy themselves, even if only for a few hours. Hopefully, future local and international efforts to pacify the East and bring some security to places like Sange will allow this feeling to be more than temporary. After too many years, a little relief is more than owed to Congolese unfortunate enough to be living on one of the world’s great [military and political] battlefields.

Ned Meerdink

MONUC soldiers bring rice for the participants

MONUC soldiers bring rice for the participants