A few months ago, I wrote a couple blogs about SOS FED’s participation in a UNFPA data-mapping project underway in the Kivus. SOS FED center staff have been filling out a 3-page survey with information on each survivor of sexual violence that the center receives. This data collection is being facilitated in Uvira and Fizi Territories by Arche d’Alliance. A fortunate side-effect of participation in this project is that SOS FED and Arche have been working closer together than ever before.

This past week, I had the opportunity to visit the UNFPA office in Bukavu, the provincial capital of Sud Kivu. The Bukavu UNFPA offices compiles and processes all of the data collected in Sud Kivu in the 8 territories: Kalehe, Mwenga, Idjwi, Shabunda, Walungu, Kabare, Uvira, and Fizi.

The UNFPA Sud Kivu office just released a report on the data it has collected for the first trimester of 2011 (January-April), and the data coming out of Fizi Territory is less than encouraging. In the first trimester of 2011, 118 rape cases were recorded by the UNFPA partners in Fizi, making it the territory with the second highest rate of sexual violence in the province. First place for the first 2011 trimester went to Mwenga Territory, which recorded 185 cases.

Over half of the recorded cases in the first trimester of 2011 in Fizi Territory belonged to the infamous January 1st mass rape in Fizi Centre, committed by FARDC troops under the command of Col. Kibibi. For their role in this incident, Col. Kibibi and several of his men were convicted and sentenced to prison terms by a Congolese military tribunal. Despite the isolated magnitude of the January 1st event, the sexual violence trends for the first trimester continue to be worrisome. It will be interesting to see the data for the next trimester, especially in light of the Nyakiele mass rape in June.

UN convoy on the road from Baraka to Uvira

UN convoy on the road from Baraka to Uvira

Field projects focusing on stabilization on the part of UNFPA and other UN organizations remain limited in Fizi Territory.

“L’axe est trop chaud.” Dr. Aziza told us.

The security situation in Fizi is obviously precarious, with a multitude of non-state armed groups still operating with impunity. Until the security situation is improved, UNFPA and other organizations such as UNICEF remain outside of Fizi Territory.

I have also found out a few interesting facts about STAREC: out of its $200 million dollar budget, only $5 million is dedicated to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) issues. Out of the $5 million, $500,000 is being used for the data-mapping project in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, of which the South Kivu base received $200,000. This may seem like quite a bit of money, but for a project of its scope in a space as large as South Kivu, it may not be quite enough. In addition, the data-mapping project ends in 2012; while the UNFPA staff in Bukavu is counting on an extension with assistance from the Canadian government, this type of project needs broader support in order to continue in a relevant manner.

One source of much-needed support for the data-mapping project is from the Congolese government and from local Congolese partners. The UNFPA uses the CTLVS (Comité Territoriale de la Lutte contre la Violence Sexuelle) as a focal point for collecting its information in Sud Kivu. The CTLVS is a government initiative to coordinate and orient the various organizations working on sexual violence issues throughout the country. However, it is clear that the CTLVS has not quite yet found its place in the grand scheme of the things, and many local organizations in Uvira and Fizi do not engage with the CTLVS or with each other.

Dr. Aziza emphasized that synergy, cooperation, and coordination are essential for local organizations working in the Congo. Indeed, if things like the UNFPA data-mapping project and the CTLVS are to be effective and relevant, all the actors in the zone must work together.

Last month I reported on an attack on the village of Nyakiele by soldiers loyal to the ex-PARECO deserter Col. Kifaru.  Here are more details about the incident:

The official count of women that were raped in this incident stands at 163, from the three villages of Nyakiele, Kanguli, and Abala, north of Fizi Centre.  Numerous groups, from Arche d’Alliance to CCAP to MSF, have arrived to provide assistance to survivors.  However, according to some of my sources who have made several visits to Nyakiele since the incident, the humanitarian situation in the Nyakiele-Kanguli-Abala area is generally appalling and will require a lot more than just emergency aid.

Arche d’Alliance has reported that 72 households in the tri-village area have been “broken” due to the mass rape.  That is to say, the survivor in the family has been ostracized by her husband and banned from the marriage bed and possibly the household itself.  This demonstrates the far-reaching social consequences of sexual violence in the Congo.  At the moment, a team from CCAP is present in the area working on family mediation and reconciliation.

On July 7^th, Col. Kifaru and around 200 of his troops arrived at the bracage center in Luberizi (in the Ruzizi Plain, in Uvira Territory) and have been there ever since.  They have refused to give up their arms, and so far no action has been taken against them.  According to a source very close to the investigation, the Congolese government has no interest in arresting or prosecuting Col. Kifaru, as they think it will mean an end to credibility of the bracage process and reconciliation with rebel groups.  In what is possibly part of a strategy to discredit the survivors, word is floating around the Congolese government that the mass rape incident in/around Nyakiele was either grossly exaggerated or invented entirely by aid groups and NGOs in order to get more funding.

And so, Quo Vadis, Domine?

Children in field near Mboko

Children in field near Mboko

I really wish all the news I had from this part of the world wasn’t depressing, but unfortunately that’s the way things seem to be going at the moment.

I had a talk with an OCHA official recently about the increased violence against civilians we’ve been seeing since the beginning of the year. This particular OCHA official saw it as being directly tied to the braçage and reorganization operations that have drained crucial areas of South Kivu of FARDC troops. The OCHA official pointed out that in the area of Kilembwe, there has been a significant increase in reported human rights abuses committed by the FDLR since the FARDC units stationed there went into braçage.

According to OCHA and to Jason Stearns over at Congo Siasa, the reintegration of groups such as the FRF and PARECO is not going so smoothly anyway, with some rebel leaders and soldiers deserting the process to go back to acting outside of state authority.

On June 9, Arche d’Alliance monitors reported that elements of Mai Mai Yakutumba raped around 10 women near Kazimia. You may recall that the FARDC unit stationed in Kazimia pulled out a little less than a month ago; when they were passing through Sebele on their way to Kananda, one of the FARDC soldiers shot and wounded SOS FED reintegration officer M’Munga Selemane. So, with zero FARDC presence in Kazimia, human rights violations committed by the FDLR and Mai Mai are increasing. MSF-Holland is expected to try and reach Kazimia next Wednesday to treat the victims of this latest attack.

You will recall an incident previously reported in my blog from May 10 in the village of Matale, where 5 women were raped by unidentified armed men. According to OCHA, the aggressors remain unidentified, and no action has been taken by MONUSCO or the Congolese state.

Thus, the continuing Catch-22 of the conflict in eastern Congo: the FARDC commits human rights abuses against the civilian population when it is present, and when it is not the Mai Mai and FDLR pick right up, with perhaps further intensity. The real test will be whether the state armed groups can be reformed to the point where they stop their depredations of the Congolese population (particularly women) and perform their job of maintaining peace and security.

Greetings from Kampala. I’m taking a two-week holiday in Uganda, but I’m keeping in contact with the SOS FED staff back in Uvira and I might post a few more blogs. In the meanwhile, here’s a mini-update on SOS FED activities and the security situation in Uvira/Fizi Territory:

-On May 9 & 10, SOS FED staff members participated in a very successful training conducted by Arche d’Alliance in Baraka. The training was an introduction to human rights, monitoring/reporting on violations of human rights, how the Congolese penal code addresses sexual violence, and some basics of the Congolese civil code. Our staff will be able to impart the knowledge from their training to the beneficiaries, who can return to their communities as effective human rights advocates. In addition, this training will help improve the data-collection skills of our staff and integrate them into the larger human rights monitoring network in Fizi Territory.

SOS FED staff at human rights training in Baraka.  From l-r: Bawili Ningejua, Mariamu Bashishibe, Lubunga Wilonja, Luanja Eca Ricardo, M’Munga Selemani, Sangho Laliya, Chamulungo Nabisha, and Mimmy El Vital

-Beginning in mid-May, two FARDC regiments were re-deployed in Uvira and Fizi Territory. In January/February, a lot of the Amani Leo brigade units had been called in to bases in Lubarika (Uvira) and Kananda (Fizi) for re-organization, re-equipment, and training. The goal of this massive maneuver was to improve the efficiency of the FARDC troops and give them training on respecting human rights and obeying the law. This training process (known as braçage), was performed by the Congolese government with assistance from governments in Europe and the US government. However, when the FARDC troops withdrew from their positions earlier this year, FDLR and Mai Mai elements moved in to control the areas left vacant by the FARDC. Now, the FARDC will be fighting to re-take their positions, so MONUSCO officials have warned me about a possible stark increase in violence throughout portions of Uvira and Fizi Territories. Personally, I am waiting to be convinced that the braçage was effective in improving the behavior of FARDC troops. However, one hopes the re-deployment makes a dent in the FDLR and ultimately reduces the amount of conflict in the region.

-M’Munga Selemani, the SOS FED reintegration officer who was wounded by (now confirmed) FARDC gunfire, is recovering at a hospital in Uvira. Fortunately, his wounds were not life threatening; the bullet grazed him just above his right eye. The women that Mr. Selemani was escorting to Kikonde were unharmed in the incident. Currently, we are working with Arche d’Alliance and MONUSCO Human Rights to see that justice is served.

Stay tuned for more.

Great news:

SOS FED, The Advocacy Project, and ifa-Zivik are entering into the next phase of the 2011 project. Here are some of the aspects that we have begun working on:

-Arche d’Alliance will be providing human rights and monitoring training for our field staff. Our field staff have already lived and breathed the war of the past 17 years, but through this training they will hopefully become more effective advocates in an area that is pretty much a human rights Chernobyl. In addition, our more formally trained field staff will be able to pass on their knowledge to the beneficiaries, who in turn can be better advocates in their own communities.

-The first stage of a briquette press is underway. The briquette press is a miraculous mechanical marvel that transforms everyday garbage (banana peels, corncobs, rice husks, etc) into little trash biscuits that are used as an alternative fuel source. How can such a miraculous marvelous machine work? Well, the training video that Ned Meerdink and I made for the briquette press is still on the Advocacy Project YouTube page somewhere at http://www.youtube.com/advproject.

-Clean potable water is a constant problem in Fizi Territory, so SOS FED will be installing pumps near the two centers in Kikonde and Mboko. The issue of water is also important to the general wellbeing of women in the community, encompassing everything from health to security. The traditional division of labor in the Congo (and in most of Africa) dictates that women are responsible for collecting water for the household, and thus water scarcity issues disproportionately affect women. A woman who travels alone for 5 hours to collect a bidon of water may risk being attacked in the jungle. In addition, carrying 10 liters or more of water on one’s head for great distances can greatly impact a person’s health and longevity.

It will take time to accomplish all of these goals, but the important thing is that we are finally giving it some legs. Stay tuned for more.

Quick update on the Kikoze situation: the MONUSCO mission scheduled for last week was delayed because one of the MONUSCO Uvira staff members was killed in the terrible MONUSCO plane crash a few weeks back. Currently, they are supposed to be up in the Haut Plateau, and they plan to pay a visit to the local FARDC commander in Minembwe. For the record, the FARDC commander so far denies that his troops raped any women in/around Kikoze. However, monitors from Arche d’Alliance have made several trips up to the Kikoze area since the incident, and the villagers reported that the FARDC has been making regular forays into the communities around their base to steal goats. The incident on 3-26-11 [edited] apparently escalated into mass rape when the FARDC troops started knocking down the doors to people’s houses.

SOS FED beneficiaries at the Mboko center

SOS FED beneficiaries at the Mboko center

On March 31^st, an attack on civilians occurred in the village of Kikoze, in the Haut Plateau of Uvira Territory.  The perpetrators were integrated ex-FRF units of the FARDC, stationed nearby.  A number of women in Kikoze were raped, and on April 5^th, 9 survivors arrived in Uvira town to seek assistance and report the incident.  PSVS lodged the women and gave them first-response psychological care, while Arche d’Alliance collected the information regarding the attack for legal and human rights action.  PSVS also facilitated medical treatment for the women at the hospital in Uvira, with direct financial support from IRC.  Other organizations that provided resources and assistance were AMCAV and CICR.

Kikoze is about a 3-day journey out of Uvira, and most of the journey must be made on foot across difficult terrain.  In the remote areas of the Haut Plateau, monitoring the human rights situation remains difficult because of the lack of access to these areas.

On April 8^th, all the women who had come down from Kikoze started their return journey home.  PSVS gave each woman a pagne and a cooking pot to take back home with her.

On the same day that the women of Kikoze were sent home, OCHA held its weekly security briefing, and the incident in Kikoze was discussed at length.  One of the concerns brought up at the OCHA meeting was that there still aren’t many transportation resources available for the Haut Plateau and other remote regions of the Eastern Congo.  Remember, it takes days to reach a place like Kikoze by foot, and it is hardly the most remote village in the Haut Plateau.  If a survivor requires immediate and drastic medical treatment, she may not be able to make it a major hospital in time.  In addition, human rights monitors in the Haut Plateau are also sparse, and villages in the hills lack the maisons d’ecoutes that are mostly scattered in towns along heavily populated thoroughfares.

Another alarming concern was brought to light; these women will return to Kikoze with their pagne and cooking pot, but there still remains little protection for them back in their village, or even en route to their homes, traveling on lonely mountain footpaths.  Some of those at the OCHA meeting expressed concern that the women were being sent home unaccompanied.  Indeed, even if they return home safely, they may risk being re-violated or even killed, since they dared seek help outside of their community and shared the details of the incident with human rights monitors.  The same FARDC unit is presumably still near Kikoze, with the violators in its ranks.  Were these women being sent to their doom after being already violated, with only a pagne and a cooking pot to show for it?

Again, an unfortunate symptom of the problem of sexual violence in the Kivus and the response from the NGO community: women are often left vulnerable after seeking assistance from humanitarian organizations.  Granted, protection from the FARDC is a responsibility that lies with the Congolese government, and they deserve criticism for failing to curb the depraved and violent behavior of their own soldiers.

Whether it is from the lack of resources to surmount the many obstacles, or from the lack of will to follow through, local and international organizations are failing to provide sufficient care and protection for many survivors.  Sometimes, the lack of creative thinking or recognition of these problems seem to defy common sense, and gives the appearance of apathy.  Much of what I heard at the OCHA meeting was a bit stultifying, although I don’t doubt there are many individuals and groups who are hard at work to assist survivors of sexual violence.   However, SOS FED, which is a tiny organization compared to a lot of the big-hitter NGOs in Uvira, appears to provide its beneficiaries with much better care than what was given to the survivors from Kikoze.

Women leaving our centers are accompanied back home by reintegration officers, who meet with community leaders to make sure that the reintegrating woman’s rights will be respected upon her return.  Currently, SOS FED’s two reintegration officers in Kazimia and Kikonde are accompanying women returning to the Ubwari Peninsula, the site of ongoing combat between the FARDC, FDLR, and Mai Mai.

In addition, women leaving our centers receive a small cash stipend to help them in starting over again in their community.  This is in addition to whatever income they gained at the SOS FED center from practicing communal cultivation.

Personally, I question how much psychological recovery survivors can gain in 3 days, especially considering the devastating psychosocial consequences of rape in Eastern Congo.  This is why we never send women home after 3 days with a pagne and a cooking pot.  However, SOS FED is still a small organization with limited resources confronting an enormous problem.  I believe the difference is that SOS FED’s model is highly replicable and yet still very effective.  SOS Fed’s model has an emphasis on wholly treating the outcomes of rape, including the social, psychological, and economic effects.  For what we cannot do ourselves, we seek partnerships with organizations like Arche d’Alliance to provide more complete assistance to our beneficiaries.

PSVS still does a pretty good job, and this is not meant to be a critique of PSVS or their financiers at IRC.  Nonetheless, perhaps the humanitarian community as a whole needs to look at the models by which they assist the women of South Kivu, and ask themselves if they are really as effective and efficient as they can be.  So far, no one is scrambling to replicate the SOS FED model, and SOS FED is still spending a lot less than what a lot of local NGOs here receive from international financiers.

The nine survivors from Kikoze demonstrated courage by making a dangerous journey to Uvira to seek assistance, denounce the perpetrators, and then return to their village.  Next week, MONUSCO is supposed to be sending a mission to Kikoze to investigate the incident.  The survivors who made their way to Uvira indicated that there are probably more women who were raped by the FARDC in the Kikoze area.  And we are only a little over three months into the year…

In my last blog entry, I wrote about a UNFPA data-mapping project that is being undertaken here in the Kivus. The goal of the data-mapping project is to provide better assistance to survivors of sexual violence; if one NGO assists a survivor, the information provided by registering her in the global database will make it easier for her to receive other forms of assistance, be they medical, psychosocial, judicial, or socioeconomic. In addition, the information gathered can clarify where attacks against women are concentrated, and are being perpetrated by whom, thus helping prevention and advocacy efforts.

How this project works: Each NGO that receives a survivor interviews her and records information on her physical, mental, and emotional state, on forms provided by UNFPA. In addition, details of the incident are recorded, including date, location, and the identity/affiliation of the perpetrator. The “first-response” NGO (the one filling out the form) records the type of assistance they gave the survivor. Some biographical information is also recorded, which can be useful in identifying the kinds of assistance a survivor may require. Each assisted survivor also receives a unique ID number that contains information on the location of the incident, as well as the first NGO to assist the survivor. All this information contributes to a global database that will give all involved a clearer picture of the crisis of rape in Eastern Congo. It should be noted that the privacy of survivors is not affected by being added to this database.

The reach of this project acknowledges that rape does more than damage the physical and mental health of a woman; there are a variety of serious effects that a survivor must endure after being violated. NGOs in South Kivu tend to be fragmented, and survivors frequently lack a complete source of assistance. In addition, MONUSCO has noted a high level of repeat reporting by local NGOs, complicating matters.

SOS FED works primarily in the domain of psychosocial assistance and socioeconomic assistance, with perhaps a heavier emphasis on the former. SOS FED shelters women, helping them regain their mental and emotional health without having to deal with judgmental communities and restrictive customs. In addition, SOS FED teaches risk-reduction techniques through group cultivation, which has the double benefit of helping women reduce their chances of being attacked and providing them with income. An NGO such as Arche d’Alliance focuses on judicial representation and the protection of human rights through building civil society. The various hospitals and clinics throughout Fizi treat women for the physical trauma of rape and its aftereffects. So, as you can see, everyone has something to do, and coordination is necessary in order to get things done.

In all, the assistance provided by SOS FED remains the most holistic, yet practical, that I have seen in South Kivu. However, there is always something missing, especially for a small, local NGO like SOS FED. SOS FED particularly lacks capacity in the areas of judicial representation and medical services.

The center staff members refer women to nearby hospitals or clinics if they require immediate attention for fistulas or infections stemming from their attack. In addition, each center has basic medical supplies for minor illnesses and injuries. However, this is not nearly enough for the kinds of physical trauma that beneficiaries may be suffering from; almost all of the women at our centers complain of continual lower abdominal pain and sometimes irregular bleeding. Nonetheless, arriving at a hospital does not always guarantee effective treatment, as the cost of good medical care can be too expensive for our beneficiaries.

Our center staff also instructs beneficiaries on their rights, but do not have the resources or training needed to represent these women in court. Granted, the Congolese judicial system has a long way to go before it can be described as effective in handing out punitive sentences to offenders. However, pressure applied to civil and military authorities can make a difference, especially if there is a well-documented, public source of information on incidents of sexual violence.

This is where the UNFPA data-mapping project becomes useful for SOS FED. Once a survivor has a dossier created by the SOS FED staff, it becomes much easier for her to receive judicial or medical support, should she require it. Being registered in the database means that a survivor can receive free medical treatment at a hospital or clinic; all SOS FED has to do is get her there. If a survivor requires extensive treatment for severe trauma, SOS FED can always coordinate with PSVS to send the survivor to Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where (if accepted), she can receive some of the best medical care in the Kivus. Arche d’Alliance, with its large resources, institutional knowledge, and national network, can use the information provided in the database to produce human rights reports and put pressure on local officials, national authorities, and the international community to address the issue of sexual violence in the Kivus.

The local CTLVS and Arche d’Alliance remain the focal points for the UNFPA data-mapping project in Uvira and Fizi Territories. This past week, Amisi and I arranged for training for our staff on completing dossiers for each beneficiary. Arche will make sure that each center has a sufficient number of forms at its disposal, as well as visit our center frequently to pick up the dossiers. Further networking will ensure that we can increase the level of assistance for our beneficiaries through coordination with other organizations. There is a caveat: the success of the project depends on more than participation from SOS FED; many different actors, including UNFPA, have to come through if survivors of sexual violence are to see a noticeable improvement in assistance.

Overall, participation in this project should ensure a better, more complete standard of care for SOS FED beneficiaries. L’Union fait La Force.

On March 23, I attended my first CTLVS (Commission Territoriale sur la Lutte contre la Violence Sexuelle) meeting at OCHA headquarters. Up until that day, the Uvira CTLVS had 25 member organizations; however, my presence at the CTLVS meeting added SOS FED to the roster, making the final total 26.

The CTLVS is meant to be an official entity that coordinates the efforts of local NGOs working on SGBV (Sexual and Gender-based Violence) in Uvira and Fizi Territories. There are four sub-clusters under CTLVS, each headed by a member organization that specializes in that area:

-Judicial (Arche d’Alliance)

-Medical and Health (l’Hôpital d’Uvira)

-Psychosocial Assistance (PSVS)

-Socioeconomic Assistance (ASJPED)

Currently, the CTLVS is collaborating with UNFPA on a data-mapping project, trying to get a clearer picture of incidents of sexual violence in South Kivu, so better response efforts can be coordinated. One member organization, Arche d’Alliance, is charged with collecting information on incidents of sexual violence recorded by each member organization. However, it was clear at the meeting that this information was not being given to Arche, even when someone was sent around to each member organization’s office to collect it. The CTLVS director, Mme Bernadette Ntumba, expressed her frustration at the lack of cooperation. The reason given by some of those present at the meeting was “on n’a pas des moyens” (“we don’t have the means”).

Two days prior to the main CTLVS meeting, I attended a scheduled meeting for the sub-cluster concerning psychosocial assistance, at the headquarters of PSVS. I was surprised at the low attendance; besides a PSVS staff member and a secretary for another local org called AJID, I was the only other person in attendance. When I inquired why so few were attending a scheduled coordination meeting, Ms. Aimée Birindwa, the PSVS focal point, told me that it was hard to motivate member organizations to send people to meetings. Why weren’t the other local organizations motivated enough? She told me what I have heard from countless organizations: “on n’a pas des moyens” (“we don’t have the means”). The story over and over again in South Kivu is one of missing financing, not enough money to keep things running. However, there is never a shortage of NGOs that work on building peace, assisting victims of sexual violence, educating communities on SBGV, and building economic activity. Quite a few of the directors of these NGOs have bulging waistlines, travel on enormous per diems, and are building three-story houses in Uvira. Who am I to believe?

Perhaps this warrants a closer look at the economics at work in South Kivu.

Since Mobutu’s “Zairieanisation” in the 1970s, the economy of Zaire/Congo has been in a state of rapid decay. The war starting in the 1990s shattered what remained of economic activity and security in places like South Kivu. Most people in South Kivu have been poor and oppressed since colonial times, but the war and continuing insecurity means that there is little hope at the end of the tunnel. It is a little astounding to hear older people talk about how things were “better” during the Mobutu Era.

Even today, peasants flee their fields at the sound of gunfire. Internal displacement and the disruption of agricultural activity have had severe effects on public health and food security. The education system is in shambles and the roads are non-existent. Mineral extraction and smuggling has enriched the pockets of fat politicians and generals from Kinshasa to Kampala to Kigali and back, while fighting over these mineral resources continues to breed insecurity in the regon.

So, what is one source of income that continues to trickle into South Kivu? Aid money, development money, financing for humanitarian assistance. Granted, the deep humanitarian crisis in Eastern Congo merits attention, and I believe we have an obligation to help alleviate suffering and fight for social justice in one of the most troubled regions of the planet. However, it appears that money coming to South Kivu from international donors seeking to help the Congolese has created an atmosphere rife with competition, corruption, and deception. There is amazing work done by dedicated individuals in South Kivu, but there are also those who only seek to line their own pockets, whether out of desperation or greed.

Thus, you have two stories: NGOs that do little more than serve as ATMs for their corrupt directors, and NGOs that have decent projects but can’t find the financing to sustain them. There are many shades of gray between these two extremes; some organizations are very functional and do decent human rights work, but still use some of their financing and resources in ways that are improper and somewhat unethical. Some of the local NGO elite, especially up in Bukavu, are internationally recognized for their previous work and are therefore well-financed, but when the mzungus aren’t looking, they engage in some fairly dirty tactics to make sure that other local NGOs do not cut in on their action. Some organizations have good projects and some financing, but refuse to cooperate with other organizations doing similar work.

So, NGO work has become a business in South Kivu, at least for some. The sad reality is that such corruption and disregard for ethics from some NGOs are what discourage a lot of international organizations from taking a chance on good NGOs in South Kivu. Conversely, some local NGOs want the financing from abroad, but none of the required oversight that may accompany it. Since there are many local NGOs and few sources of funding, competition and jealousy overpower most efforts at cooperation. There is a corrosive mutual distrust, which ensures confusion and inefficiency. This is not a condemnation of either all Congolese NGOs or all foreign donors. The aid game is tricky, and all of us in the humanitarian assistance/international development community are still trying to figure out a better way of doing things. The history and simple economics of a place like South Kivu have created such a situation, and it is our job to be better informed and keep up the work, not to give up.

This is not new news to me; Ned Meerdink had to deal with the machinations of the bad NGOs for years, including when I was here in 2009. In Haiti, I had plenty of exposure to the corruptions of even the most well respected NGOs and religious organizations. With my background and experience, I think I can objectively state that SOS FED is not one of the “bad NGOs”. However, it is always tough to remain on the straight-and-narrow in a place where the good guys often finish last.

This is not a diatribe against anyone in particular; in this forum, at least, I will refrain from naming names. This is also not meant to be a grand commentary on the state of international development and humanitarian assistance. For that, you can go talk to high-minded economists like Bill Easterly, Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Collier, and Dambisa Moyo. In the meantime, here at SOS FED we will start faithfully submitting our monthly data to the CTLVS.

Uvira, South Kivu, DRC

Uvira, South Kivu, DRC

Rose Shukurami and her family

Rose Shukurami and her family

Songolo asked Rose if she wanted to return to Rwanda.  Rose shook her head no.  This may seem strange, since Rose is ethnic Rwandan, and being married to the FDLR she is hardly a member of accepted society in the Congo.  However, once you look at the bigger geopolitical and historical picture, it makes a bit more sense.  Kagame’s Rwanda would be hardly peaches and cream for a “Hutu” attached to the Interahamwe like Rose, even if she had nothing to do with the genocide in 1994.  Rose had been in Congo even before the genocide; her daughter and grandchildren were born here, and they’ve never seen their “homeland”.

Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and his allies, such as Yoweri Musevini in Uganda, toppled Mobutu’s regime in 1997, intending on installing Mobutu’s wily old opponent Laurent-Désire Kabila as their puppet.  The excuse for the invasion was that the Interahamwe had fled into then-Zaire and were plotting their return, with support and shelter from Africa’s consummate troublemaker Mobutu.  While this was somewhat accurate, it was also a cover for Rwanda’s neocolonialist plans for Eastern Congo.  Since the international community was very ineffectual in stopping the Rwandan genocide, and since their post-Cold War realpolitik no longer needed Mobutu, they were shamed and manipulated into playing along with and even supporting Kagame and Museveni.

While Kagame and Museveni succeeded in pillaging Congo’s resources and terrorizing the population, they did not count on Kabila père being an extremely incapable ruler, even for a puppet, and he eventually turned his back on his Rwandan and Ugandan supporters.  In 2001, Kabila père was assassinated by one of his own child-soldiers, which precipitated another power vacuum that Congo’s neighbors tried to fill.  Instead, Joseph Kabila, the son of Kabila père, became president and rallied international support to regain Kinshasa’s control over the eastern provinces.  He even won a national election in 2006, the first real election in Congo’s history.

Nonetheless, the government of Kabila fils is still a kleptocratic mess, and its military is now accused of committing the grand majority of sexual violence in Eastern Congo.  The armed groups kicked out of Rwanda and Burundi still operate within Congolese territory with some impunity.  In addition, international mining companies are exploiting Congo’s mineral resources with a very heavy human toll.  Joseph Kabila is definitely anything but a national hero.  In other words, things still suck.

If you are Rose Shukurami, you have to worry about your fate if you are deported back to Rwanda, where you don’t know anyone and your chances of being persecuted for being attached to the Interahamwe.  When Kagame’s RPF took over Rwanda, they immediately started intimidating, persecuting, massacring, and assassinating anyone they felt stood in the way, both Hutu and Tutsi.  People who had sheltered Tutsis during the genocide found themselves the targets of the RPF.  The “coalition” government formed in Rwanda after the genocide did not last as a diverse coalition for very long.

If you are an ordinary Congolese person who isn’t married to the FDLR, you not only have to worry about Rwandan FDLR and Burundian FDD marauders, but also your own notoriously brutal and predatory military, the FARDC.  To complicate things, the homegrown Mai Mai militia does not hesitate in abusing the civilian population as well.  Your country is being drained of its mineral resources, and you do not see a red cent of it.  Infrastructure is crumbling, “modern” healthcare is terrifying, and there are no jobs.

War, violence, exploitation, and death are what these people have known for almost 15 years.  Rose’s grandchildren have never known anything different.  People in Congo are played like pawns, while we in the States yawn and flick off our televisions.  Probably not a lot of Americans know that the U.S. government gave military support to Kagame’s invasion of the Congo in 1996.  Not a lot of Americans could tell you about Congo’s state of war and upheaval from 1996 onwards, but here it is everyday life.

Two days after our visit, Rose Shukurami, her daughter, and her grandchildren were released to the UNHCR refugee camp in Sange.

Rose Shukurami and her family

Rose Shukurami and her family

Rose Shukurami is a woman with striking cheekbones, challenging eyes, a jagged scar on her temple, and a hoarse whisper for a voice.  Ordinarily, she would seem like any other Banyarwandan-Congolese woman, but there is something different about Rose: her husband is a member of the FDLR.  Rose, her daughter Julienne, and her daughter’s two small children, were captured by the FARDC in a village near Luvungi.  When I met Rose, she was being kept in the FARDC military post in Luvungi, a sad group of crumbling buildings with soldiers in red tinsel milling about aimlessly, automatic rifles slung around their shoulders. I was with Arche inqueteur Juvernal Twaibu and Arche field supervisor Iledephonse Masumbuko Songolo to monitor the situation of POWs at the jail; however, on this visit there were no POWs, just Rose, her daughter, and the grandchildren, the youngest of whom was ill.  Thank goodness, they were not confined to the horrible cachot, or cell, but were instead only confined to the compound.  The family slept in a shabby room next to the cachot, but was given no food, and Rose was not permitted to seek medical assistance for her sick grandchild.

 Of course, it may seem ridiculous to imprison two women and two malnourished youngsters, but such is the logic of the Congolese military.  Mr. Songolo told the officer-in-charge that since Rose and her family were civilians, they needed to be taken to UNHCR’s reintegration program in Sange, where they could find food, medical treatment, and be taken out of Congo to Rwanda.  The officer-in-charge needed to release Rose and her family into his custody immediately, said Songolo, so he could bring them to Sange.

 We can’t just let her go,” sputtered the officer-in-charge, “She will rejoin her husband in the bush! The child that is ill may go to Sange to receive medical treatment, but the women and the other child must stay.”

 And so, a peculiar argument erupted, with Songolo and Juvernal pointing out the obtuseness of the officer’s position.  Somehow the officer did not comprehend that this thin grandmother and her descendents really posed little threat to the state of general security in the Congo, especially once in the custody of UNHCR and on the way back to Rwanda.  Finally, Michel Nguale, the section chief for the 8^th Brigade arrived.  Sangolo and Juvernal once again presented their case for the release of Rose and her family, but Commander Nguale would only make vague, non-committal statements, all along the lines of, “come back tomorrow and maybe I will release her”.  However, he did allow Songolo and Juvernal to ask Rose some questions before we left.

 Rose said that they had not been subject to any gross mistreatment by the FARDC soldiers at this post, but she had difficulty finding food.  In effect, if the situation did not change soon, they might starve.

 In Part Two, we will learn a bit about how Rose’s curious circumstances are related to the big picture in the Great Lakes Region.