On Tuesday, August 30, I attended the monthly meeting of the Uvira CTLVS (Comite Territoriale de la Lutte contre la Violence Sexuelle). The meeting broke down into the usual litany of complaints about lack of cooperation and initiative, since none of the member organizations in the CTLVS seem to want to work together or share their information with the CTLVS focal points.

At this particular CTLVS meeting, a captain from the FARDC showed up, wearing a crisp green uniform with polished epaulettes and gold braids. This captain was a magistrate, a member of the military justice division (“Auditoirat”) of the FARDC. Most recently, the FARDC military justice wing played a crucial role in convicting Col. Kibibi and his men for the January 1st mass rape in Fizi Centre. Every month, a number of cases are heard at the military court in Uvira, mostly stemming from incidents occurring close to Uvira town. However, in more remote, though well-documented, incidents in Uvira/Fizi (Kikozi, Nyakiele), FARDC military justice has been rather slow in even bringing the accused to trial.

I decided to ask the FARDC magistrate about his job and the history of the Auditoirat. He told me that the military justice wing had existed since 2003, when the modern incarnation of the Congolese military was created; their mandate is to investigate/redress wrongs committed by members of the military, as well as teach discipline and good behavior to the troops. In this part of South Kivu, the central Auditoriat based in Uvira is charged with military justice for the territories of Uvira, Fizi, Mwenga, and Shabunda. All cases are heard before the tribunal in Uvira before a panel of military judges; the magistrate himself serves as a prosecutor/investigator. The parquet performs investigations of infractions, prepares the legal dossiers, and presents the cases before the military tribunal. In June, a permanent military parquet opened in the town of Baraka in Fizi Territory, where several months prior a mobile military court (Audience foraine) had handed down Col. Kibibi’s conviction and sentence. Aside from the parquet in Uvira and the secondary parquet in Baraka, there are only “inspectors” present in Misisi, Kametuga, and Shabunda Centre, making the coverage of military justice fairly poor for a very large area (4 of the biggest territories in South Kivu).

I asked the magistrate if he felt that the FARDC today was a more disciplined body than it was eight years ago; his answer was an emphatic “yes”. I asked if FARDC troops cooperated with him in terms of carrying out justice and promoting good behavior within the ranks. Again, he said yes, but then he qualified his statement by saying “in any family, there is never a lack of disobedient children”.

I brought up the case of Col. Kifaru and his defected men, the alleged perpetrators of the mass rape case in Nyakiele in June, who have since been re-absorbed by the FARDC. At this point, our conversation ground to a halt. When I asked at what stage the Auditoirat was in investigating the strong allegations of rape against Col. Kifaru and his men, the magistrate became vague and elusive.

“We are still investigating,” was all he would say.

When I delicately probed further for details, the magistrate refused to divulge any more information, citing “professional secrets”. Maybe commenting on an ongoing investigation would have been a bit out of line for a magistrate, but all promises of “carrying out justice” disappeared once Nyakiele was brought up. Later, one of my CTLVS contacts told me that since the Congolese government’s stance on Nyakiele is rather clear (“ignore/discredit”), the Auditoirat probably will have no support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

This kind of foot-dragging has also characterized the response to the Kikozi incident; investigations by the Auditoirat and MONUSCO have identified the commanding officer responsible for the unit implicated in the March mass rape (Major Shaka Nyamusalaba), but despite numerous calls from local NGOs to bring Maj. Shaka to Uvira for trial, no such action has been taken.

At the end of our conversation, the magistrate cordially invited me to attend the military tribunal in Uvira proper later in the week. I am planning on taking up his offer, so stay tuned for more.

Uvira seems to be a rather anonymous town deep in Central East Africa. The architecture: crumbling. The nightlife: sparse and risky. The inhabitants: unpretentious and lively. The sole attraction: Lake Tanganyika, although all the good beaches are over in Burundi. However, Uvira has a bit of its own dark history and intrigue, despite not having the glamour or mzungu creature comforts of Bukavu, Goma, or Beni.

In the same way, Fizi Territory has cultivated a sort of infamous reputation in the Congo, despite its rather innocuous appearance. Laurent “Mzee” Kabila operated in Fizi Territory, back when he was a Leftist rebel leader in the 1960s/70s. Che Guevara visited this area, back when he lent himself to the revolutionary cause against Mobutu; Che came away totally disillusioned by the state of the revolutionary struggle in this part of Africa that has so often resisted misguided outside attempts at transformation or analysis, of all ideological types.

Monuments in towns and villages all over Fizi Territory memorialize those slaughtered by the brutal RCD during the Second Congo War. However, I have seen no monuments marking the slaughter of the Banyamulenge that occurred in the frenzied anti-Banyamulenge hysteria in the days just before the Rwandan invasion.

In August 1996, when it was clear that the Rwandan government was arming some of the Rwandophone Banyamulenge in the Kivus in preparation for an invasion, the Kivus were swept with a wave of xenophobia. Local politicians poured out rhetoric against the Banyamulenge “traitors”, encouraging jobless and shiftless young men to “attack the Banyamulenge” and seize their assets. In Uvira, many Banyamulenge were kicked out of their houses, beaten, and thrown in jail by angry mobs. All over Fizi Territory, the “autochtone” population rose up to kill Banyamulenge and take their cows. In Bukavu in October, the provincial governor declared the Banyamulenge persona non grata and ordered their expulsion from South Kivu. The xenophobia was not limited to just the Kivus; all over Zaire, persons with “Tutsi” morphology were harassed, beaten, and even murdered.

The slaughter of the Banyamulenge pulled the trigger for the Rwandan invasion of the Congo. Up until then, the RPA had been watching the Hutu refugee camps just over the border in Zaire become rallying points for the former genocidaires, without any international intervention to stop this travesty. The regrouping Interahamwe and FAR had even begun raids back into Rwanda, and the newly installed RPF government could hardly tolerate a cross-border insurgency made up of the perpetrators of the Tutsi genocide. Several other African governments were eager to see Mobutu go, and they saw this as an opportunity to change the leadership in Kinshasa. In addition, the Rwandan military had been recruiting disaffected Banyamulenge youth and giving them arms and military training, in preparation for an invasion. The xenophobic purging of the “Tutsi” Banyamulenge in the Kivus was the final straw. Using an alliance of Zairian rebel leaders (the AFDL) as a front, the Rwandans invaded Zaire.

Uvira, in fact, was the first town to fall to the AFDL and its allies, on October 24, 1996. A mere seven months later, Kabila pere and his kadogos (child soldiers) were marching on Kinshasa. By mid-1997, Mzee Kabila was the president of the newly-christened Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is interesting to think about Mzee Kabila returning to South Kivu/Northeastern Katanga, after many corpulent years of being a smuggler in Tanzania. Here, in this eastern region, he fought against Mobutu’s agents from remote mountain camps. Here is where his son Joseph was born, in a village called Mpiki in the view of Mlima ya damu (“Mountain of Blood”). Here was where he trudged along with Che Guevara, among the gnarled trees and manioc fields and jagged piles of rocks. The aging, largely irrelevant rebel, with his Maoist tracts and monochromatic wardrobe of safari jackets, had been made ruler of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest country, perhaps a few decades too late.

In late 1998, when Kabila decided to thumb his nose at his “minders”, the Rwandans quickly put together a new rebel movement based in the east to challenge Kabila’s authority, the RCD. Thus, the Second Congo War had begun; today, mentioning this war to most Uvirois will cause them to wrinkle their brow and sigh. While many Kivutians saw the AFDL invasion as a war of “liberation” from Mobutu’s tri-decade dictatorship, the rule of the RCD is remembered with sorrow and chagrin. The RCD soldiers were mostly Rwandans or Congolese Rwandophones (such as the Banyamulenge), and in South Kivu they did not easily forget the anti-Banyamulenge pogroms committed by the “autochtone” Congolese. Now, the Banyamulenge were in charge, and they were looking to subdue the population by violent means. In Fizi Territory, the RCD committed horrid massacres in villages such as Makobola, slaughtering hundreds of civilians at a time. When I ask Congolese people my age about what life was like in Uvira/Fizi during the RCD-era, the reply I get most often is “Well, we just survived”.

In the days since the end of the Second Congo War, Uvira/Fizi has been one of the sites of the ongoing struggle between state-sanctioned armed forces (the FARDC) and the remaining non-state armed groups (in Uvira/Fizi, the FDLR, FRF, FNL, and various Mai Mai groups). Occasionally, events here make small waves in foreign journals, but sadly mostly related to tragedy and continuing human rights abuses committed by armed groups.

And thus, events that occurred in Uvira and Fizi Territory have been extremely pivotal in Congo’s recent history. The easygoing nature of Uvirois makes it easy to forget how much the region has been through, and in a way it is a bit encouraging that there are very strong efforts at ethnic conflict transformation going on in Uvira/Fizi.

Nonetheless, the Dark Side does persist. Anti-Rwandan sentiment can still be fairly strong here in Uvira/Fizi (just like xenophobic anti-Congolese sentiment can be fairly strong across the border in Rwanda). In this area, many Congolese people hate Joseph Kabila because he “made a deal” with the Rwandans to end the Second Congo War, and political discussions with Uvirois often result in absurd statements about a “double genocide” and about Joseph Kabila being a Rwandan puppet. Down in Fizi Territory especially, the tendency seems to be to blame outsiders for all the problems, whether it be Rwanda, Belgium, the United States, or even just Congolese from other parts of the country. This may explain a lot of the success of Mai Mai Yakutumba; despite their documented violations of human rights, they remain strongly tied to the community of Babembe political elites in Fizi.

For an outsider like myself who is relatively new to the Kivus, the simmering ethnic/political/class tensions may seem silly and superficial, and very often we non-Africans try to make what Jason Stearns calls “simplistic solutions to complex problems”. However, there are years of economic decay, local power struggles, political manipulation, warfare, colonial social restructuring, and oblivious international involvement that have formed the image of what we see in this particular section of South Kivu today.

I have always found it a bit interesting the independent nature and identity of Uvira and Fizi, even within South Kivu. The two territories are also very different from each other, most starkly when it comes to ethnic makeup and topography. In Fizi, the Babembe are dominant. In Uvira, it is much more diverse, with Bafulero, Bashi, and Bavira. In terms of geography, Uvira has the great Rusizi Plain, which borders with Burundi, whereas Fizi has massive forests high in the hills. The Rusizi looks like something straight out of The Lion King, a broad and burnt-red stretch of savannah where cows roam free. For sure, I have always preferred Uvira to, say Bukavu, the sophisticated (if rather pretentious) provincial capital of South Kivu.

Each part of the Congo has had a different story; in northern Congo in Ituri and Equateur, the story includes the MLC and fighting between Rwandan and Ugandan troops over Congolese territory and resources. In Katanga and Kasai, the story is of the large-scale exploitation of minerals such as gold, diamonds, and copper. In Kinshasa, the story includes bizarre tales of nuclear reactors built by priests, spectacular examples of corruption, and the fast-fading majesty of what used to be one of the most exciting cities in Africa. All over the Congo, there are stories, all interlinked at some point, but all possessing an individual spirit. Point being, the Congo is very big, but it is still fascinating at how events starting in somewhere like Uvira can change the course of history for the behemoth of Central Africa.

I know Uvira by its labyrinth-like markets (Mulongwe, Kalmabenge), the hordes of moto-taxis clogging the main road, the signs with the various NGO acronyms (AVSI, AJID, PSVS, SOFIBEF, 8eme CEPAC), the quick geographic orientation of the rising hill on one side and the turquoise lake to the other, the piles of fetid garbage that line the streets, the crowds of boys smacking their lips and croaking “goomawneng” (good morning) to get my attention, the ravines and vine-covered cemeteries, the crates of Primus bottles outside the Depot Bralima, the colorful pagne dresses and oddly-tailored western-style suits, the huffing Mitsubishi flatbed trucks, the groups of money-changers sitting under umbrellas, the trucks full of green-clad soldiers wielding Norinco 56s and RPGs, the women rolling chapatti next to a crackling pan of oil under the shade of a tree, the thumping of manioc leaves being crushed in a pestle, each bridge and river and ronde-point. I know Fizi Territory mostly by just the utter sense of remoteness it inspires whenever I visit. This is my home in the Congo.

In Fizi Territory, one of the more prolific armed groups is Mai Mai Yakutumba.  Fortunately, I have not had any run-ins with Mai Mai Yakutumba soldiers, but their influence throughout Fizi is highly visible.  In Baraka, the political wing of the Mai Mai has logos painted on buildings.  In fact, the restaurant that I frequent the most when I am in Baraka (“Jardin des Saveurs”) is owned by the son of the political leader of Mai Mai Yakutumba.

In the past two months, Mai Mai Yakutumba has been consolidating control over parts of Fizi Territory.  In June, the Mai Mai stopped a boat on Lake Tanganyika at Talama and demanded a toll of $15,000 from the crew and passengers.  Now, the Mai Mai Yakutumba are enforcing a $500 a boat tax on boats traveling between Uvira and Kalemie/Kazimia.  Since there are zero paved roads south of Uvira to Kalemie, boat traffic on Tanganyika remains an important lifeline to economic activity in Uvira/Fizi Territories and eastern Katanga Province.  These new extortions imposed by the Mai Mai are sure to have negative consequences on economic activity.

The Ubwari Peninsula

The Ubwari Peninsula

The effects of spreading Mai Mai Yakutumba/FNL influence are also having negative human rights effects; most of the 12 survivors of sexual violence that arrived at the SOS FED center in Kikonde in June/July reported being raped by FNL/Mai Mai Yakutumba soldiers.

In Jason Stearns’ excellent blog, Congo Siasa, guest blogger Judith Verweijen writes up a fascinating and detailed profile of Mai Mai Yakutumba.  The motivations/identities of the various armed groups in the Kivus are complicated and not easy to comprehend at first glance, and profiles like Ms. Verweijen’s go a long way in terms of understanding who is doing what and why in eastern Congo.

Hello all, I am back from my holiday in Uganda. It was lovely, but I’m also glad to be back in Uvira. This place feels more and more like “home” with each passing day.

Uganda’s story in terms of development and human rights is quite different from the DR Congo’s. Kampala is a thriving metropolis, with supermarkets, several shopping malls, Chinese restaurants, and choking automobile congestion. It is hard to believe that it is only a 17-hour drive from Uvira. In addition, the people of Uganda seem more cheerful and friendlier than the Congolese, possibly because they have not been beaten down by nearly 20 years of war following the reign of Mobutu. Overall, one could say that Uganda is an East African “success” story, especially considering that the country was once home to one of Africa’s most ruthless dictators, Idi Amin Dada.

However, there still remain problems in Uganda, such as continuing widespread poverty, a high (though decreasing) HIV/AIDS rate, the persecution of the LGBT community, and continuing unrest in the north with Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army.

In Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni’s cowboy-hatted visage glares from many billboards, reminding me of how Uganda became entangled in the Congo Wars in the 1990s/2000s.

On more official business, I had the opportunity to visit an AP partner in Kampala, the Kinawataka Women’s Initiative, founded and directed by Mrs. Benedicta Nanyonga. Kinawataka assists children, mostly girls and mostly AIDS orphans. The children and Mrs. Benedicta make bags and other products out of recycled drinking straws. The proceeds from selling the bags go to the children’s education and upbringing. I was amazed at the durability and quality of the purses, shopping bags, and safari bags created by this group of industrious youngsters. Visit Kinawataka at www.kwiuganda.org and see their products at www.strawbags.org

Back in the Congo, SOS FED continues to move forward. Construction on the water well in Mboko was completed on June 10.

Quick update on the Kikoze incident of 3/26/11: I talked to someone at OCHA about the status of judicial action against the perpetrators of the attack. Apparently, a military tribunal has yet to be realized, and still is in the planning stage. There are concerns for the safety and security of a military tribunal, due to the fact that the accused are ex-FRF combatants who were only recently integrated into the FARDC. A trial up in Muranvya or bringing the accused to trial in Uvira might result in some sinister consequences. However, I was assured that MONUSCO and the FARDC are still working on the case. Let’s hope that justice is served eventually.

Also in the news: Burundian FNL rebels are making more incursions across the border in the Rusizi Plain, near Kiliba. Cultivation in the area is under threat, as farmers (most of them women) will flee their fields once they hear of roving armed groups nearby.

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.

Attacks on civilians may be picking up again in this part of South Kivu. There have been 3 major events since the beginning of the month:

-On May 10, around midnight, a group of armed men attacked the village of Matale, in the Moyen Plateau of Uvira Territory. The group of armed men locked all the men into one house and all the women into another house, and then proceeded to loot the town. After looting, the armed men picked out five women and raped them. The identity of these armed men is unknown, although it is strongly suspected that they are FARDC, since there is a contingent of FARDC moving through that area of the Moyen Plateau at the moment. The next day, the female survivors of the attack made their way to the Centre de Santé (Health Center) in Ndagereka. Arche d’Alliance sent a monitor up to Matale to do a preliminary investigation, but he was held up by bandits on his way back. Fortunately, he was not hurt, but Arche is not sending anyone else to Matale until they are sure of the security situation. No word on whether MONUSCO will be opening up an investigation or not.

-On May 12, a group of 13 people leaving the market in Nemba, Fizi Territory, were ambushed by a group of 34 FDLR. The ambushed civilians were relieved of their belongings and money, and then were tortured and mutilated to various degrees. The details of the mutilations and tortures as provided by initial reports are fairly gruesome, and I won’t be reporting them here until I am more sure of the details.

-On April 30, an FDLR unit attacked the village of Kikonde (yes, where SOS FED has a center), Fizi Territory. Seven shops were robbed and one merchant was wounded by gunfire. The FDLR has a jungle base near Ngandja, and their forays into Kikonde were made easier by the fact that there is no longer a FARDC unit stationed there; the Amani Leo unit that was in Kikonde left in February for reorganization and training. Ironically, despite the fact that the Amani Leo brigades are still greatly resented by the civilian population, their presence could have prevented such an attack. The Amani Leo brigades are still in braçage closer to the bigger towns of Fizi, and rumor has it they are not too keen on heading back into the bush to fight the FDLR.

The good news is that the SOS FED center in Kikonde was not affected by the attack; the SOS FED staff and beneficiaries in Kikonde are safe and sound. However, this attack and the robbery of the Arche monitor in Matale are brutal reminders of the dangers facing the civilian population of South Kivu, and in particular the high-risk environment for defenders of human rights.

SOS FED beneficiary in a manioc field near Mboko

SOS FED beneficiary in a manioc field near Mboko

On 4-21-11 I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with a MONUSCO official in Uvira. I asked him some questions about MONUSCO response to incidents such as the recent mass rape in Kikoze. The MONUSCO official gave me a detailed plan of how MONUSCO reacts according to their mandate to intervene, support, prevent, and provide follow-up.

When the Kikoze mass rape was first reported, MONUSCO immediately sent troops from the Pakistani Battalion (PAKBATT) to Kikoze via helicopter for a fact-finding mission. Once the PAKBATT unit confirmed the abuse of human rights in the area, a special force of Egyptian troops was sent to Kikoze in order to show a UN presence, to protect the villagers from further harassment. All during this time, MONUSCO prepared a mission to Kikoze, with a joint protection team from Civil Affairs, Human Rights, Political Affairs, UN Police (UNPOL), and PAKBATT. This mission also included several local partners, such as Arche d’Alliance and AMCAV.

In addition to their own investigation, MONUSCO assists in legal proceedings against the perpetrators, providing impetus and support to the Congolese military justice division that will prosecute the soldiers allegedly responsible for the attacks. It should be noted that the commanding officers of the FARDC unit in question deny that their soldiers committed any wrongdoing.

Currently, the MONUSCO mission is investigating the Kikoze incident and meeting with the FARDC battalion commander in Murambia over the allegations. Then, a military tribunal is supposed to form to bring the perpetrators to justice. This echoes the same response that occurred after the New Years Day mass rape in Fizi Town: MONUSCO sent a mission to Fizi to investigate and provide stability, then they provided transportation and other support to the Congolese military court in Baraka that tried and convicted Col. Kibibi and his men.

The official also told me that MONUSCO is using an ongoing proactive approach at all levels (national as well as territorial) to prevent human rights abuses by the FARDC. MONUSCO is also involved in training officials in human rights, supporting the justice system, and disseminating the law among Congolese citizens.

There is a lot of discussion as to how effective MONUSCO is at maintaining peace and stability in eastern Congo, especially since incidents such as the one in Kikoze continue to occur. However, one must remember that the tangle of conflict in eastern Congo is complicated and involves much more than just MONUSCO. To be sure, local civil society organizations, such as SOS FED and Arche d’Alliance, remain at the front lines in terms of providing assistance to vulnerable persons and monitoring the human rights situation.

I will have more information on this situation, as well as commentary, as I find out more on the local, national, and international response to the Kikoze incident.

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